The Budget

With 320 job losses at Sealord's Nelson mussel factory and 138 meatworks jobs going from Dunedin, Thursday's budget needs to raise benefits and rebuild local economies, Green Party Regional Development Spokesperson Sue Bradford says.

Dairy companies, rather than the taxpayer, should be responsible for a more than half a billion dollar bill for carbon credits to cover ballooning greenhouse emissions coming out of an ever-expanding industrial dairy sector, says the Green Party.

The fact that those on the top 39c tax rate can take advantage of the corporate tax cut, divert money into portfolio investment entities and reap a considerable tax advantage underlines the basic unfairness of this year's Budget measures

The Greens will be pushing during the fine tuning by Parliament of the new petrol tax for the revenues to be put towards rail electrification and related public transport projects - Green Party Auckland Transport Spokesperson Keith Locke says.

The Labour Government's 2007 Budget smacks of 'greenwash', with the only concessions to carbon neutrality and sustainability stemming from pressure from the Green Party, Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.

A new report shows why it is vital to link company tax cuts in the Budget to energy efficiency investments and other sustainability measures taken by companies, Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman says.

The Howard government is providing an example of unsustainable economic management by using the income generated by mining royalties in order to pay for tax cuts.