ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
Over the past decade, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with the co-leader of the Green Party, Russel Norman – and I am personally grateful to him for suggesting that I stand as an MP. He has recently announced that he will remain an MP, but will step down as leader of the Party in May to find new challenges and to spend more time with his family.
Russel’s departure is a big loss to the Green Party, but also to New Zealand politics. A mark of his capability as leader has been the doubling of electoral support over the past nine years, from 5% to over 10% of the vote at the election last year.
Russel has the kind of insightful intellect that is all too rare in politics. In particular, he has brought a depth of analytical thinking to economic policy that this country really needs. His work on smart economics has been about transformation – from commodity dependence to the knowledge economy, from polluting industries to clean technologies, and from deals for big business to a transparent policy that supports small and medium sized businesses. Most New Zealanders are still catching up with this exciting vision of a smarter, fairer and more sustainable economy, and the Green Party will gain even more support as they do so.
I was pleased to work with Russel on the Climate Protection Plan, announced last June. This is an innovative policy which combines a modest levy on polluting businesses with a tax cut for all New Zealanders. It creates incentives for business to reduce emissions while protecting consumers and reducing emissions. Win, win, win.
As Russel said in his leaving message, he leaves behind a political Party that has more members than ever, active branches and effective MPs in Parliament. As a democratic political party, all members get to choose the next leader, and new members are always very welcome, especially those from the Indian community!
Barry Coates stood for the Mt Roskill electorate at the last election and narrowly missed out on becoming an MP. He was formerly CEO of Oxfam New Zealand and has a Masters degree in Management from Yale University.
Over the past decade, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with the co-leader of the Green Party, Russel Norman – and I am personally grateful to him for suggesting that I stand as an MP. He has recently announced that he will remain an MP, but will step down as leader of the Party in...
Over the past decade, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with the co-leader of the Green Party, Russel Norman – and I am personally grateful to him for suggesting that I stand as an MP. He has recently announced that he will remain an MP, but will step down as leader of the Party in May to find new challenges and to spend more time with his family.
Russel’s departure is a big loss to the Green Party, but also to New Zealand politics. A mark of his capability as leader has been the doubling of electoral support over the past nine years, from 5% to over 10% of the vote at the election last year.
Russel has the kind of insightful intellect that is all too rare in politics. In particular, he has brought a depth of analytical thinking to economic policy that this country really needs. His work on smart economics has been about transformation – from commodity dependence to the knowledge economy, from polluting industries to clean technologies, and from deals for big business to a transparent policy that supports small and medium sized businesses. Most New Zealanders are still catching up with this exciting vision of a smarter, fairer and more sustainable economy, and the Green Party will gain even more support as they do so.
I was pleased to work with Russel on the Climate Protection Plan, announced last June. This is an innovative policy which combines a modest levy on polluting businesses with a tax cut for all New Zealanders. It creates incentives for business to reduce emissions while protecting consumers and reducing emissions. Win, win, win.
As Russel said in his leaving message, he leaves behind a political Party that has more members than ever, active branches and effective MPs in Parliament. As a democratic political party, all members get to choose the next leader, and new members are always very welcome, especially those from the Indian community!
Barry Coates stood for the Mt Roskill electorate at the last election and narrowly missed out on becoming an MP. He was formerly CEO of Oxfam New Zealand and has a Masters degree in Management from Yale University.
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