The Green Party has announced its intention to deliver a ‘Green budget’ to offer an alternative vision for the economy.

At the party’s annual State of the Planet event on Wednesday, Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said its alternative budget would highlight a plan for an economy that respected and protected New Zealanders and the “planet we live on”.

“Poverty, and all the social ills that stem from it, doesn’t come from nowhere. It comes from a tolerance of extreme inequality. It comes from the privatisation of profit and the socialisation of cost.

“In December, we released He Ara Anamata, our emissions reduction plan, which showed how we could reduce emissions five times faster than the Government’s proposed ‘plan’. It showed we can not only reduce the cost of living, but increase quality of life.

“Our Green budget will build on that to continue to show precisely how a different world is possible, and entirely within our reach.”

Green Party co-leaders Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson deliver the State of the Planet address in Auckland February 26 2025

Her co-leader Marama Davidson said more tamariki are falling through the cracks and live below the poverty line. She believed the Government wasn’t addressing this.

“We all depend on each other when times are rough. People want to care for each other – manaakitanga [support] is part of human nature. This is the core value that will underpin our Green budget.”

Green Party of Aotearoa co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced that the Budget would be delivered on May 22. She said it would “drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead”.

“Budget 2025 will build on our efforts to secure New Zealand’s future prospects, continuing the fiscal repair job made necessary by Labour’s era of wasteful spending.

“We take seriously our responsibility to chart a path out of a spiral of deficits and debt left to us by the last government.”

In her speech on Wednesday, Swarbrick said people feel exhausted and angry after decades of privatisation, underfunding, poverty, and other issues.

She said the right-wing had “painted targets” to blame for this, but they aren’t “the people actually responsible”.

“The chosen targets are indigenous peoples, fighting for survival after centuries of injustice and violent theft. Those chosen targets are our rainbow communities, who every day prove that all these social norms are just made up.

“The chosen targets are migrants - regular people, like you and me, who just want to provide for themselves, their families and their community.

“Let me be crystal clear: if you’re struggling to get by, your beef isn’t with someone else struggling to get by. Your beef is with the system that forces almost everyone you know into a life of struggle, and, more precisely, your beef is with those who profit from it.”

Swarbrick said issues weren’t because “of the gays, or the migrants, or tangata whenua”, but because wealth isn’t “fairly shared”, problems with the health system, and the inability for people to afford decent housing.

Davidson’s speech mentioned her recent cancer treatment and her gratitude for her family and health workers.

“I haven’t spoken publicly about this before, but today I’m going to let you in on a secret. I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few days before the State of the Planet speech last year.

“I remember standing at this exact podium – knowing I would need to step away from public life for a bit. Taking leave when my voice was needed the most was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. This job is and continues to be an enormous privilege. To be able to come back to it, blows my mind.”

She highlighted the need to honour Te Tiriti, do more for mokopuna, and addressing climate change.