‘A pack of ……..’: Marama Davidson slams coalition government, doubles down on comments

Monday, 20 July 2026

In a sit-down interview with The Hui, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson took aim at the coalition government. She said that while the Greens are 'readier than we have ever been' for an election, the current Government is 'a pack of bastards'.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson called the coalition government “a pack of bastards” and said the language was not harsh enough given their policies.

Davidson said the words were fair due to the real-life damage they have been doing to people, women, disabled people and Māori.

The Green Party launched a $3 billion energy policy including zero-interest loans for 90% of households to install solar panels.

This video is part of this week’s episode of The Hui. The full episode is at the bottom of the story. The reporting was produced by The Hui and has been published by Stuff with permission. For more stories and videos from The Hui, click here. The Hui is made with the support of Te Māngai Pāho and New Zealand On Air.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson has labelled the coalition government “a pack of bastards”.

And when challenged by The Hui presenter Julian Wilcox that her language was “harsh”, Davidson doubled down.

“It's not harsh enough, Julian. The real-life damage that they have been doing to people, women, disabled people, Māori, the trampling over Te Tiriti, the absolute desecration of our tāiao, our living systems. There's far stronger words. I'm being mild.”

Davidson said people were feeling that their communities had been “spat on”.

“Let's just look at women workers and having their hundreds of thousands of pay equity claims stolen, real cuts when it comes to wages and incomes, cost of living through the roof.

“People are struggling to heat and eat, are struggling to pay their rent; people are doing their best. People are feeling that and they're not about to be gaslit that things are okay.”

Marama Davidson told The Hui presenter Julian Wilcox that her language around the coalition government was not harsh.

Davidson was speaking ahead of the launch of the Green Party energy policy on Monday.

The $3 billion energy policy includes zero-interest loans for 90% of households to install solar panels; scaling up solar panels and batteries on publicly owned housing or facilities, and legalising plug-in solar for tenants.

“We will return solar to community ownership. Yes, marae, schools, rec centres, libraries, places of worship. With the solar installation, we can get that going as early as the next six months.”

Under the policy, loans will also support low-income households to switch from gas to electricity.

New Kiwipower entity

The policy sees the establishment of a new Crown entity, Kiwipower, which will focus on new renewable generation and firming capacity.

Davidson said the policy of returning control of power back to communities would help businesses and industries employing whānau Māori in rural and provincial centres like Tokoroa.

“Many Māori generations of whānau know what it's like to have industry shut down. Our energy policy will ensure that we have affordable power bills, returning community-owned renewable energy back to communities, and interrupt the big corporate, big power energy companies, returning energy to be a public good.”

Davidson acknowledged that recent polling still put the National, New Zealand First and ACT coalition ahead and that the centre-right block would scrape back to Government if that was replicated in the election on November 7.

She said the governing coalition’s strategy was to deter people from voting.

“People are feeling absolutely trodden on by this government. [It] is a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling of wanting to not engage, wanting to not vote. So that is intentional, that is by design.

“This government's strategy is to put people off; is to make people think that ‘the system's got nothing to do with me; I'm not going to be any part of it’.”

Work to do

The latest RNZ Reid Research poll has the Green Party on 10.3% - behind their 2023 election night vote of 11.6%.

Davidson acknowledged the party had work to do but said support for the Greens was strong and the party’s grassroots campaign was ahead of schedule.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson discusses the party’s newly released energy policy, the upcoming election campaign and her thoughts on the coalition government. Warning: strong language.

“We're at a stage of planning and support that we have not seen in this stage of an election cycle. People are hungry for hope, and that's what we are offering. People want to get involved and be part of something offering a positive vision and solution for affordable lives, protecting taiao and honest politics for all of us.”

Asked about whether the Greens would work with the Opportunity party which is hovering just under the 5% threshold to get into Parliament, Davidson was dismissive.

“After all of the spit from this government on our communities, after their anti-Tiriti [policies] this past three years, after desecrating the protections for our environment, TOP [Opportunity] are still open to keeping Luxon and that bastard government in power. That's what I think.”

Full weekly episodes of The Hui are live on Stuff and Whakaata Māori from 7.30pm each Monday. Here’s this week’s show: