John Key has many questions to answer at his post cabinet meeting today, after refusing this morning to provide key information to back up his claims about ‘jihadi brides”, the Green Party said today.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman needs to listen to the growing chorus of health experts who are calling for immediate action on obesity-related disease, the Green Party said today. Seventy leading public health specialists have asked the Government to implement a tax on sugary drinks to tackle New Zealand's high rates of childhood obesity – amongst the highest in the world according to a recent Lancet report.     “The Government has it wrong when it comes to fighting childhood obesity...

The Green Party will strengthen Kiwibank so that it can compete with the big four foreign owned banks leading to better interest rates, the Green Party said today. To achieve better bank interest rates, the Green Party will: Inject a further $100 million of capital in Kiwibank to speed its expansion into commercial banking; Allow Kiwibank to keep more of its profits to help it grow faster; and, Give Kiwibank a clear public purpose to lead the market in passing...

The Green Party can reveal that John Key has known since May 2015 that no women left New Zealand to go to the Middle East as so called “jihadi brides”, making the damage he inflicted on Islamic women even more calculating. The Prime Minster has confirmed to the Green Party that he knew on May 25 -- six months prior to first introducing the notion of Kiwi Jihadi brides at a December select committee hearing last year -- that no...

About half of all beneficiary families with children will be disappointed to learn today they will not get the full $25 benefit increase that the National Government has led them to believe they will, the Green Party says. The Government’s $25 a week benefit increase for parents is due to kick in today, along with a new obligation for parents of 3 year olds to seek work. “Despite all its grandstanding about the historic benefit increase, the Government has designed it...

The Green Party is calling on electricity lines companies like Unison to join the 21st century and adapt to work with solar energy, instead of raising charges on households with solar panels. Unison controls the electricity lines network in the central North Island and is introducing an extra charge on customers with solar panels of up to 26 percent, effective today for new customers and to be phased in for existing solar customers. “This solar penalty looks like an uncompetitive...

The Green Party is introducing a members’ bill today that will reduce environmental degradation as a result of dairy intensification by requiring all cows to wear nappies. “There are too many cows making too much waste for our environment to handle. Cow nappies are a simple way to keep that waste off the land and out of our waterways,” said Green Party co-leader James Shaw. “Cow number 1s and 2s are responsible for degradation of our waterways through run-off and...

Port workers and people living near the Port of Tauranga can breathe a sigh of relief following a successful bid by the Green Party and other groups to block the use of a potentially fatal gas at the port, said the Green Party today. An Independent Commissioner this week declined an application by Envriofume Limited to discharge the potentially fatal air pollutant Methyl Bromide at the Port of Tauranga. Methyl bromide is used to fumigate logs for export. The Commissioner...

The Government’s decision to accept all recommendations from a Select Committee inquiry initiated by Green Party MP Jan Logie is a huge win for sexual violence survivors and those working to help them, the Green Party says. The Government has today released its response to the recommendations of the Social Services Select Committee, following an inquiry into sexual violence services sparked by Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie. The Government has accepted or broadly accepted all 32 of the committee’s...

Denise Roche today amended her Member’s Bill to increase the refugee quota to 1500 permanently.