The Green Party is calling on the Government to rule out huge increases to electricity lines charges, in the wake of a suggestion from the Electricity Authority that some households could be facing $500 increases to their yearly electricity bills just because of where they live.

The Pope’s call for urgent action on climate change highlights an absence of leadership on climate from the National Government, the Green Party said today. The Pope is set to release his encyclical on climate change today at noon Vatican time (10:00pm New Zealand time). A draft of the document was leaked on Monday. “The Pope’s call for urgent action on climate change is further evidence that the National Government is not only out of step with ordinary New Zealanders...

The Government needs to urgently address cuts to the Police budget and push resources back into frontline community policing, the Green Party said today. In last month’s Budget, the allocation for Vote Police dropped by one percent from 1.624 billion to 1.609 billion according to the New Zealand Police Association. Police spending peaked in 2010 and has been falling since, down 5.7 percent to 2015 and 11.5 percent out to 2018 in real terms.

The illegal export of ancient swamp kauri logs needs to stop and a Ministerial inquiry started to prevent more environmental destruction and the loss of New Zealand taonga, the Green Party said today. “It’s clear that the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) is allowing ancient swamp kauri logs to be exported to China, despite this being illegal under the Forests Act 1949,” said Green Party conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “The restrictions on the removal of swamp kauri from wetlands and the...

The Green Party has launched a Member’s Bill that would require the Government to lift New Zealand’s refugee quota to 1000 per year, the first increase in 28 years. The Bill is being launched in advance of world refugee day this Saturday and comes on the heels of calls for New Zealand to increase its refugee quota. The current quote is 750. “John Key has said increasing our quota won’t do much, but it will make a massive difference to...

An International Energy Agency report out today shows the need for New Zealand to develop a clear and practical plan to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions, the Green Party said. “The IEA report has some useful pointers that the Government must act on to reduce fossil fuel burning for energy use and end fossil fuel subsidies immediately,” Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “New Zealand needs a plan to reduce emissions at home, as well as to keep contributing...

The Green Party is asking the Prime Minister confirm whether he supports paying money to people smugglers, as the Australian Government has been accused of doing.

The Government must honour Treaty settlements and allow Ngati Whatua, Tainui and other iwi first right of refusal on Crown-owned land, rather than trying to please its property developer mates, the Green Party said today. “What a complete and utter shambles ­– the Government is cheating iwi, young Aucklanders who are desperate to buy their own homes and our legal system,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today. “John Key, Nick Smith and Bill English are the fairy godfathers of...

Ten percent pay rises for CEOs are evidence of an economy based on entrenched inequality, the Green Party said today, following the release of The New Zealand Herald’s executive pay survey. “Most ordinary working New Zealanders would have been lucky to get a two or three percent pay rise in 2014, but CEOs are getting ten percent or more,” Green Party industrial relations spokesperson Denise Roche said. “These CEO pay figures show how normalised such extreme inequality has become. It...

All new legislation would get put to the ‘climate change test’ under a new Members Bill launched by the Green Party today at the Federation of Asia-Pacific Green Parties Congress in Wellington. The Climate Impact Disclosure Statement Bill will require all new legislation introduced to Parliament to be accompanied by a Climate Impact Disclosure Statement that outlines what impact, if any, the new legislation would be likely to have on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.