Labour is snubbing the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders by ruling out a coalition with the Greens, Green Party Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said today.

"Poll after poll indicates that a majority of New Zealanders do not want Labour to lift the moratorium on the commercial release of GE organisms into the environment.

"This is the one and only 'bottom line' the Green Party would bring into coalition talks with Labour and Helen Clark's refusal to even consider that option defies both logic and the wishes of most of her own supporters.

"The fact that Helen Clark sees more common ground in the xenophobic policies of Winston Peters than with the Greens speaks volumes about how far right the Labour Party has shifted in recent years and how much further it is prepared to go in order to retain power.

"Perhaps she could explain to Labour's Maori members exactly what Mr Peters meant when he described Maoridom yesterday as the 'white man's burden?'

"The final decision on who forms the next Government of New Zealand is in the hands of the voters," said Jeanette Fitzsimons, "and with every utterance Helen Clark makes the choice for them more simple.

"Only a Green vote will keep Labour honest to the principles it was founded on."

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