Summarised by Centrist
Green MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul faced criticism after their staff requested to use off-street parking from Wellington retailers for a party related event.
Green-led cycleway initiatives had removed on-street parking.
It could be the Green Party’s biggest own-goal this year: after demanding a cycleway outside a Wellington electorate office that removed on street parking, the Greens have been caught begging to use off street retailers’ carparks for party events.
Leaving aside the apparently false assumption we had that most Green supporters would walk, catch the bus or use the shiny new cycleways to get around, it turns out the Greens drive cars and find cycleways are causing parking inconvenience.
Duncan Domett of Stacks Furniture and a nearby Repco manager declined the request to allow the Greens to use their customer car parks for political event parking. The business owners say cycleways have cut into their business significantly. This is despite Genter and Paul pitching the economic benefits of cycleways, which they really had no idea about and which have not generally materialised.
Independent Business and Residential Group chairwoman Urmila Bhana criticised the Green Party for hypocrisy. Car parks are against the party’s ideology, she said. She questioned why they are not encouraging “appropriate” modes of transport such as scooters, buses or walking.
The Green Party acknowledged the misstep, but appeared to throw their staffer under the proverbial bus (pun intended) by stating that the request was made without the MPs’ knowledge.
