Politics Blog
'Not for him to decide': Swarbrick says finance portfolio on the table
Chloe Swarbrick and Chris Hipkins.
. Stuff
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says the prospect of her becoming finance minister after the election is very much on the table, dismissing Labour leader Chris Hipkins' earlier "non-negotiable" commitment that his party's finance spokesperson would take the role in a Labour-led Government.
"Barbara Edmonds would be finance minister," Hipkins told 1News on Tuesday morning. On RNZ, he went further: "Barbara Edmonds will be the minister of finance. She is the best qualified person in Parliament to be the minister of finance. That is a bottom line. It's not negotiable."
Asked about those comments on Tuesday afternoon, Swarbrick suggested the voters would decide such appointments, not Hipkins.
"I don't think that's for him to decide," she said. "We've got weeks to go until election, and it is game on. New Zealanders clearly have an appetite for political parties that are willing to step up to the plate and put forward the real solutions to the big problems that we are facing as a country."
The National Party said in an email to supporters on Monday night that Hipkins would have "no choice" but to appoint Swarbrick as finance minister, saying the resulting coalition Government would "put a wrecking ball through your savings and our economic recovery".
Swarbrick said she found the alarmism amusing.
"I thought it was pretty funny," she said. "I just continue to invite [National Party] campaign chair Simeon Brown to keep saying my name."
"Barbara Edmonds would be finance minister," Hipkins told 1News on Tuesday morning. On RNZ, he went further: "Barbara Edmonds will be the minister of finance. She is the best qualified person in Parliament to be the minister of finance. That is a bottom line. It's not negotiable."
Asked about those comments on Tuesday afternoon, Swarbrick suggested the voters would decide such appointments, not Hipkins.
"I don't think that's for him to decide," she said. "We've got weeks to go until election, and it is game on. New Zealanders clearly have an appetite for political parties that are willing to step up to the plate and put forward the real solutions to the big problems that we are facing as a country."
The National Party said in an email to supporters on Monday night that Hipkins would have "no choice" but to appoint Swarbrick as finance minister, saying the resulting coalition Government would "put a wrecking ball through your savings and our economic recovery".
Swarbrick said she found the alarmism amusing.
"I thought it was pretty funny," she said. "I just continue to invite [National Party] campaign chair Simeon Brown to keep saying my name."