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Election08 Volunteers and Interns needed!

We are looking for a range of volunteers and unpaid internships working in the National Election08 Campaign office. This is situated at 16 Cambridge Tce (& cnr Courtney Place), Wellington – working with our National Campaign Manager and other team members. Volunteer positions are extremely flexible while the internships (both part-time and full-time available) are more formally arranged within a similar structure to paid staff. An internship will be given closer support by the National Campaign Manager and appropriate references will also be provided to the outgoing interns. All positions are working on national strategy and national campaign priorities.

For expressions of interest contact: Gary Reese (National Campaign Manager) at gary.reese@greens.org.nz or ph (04) 801 8054

  1. Civil Society Strategy Team
  2. Activist Mobilisation Team
  3. Election08 Campaigner
  4. Digital/Internet Campaign Team
  5. Youth Campaign Team

1. Civil Society Strategy

We are creating a civil society campaign strategy for Election08. The Green Party and green politics are the natural political party voice for progressive social movements. The same popular uprising that gave birth to the modern (post 1960’s) environmental, human rights, women’s rights, international development, animal rights, peace, and ethnic rights movements directly led to the creation of the Green Party phenomena. Green politics also places civil society (such as volunteer groups and advocacy organizations) as a vital, central part of the political and societal space.

In New Zealand, there were 97,000 non-profit institutions operating in 2005. Nearly 500,00 volunteers and over 100,000 paid staff work in the non-profit sector in New Zealand. Our campaign strategy is to ensure these networks and groups of people know how well the Green Party reflects their own priorities and vision for the world. We are looking for one or two key volunteers or interns to coordinate this strategy. Involvement and an interest in Civil Society organisations are required.

2. Activist Mobilisation (Local Campaign Team Support)

Central to our election success are strong local campaign teams around our local candidates. It’s vital that we mobilize as many people as possible and there is a greater opportunity to do this than ever before. 2007 undoubtedly saw a substantial shift in people’s awareness and thinking on Climate Change, which naturally leads into greater awareness of other green issues. We will be using this opportunity and ensure we are open to many new people getting involved in our election campaign this year. This role includes the coordination, communication, training and support of all our local campaign teams. The support includes training in specific skill areas such as media and other campaign skills.

3. Election 08 Campaigner

This is a general position supporting our national campaign plan and strategies. Our first election-year nation-wide one month long campaign will begin on the 19th April with a range of techniques and a new creative simple message. This role would be supporting this opening campaign and other election campaign work throughout the election campaign that requires national coordination. Additionally this role would be closely supporting and assisting the National Campaign Manager in a wide range of responsibilities.

4. Digital/Internet Campaign

The emergence of the Internet and digital networks as a vital political tool will be one of the key features of the 2008 Election campaigns. The Green Party want to push digital/internet boundaries and ensure we are one step ahead of other political parties. A digital strategy for the ElectionCampaign08 is being developed, which includes text messaging, creating digital banners for web and blog sites, and the use of social networking and entertainment sites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. We require volunteers and interns to be a crucial part of this national strategy to be working within a large national team. Anyone with any moderate to high knowledge of the Internet and internet-based networks would be suitable. Additionally we are interested in people that have specialist skills or experience in multimedia design, video production skills, blogging, website design and editing etc.

5. Youth Campaign

This election year, the Greens are looking to young voters for renewed energy. After establishing its place in Parliament for the past nine years, the Party is once reaching out to the almost 630,000 young New Zealanders (aged 18 to 29) and those in tertiary education with a focussed strategy. The Youth/Tertiary Strategy looks at:

  • youth and student demographics;
  • policy focus areas and great potential policy initiatives;
  • new media and other campaign tools;
  • bringing together allies and engaged youth;
  • how to mobilize young voters and get them out to vote.

We are looking for an additional coordinator and volunteers to help coordinate the implementation of our strategy and to project manage specific youth-focused projects. This role would also include a close liaison with our Campus groups, Young Greens Network and our younger MPs.