Greens Deputy Leader with National Roots Vows to 'Bury' Party Legacy

Steph Hodgins-May, the Greens’ new deputy leader, announced a radical plan to “bury” the National Party’s legacy, a move that sparked a mix of jokes and outrage. The irony is not lost on observers, given that her great-great-grandfather helped create the very party she now seeks to compost.

The announcement took place in a setting that resembled a botanical garden more than a press room, complete with a giant green coffin and a soundtrack of crickets. Hodgins-May clarified that the “burying” was metaphorical, though the appearance of a lawnmower to dig a trench in the lawn left the crowd momentarily uncertain about the level of commitment involved.

She outlined a public ceremony where the Nationals would be laid to rest beneath a mound of mulch, with trees planted for every fossil-fuel-friendly policy she deems obsolete. The event is scheduled for the next sitting day, where the lawnmower will carve a trench in the shape of a question mark, symbolizing her uncertainty about the party’s future.

National Party members reacted with bemusement, with one senior MP noting that they were not ready for the garden party. Hodgins-May framed her lineage as a “family legacy of political ambition,” arguing that it gives her a rightful claim to the heritage she intends to green-revolutionize.