The Green Party has today launched a plan for cheaper power bills, cleaner electricity generation, and a smarter electricity network. The Empowering New Zealand comprehensive plan for the electricity sector includes: $112 million for winter warm-up payments to help low-income households cover their power bills setting a goal for 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 (in average hydrological conditions) an investigation into the electricity wholesale market encouraging lines companies to work together and embrace new technology to bring down costs...

The Green Party supports the findings of the People’s Mental Health Review, released today, and is calling on the Government to now do its job and hold an inquiry into our strained mental health system. “Time and time again we’re hearing stories of New Zealanders not being able to get the help they need. The Government needs to do right by those people and their families, and find out why,” Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “People accessing...

Payday has been hard fought for by women who work in the aged-care, home support and disability service sector, thanks to Kristine Bartlett, unions and supporters around the country, the Green Party said today. The Government is expected to announce a settlement in the historic pay-equity case today, with 55,000 mostly female workers set to receive a pay rise. “Women have been consciously underpaid and have been fighting for more pay for far too long. Today’s announcement is long overdue,”...

A joint investigation into aged care has revealed serious concerns with the quality of aged-care facilities and access to home care services across the country, the Green Party and Labour said today. Labour and the Green Party have joined with Grey Power to investigate aged care in New Zealand, revisiting the 2010 review which saw 20 nationwide meetings with over 1200 people involved. The current tour has already visited Rotorua, Golden Bay, Nelson and Levin, and will continue in Kelston,...

A joint investigation into aged care has revealed serious concerns with the quality of aged-care facilities and access to home care services across the country, the Green Party and Labour said today. Labour and the Green Party have joined with Grey Power to investigate aged care in New Zealand, revisiting the 2010 review which saw 20 nationwide meetings with over 1200 people involved. The current tour has already visited Rotorua, Golden Bay, Nelson and Levin, and will continue in Kelston,...

A capital gains tax on property speculators is urgently needed to rebalance the housing market, as the median nationwide house price rose to over half a million dollars today, the Green Party said. “New Zealand under National has become a housing speculator’s paradise, and normal working families are paying the price,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “A capital gains tax (excluding the family home) has to be at the centre of any plan to fix the housing crisis. It’s...

Support for Green MP Steffan Browning’s member’s bill is a win for the vast majority of New Zealanders who want to know where the food they buy is produced, the Green Party said today.

The Government’s weak strategy for cleaning up fresh water won’t undo years of abuse, unless we change our farming model, and take a hard long look at how we develop land in this country, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of a report by the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman, which found that some waterways are beyond tipping point and others will take decades to recover. “When even National’s science advisor is...

The Green Party’s Home for Life Policy is a way to achieve the social and economic gains of getting people into their own homes, outlined in a new report by the New Zealand Housing Foundation and BERL Economic Research released today. Green Party policy would see thousands of families buy their own affordable home through a progressive ownership rent-to-buy programme. “Home ownership is out of reach for too many working families, and it’s time to turn that around with a...

Today’s report from the Waitangi Tribunal is a wake-up call about National’s failure to tackle Māori overrepresentation in the justice system, the Green Party said today. The Tribunal found the Department of Corrections in breach of the Treaty principles of equity and active protection because of an insufficient focus on Māori  reoffending, and has recommended urgent reforms. “What we are seeing is more evidence of a Government which is content with doing the bare minimum. Today’s findings from the Tribunal should...