The Green Party has a comprehensive plan to address child poverty, and will start by reforming Working for Families to make it work for every low-income family. “The Green Party in Government will do what John Key refuses to – reduce child poverty across the board.  We are committed to that goal because, as a country, we can’t afford not to,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.   “The UN Sustainable Development Goals, which John Key committed to, call...

National needs to reverse its cuts to our Pacific climate aid programme, as a new report shows food and water shortages have worsened across the region, the Green Party said today. Caritas’ State of the Environment report, released today, says the Pacific has faced widespread hunger and thirst in 2016 as a result of El Niño and climate change. It describes climate-related support to the region as “inadequate” and notes that climate aid from New Zealand declined in 2016. This...

More New Zealand farmers should follow Landcorp’s lead and wind up their use of Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE) as animal feed, the Green Party said today. 

The Department of Conservation’s (DOC) plan to boost kiwi numbers to nearly 100,000 by 2030 needs to be fully funded by the Government, not left to charities to pick up the tab, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of the release of DOC’s Kiwi Recovery Plan 2017-2027, which relies on $1.3 million to be raised by charities, such as Kiwis for Kiwi, on top of the funding provided by the Government. “The Government could easily...

The Government needs to stop playing politics with children’s lives and agree to child poverty measures and reduction targets, the Green Party said today. The Prime Minister refused to commit to a child poverty reduction target on Morning Report today, following the Children Commissioner’s call over the weekend for him to do so. “It’s ridiculous that the Government is willing to spend time and money to come up with a target to eliminate possums in New Zealand, but refuses to...

The Havelock North outbreak calls into question the Government’s growth-at-any-cost economic strategy, says Green Party Co-leader James Shaw today, in response to comments today by professors of public health, Alistair Woodward and Simon Hales

The National Government is choosing to disregard the welfare of future generations by allowing polluters to pay less than half the true cost of their climate emissions, the Green Party said today. A new OECD study conservatively estimates the cost of future climate disasters caused by emissions today - such as droughts, floods and destructive storms - at around $NZ47 for every tonne of CO2. Polluters in New Zealand currently pay just $18.85 for each tonne CO2. "National falsely believes...

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26 September 2016 Environment Minister Nick Smith deserves a frosty reception when he chairs a major environment meeting of OECD countries, just days after the Government opened up half-a-million square kilometres of ocean to oil and gas exploration, the Green Party said today. Nick Smith heads to Paris today for the OECD Environment Ministerial meeting, where countries will share expertise and outline the steps they’re taking to curb greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the environment. “You can't open up half-a-million...

The Government’s Department of Corrections is performing abysmally and needs to be overhauled so that it stops costing tax-payers, prisoners and the wider community, the Green Party said today. “Finding out that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been held in prison for longer than they should have been is the latest in a long list of failures for this disastrous department,” said Green Party Corrections spokesperson David Clendon.   “Minister Judith Collins needs to front up and explain how...