news article, page-42

Denial,
to understand the Labour party of today you need only look at those numbers. That Green vote has been climbing in spite of a GFC, and it has come at Labour's expense. To think, 11% of voters put Green issues ahead of all else, even in a post GFC world... Although the Greens may be a natural coalition partner Labour would fear further loss of share to the Greens. It's hard to take a crack at National from a distant second place. In the MMP era the stark choice is a few votes on the west coast vs grabbing back some of that market share around the rest of the country. Somewhat ironic given the Coast was the birth place of the NZ Labour party.