OPINION: If you are worried about the Greens' influence in Government I urge you to relax.
Yes, they polled their best numbers ever but it doesn't mean anything. They only ever support Labour and this time they aren't needed by anyone.
As the cards fall, they are not needed and have no negotiating power whatsoever - not that they could see that on the night. They got way ahead of themselves - dancing and boogying like they had won.
But they forgot one thing - Labour had won so big that Ardern doesn't need them.
Ardern didn't mention the Greens once in her election night speech because she read the room. Well, maybe not the room, but the country. A whole bunch of New Zealanders voted Labour for the first time.
They gave Ardern the strongest hand possible in a bid to limit the Greens' influence. The truth is, the Greens are about as relevant as ACT - except they are die hard lefties so they support Ardern and Labour no matter what.
The Prime Minister gets the Greens for free and she knows it. She'll throw them a bone to stop them whining; a few programmes and maybe a job or two in case she needs to spread the blame later and keep them up her sleeve for 2023.
But she should not feel any pressure to include them as ministers of anything - she may well put them in their place.
Ardern has heard the call of the middle class - her mandate is clear.
Duncan Garner hosts The AM Show
