Taranaki-King Country may be one of National’s traditional strongholds, but new Green Party candidate Phil McCabe believes the electorate is more environmentally minded than its voting record suggests.
The Raglan sustainable business champion and long-time ocean advocate said there were misconceptions in rural communities about who the Greens are and what they stand for.
“I think our electorate is green at heart, at least more green than what has been shown up in previous elections,” he told Raglan Community Radio.
Phil is under no illusion about the challenge. He described Taranaki-King Country as a “super blue, solid blue seat”, but said previous results did not determine what would happened next.
“I do believe that all past voting results are in the past, and anything can happen.”
His campaign will take him well beyond Whāingaroa and into some of the electorate’s strongly rural communities. On the day of the interview he was heading to Te Kūiti for his first candidate debate.
Phil said candidates and their capabilities mattered, but voters should ultimately look at the policies underpinning what parties do and their record in government.
From ocean campaigner to candidate
Phil has spent more than 15 years campaigning on ocean issues and said concern over the direction of the current Government, particularly its approach to seabed mining, was a major factor in his decision to stand.
He has been involved in opposition to Trans-Tasman Resources’ seabed mining proposal off the Taranaki coast through years of regulatory and legal challenges.
Phil said seeing the proposal continue through the Fast-track Approvals process pushed him towards becoming more directly involved in politics.
“I’ve dedicated, you know, 15 years plus to protecting the ocean from various things, and I don’t want to see that happen as a surfer,” he said.
Asked how it felt to move from advocacy into politics, he described himself as feeling vulnerable, but also excited and ready for the campaign.
Phil said he had been considering whether to stand for some time and had looked at other political options before settling on the Greens.
He mentioned Labour and the Opportunity Party as parties he had considered, while his background as a small business owner had also prompted suggestions he look towards a more business-focused environmental politics. Ultimately, he said the Greens aligned most closely with his own values.
His connection with the party stretches back more than a decade. He recalled Green MPs supporting the campaign against seabed mining during public meetings and hearings in 2012 and 2013.
More recently, attending the party’s AGM and national conference helped confirm his decision. Phil said he was struck by the more than 200 people attending and what he described as a diverse, organised and democratic culture where policy and representation were shaped from the bottom up.
“So, why Greens? Because they’re the best party. They represent my values,” he said.
He also pointed to the party’s environmental focus, support for underrepresented and vulnerable communities and recognition of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as being closely aligned with his own values.
Taking Green ideas into rural communities
Phil believes there is more common ground between Green politics and rural communities than voting patterns might suggest.
He acknowledged there was political tribalism in the electorate, but said people might respond differently if they looked more closely at the Greens’ long-term vision and individual policies.
For Phil, the election campaign is also an opportunity to test competing ideas.
He described the lead-up to polling day as “a battle of ideas”, saying he was still working through the detail of Green policy but was encouraged by what he had seen so far.
Energy is one area where he sees scope for a different conversation.
Phil contrasted proposals from National and NZ First for investment in an imported gas terminal and further oil and gas exploration in the ocean with the Greens’ proposal to invest in and enable distributed renewable generation, including solar.
He said putting money directly into renewable generation across communities could improve energy resilience while reducing dependence on imported energy.
Those ideas connect with issues Phil has been advocating for well before becoming a candidate. He said concepts he was talking about 15 years ago, including transition towns, community resilience and preparing for climate-related and other shocks, were becoming increasingly relevant.
Ocean protection will also remain central to his campaign. Phil said the Greens’ water policy includes banning seabed mining, alongside measures addressing drinking water quality and fisheries.
He also questioned the economics of extracting seabed minerals, arguing New Zealand would carry the environmental consequences while receiving too little value from the resource.
Party vote the priority
Despite putting his name on the electorate ballot, Phil said his main objective is increasing the Green Party vote and helping elect more Green MPs under MMP.
“What I’m asking for is people to party vote Green. If you’re going to give just one tick to the Greens, make it the party vote. Don’t worry about me. I’m trying to get more Green MPs in Parliament.”
While electoral politics is new territory, public advocacy is not. Phil said his work through KASM and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition had involved years of media and international campaigning, leaving him reasonably comfortable speaking publicly about contentious issues.
He also wants the campaign to encourage more people to take part in the election, particularly younger voters.
“Take a minute, do some reading, listen to people, talk to people, and engage in the process, it matters.”
A Raglan meet-the-candidates event is planned for 18 October, giving local voters the chance to hear directly from candidates standing in Taranaki-King Country.
