John Key and Murray McCully’s hands-off approach to human rights atrocities in West Papua is in stark contrast to the actions taken by previous New Zealand governments on similar abuses by Indonesia in East Timor, the Green Party said today. While at the Pacific Islands Forum, John Key and Murray McCully have ruled out supporting a fact-finding mission in West Papua, despite evidence from groups such as Human Rights Watch that horrific abuses are happening there. “Over the years, the...

The Government’s ideological refusal to properly address the demand side factors is driving the unsustainable Auckland housing market into ‘dangerous territory’ and creating major risks for the economy, the Green Party said. “The Government must tackle the demand side factors driving unsustainable house price inflation – like rampant property speculation – with measures like a proper capital gains tax and restrictions on overseas property investors, but is choosing not to,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “When the...

The Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy was wrong to ever assert that everything was fine and dandy with the mining and export of ancient swamp kauri, the Green Party said today. The Office of the Auditor General has today released a response to a “Request for inquiry into the regulation of the ancient swamp kauri industry”. “The Auditor General found that the Ministry of Primary Industry’s regulation of swamp kauri milling and exports had shortcomings,” said Green Party forestry...

The Conservation Minister is negligent for allowing the Government to propose opening up more of the Maui’s dolphin sanctuary to oil and gas exploration, the Green Party said today. "If National was serious about protecting the critically endangered Maui's dolphins it wouldn't be proposing more oil and gas exploration in the part of the ocean where they live,” said Green Party conservation spokesperson Kevin Hague. Maui’s dolphin sightings from the Department of Conservation’s database mapped onto the area the Government...

Sam Lotu-Iiga has been withholding the extent of SERCO’s failures from the public with more revelations of breaches by the private prison, the Green Party said today.

The Green Party is calling for reform of the Reserve Bank’s governance structure following today’s Official Cash Rate decision which reverses the mistaken OCR rises of 2014. The Reserve Bank Governor has today unwound 75 of the 100 basis points that he increased the OCR by just last year. “The Reserve Bank made the right decision today to cut the OCR – effectively reversing the mistaken OCR increases in 2014 – but concentrating this power in just one person isn’t...

The Green Party is calling on John Key to dramatically increase New Zealand’s emissions reduction target, as Pacific Island leaders today urge him to help protect their countries from disappearing due to sea-level rise. It has been reported today that New Zealand officials are working hard to soften the climate change declaration to be endorsed by the meeting, including removing a reference to the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, which would help protect their countries from sea-level rise....

Murray McCully’s position that a fact-finding mission into human rights atrocities in West Papua isn’t needed shows a complete lack of leadership and credibility, the Green Party said today. “Murray McCully’s inaction on human rights abuses by Indonesia in West Papua is shameful – where’s his integrity?” said Green Party human rights spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. “The Pacific Islands Forum is the ideal venue to support an investigation into the worst human rights abuses in the region. “Murray McCully’s refusal to...

The Government is preparing to take the biggest dividend in five years from Housing New Zealand, even as children are getting sick from cold, damp, and mouldy Housing New Zealand homes, the Green Party can reveal. Housing New Zealand is set to pay out $118 million in dividends to the Government, up from $90 million in the past year, according to its Statement of Performance Expectations for 2015/16. “The Government must rule out taking any more profit from Housing New...

The value and volume of manufactured goods has fallen for a second quarter in a row despite National’s promise that a lower dollar would help the sector, the Green Party said today. Statistics New Zealand released its Economic Survey of Manufacturing today showing that total manufacturing sales for the quarter were $23.4 billion, down nearly $1.3 billion (5.1 percent) on the June 2014 quarter. The Trade Weighted Index – a basket of the currencies of our main trading partners –...