Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders of New Zealand's Green Party, a potential coalition partner for Prime Minister Helen Clark, met company executives this week. The goal, said party co-leader Rod Donald: ``We want the wider business community to understand that we are not the devils they sometimes make us out to be.''

Mission not accomplished. ``They're scary,'' Michael Barnett, chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and one of the attendees, said in an interview after the meeting. The party's positions ``fall into the category of being extreme and out of touch.''

The enmity between the Greens and commerce is a critical issue for Clark since the Sept. 17 parliamentary elections that left her Labour Party with 50 seats, just one more than the main opposition National Party.

Clark needs 62 votes to pass laws, and wants the support of the Greens' six seats. At the same time, corporate leaders don't want to see the Greens in government, saying their support for such things as a higher minimum wage, water restrictions on factories and farms and opposition to free trade may harm the $97 billion economy.

The Greens' meeting with executives including Theresa Gattung, chief executive of Telecom Corp., New Zealand's biggest publicly held company, may have been intended ``to demonstrate to Clark that they are getting on with business,'' said Ray Miller, political scientist at Auckland University. ``She realizes well enough what the relationship is.''

Coalition Talks

Clark is in talks with as many as five minor parties as she seeks to muster enough support to govern. She declined to comment on the negotiations, spokesman Mike Munro said.

To ease concern about the Greens, Clark may leave them out of a formal coalition, Miller said. Labour lost support in provincial cities and towns to the National Party, which favors tax cuts and less government spending.

``Labour wants to appeal to middle New Zealand, the moderate center,'' he said. Clark is ``mindful of her own legacy. She wouldn't want to be seen pandering to left-wing groups.''

The Greens say New Zealand must do more to protect the environment. The country of 4 million people relies on tourism for about 10 percent of its economy, which the central bank on Sept. 15 forecast will grow 2.4 percent this year, half last year's pace. State-run Tourism New Zealand uses the slogan ``100 Percent Pure New Zealand,'' promoting the country's natural attractions to lure 2.4 million tourists a year.

`Nothing to Fear'

``Good businesses have nothing to fear from the Greens,'' the party's Donald said in a Sept. 20 statement.

Business leaders disagree, saying a policy such as boosting the minimum wage 26 percent to NZ$12 ($8.17) an hour would add undue costs to businesses already facing a slowing economy.

``Many small retailers couldn't sustain a higher minimum wage,'' said Barry Hellberg, executive director of the New Zealand Retailers Association, which counts more than 5,000 store owners as members. ``It would drive some out of business.''

The Greens' role in the parliament is a cliffhanger after it garnered 5.1 percent of the vote in the election, just enough to win seats. Some 218,000 special votes, cast by people outside of their own electorates on polling day, are still being counted, meaning the Greens could dip below the 5 percent threshold.

Support for the party slipped in the latest poll, from eight seats they held in the previous parliament.

Funding Welfare

The Greens worry business because they combine a commitment to the environment with policies on trade, industrial relations, tax and welfare that run contrary to the free-market policies that favor business, Auckland University's Miller said. They're ``a thorn in the flesh to business,'' he said.

The Greens are opposed to corporate tax cuts and want to boost welfare payments. They say that workers should have the right to strike on political or economic issues, not just over employment, according to the party's Web site.

They are opposed to free trade arrangements with nations that pay workers low wages, and they want a review of New Zealand's commitments to the World Trade Organization. A Green government would impose tariffs to protect local manufacturers and encourage consumers to buy locally made goods.

Final counting of votes from the election is scheduled to be finished tomorrow and an announcement is expected about 11 a.m. local time, the chief electoral officer said in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 29, 2005 20:03 EDT