Yet another report showing that homeless families are being forced onto the streets or into cars must be the final catalyst for the Government to build the thousands of homes New Zealanders desperately need, the Green Party says. The Citizens Advice Bureau has today released a report showing that the number of homeless people seeking help has doubled under National and that families are being broken up in order to find accommodation for Mum, Dad and the kids. “The National...

The head of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, has met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to raise concerns about Australia’s offshore detention centres, and this should make John Key question his ongoing support for how Kiwis are being treated by the Australian Government, the Green Party said today. “Mates hold each other to account, and let each other know when they have crossed the line. John Key needs to let his Australian counterpart know they have gone too far...

Minister of Climate Change Issues, Tim Groser, continues to pedal misleading numbers around the cost of reducing New Zealand’s climate pollution. On Q&A yesterday, Minister Groser again misrepresented the cost New Zealanders would bear to meet his Government’s low target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent below 1990 levels.  “Claiming that action on climate change will cost New Zealanders $30 billion dollars, without saying how much Kiwis would save by taking that action, is grossly misleading and Tim Groser...

Comments made by the Minister of Education on Q and A today show she is in denial about the real impacts of poverty on children's learning, said the Green Party today. “Any review of the decile system must focus on creating equity - not measuring achievement of children and then blaming schools under pressure,” said Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. "The Minister is reviewing the decile system and quoting a low statistic on poverty impacts from the OECD, which is...

The Green Party is offering its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to the National Government, after Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser confirmed this morning that his plan is flimsy. Speaking on Q+A this morning, Mr Groser demonstrated that not only is the Government’s target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 11 per cent on 1990 levels feeble, but his plan to achieve it has no substance. “The Green Party has a plan to get us to 40 per...

The National Government needs to investigate links between anti-biotic resistance and herbicides including the commonly used herbicide glyphosate after news that an anti-biotic resistant strain of campylobacter is now present in New Zealand, the Green Party said today. “Glypohosate, the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller, is commonly sprayed on GE soy crops around the world. GE soy is widely used in chicken feed in New Zealand, yet herbicide residue levels are not tested for in animal feed. “University of Canterbury’s...

A 3 News poll today showing only 34 percent of New Zealanders are in favour of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and 52 percent are opposed should be a wake-up call to the National Government not to sign the TPPA, the Green Party said. “It’s very clear from this poll that the Government doesn’t have a mandate to sign the TPPA,” Green Party trade spokesperson Kennedy Graham said. “Thousands of people have demonstrated against the TPPA and National dismissed them...

Finance Minister Bill English’s description of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on sea level rise as mere “speculation” denies the evidence and puts the livelihoods and assets of people living in places like South Dunedin or Napier at serious risk. Mr English dismissed the report’s primary finding that sea level rise is now certain, as mere “speculation”, and rejected her recommendation that he should plan for financial support for people who might see their homes and assets threatened...

The National Government should ban the use of controversial pesticides called neonicotinoids after evidence has revealed that even at low doses they cause harm to bee populations, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of research published in Nature magazine, which confirmed even low doses of neonicotinoids (called neonics for short) affect bumble bees’ ability to forage and pollinate crops. “We’ve long known that neonics kill bees at high doses, but this is the first study...

Today marks the day 25 years ago when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a promise to 'protect and promote' the rights of children and it is time for the Government to deliver on this promise, the Green Party said today. “Fairness is a value every New Zealander holds deeply in our identity, but it is kids who get the raw end of the deal too often,” Green Party co-Leader Metiria Turei said. “Unless the Government takes concrete steps today...