Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged the death of former Green Party Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons.

“Jeanette was a steward of the New Zealand environmental political movement,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“Starting out in the Values Party in the 1970s, through to entering Parliament as part of the Alliance in 1996 and becoming the only Green to ever win an electorate seat in 1999, Jeanette was a ground breaker in Green politics.

“During her 14 years in parliament she was an early voice for action on issues now considered mainstream like climate change, the deteriorating state of our water and clean energy.

“She served as the Government spokesperson for Energy Efficiency and was the architect of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.

“Jeanette once polled as the most trustworthy party leader in New Zealand, a fitting endorsement of her kind, caring and passionate brand of politics.

“My thoughts are with Jeanette’s husband Harry, her children, grandchildren and her friends in politics and the wider green movement.

“New Zealand has lost someone completely and utterly driven by values, who embodied the notion of leaving this place better than they found it. Jeanette did that,” Jacinda Ardern said.

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