The Green Party will reform social support services to enable equitable access for all whānau, extend paid parental leave, reform Working for Families and lift minimum wage entitlements to eliminate child poverty in Aotearoa. We will promote greater collaboration across Government for the benefit of children, and support effective solutions to keep children from harm.
Vision
All children experience a joyful childhood and the best possible start to life.
Values and Principles
- Care: Children have the best opportunities in life when their whānau can provide them with aroha and emotional and material support. All children should be connected with their whānau, surrounded by love and respect, generosity and care, and have every opportunity to be healthy.
- Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Tamariki Māori have the right to be respected as tangata whenua and effective systems should be in place for their benefit. Their contribution should be recognised and encouraged and their culture allowed to thrive.
- Ecological Wisdom: Children and future generations should all have access to clean air and water, safe food and thriving ecosystems.
- Social Responsibility: Government has a crucial role in supporting parents and other caregivers in providing for their children, and in creating policies that put children first. The Government has a responsibility to protect the rights of marginalized and disadvantaged children.
- Appropriate Decision-Making: Children have valuable perspectives, and should be supported in their own initiatives and encouraged to participate in decisions affecting their lives, future, communities and the environment. Children should be supported to develop to their full potential, and become responsible, compassionate, engaged citizens.
- Non-Violence: All children have the right to be treated with respect and dignity, and they must be protected from all forms of abuse.
- Diversity: The cultural and gender identities of our diverse tamariki should be honoured and celebrated.
- Learning: Children should experience a childhood of exploration and discovery, including through a quality formal education.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“As a Party we strive to create a more connected, compassionate and equal Aotearoa, free from structural biases that discriminate against groups and individuals.”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Support the co-design with tangata whenua of an evidence-based nationwide child wellbeing strategy that cements children’s rights, including the rights of tamariki and rangatahi Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. (1.3)
- Ensure that legislation, policy and practice meet Aotearoa New Zealand’s human rights obligations under the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) and that the UNCROC’s recommendations are fully implemented. (1.4)
- Work with marginalised peoples, including children, to uphold their rights. (1.8)
- Improve and ensure equitable access to social services for children with additional needs and their whānau, focused on both early intervention and continued support, including adequate resourcing of and access to respite services for parents. (2.1)
- Support by Māori, for Māori solutions, that enable tamariki to stay with whānau (...). (4.1)
- Review and reform the Child Support system to ensure it operates in a way to best benefit children and young people. (3.3)
Connected Policies
When whānau and communities thrive, children thrive. Improving children’s lives requires lifting incomes at all levels (see our Household Livelihoods Policy), and supporting parents in and outside of work (see our Workforce and Women’s Policies). protecting the wellbeing of the natural world and supporting their deep connection with it (see our Environmental Protection, Climate Change, and Conservation Policies). See also our Education, Health, Housing and Sustainable Communities, Justice, and Youth Policies.
