The Government must make safe cycling around schools a priority, following new data that shows the number of children who cycle to school has dropped to just 2 percent, the Green Party said. The 25 Years of New Zealand Travel: New Zealand Household Travel 1989-2014 report shows that the percentage of children cycling to school has dropped from 12 percent in 1989 to 2 percent in 2014, and the number who walk to school has dropped from 42 percent to...

Green Party MP and animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers is proud and honoured to be one of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Lush Prize. The Lush Prize, which is funded by international cosmetics company Lush, recognises people working to end chemical testing on animals. The winners were chosen by an international panel of experts from 51 shortlisted science teams, organisations and individual researchers, with Ms Mathers being recognised for her work in leading the campaign to end the testing...

The National Government should respect the more than half of Kiwis who didn’t vote National at the last election, and immediately reinstate funding it has cut from the Opposition since it’s been in power, the Green Party says. While the Government has generously increased its own ministerial funding over the past 8 years, the Parliamentary Appropriations Review tabled today shows that the funding for opposition parties has remained the same since 2007, amounting to a significant cut when accounting for...

The National Government and Minister for the Environment Dr Nick Smith have been missing in action in failing to provide local authorities with clear national direction on how to plan for sea-level rise, the Green Party said today. “With sea-level rise inevitable, the Government needs to provide national direction under the Resource Management Act (RMA), so New Zealanders in low-lying areas such as Napier and Dunedin South aren’t left with uninsurable and uninhabitable homes,” Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage said....

On the fifth anniversary of the Pike River tragedy, the Green Party has condemned the Government for reneging on its promise to recover the dead men’s remains, and for failing to hold anyone accountable for the disaster, or to honour the men with workplace safety laws to ensure nothing like this could happen again. “Five years ago today, 29 men tragically and needlessly lost their lives at Pike River mine,” West Coast based Green MP Kevin Hague said. “The one...

Fonterra should follow the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s lead and phase out coal use instead of building new coal-fired milk drying plants, the Green Party said. The UK has announced that it will close all coal-fired electricity generation plants by 2025. Unless it takes action, Fonterra will by then be New Zealand’s largest user of coal after Genesis Energy stops burning coal in the Huntly power plant in 2018. “The UK has identified the need to stop burning coal and...

The Green Party wishes to extend its deepest sympathies to the family, friends and fans of Jonah Lomu. “Today is a very sad day for New Zealand; we have lost an icon,” said Green Party sports and recreation spokesperson Kevin Hague. “Jonah Lomu is the most famous and beloved rugby player the world has ever seen; he had an undeniable impact around the globe, including in places where rugby isn’t commonly played. “Jonah loved nothing more than tearing up a...

The Green Party wants to know how the Government can be completely sure a New Zealander being extradited to China will not be tortured or face the death penalty when the New Zealander faces murder charges.

The Green Party is calling on the Government to uphold its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child* and increase the supply of state homes in Auckland, to help house the growing number of homeless families in the city. The call comes after the release of a Salvation Army report which revealed that 47 per cent (568) of people who sought help from the Army and Catholic community services were children, some of whom were...

The Green Party is accusing the Government of hypocrisy following revelations that it is paying Paula Rebstock $2000 a day to chair the Child Youth and Family review panel at the same time as it refuses to pay Parliamentary cleaners a living wage so they have to work two jobs just to get by. “Under the National Government there is one standard for its mates and a different standard for ordinary New Zealanders,” said Green Party Workplace Relations spokesperson Denise...