All we want is clean water

Garth George talks about how the Greens support abortion and euthanasia. Putting opinions about these issues aside for one moment, I note a comment on the thread by a Mr Ian Findlay:  

I never heard the NZ Greens campaign or mention any of the issues Garth discusses. I did hear them campaign on clean waterways, the state of the ocean, climate change and stopping asset sales. That's why they got my vote.

I'm quite surprised that this might be a genuine opinion of the Greens. Surely, they are just as well known for their social policy as their desire to have a pristine environment? The Greens are clearly pro-abortion, even when they say they are anti-abortion. As Nandor once said: "I put it clearly on the record that I am anti-abortion....but I am also very strongly pro-choice" and then goes on to support abortion. He's one of the milder in the Green Party on this issue, but he's gone now. You'll find other Green Party MP's are more strongly pro-abortion.

The Greens can also be counted upon to support Bills with names such as "Death With Dignity". Mike Ward, back in 2003 was keen on a review, and the committment has only become stronger. The Greens have held policy discussions from time to time to thrash this out, and there are numerous statements and press releases discussing how difficult a decision this is, but...and always coming down on the side of assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia. To be fair though, this is pretty much the way National and Labour are going as well: The sooner the better

And when you look at the Green's population policy, it isn't hard to guess how they will vote on these sorts of issues.

Here's the Greens Population Policy Principles:

1. Maori, as tangata whenua, have a partnership role in determining the population policy.
2. A self-sustaining population cannot be increased beyond the carrying capacity of useable land available.
3. The population cannot be increased beyond its capacity to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.
4. The population must not be increased beyond the capacity of the local environment to provide essential ecosystem services such as clean water, air and soil.
5. The uneven regional distribution of the population will be addressed through regional economic development measures.
6. Informed decisions about family size and spacing will be made by the parents concerned.
7. A stable population is desirable to minimise negative impacts on infrastructure and resources.

As with all such "principles" the debate is how they are enforced, and what the triggers are. Some in the Green Party might suggest that 2 million people in NZ is still too many. Others suggest we can only take one or two million people more. On that basis, the population of Sydney and Singapore might need to be trimmed to about the size of Dunedin, and Auckland only needs trains taking passengers in one direction - out of Auckland. With the Greens flexing new political muscle and John Key keen to be a man who can bridge the political divide between the centre-left National and far left Greens, expect to see and hear more on Green policy.

If you want to read something truly bizarre, try reading about the Church of Euthanasia, to which I credit the graphic.