Last week, I asked "why won't Labour keep its promises" when implementing them would be overwhelmingly popular with voters? And today, we have another example: climate change. According to a poll in the Herald today, 60% of kiwis think the government should be taking stronger action on climate change - and its 70% in the 25 - 34 demographic. And yet they're dragging their feet on pricing agricultural emissions, and have just introduced legislation to increase pollution subsidies in the Emissions Trading Scheme - the opposite of what the public wants.
Again, this suspicion that the government is working for lobbyists and donors, rather than the people who elect them. Again, it undermines trust in both Labour and the political system. And again, it means that people who care about climate change have no reason to vote for Labour. And given that climate change is a significant issue, which is only going to grow in salience as the climate crisis gets worse, that cannot be good news for the Labour party.
