Steve Abel | |
|---|---|
 Steve Abel at the Canal Road tree stand in Avondale, 2020 | |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forGreenparty list | |
| Assumed office 14 October 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephen George Bremner Abel |
| Political party | Green |
Stephen George Bremner Abel is a New Zealand politician,environmental activist and musician who is involved withGreenpeace. Since 2023 he has been a member of parliament for theGreen Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Abel was involved from 1998 to 2000 in the successful campaign byNative Forest Action to stop native logging on theWest Coast of New Zealand's South Island.[1] He later worked as a campaigner forGreenpeace from 2002 to 2006 during which time he was prominent in theNew Zealand movement against genetically engineered food crops. He was also involved in actions against the proposedcoal-fired power stationMarsden B inNorthland, New Zealand including a nine-day occupation in 2005 and the operation of a pirate radio stationHeatwave FM which broadcast fromRuakaka in November 2006.[2] The Marsden B proposal was later abandoned. Abel was one of the coordinators of the re-recording of theDon McGlashan song "Anchor Me" in 2005 to mark the twentieth anniversary of thebombing of theRainbow Warrior.[3]
Returning to Greenpeace in 2010, he helped coordinate the historic March Against Mining which took place in Queen Street Auckland on 1 May 2010.[4] The march, later contributing to a government back-down on proposed mining of high-value conservation estate,[5] was reported as the "biggest protest in a generation".[6] He campaigned in 2011 withTe Whānau-a-Apanui against the Brazilian oil companyPetrobras' plans for deep sea oil drilling in theRaukumara Basin which included a flotilla[7][8] that spent 42 days at sea.[9] Petrobras relinquished their drill permits in December 2012.[10] Abel has publicly advocated for peacefulcivil disobedience as a means to resisting the oil industry and achieving political action to addressclimate change.[11][12]
On 21 July 2020 Abel was arrested when protesting the removal of a stand of native trees on a Canal Road property inAvondale, Auckland, in what would become New Zealand’s longest-running live-in tree protest,[13] lasting 245 days and out of which arose urban tree protection group Mana Rakau.[14]
In 2021 and 2022, as Senior Campaigner for Greenpeace, Abel led a free mail-in[15] and town-hall water testing service[16] focussed on rural communities impacted by nitrate water contamination in dairy intense regions. Abel has described access to safe drinking water as a “a basic human right that is currently not being met for people living outside of cities.”[17]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–present | 54th | List | 9 | Green | |
At the1999 general election he stood as a list candidate as well as in theTitirangi electorate as aGreen Party candidate, but was not elected.[18][19] At the next election in2002 he was again unsuccessful as a list candidate and in the seat ofMangere.[20] In February 2020, Steve Abel announced that he would be contesting theNew Lynn electorate as aGreen Party candidate during the2020 general election.[21] During the 2020 election that was held on 17 October, Abel came third place with a final result of 3,701 votes.[22] On preliminary results, Abel was ranked one place too low to enter Parliament on the Green party list,[23] but took part in the induction for new MPs in case he was elected after the counting of special votes.[24] The Greens' share of the party vote increased when the final results were released, but not enough to bring Abel into Parliament.[25]
He contested New Lynn again at the2023 New Zealand general election.[26] While he failed to capture New Lynn, Abel was elected to Parliament on the party list.[27]
In late November 2023, Abel assumed the Green Party's agriculture, animal welfare, food safety, Māori-Crown relations: Te Arawhiti, Just Transitions, resources and racing spokesperson portfolios.[28]
During the2023 Israel-Hamas war, Abel attended a Palestinian solidarity rally where he joined fellow Green MPsChlöe Swarbrick,Ricardo Menéndez March andDarleen Tana in chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."[29]
Abel contributed his songHospice for Destitute Lovers, and voice, as the character of Gert, toFlorian Habicht's art-noir feature filmWoodenhead (2003). His debut albumLittle Death, recorded by Nick Abbott at Montage Studios inGrey Lynn, garnered favourable reviews when released in February 2006. It featured a "Kiwisupergroup" of notable New Zealand musicians including Geoff Maddock ofGoldenhorse andBressa Creeting Cake; Mike Hall and Milan Borich ofPluto; and Gareth Thomas ofGoodshirt; and guest vocals by Kirsten Morell, also of Goldenhorse.[30]Little Death was awarded theAlternatui for 2006 Album of the Year.[31]
Abel's second albumFlax Happy, featured the same band as his debut under the nameThe Chrysalids (after the1955 novel byJohn Wyndham). It was recorded mainly atRoundhead Studios by Dale Cotton in July 2007. Two songs featuring Texan chanteuseJolie Holland were recorded byLee Prebble at The Surgery in Wellington.Flax Happy was released in 2008 (NZ) and 2009 (UK) to critical acclaim in both territories.[32] JournalistGraham Reid described Abel as, "A refined writer whose lyrics have a bone-bare quality – the sound of someone writing and singing from a place where there is no guile, just hard truth and clear eyes."[33]
Having moved to live in Geneva in 2008,[34] and encouraged by fellow musicianDelaney Davidson, Abel entered and wonThe Saddest Song in the World Competition in Berlin in May 2009.[35] He played at theCMJ music festival in New York later that year, and in November began recording his third albumLuck/Hope with Jolie Holland,Shahzad Ismaily and Grey Gersten at Manhattan's Rivington 66 Studio.[36]
