What’s the point of the Green Party? It is better for their MPs to be pure and idealistic? Or is it better to be pragmatic and open to compromise?

That’s the curious internal debate MPs from The Greens must constantly be having as part of this government. But after yet another concession, which I’m sure their hardest supporters would consider a capitulation rather than a compromise, you have to wonder if James Shaw, Marama Davidson and co are striking the right balance between pragmatism and idealism if they want to have a future in parliament.

When I interviewed Winston Peters on Monday afternoon he indicated the government would be making some concessions to farmers with the emissions trading scheme. But when the deal was announced three days later, a deal the Greens have agreed to, it was even more generous than Winston had been suggesting.

Once again, the government kicked for touch. Pushed a tough decision down the road. Farmers won’t be paying anything for their emissions for the next five years - and anything beyond that is now two elections in the future, for another government to worry about. This, despite farmers having had an eleven year free pass to get used to the idea of being in the Emissions Trading Scheme.

I don’t want to get into the merits and pitfalls of the ETS this morning. But I do want to ask this: Two years in, what has The Green Party achieved in government that Labour wouldn’t have done alone? The plastic bag ban would probably have passed under Labour. The oil and gas exploration - maybe not? But that was hardly well-handled. And then consider all of the dead rats they’ve swallowed in exchange over the last 24 months.

James Shaw famously said they didn’t deserve to be re-elected if a capital gains tax failed, and what do you know. The Climate Change Commission will have no real teeth in order to mandate its targets. The Welfare Working Group had its recommendations largely ignored. And don’t forget, it was The Greens that originally pitched and pushed for the ludicrous budget responsibility rules, which have pinned this government to an arbitrary debt target while our DHBs are in deficit and the country pleads for better infrastructure.

So again, what’s the point of The Greens being in government? There is still time for them prove their worth. The Zero Carbon Act will come to define the Green caucus. Already, the young people at the front line of climate protest movement say the bill in its current form falls short.

So while everyone looking at the polls fusses over New Zealand First below that 5% and wonders what Winston Peters will do next year to differentiate himself heading into the election, I’m maybe more interested in The Greens. I know some of their MPs quietly feel huge frustration at the limitations of their position. Idealism or pragmatism? What do you choose? Neither option is perfect.

But when everyone watching that Emissions Trading Scheme announcement focused on what it means for rural New Zealand, I was thinking of those hundreds of thousands of students who’ve marched in the streets for climate action this year.

They don’t get a reprieve. So far, when it matters, they get ignored. And come this time next year, least they chalk up some real victories, I think the Greens are flirting with the wrong side of 5 percent.