The Progressive Green Party was an environmentalist

Environmentalist

An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...

 political party in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It was established as a "blue-green" party - that is, one which is environmentalist ("green"), but is economically right-wing ("blue") rather than left-wing ("red").

The Progressive Green Party was established on 9 August 1995 as a splinter group of the larger Green Party

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party that has seats in the New Zealand parliament. It focuses firstly on environmentalism, arguing that all other aspects of humanity will cease to be of concern if there is no environment to sustain it...

. The founders of the Progressive Greens were unhappy at the direction taken by the Green Party, which they believed was too left-wing. The Progressive Greens particularly opposed the Green Party's membership in the Alliance

Alliance (New Zealand political party)

The Alliance is a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1991, and was influential in the 1990s, but has since declined and has no representation in parliament. It suffered a major setback after Jim Anderton, the party's leader, left the party in 2002, taking several of the...

, a broad left-wing coalition. Prominent members of the new party included Stephen Rainbow (a former member of the Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 city council), Guy Salmon (head of the Maruia Society

Maruia Society

The Maruia Society was an environmental organisation in New Zealand. "Maruia" means "sheltered valley" in the Maori language....

, forerunner to today's Ecologic Foundation

Ecologic Foundation

The Ecologic Foundation is an independent not-for-profit Think Tank based in Nelson, New Zealand focused on environmental policy research and analysis, consultancy and advocacy. Its Executive Director is Guy Salmon who has been involved with the organisation in its various forms since the 1970s...

), and Gary Taylor (a former Waitemata City

Waitemata City

Waitemata City was a New Zealand city in the greater Auckland area. It was formed in 1974 from the western part of the old Waitemata County, with both the County and City taking their names from Waitemata Harbour...

 city councillor).

In the 1996 election

New Zealand general election, 1996

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...

, conducted under the new MMP system, the Progressive Greens won only 0.26% of the vote, considerably below what they had hoped for. No Progressive Greens were elected to Parliament. The Progressive Green Party did not contest any further elections, and is now disbanded. Many of the party's members, however, are now associated with the Bluegreens, an environmental "task force" within the National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

. Stephen Rainbow and Guy Salmon, once prominent in the Progressive Green Party, stood as list candidates for the National Party in the 1999 election

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

 and 2002 election

New Zealand general election, 2002

The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...

, respectively, but were not elected.

External links

• Bluegreens, often seen as the Progressive Green Party's successor