Aussie leader gives Greens a taste of balance-of-power

The Green Party got a first hand view of what it's like to hold the balance of power yesterday.

The leader of the Australian Green party, Bob Brown, addressed the last day of their annual conference in Auckland.

The Australian Greens are expected to take the balance of power in the Senate in elections there on July 1.The Green Party here hope to take at least 10% the vote in November.

Mr Brown said he was confident his party's negotiations with Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor government would see a levy introduced across the Tasman.

Such a tax would be "a challenge" for New Zealand's emmission's trading scheme, which the Green Party sees as subsidising rather than penalising polluters.

Greens co-leader Russel Norman said "Because the transtasman market is so unified, National constantly use the lack of action on climate change in Australia as a reason not to do anything here. So that will remove their excuse ... Having the Greens in Australia in a very pivotal political position will be quite helpful in making progress in Green issues here as well. They [Gillard's Labor goverment] need the Greens and the Greens have made it a bottom line."

The ETS is under review, with a report expected at the end of the month.

Deal with National not ruled out
On Sunday, The Green Party said it was "highly unlikely" to support a National-led government following November's election - but is not ruling it out.

Party delegates confirmed the Greens' post-election position at their annual meeting today, saying it was an independent party that could support a Labour-led government in the right circumstances.

"We’re more likely to support Labour on confidence and supply, and think it is highly unlikely that we could support a National government on confidence and supply, but it is on the table," Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said.

"It’s more likely we could work project-by-project with National like we do now on home insulation, tourism infrastructure and toxic site management."

Mrs Turei stressed the Party had negotiated more than $400 million worth of Green programmes with the current National-led Government.

"We are an independent political party in Parliament with a good track record of policy wins and we will continue to make gains from inside or outside Government," she said.

"We can get stuff done, and I can promise more wins with either National or Labour," Mrs Turei said.

However, the Greens would need serious gains from any confidence and supply agreement with either party.

"Our goal is to be in Government, but we might prefer to stay out of confidence and supply agreements in November, based on circumstances at the time. Government has gone badly for a lot of support parties."

Mrs Turei's co-leader, Russel Norman, yesterday announced a Greens-led government would keep it local by transferring all government banking to Kiwibank.

Dr Norman, also speaking at the party's annual meeting, called for the Government to move its accounts away from Australian-owned Westpac, which has held the contract for 22 years.

"The Green Party is serious about fixing our banking system so that we are no longer mortgage slaves to the Aussie banks," he said.

"Our government’s banking should be done by our New Zealand bank."

Dr Norman also announced today that under a Green government, the country’s state-owned energy companies would issue green energy bonds to raise capital.

The clean energy sector was booming internationally, with the solar, wind and biofuels sector worth $190 billion this year and being projected to grow to $350 billion in the next decade, he said.

"New Zealand can get a piece of that action by being focussed and strategic and building on our strengths.

"Supercharged public energy companies, partnered with bright green Kiwi entrepreneurs, funded by kiwi mums and dads with safe green energy bonds, exporting clean technology; now that is a vision for a bright future."