Why I thought about running
First of all - I had no delusions that I would ever actually win the leadership contest. I would have run purely for the reasons below with no real hope or chance of winning. The Greens have elected a leader from outside of Caucus before (Russel Norman) - but I am uh - not Russel Norman in terms of support from within the party and in terms of caliber of candidate.
The party deserves a leadership contest
My foremost reason for running in what is looking like so far an uncontested (by anyone) race is that I think the healthy thing for the party would be to have an honest and open debate about the future direction of the party.
While the Green party co-leader is probably the least powerful co-leader out of any political party because of the unique... nature of the party, the Co-leaders still carry a significant amount of influence and power over the direction of the party - and how they implement the party’s suggested direction.
Leadership elections following the departure of the previous incumbent have been contested ones. Marama Davidson and Julie Anne Genter contested the 2018 election and were able to come together in unity afterwards - as were Gareth Hughes, James Shaw, Vernon Tava and Kevin Hague after the 2015 election
A leadership election will showcase the depth and breadth of talent within the party and also enable a wide ranging, healthy debate of issues and the future direction of the party. I do not believe the analysis that a coronation is healthier than an honest contest - particularly if it only suppresses tensions.
Bring back ideology
If I had stood as a candidate, it would have also been as an experiment to see whether the seemingly inevitable centralisation of power in the parliamentary caucus can be reversed or arrested by having a Co-Leader outside of Parliament. I would have pledged to withdraw myself from the party list and sat as a co-leader outside of Parliament to explore what that might look like for the Greens.
Having a Co-Leader outside of Parliament would also reduce the sometimes overly narrow focus that the Greens place in Parliament. Sometimes the Greens forget that we are the political arm of the environmentalist movement and having a co-leader outside of the sometimes reality-warping forcefield of the beltway bubble would have been healthy for the party.
Also we would definitely get our Dunedin office back if I was the co-leader based in Dunedin so that would have been good.
I would also have explicitly run on an ideological platform of the most unpopular ideology in the planet (Market socialism) - because I think leadership contests should fundamentally be about ideology and not just vibes. Yes of course the party’s policy arm formally sets the policy of the party - but being an explicit socialist and running for leadership would also have been important in building the broader market socialist movement in NZ (there are dozens of us!!!).
Representation
I would have liked to stand as the first ever asian candidate for a parliamentary political party in NZ. I think Asian New Zealanders contribute a lot towards our wonderful country and I would have liked to inspire young Asian people across the country so that they know that they too can one day fail to get elected to be the leader of the Green party of Aotearoa.
Profile building
A compelling argument for running for co-leader would be the exposure it affords in free media coverage and also being able to build connections among party branches. When I ran for the list in 2023 I tried to meet with different branches in the country but nobody really gives a shit about you when you’re 17 on the list so the best I got was disinterested nos and the worse was just straight up being ghosted. In the interest of fairness, I would have been afforded a platform that no other list-ranking candidate gets - as well as being at least on a level playing field with some of our most senior and popular MPs. This might have led to some level of psychological transference which would have been helpful in a future list-ranking run.
Advised to run
Many friends and allies across the party asked me to consider running. These are people who have shed significant amounts of blood, tears and sweat on my behalf so it was incumbent on me to take their advice seriously and consider it actively.
It would have been funny
Self-explanatory.
Why I didn’t run:
Work commitments
It’s very likely that work would have placed me on leave across the duration of the campaign. Losing one month’s pay just to maybe get 1 delegate vote when I’ve recently recovered from the financial and emotional devastation of losing nearly two months pay only to come third and get beaten by a guy who had dropped out is not an experience I wanna replicate.
And perhaps more importantly, it would have meant a month off a crucial work project which is time-sensitive and needs to be completed. I don’t want to just fuck off and let my team down for zero gain.
Expensive
Apart from the opportunity cost of standing which is the 1 month of lost income there would have been the direct and carbon costs of campaigning. Flying or bussing around the country to meet with branches would have cost a lot of money.
Overwhelming advantage of incumbent MPs
While I never ever had a shot at winning, the overwhelming advantage that incumbent MPs had would also have prevented me from even doing respectably. MPs have access to free travel and existing profile that parliament affords them. They would have been able to get coverage from speaking at parliament and the close proximity to the parliamentary press gallery also offers them opportunities to lobby journalists that you don’t really get when you’re in Dunedin.
Might be career limiting
I mean career limiting in two respects - my potential prospects for the party and also my wider career prospects.
For the first, it is looking like there will be one strong candidate. Being the noble guy running on idealism so that there is a contested leadership race rather than a coronation sounds good on paper. But the nature of parasocial relationships means that I would probably have gotten attacked for daring to be the clown at the coronation. I think all of the Green MPs are good and purehearted people who would never condone such attacks - but it’s difficult to control people you aren’t affiliated with.
For the second, it would have definitively have tied my name and my image to the Green party. The truth is being number 17 on the Green list and the candidate in NZ’s fourth city (Dunedin) is relatively obscure but being the only other potential candidate against an incumbent MP is at least pub quiz level notoriety.
Advised not to
Many friends and allies across the party counselled me not to run after I asked them advice. These are people who have shed significant amounts of blood, tears and sweat on my behalf so it was incumbent on me to take their advice seriously and consider it actively.
Confidence in the candidates
Fundamentally I have full confidence in all of the likely and unlikely candidates. There is not a single member of caucus or caucus-adjacent person or even a local government Green that I would not think would do at least a good job. So whoever wins - I will fully and loyally back them. Ultimately, I didn’t run because I didn’t need to and I am hoping that there is a contested contest. Regardless - the future leader will have my full and unwavering support.