Progressive Green Party | |
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| Founded | 9 August 1995 (1995-08-09) |
| Dissolved | c. 1998 |
| Split from | Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand |
| Succeeded by | Bluegreens |
| Ideology | Eco-capitalism Environmentalism |
| This article is part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in New Zealand |
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History |
TheProgressive Green Party was anenvironmentalist political party in New Zealand in the 1990s. It was a "blue-green" party – that is, one that is economicallyright-wing ("blue"), rather thanleft-wing ("red"), as well as environmentalist ("green").
The Party was established on 9 August 1995 as a splinter group of the largerGreen Party. The founders of the Progressive Greens were unhappy at the direction taken by the Green Party, which they believed was too left-wing.[1] The Progressive Greens particularly opposed the Green Party's membership in theAlliance, a broad left-wing coalition.[2] The party was led by environmental businessmanRob Fenwick (Living Earth Ltd) and included prominent environmentalists includingStephen Rainbow (a formerWellington city councillor),Guy Salmon (head of theMaruia Society, forerunner to today'sEcologic Foundation), and Gary Taylor (a formerWaitemata city councillor).
In the1996 election, conducted under the newMMP system, the Progressive Green Party won 0.26% of the vote, considerably below what they had hoped for, and had no members elected to Parliament. The Party did not contest any further elections, and eventually disbanded. In December 1998 the Progressive Greens were de-registered by theElectoral Commission.[3] Many of the party's members are now associated with the Bluegreens, an environmental "task force" within theNational Party – Fenwick was the first convener of the Bluegreens and went on to co-found the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development. Stephen Rainbow and Guy Salmon stood as list candidates for the National Party in the1999 election and2002 election, respectively, but were not elected. Gary Taylor re-established and led theEnvironmental Defence Society.
