Now that the four biggest parties in Parliament agree on the way forward, it’s time for the Government to get on with simplifying provisional tax for small businesses, the Green Party said today. “The Green Party has been talking about simplifying provisional tax for small businesses, like Labour suggested today, since before the 2011 election,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “Anyone who talks to small business operators knows how annoying and difficult the current guesswork-based provisional tax system can...

News that Fonterra will axe 523 jobs shows that the human effects of the tumbling global dairy price are being felt throughout New Zealand, the Green Party said today. “These job cuts are a tragedy for the 523 staff and their families, who will now be joining rural workers and indebted farmers in financial insecurity,” Green Party primary industries spokesperson Eugenie Sage said. “Ultimately, these workers are bearing the cost of the National Government putting all its bottles in the...

It is hypocritical of Nick Smith to celebrate the reduction in nitrogen in Lake Taupo while at the same time, the National Government is converting more forests into dairy farms just down the road, said the Green Party today.

Plummeting global dairy prices overnight show why the Government needs to invest in adding value not volume to the dairy sector, the Green Party said today. “Just doing more of the same – expanding stock numbers and raw commodity exports – leaves the rural economy open to the risks of continuing low global dairy prices,” Green Party primary industries spokesperson Eugenie Sage said. “National’s economic strategy bets the farm on high international dairy prices rather than building a diversified, R&D...

Official advice to the Government proves what the Green Party has been saying all along, that you cannot lift children out of poverty without addressing low income. Radio NZ has obtained new information - which Government had redacted from a previous Official Information Act response – that the Government wouldn’t solve child poverty without raising incomes.  “The Government chose to hide the fact its policies weren’t going to solve poverty because it did not want to raise low wages or...

The National Government’s voluntary guidelines for spreading toxic oil and gas waste on farmland ignore the concerns of New Zealand’s environmental watchdog about the dangers of heavy metal contamination, and could lead to greater risks to people and animals, the Green Party says. “MPI’s guidelines for spreading of oil and gas waste on farmland ignore concerns of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment about the danger of contamination by heavy metals, for example, barium and cadmium, and the need for...

New research by the London School of Economics shows that the National Government’s assumption that action on climate change will cost more than inaction is wrong, the Green Party said today. The research, published by two research institutes at the London School of Economics, concludes that the majority of the global emissions reductions needed to decarbonise the global economy can be achieved in ways that are nationally net-beneficial to countries, even leaving aside the climate benefits. “Reducing emissions and economic...

Both Labour and National are playing politics over skyrocketing demand for Auckland homes and both parties are too afraid to do what’s actually needed, which is introduce a capital gains tax on all properties but the family home, the Green Party says. “Labour and National are putting short-term political interests ahead of the interests of younger Kiwis trying to buy their first home,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today. “By backing away from a capital gains tax, Labour is...

Is John Key prepared to ask his Social Development Minister to ensure that people are getting the financial support that they need for power this winter? He needs to say whether a welfare system that is driving people into debt is delivering.   New information the Green Party has obtained shows that the Government has forced nearly 60 per cent of beneficiaries into debt to WINZ to survive.   “We need a social security system that ensures that at least...

The Green Party welcomes McDonald’s commitment to use free-range eggs in its restaurants nationwide, and is calling on all food providers, both large and small, to follow suit. “To have a major corporation commit to going free-range is fantastic,” said Green Party animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers. "It sends a strong signal that keeping hens in cruel cages is no longer acceptable. “Ideally this move will translate into real financial stability for New Zealand free-range egg farmers. “This is also...