James Shaw promises rewards for private conservation projects, as Greens' hui kicks off
Green Party co-leader James Shaw tried to balance a sense of frustration over the pace of climate action while insisting the Greens have delivered wins in Government. Amongst those wins, he detailed Government plans to reward farmers and other landowners for conservation work on private land. His speech at the Green Party election year conference on Saturday focused almost exclusively on core environmental issues , ranging from biodiversity and deforestation to mining and climate change . He talked up Green policy wins, but also stressed that not enough had been done and stoked fears amongst supporters of what a National and ACT coalition would do. Shaws speech was largely back to basics. He and other Green MPs were hoping the conference would go smoothly, especially with the membership voting on whether they still supported the current co-leaders. READ MORE: * Where is the Green Party at for the upcoming election campaign? * Green Party lay down priorities for 2023 - 'more influence over the next government' * The Green Party one year into its co-operation agreement: stable and enjoying the friction Shaw, whos the climate change minister, said Cabinet had signed off work this week to investigate how the Government could encourage the preservation of native ecosystems. He said he wanted to reward such conservation through the Emissions Trading Scheme. In the not-too-distant future, action to restore our native wildernesses should count towards our efforts to stop the climate crisis, he said. This promise was framed as a big win for farmers and Maori landowners, who Shaw said would be able to cash in on wetlands and non-forest land uses that reduced net emissions. The Cabinet decision on Monday is a very important first step, he said, revealing those discussions for the first time. Some scientific work would need to happen before the law changes, and landowners would need to be able to accurately quantify their contributions to emissions reductions, Shaw said. But he committed to continuing work to bring private conservation efforts into the Emissions Trading Scheme if Labour and the Greens are returned to Government. Its been a turbulent term for the Greens. Shaw has faced discontent from some Green supporters, who have challenged his leadership and also questioned what progress the Green Party has made through partnering with Labour. Last year Shaw was not immediately renominated as co-leader, largely due to a complicated party system that means the co-leaders need at least 75% of delegates to support their leadership bid. The Greens membership were voting, on Saturday, on whether to support Shaw and Marama Davidson as co-leaders this year. Shaw said he had felt strong support, and was hopeful there wouldnt be a repeat of last year. My strong sense here is that people are very focused on the election, he said when asked if he was ready for another leadership challenge. Earlier in the year, the party also saw a dramatic falling out between the caucus and one of its MPs, former Maori affairs spokesperson Elizabeth Kerekere. She resigned from the party in May . So far, the Green Party has focused its campaign on two hefty policy areas tax and housing. Its tax policy, wide-ranging tax cuts for anyone earning under $125,000 per year, was coupled with the promise of new wealth and trust taxes, and higher company and high income taxes. Shaw said the Greens would target the richest Kiwis, using their taxes to pay for child poverty measures. In housing, the Greens continued its focus on wealth inequity. Davidson reignited her call for rent controls , which Labour rejected.