News

  • Green Party welcomes new Labour leader

    Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman congratulated Andrew Little on his election as Labour Party leader this afternoon. “Congratulations to Andrew Little and to the Labour Party for running an open and democratic leadership contest,” Dr Norman said. “We have had good working relationships with previous Labour leaders and look forward to building on this with Andrew Little. “We share common ground with Labour in a number of important policy areas. “We look forward to continuing to build a constructive...
  • Report into Brownlee security breach should be released

    The Government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) should release the report into former Minister of Transport Gerry Brownlee’s airport security breach, the Green Party said today. “The actions of a Minister of Transport breaching security at an airport are a matter of high public interest,” Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said today. The CAA said that after its investigation it had required Gerry Brownlee to pay a $2000 fine while two parliamentary aides had been issued formal warning...
  • National’s cuts to R&D will hurt economy

    National’s planned cuts to research and development (R&D) funding will further undermine New Zealand’s future economic performance, the Green Party said today. A Grant Thornton International Business Report survey places New Zealand near the bottom of the table of 34 countries for forward investment in R&D. Only 12 percent of New Zealand businesses expect to increase their investment in R&D – a figure considerably less than our major trading partners China (36 percent), Australia (31 percent), the United States (27...
  • NZ joins G20 climate problem

    Confirmation this morning by John Key that his Government plans to do nothing to turn around NZ's rapidly rising greenhouse emissions means that New Zealand joins Australia as one of the problem children at the G20 meeting in Brisbane, the Green Party said.
  • Australia and New Zealand Green parties call for greater action on climate and inequality at G20

    The leaders of the Australian and New Zealand Green parties are calling on their respective governments to take action on climate change and inequality at the G20 meeting in Brisbane this weekend - topics that are absent from the agenda of the meeting of the world’s richest nations. “The two most significant issues facing the world at the moment are rapidly rising inequality and out of control climate change.  The G20 leaders have their heads in the sand when it...
  • Merkel’s visit highlights our embarrassing record on climate

    The Green Party is calling on John Key to emulate Germany’s record on addressing climate change, on the eve of the visit by Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Germany has adopted smart economic measures to address climate change resulting in a 24 percent reduction in net emissions since 1990. New Zealand’s net emissions have increased by 88 percent over the same time period. “John Key likes to have his picture taken standing alongside global leaders yet is failing to show true...
  • National’s promised surplus looking doubtful

    Budget figures for the first quarter of the financial year released today by Treasury show the Government’s goal of achieving a budget surplus is looking doubtful, the Green Party said today. “National has staked its credibility on achieving a budget surplus this year, but even that limited goal is looking increasingly dubious,” Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today. Treasury said today the operating budget deficit for the first three months of the financial year was $725 million, $79...