New Zealand being awarded the Fossil of the Day award at the Paris climate talks is an embarrassing indictment that shows up the National Government’s failure to walk the talk on climate change, the Green Party said. The award was given to New Zealand for dishing out $80 million in subsidies to the oil, coal, and gas industries at the same time as John Key gave a speech in Paris claiming to show leadership on ending fossil fuel subsidies. “National...

Prime Minister John Key risks New Zealand being seen as two-faced at the Paris Climate talks later today when he’ll call for reform of fossil fuel subsidies, while New Zealand is throwing around massive tax breaks for oil exploration, the Green Party says. Prime Minister John Key intends to issue a communiqué to the United Nations tonight calling for countries to cut fossil fuel subsidies, and to make public the hand-outs governments are giving the industry. The National Government has...

The Prime Minister needs to immediately apologise to Tania Billingsley for the Government’s handling of her case and he must instruct Murray McCully to immediately release an unredacted version of the John Whitehead report into the matter, the Green Party said today.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy must immediately investigate the way in which the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has been enforcing animal welfare standards in our dairy industry, the Green Party said today. The call comes after TV One’s Sunday programme revealed shocking footage of animals being severely mistreated on a farm and in a slaughterhouse, which MPI has yet to act on. “Like many New Zealanders, I am absolutely sickened by what happened to those animals,” said Green Party...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to send a navy vessel to the Southern Ocean to ensure Japan adheres to international law when it resumes whaling early next year. Japan has announced that it will resume whaling after a one-year hiatus, which followed an International Court of Justice ruling that its whale hunt for “scientific purposes” could not be justified. “We are glad the Government has spoken out against Japan’s resumption of this cruel and inhumane practice, but...

The tens of thousands of Kiwis who marched in solidarity around the country today sent a loud and clear message to the Government that they want a climate change plan New Zealand can be proud of, the Green Party said today. The New Zealand People’s Climate Marches, which continue tomorrow, are part of a worldwide weekend of action to urge political leaders to agree to a meaningful plan to combat climate change at the upcoming COP talks in Paris. “Tens...

The Green Party congratulates Kirk Hope on his appointment as Chief Executive of BusinessNZ. “Our congratulations go to Kirk Hope for his appointment as BusinessNZ Chief Executive,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “Mr Hope is the right person for the role.   “The Green Party has worked constructively with Mr Hope at the New Zealand Bankers’ Association and we look forward to working with him at BusinessNZ. “Over its fifteen years, BusinessNZ has shown an increasing understanding of the linkages...

The Green Party will be out in force this weekend, as MPs, celebrities and supporters join the Green Bloc to march in solidarity with thousands of Kiwis taking to the streets to demand action on climate change. Across New Zealand, people from all walks of life will take to the streets, led by a coalition of humanitarian organisations, environment groups, trade unions and faith groups. Tens of thousands of Kiwis are expected to join marches throughout the country on Saturday...

The Land and Water Forum’s mandate should be improving water quality, not making as much money from water as possible before the environment collapses, the Green Party said today.  The group, made up of iwi and stakeholders such as Dairy NZ, Irrigation NZ, commercial interests and some environmental NGOs, released its fourth report today, making recommendations to the Government on maximising the economic use of water within the limits of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM), as it...

The National Government’s research and development (R&D) funding system needs a massive overhaul in light of new information from Deloitte that some R&D Growth Grants don’t actually cover development spending, the Green Party said. A Deloitte report into the Government’s Callaghan Innovation R&D funding organisation’s Growth Grants found that funding agreements were “ambiguous and to a certain extent contradict[ed] the purpose of the grant" and that the “terms of the funding agreement specially prohibit a recipient claiming any development expenditure...