THE TROUBLE WITH MARAMA

Locked into a political agreement with Labour, the Green's response to the housing crisis has been less than impressive. Green co-leader and Associate Minister for Housing Marama Davidson clearly feels constrained in what she can say or do and has been reluctant to challenge the Labour Government. The trouble is she's ended up doing very little of anything.

FORMER GREEN MP Keith Locke had some good advice for the Green Party. Shortly after Labour won the election last year, he counselled the Green's not to do any deal with Labour that would limited its ability to criticise the Labour Government and its policies and also restrict the Green's ability to promote an alternative to Labour's neoliberal orthodoxy. In order for the Green's to retain its own independent voice, wrote Locke, 'probably means forgoing the opportunity to have a Green Minister or Ministers'.

But this parliamentary Green Party, under the conservative leadership of James Shaw and Marama Davidson, has always favoured being inside Labour's tent rather than outside it. So it chose to disregard Locke's advice and made a deal with Labour which saw both Green co-leaders given ministerial jobs outside of cabinet. In the case of Marama Davidson, she became the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence and Associate Minister for Housing, with a special emphasis on homelessness.

The housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. At the root of the crisis is a speculative housing market that does not meet the social needs of an increasing number of New Zealanders and compounded by a Labour Government that refuses to abandon the very neoliberal orthodoxy that has led to this crisis in the first place.

The beneficiaries have been the already wealthy, the casualties the working class and the poor. This week it was revealed that the Labour Government, in the three months to December, spent nearly $83 million on putting up the homeless in motels. In the three months to December 2017 it spent some $7 million. The only people benefiting from this band aid solution have been the motel owners who have massively hiked up their accommodation prices.

Not unexpectedly the focus has fallen on the Minister responsible for dealing with homelessness and Marama Davidson has been found wanting. National's spokesperson on housing, Nicola Willis, is not exactly the champion of the working class, far from it.  But it was legitimate for her to point out that in the five months since she became a Minister, Davidson hasn't produced a single report, briefing paper or even a press release. She's made no speeches. The woman who campaigned to become an MP in South Auckland promising to fight poverty has largely been missing in action and picking up a $250,000 ministerial salary in the process.

Davidson defended her lack of output, claiming she had been 'engaged with the community'. It sounded evasive and it was. A quick check of her ministerial diary by journalists revealed only two entries related to housing for the past three months. When approached by TV3's Jenna Lynch for comment, Davidson simply walked away.

The chickens have come home to roost. Locked into a political agreement with Labour which has seen the two Green co-leaders hoisted into ministerial positions, Davidson clearly feels constrained about what she can either say or do. The trouble is that she's ended up doing very little of anything.

Some Young Green's, somewhat to the left of the Green Party leadership, have expressed similar concerns as Keith Locke. The worry expressed is that the Green's political independence has, once again, been thrown under the bus of Labour's immediate electoral interests.

Indeed while Marama Davidson might be reluctant to be seen criticising Labour's housing policies, she's more than willing to defend them. She told reporters this week that the Government was 'absolutely' providing more transitional homes, claiming that two recent Government announcements would provide 3000 additional transitional homes. However when she was asked by reporters how many new transitional homes had become available since she had become Associate Minister for Housing, Davidson said that she did not have the information to hand. It was at this point that her press secretary brought the questioning to an abrupt end.

This Labour Government does not have the political will or courage to introduce the kind of policies that are needed to combat the housing crisis. A Government led by Prime Minister who has already ruled out a capital gains tax is also not going to initiate a massive state housing program or introduce rent freezes or mandate the innovative use of vacant homes.

But neither is the Green Party going to highlight the inadequacies of Labour's market-driven approach or provide a real alternative. Keith Locke's comments are already coming back to haunt the Green's : 'I'm worried that pushing for Ministerial positions, when the Green's haven't got any leverage with Labour, makes the Green's look like an 'ad-on' party, and a bit desperate'.