The big question everyone asks minor parties around election time is "who will you go with"? It is in some ways a mistaken question, because it assumes support is total and exclusive - that a preference one way rules out cooperation with the other party should things not work out (a holdover from the FPP generation and oppositional politics) - but at the same time it is an important one. MMP means coalitions, and in order to assess the outcomes and cast our votes accordingly, voters need some information about where at least the parties' preferences lie.
Today, the Greens released their preference. Unlike other parties, they didn't say explicitly - that will come later. Instead, they released a list of policy criteria against which any future partner will be assessed. These include their four founding principles of environmental sustainability, social justice, peace and democracy, as well as policies on climate change, public transport, water quality, child poverty, the Treaty, and workers' rights. And based on this list, their preferred partner is clear: Labour. Labour's policies may not go far enough, but in all of these areas, they're lightyears ahead of National (who, just to remind everyone, are promising to weaken the ETS, gut the RMA, abolish the Maori seats, and repeal MMP - policies the Greens will never support). This doesn't rule out working with a National government on particular issues to improve legislation which advances Green aims. But it almost certainly rules out helping National into power. Which means if the Nats fall short, they've really only got the Maori Party to rely on.
