Kia ora
When I was at university, I read the student mag, went to Student Health, got a job through Student Job Search, and even had some free bread from the foodbank once when I was skint.
Essential student services like this are under threat from Roger Douglas' Bill to make membership of students' associations voluntary. Student representation will suffer, and funding for these services, as well as for university sports teams and cultural groups, will dry up.
Please have your say on this Bill right now. It only takes a minute, and there's help on offer from the Save our Services coalition. If you like, send me a copy so I can represent your views when the Bill comes back to Parliament. Submissions close on 31st March.
Gareth Hughes, Green MP
- recommended 
- includes video
Action alert
Universal student association membership
Make a submission using the Save our Services coalition's online form. Submissions close on 31st March.
News
TVNZ cost-cutting strategy worthy of Dilbert's boss
18 March 2010
TVNZ's proposal to make savage cuts to its news and current affairs is an idiotic strategy worthy of the bosses of the Dilbert comic strip, said Green Party Broadcasting spokesperson Sue Kedgley. Read more...
New Zealander's detention in Japan Unlawful?
17 March 2010
"Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully has conceded jurisdiction in this case to Japan, but Japan's claim is arguably invalid. All the talk of the Government not being able to interfere with the Japanese legal system is a farce. The New Zealand legal system could be dealing with this issue," Green Party Oceans Spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. Read more...
Put whaling on trial, not Pete Bethune
16 March 2010
The New Zealand Government should denounce the arrest of whaling protester Pete Bethune and use all available diplomatic channels to bring him home, the Green Party said today. "The brutal practice of whaling itself that should be on trial, not people like Pete Bethune who are trying to prevent it," Green Party Oceans Spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. Read more...
Free the whale-defender; put whaling on trial instead
13 March 2010
"The New Zealand Government must pull out all stops to get Pete Bethune freed from the Japanese authorities," said Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei. "We want our boy back home as soon as possible." Read more...
Blog posts
Firefighters deserve clean air in their workspace - by Kevin Hague
The Green Party are siding with the firefighters in their bid to have extractors installed at their workplaces.
The DominionPost reported yesterday that the Fire Service was dragging its feet over the installation of diesel fume extractors at fifteen fire stations around the country. The extractors are expensive -- $15,000 per unit -- and the Fire Service claims there… Read more...
Drunk in charge of a sickness benefit - by frog
No, that's not my headline. The dubious honour for this beneficiary bashing excuse for journalism belongs to the Southland Times, which revealed (shock, horror):
Figures obtained under the Official Information Act show 100 people who claim sickness-related and invalids benefits in the Queenstown-Lakes and Southland regions cite drug or alcohol abuse as a reason for being unable to work.
Hang on a minute! It is not beneficiaries who cite alcohol or… Read more...
McCully, it's time to bring home Bethune - by Gareth Hughes
I'm looking forward to meeting the Steve Irwin and her crew when they arrive in Wellington tomorrow.
While life goes on as normal in Parliament it seems the Government has forgotten we have a Kiwi sitting, right now, in a Japanese jail.
I asked the Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, on Tuesday what he was doing to help New Zealander Peter Bethune. Mr Bethune did what our Government hasn't done, which… Read more...
Dodging Roger's Bill - by Gareth Hughes
Yesterday the National Party shot down Sir Roger Douglas' dreams of returning New Zealand back to Victorian England by saying they will not support his Members' Bill which would have re-introduced youth rates.
It's a rare piece of good news out of the Beehive, but let's face it; the bill was a stupid idea to begin with.
A Treasury study in 2004, three years after the legislation removing youth… Read more...
Save Radio NZ meeting - pictures and report - by Sue Kedgley
Save Radio NZ meeting – a packed St John’s in the city – Wellington
150 people showed up last night to a Save Radio New Zealand meeting organised jointly by myself and Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson.
Gaylene Preston and Jon Johansson also spoke, along with many members… Read more...
Coal and Sustainable Energy: An exciting essay topic - by Kennedy Graham
To the CEO of Solid Energy:
Dear Sir,
I understand that your corporation is sponsoring an essay competition for schoolchildren in Southland, West Coast, Canterbury and Waikato. The essay, up to 1500 words, must address "The Role of Coal in Sustainable Energy Solutions for New Zealand."
I am not sure if there is an age limit this year, but as a mature New Zealander I am excited at the chance to participate… Read more...
Whale for Sale - by frog
The current media attention on whaling provides still more evidence that the claim of ’scientific research’ is a lie.
Protestors are brandishing cans of whale meat outside the NZ embassy in Tokyo and there’s whale sushi for sale in Los Angeles.
It is a timely reminder that this is a debate about killing whales for their meat – always has been – and there’s universal agreement on that.
But… Read more...
Speeches
Save Radio New Zealand - Sue Kedgley MP, 17 March 2010
I was called yesterday by a man who works as an electricity meter reader and who cant be here tonight. He phoned me to say that he cares passionately about saving Radio New Zealand because it is such an important part of his life. He listens to Radio New Zealand all day long, and says it keeps him sane, as well as well informed, and he looks upon it as his university of life. And that is the case for thousands of New Zealanders, myself included. Watch video or read transcript...
"Steal these ideas, not the kids' inheritance" - Russel Norman's speech on the Appropriations (Financial Review) Bill - Russel Norman MP, 16 March 2010
How much better would our books be if we had invested a good proportion of the returns from the Maui gas field in a Gas Fund, whose dividends would now be helping our chronic current account deficit and budget deficit. Norway turned a good chunk its North Sea oil, its natural capital, into financial capital in the form of the giant half trillion dollar Norway Pension Fund. While NZ and the UK simply consumed our mineral resources and now have nothing to show for it except a few mothballed methanex Think Big plants. Watch video or read transcript...
