On May 1st, Chloë Swarbrick, the co - leader of the Green Party, announced a new policy in Tokoroa. The plan is to transform the closed Kinleith paper mill into a cross - laminated timber factory, which will produce sustainable building materials for public housing construction.
Swarbrick criticized Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters for failing to fulfill his promise to save the Kinleith factory last year, saying that he left the community at the mercy of "corporate whims". The Green Party uses this to highlight the policy differences with NZ First. Although the latter has long focused on regional development, it is restricted by the free - market ideas of its coalition partners. In 2023, it only received 1.2 billion New Zealand dollars in regional infrastructure funds, which is much lower than the 3 billion New Zealand dollars in the Provincial Growth Fund during the Labour - led coalition in 2017.
This new policy of the Green Party not only aims to promote the development of the local economy and improve people's living standards but also attempts to expand the party's influence in traditional industrial towns, challenging the long - standing regional development strategy of NZ First. It remains to be seen how the implementation of this policy will affect the political landscape of New Zealand.
