Government mismanagment threatens "double disaster"

The Government must rule out mass sales of New Zealand rural land to overseas buyers if it’s to avoid a double disaster as the dairying slump forces farmers to the wall, the Green Party says.

Finance Minister Bill English this morning admitted the dairy industry is in an extreme scenario yet he had no solution to offer farmers other than that he hoped they’d “get through”.

“New Zealand is facing the prospect of a double disaster as the dairying slump flows through to the rest of the economy, and the Government’s lax overseas land sales rules risk large tracts of productive land being sold off overseas,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.

“National’s dairy strategy has become a personal disaster for farming families whose finances are at breaking point, and will be a long term disaster for the whole country if it leads to farms being sold to overseas buyers.

“The Government must take responsibility for the economic disaster it has caused by encouraging farmers to convert to dairying and increase their debt. Bill English should today rule out the sale of productive land overseas, and offer distressed farmers a practical way forward.

“The signing of the TPPA recently only makes the threat of mass land sales overseas worse, as the Government effectively welcomed overseas interests to buy up New Zealand land under the deal.

“It would be a double disaster to New Zealand, if as a result of the Government’s mismanagement of the dairying disaster, the economy tanks and large chunks of our precious land is sold off overseas,” Mrs Turei said.

Action

Gender-Affirming Care is a Human Right

Submit on the Ministry of Health's consultation on Gender-Affirming care.

Action

Hauraki open letter

Sign our open letter to protect the Hauraki Gulf Marine Reserves

Action

Ditch the Bootcamps - Make a submission

Make a submission on the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill. Help us call for an end to the Bootcamps.

Action

Treaty Principles Submission Guide

Make a unique submission on the Treaty Principles Bill.

Action

How to get involved - Treaty Principles

Information on how to make a submission, volunteer or run your own event.

Action

Submit for Climate Action

Submit today to ask the Government to commit to strong Climate Change targets.

Action

Build Dunedin Hospital

Take our poll on how the Government should spend its money, and email Christopher Luxon telling him your thoughts.

Action

Oil & Gas Quick Submissions 2024

Sign the quick submission to save the oil & gas ban!

Action

Stop Fast-track Destruction

Join our call to stop the Fast-track Approvals Bill.

Action

Protect te reo Māori

Sign our petition asking Minister Erica Stanford to keep prioritising the teaching of te reo Māori.

Action

Cut the Coal Petition | Join the movement

Fight back: Tell the government that coal mining is not our future.

Action

Protect Our Freshwater

Join our Green MPs in calling for the government to protect freshwater. Proposed changes to the Resource Management Act threaten New Zealand's...

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Finance Announcements

Story

Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity

The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure ...

RBNZ lowers OCR, Govt continues ‘let them eat cake’ strategy

While the Reserve Bank lowers the Official Cash Rate, it’s this Government’s policies driving poverty in our communities.

Trickle-down tax cuts while the planet and social contract burns

The Government’s bloody-minded commitment to delivering trickle-down tax cuts at all costs comes at the expense of investment in people and planet.

Minister of Finance reheats austerity politics

This morning’s pre-Budget speech from the Minister of Finance offered no “meaningful” news on the Government’s trickle-down economics based plans.

Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fire

Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choos...

Cold climate cuts for Christmas

Once again, the National Party has shown a breathtaking willingness to say one thing during an election campaign and then do the exact opposite whe...

Petition

Take action to protect our oceans

We’re taking the health of our oceans seriously and our Thriving Oceans Plan sets out exactly how the Green Party will protect them so we all can e...

TAKE ACTION

Policy

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Policy

The Green Party will support the agricultural sector through a just transition to reduce its emissions, minimise harmful inputs and practices, rege...

Story

Review of live animal exports needed to protect animal welfare and New Zealand’s agricultural brand

The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor to review New Zealand’s live animal exports rules. “New Ze...

Cameras on boats must be quickly scaled up: Greens

The Green Party is glad to finally see the rollout of cameras on selected fishing boats but believes it needs to be scaled-up fast. “We need camera...

More measures to protect Hector’s dolphins

Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage are accelerating work to improve protection of the nationally endangered Hect...

Commercial water charge the right thing to do

Using water for commercial gain is a privilege that should be paid for, the Green Party said today. “We recognise that the issue of charging for wa...