Last week, we rolled up to the mighty Waikato on the final day of our swimmable rivers tour. Co-Leader James Shaw, Denise Roche MP and I started our day in Horotiu where the primary school has been focussing on the awa and its many issues. The tamariki presented us about their research on the state […]
The government’s pursuit of free trade agreements at any cost has now turned to some of the most unique but vulnerable societies in the world – our Pacific neighbours. The government is again pushing a trade agreement that undermines the majority of people, social equity, the environment and cultural heritage. There is another reality behind […]
Last month the relatively new foreign minister of our realm, Hon Gerry Brownlee, steered a wobbly diplomatic course on Israeli settlements, which became leveraged to a political level. In May, he described UN Security Council resolution 2334 of December ’16, adopted 14-0-1 with the US abstaining, as ‘premature’. In fact, New Zealand had co-sponsored, and […]
Energy Minister Judith Collins yesterday released the new New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and it’s very disappointing. It’s unambitious, continues business as usual & won’t achieve much. It continues National’s well-worn tactic of playing tricks, rather than actually doing anything. Here’s three reasons why: 1. Targets so low it would be impossible to […]
The real estate advertisement is spot on in describing Mt White Station as an “iconic” South Island high country station. The 40,000 hectare property is adjacent to Arthur’s Pass National Park and the upper reaches of the Waimakariri River. Mt White Station is the second largest pastoral lease in New Zealand still owned by the […]
The Green Party strongly supports the Tertiary Education Unions call to #KeepitPublic. Keep what public? Our quality tertiary education system that National is trying to open up to more private for-profit providers with a new law change. The (Tertiary Education and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is before the select committee and gives private tertiary institutions equal […]
It’s ridiculous for an electricity distribution monopoly to apply a charge on solar panels but worse than that, it’s harming our effort to tackle climate change. Hawke’s Bay lines company Unison last year announced a new solar charge for their customers, the more commonly-known ‘solar tax’. A complaint was lodged at the Electricity Rulings Panel […]
I’m really proud that yesterday, on World Refugee Day, the Greens launched an ambitious plan to increase the refugee quota to 5000 over the next six years. Of those places, 4,000 will be directly resettled by the government and another 1,000 will be community sponsored placements – replicating a very successful programme that has been […]
Today, mental health workers are filing an equal pay claim through their unions. Mental health support workers do important and difficult work in our communities. But because the workforce is largely female, they are not paid enough. It’s wrong for women to be earning so much less than men in 2017. There desperately needs to […]
Haere ngā mate ki tua o paerau; te moenga roa o ngā mātua tupuna. Haere, haere, haere. It was with a huge sense of loss that we learned of the death of Dame Nganeko Minhinnick yesterday. The Green Party acknowledges the extraordinary contribution that she has made to environmental protection, katiakitanga rights and in the […]