Hekia Parata’s admission that the Government wants to tie school funding to achievement data, and her bizarre comments about charter schools and Apartheid, shows just how flawed National’s ideologically driven education reforms are, the Green Party said today. The Minister made the comments in her speech at the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) annual conference in Wellington. “The Minister has done a complete flip-flop on tying school funding to achievement data – first she ruled it out and now we’ve learned...

Shell’s decision to halt oil exploration off the Otago coast is another blow to the Government’s oil obsession, the Green Party said today. “Shell is joining the likes of Anadarko, Petrobras, and TAG Oil, who have all postponed, cut back, or cancelled their drilling operations in New Zealand waters," said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “The Government needs to see the writing on the wall – oil is a sunset industry and we need to be focusing on low-carbon economic...

The National Government should immediately move to secure and balance the rights of Kiwis living in Australia, said the Green Party today. Australia recently stepped up its policy of indiscriminate deportation of people who have been imprisoned for over 12 months, under new laws enacted in December 2014. Among those awaiting deportation in detention centres are about 300 New Zealanders. The New Zealand Green Party and the Australian Green Party have jointly called for these indiscriminate deportations to be halted,...

The Government should be showing leadership and replacing the Crown cars with high-end electric cars instead of buying 34 more diesel BMW limousines, the Green Party said. “The Government has wasted the opportunity to lead the way and start replacing the Crown fleet with electric cars, instead of buying more BMW diesels,” Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “The latest high-end electric cars like Teslas can travel about 400km on one charge so range is no excuse, especially...

The National Government still has time to extend the bright line test to five years to better curb rampant housing speculation, the Green Party said today. National’s “bright line” rules will apply tomorrow, requiring income tax to be paid on any gains from residential property purchased and sold within two years, with some exceptions.  The exceptions include the sale of an owner’s main home, inherited property, or the transfer of property in a relationship settlement. “National’s moves to clarify the...

The Green parties of New Zealand and Australia are jointly calling on the Australian Government to halt the indiscriminate deportation of New Zealanders, and people from other countries, and are raising concerns about their continued detention in off-shore detention centres.

The Green Party is calling for New Zealand to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at President Obama’s Leaders’ Summit, following similar calls by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.

The Green Party is excited by the news that the Government is creating an ocean sanctuary at the Kermadecs and hope that more is to come. “We’re delighted the Government has picked up the Kermadec ocean sanctuary concept that has been in a Green private member's Bill drafted by Gareth Hughes several years ago,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “The 620,000 square kilometre sanctuary just announced is great news for the seascapes, underwater volcanoes and diverse wildlife that...

The Government must not use the Rebstock review to justify their own irrational ideological obsession to privatise CYFS, the Green Party said today. “The ‘radical overhaul’ that the Minister has signalled after seven years in Government should not result in a free-for-all grab of core Government services,” Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie said. “The Rebstock review is being used as a stalking horse for companies like Serco to get in and make profit out of some of the most...

It would be hypocritical of John Key to sign up to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to end extreme poverty around the world and stop climate change, if he does not actually implement those policies at home, said the Green Party today.