The leader of the newly formed Sustainable New Zealand Party says the country needs an alternative to the 'ecosocialist' Greens- who he calls 'inherently anti-business'.
- Vernon Tava shooting for 10 percent of 2020 vote
- New 'centrist green' political party could partner with National
Vernon Tava told Newshub Nation he's positive there is room in New Zealand for a centrist, environmentally focused party.
"The only choice you have right now is a party that follows to an 'ecosocialist' idea, where it is not enough that you care about the environment but you must also be left, and left of Labour at that."
Vernon Tava says the Greens 'anti-business' politics can stifle essential innovation.
"We've seen that with the current administration's attitude to gene editing which is frankly, anti-science."
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has explicitly stated that gene editing, a controversial form of genetic modification, will not be investigated in any form during the Government’s push to make New Zealand Predator free by 2050.
This stance comes despite official advice from the Department of Conservation (DoC) stating the "technology is one of the approaches with potential to achieve the 2025 interim goal of a breakthrough science solution for predator eradication".
Ms Sage told Newshub "We want to focus on existing tools, making them better and finding new tools without being diverted down the potential rabbit hole of GE research."
Mr Tava says this is a 'benighted' position for science to be in New Zealand.
"Yes we need to be open to this and yes we certainly need to be very careful. There's a thing called the precautionary principle, which means we take all caution with all information in hand before implementing it. It doesn't mean 'thou shalt not talk about it', which is where we are at the moment."
Mr Tava says he already has 'hundreds' of members ready to register and is shooting for 10 percent of the vote in 2020.
See the full interview with Vernon Tava above.
Newshub Nation.
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