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John Key’s trip marred by absence of leadership
John Key’s choice not to raise women’s rights with the Saudi King and to reveal New Zealand troops' location to international media instead of telling New Zealanders first are the latest in a series of leadership lapses by the Prime Minister, the Green Party said today.
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Government must help Christchurch to keep its valuable public assets
The Government needs to renegotiate the cost sharing agreement with Christchurch City Council rather than force the city to flog off its valuable assets, the Green Party said today. Submissions closed today on the Council’s Long Term Plan 2015-2025. In it, the Council proposes to sell $750 million of assets such as Orion and Christchurch Airport Limited in order to fund an ambitious capital spending programme and its $793m share of the anchor projects. “Anchor projects like the $253m stadium are...
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John Key's Saudi trip is now about women
John Key’s trip to Saudi Arabia has now become about women’s rights, as the world watches whether New Zealand’s Prime Minister will stand with or against women, the Green Party said today. “John Key said on the weekend he ‘may’ bring up issues of human rights when he meets with the Saudi King in the next 24 hours, but that is nowhere near good enough,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said. “This is a regime in blatant breach of its...
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Greens first NZ political party to call for remembrance of Armenian genocide
The Green Party is the first New Zealand political party to call for the remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the genocide of the 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman government. “The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide is an opportunity to start real and significant reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey,” said Green Party global affairs spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham. “The Green Party supports the European Parliament’s call for a proposal to establish an ‘International Remembrance Day for Genocides’. “New...
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John Key should be judged by his own 'high' standards
John Key should be judged by the “high” standards that have been the downfall of MPs and state sector bosses, instead he is trivialising his harassment of an Auckland woman, the Green Party says. “Backbench MP Aaron Gilmore lost his job for abusing a waiter, and Former CERA chief Roger Sutton lost his job for behaving in a way that women in his office found offensive. The Prime Minister of New Zealand should be held to a higher standard than...
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Report shows public support for Government action on plastic bags
The Green Party is calling on the Government to develop a plan for reducing plastic bag use following a report out today from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) that shows public support for adding plastic bags to their list of priority products.
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NZ an easy mark for overseas property speculators
Revelations that New Zealand is being marketed in Malaysia and other parts of Asia as an easy place to make a quick property buck show why we desperately need restrictions on non-resident foreign buyers in our overheated market, the Green Party said today. “These cashed-up non-resident buyers must think New Zealand and the National Government are easy marks,” said Green Party housing spokesperson Kevin Hague. “They can come here, score a bunch of properties, pay no capital gains tax and...
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Time for a plastic bag-free NZ
The Green Party has launched a campaign to create a plastic-bag free New Zealand and is calling on the Government to legislate to phase plastic bags out.
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Government totally out of touch with suggestion parents "shop around" for a free doctor
Government suggestions that parents should “shop around” for a free doctor when their child has an accident shows how completely out of touch National is, the Green Party says.
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Govt breaks free doctors visit promise to kids
The Government has already broken a key election promise by reneging on a pledge to make all doctors’ visits for under 13 year olds free, the Green Party says. Documents obtained by the Green Party show that the Government decided to fund only 90 percent of doctors’ visits for children suffering from an injury in an attempt trim the cost of the so-called “free” visits. “This makes a lie of the promise to provide free doctors’ visits for all children...