James Shaw (New Zealand politician)
James Peter Edward Shaw is a New Zealand politician and a leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Voters elected Shaw to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a list representative of the Green Party. The party selected Shaw as its male co-leader in May 2015. Following Metiria Turei's resignation in August 2017, Shaw became the party's sole leader for the duration of the 2017 general election.
In October 2017 the Green Party agreed to support a Labour-led government. Shaw became the Minister outside Cabinet for Statistics and Climate Change Issues, as well as holding the Associate Finance portfolio.
Early life
Shaw was born in Wellington, and raised by his mother. He attended Wellington High School and Victoria University of Wellington. Shaw first tried his hand at politics in 1992 standing for the Wellington City Council on a Green ticket. He contested the Western Ward and came seventh out of ten candidates. He later moved to London, living there for 12 years, before returning to New Zealand in 2010. Shaw completed an MSc in sustainability and business leadership at the University of Bath School of Management in 2005.Career before politics
Prior to returning to Wellington in 2010, Shaw worked in the consulting division at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Between 2011 and 2014, Shaw worked as both a consultant for HSBC bank on "environmental awareness programmes for future leaders" and also at Wellington social enterprise the Akina Foundation.Political career
In the, Shaw stood in the electorate, succeeding Sue Kedgley. He came third in the candidate vote after Labour and National, but second in the party vote, beating Labour into third place. He was 15th on the 2011 party list and the highest-placed candidate who did not make it into Parliament.candidates meeting.
Shaw has said that in the 2011 Greens selection process, party members "didn't have a lot of time to get to know me" and disregarded him as "an ex-PWC management consultant in a suit". He says he has proved his worth to the party subsequently, and was rewarded with a higher list ranking in the 2014 election. Shaw was one of two Green Party members with significantly increased draft list rankings in March 2014.
Bryce Edwards said in The New Zealand Herald that Shaw represented "the more environmentally-focused, non-left side of the party – what might be called the New Greens faction – people who are more at home in the business world wearing corporate attire than amongst the far left.... There will be many that see Shaw as a future co-leader of the party."
First term in Parliament: 2014–present
Shaw was elected to Parliament in the 2014 general election on the Green Party list.When Russel Norman announced his retirement from the co-leadership position, Shaw was one of the four candidates who ran to replace him. During the campaign, he said that as co-leader he would try and connect with "the 28 percent of voters that considered voting Green last year and didn’t and remove all of the barriers that are currently stopping them voting Green".
At the Green Party AGM on 30 May 2015 he received the highest number of votes, and was elected male co-leader. Shaw won 54 per cent of the first preference votes, compared to Kevin Hague who won 44 per cent.
The day after becoming co-leader, he called for a cross-party consensus on climate change, and said there was room for the Greens and National to work together on the issue. He also said in his first major speech that he wanted the Green Party to be "more like modern New Zealand", and expand its membership both in terms of numbers and to include a more diverse group of people.
2017 general election
Following the resignation of co-leader Metiria Turei due to the political fallout over her benefit and electoral fraud disclosures, James Shaw became the Green Party's solo leader for the duration of the 2017 general election campaign. A female co-leader will be appointed after the Party's AGM in 2018. As party leader, Shaw has called for calm in the wake of hostility among party members towards the media and the resignation of fellow Green Members of Parliament David Clendon and Kennedy Graham in protest of Turei's initial refusal to resign. On 13 August, Shaw announced the Party's new slogan "Love New Zealand" at a relaunch in Auckland.During the Green Party's climate change campaign launch in Auckland, Shaw announced that New Zealanders would get an annual dividend of $250 as part of a proposed Kiwi Climate Fund that would tax farmers for pollution and replace the current New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. Shaw also proposed a Zero Carbon Act with the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the establishment of an Independent Climate Change Commission. During the 2017 election, the Green Party's share of the party vote dropped to 6.3% with the Party retaining eight seats in Parliament. As the first on the Green party list, Shaw was re-elected. During coalition-forming negotiations, Shaw announced that the Greens would be pursuing a coalition with Labour and the socially-conservative New Zealand First parties but ruled out cooperating with the National Party.
Coalition Government, 2017–present
In October 2017, the Greens entered a confidence and supply arrangement with the Labour Party and New Zealand First which gives them three ministers outside cabinet and one under-secretarial role. This marks the first time the Greens have been in government. Shaw assumed the ministerial portfolios for Climate Change and Statistics, and Associate Minister of Finance.As Minister for Statistics, Shaw received criticism from National MP Nick Smith for the low response rate during the 2018 New Zealand census. Shaw has attributed the lower response to a lack of Internet access particularly among the older generation.
In April 2018, Shaw as Minister for Climate Change expressed support for the Government's decision to end future gas and oil exploration, hailing it as the "nuclear-free moment of our generation." He also reiterated the Green Party's support for ending deep sea oil and gas exploration, stating that "fossil fuels are not our future."
According to figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs, Shaw was the government minister to spend the most on air travel fares in late 2018. Shaw spent NZ$77,771 on international air travel fares during the period between October and December 2018 while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spent NZ$54,487 during that same period. Shaw clarified that these air travel fares had been spent on attending multiple international climate change conferences.
On 14 March 2019, Shaw was assaulted while walking to Parliament, sustaining a black eye and lacerations to his face. The attack was condemned by politicians from all sides of the political spectrum. Police have confirmed that a 47-year-old man was arrested and charged with injuring with intent to injure in relation to the incident. During a press conference held the following day, Shaw expressed support for climate change school strikes held across the country calling for governments worldwide to take action on climate change. Shaw declined to give details about the assault, stating it was under police investigation.
On 8 May 2019, Shaw introduced the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill into the New Zealand Parliament. The Bill subsequently passed its first reading on 22 May 2019.
Political views
Shaw believes that the market can be reformed to incorporate sustainability within its normal operations. In an interview with the Aro Valley Valley Voice he put forward his views:On 5 June 2020, Shaw and fellow Co-Leader Marama Davidson described United States President Donald Trump as racist in response to a question fielded by press gallery journalists in response to the protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd in late May 2020.