Zack Polanski says Greens would ditch GDP targets and focus on wellbeing instead

"Actually, I'm much more interested in growing people's mental health, growing our public services, growing cohesion in our communities. If we're looking at GDP—if a water company pumps sewage into the water and then pays for that to be cleaned up, then that technically improves your GDP, and that's economic growth. That would seem absurd to most people, and it's not a way to do it."

"Your missions should be cross-cutting across all sectors, rather than being a mission that's about economic growth that can become arbitrary and then can result in perverse means to try and get to that end. Really, what we should actually be doing is looking at how we can improve people's lives in this country, make sure that our communities have more money in their pockets."

Green party leader Zack Polanski outlined an alternative economic approach rejecting GDP growth as a primary government target. He criticized what he termed 'rip-off Britain,' where asset owners benefit while ordinary people struggle with unaffordable housing and essentials. Polanski argued that GDP growth can create misaligned incentives, using sewage cleanup as an example of how harmful activities can technically boost GDP. Instead, governments should establish broader missions addressing climate change and inequality, with economic growth as a potential byproduct. This approach prioritizes improving people's lives, increasing household income, and strengthening communities over arbitrary growth metrics.

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