Productivity growth under National’s economic management is the weakest it’s been since 1996, the Green Party said today. Productivity statistics released today by Stats New Zealand show that while productivity growth this year has been positive, productivity growth over the whole economic cycle is well below longer-term trends. Productivity is best observed in growth cycles rather than in single year figures, they say. “Productivity growth over this most recent economic cycle (2008-2015) is the weakest it’s been in twenty years,”...

A startling new international report by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on the state of the climate has found the number of named storms in the South Pacific has almost doubled above the annual average, which should prompt the National Government to dramatically revise its target for reducing climate damaging pollution, the Green Party said today. Commenting on the release of the Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2015, the WMO Director described temperatures in January...

The Government must get its head out of the sand about dairy conversions and its view that water’s economic value is greater than its environmental value, to repair the state of our waterways, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of Waikato River Authority’s poor report card, giving the river a C+ overall. The river will take the better part of a century to repair, while millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours have been...

The Green Party's thoughts are with the people of Brussels this morning, and we offer our sympathy to the family and friends of those who have been killed, and those injured, in the attack. "Like others all around the world we are deeply shocked by the violence that has struck Brussels overnight and the loss of innocent lives,” Green Party foreign affairs spokesperson Kennedy Graham said. “We hope for peace to be restored to Brussels soon. Our hope also is...

The Government must reverse savage cuts for the Department of Conservation, or risk more tracks being closed due to lack of money to maintain them, the Green Party said today.   A section of the Inland Pack Track in Paparoa National Park has been closed since April 2014, when Cyclone Ita brought down 380 beech trees, and has not been re-opened because there are no volunteers to do the work to clear them. “Under this Government, DOC has endured job...

John Key must rule out making the public pay for his settlement with Bradley Ambrose, because it is explicitly prohibited in the rules governing MP’s use of public funds, the Green Party says. “The Green Party is today releasing the rules that show MPs are explicitly prohibited from using parliamentary money for legal settlements,” Green Party Co leader Metiria Turei said. “The rules also confirm that the Prime Minister should have asked the Speaker if he wanted his legal fees...

The largest ever oil and gas Block Offer announced today, including 2,600 km2 in the Maui’s dolphin sanctuary, is a disaster for our environment and shows how desperate the National Government is to keep its oil dream alive in the face of growing public concern about climate change, the Green Party said. “This is a disaster for the environment and yet another example of National backing a polluting industry instead of investing in the clean-technology jobs that New Zealanders want,”...

The Government can close some of the loopholes multinational companies are using to avoid paying their fair share of tax by adopting similar measures to Australia, the Green Party said today. Australia passed new legislation in December 2015 to target multinational companies that are avoiding paying regular company tax rates. Multinationals now face 100 percent tax penalties if caught shifting profits, along with new transparency and reporting requirements to give the Australian Tax Office (ATO) a better picture of how...

The Green Party can reveal the Government is continuing to pour public money into subsidies for the oil and gas industry and ignore clean energy investment, on the eve of a major government-sponsored oil and gas conference starting in Auckland tomorrow. The Government has just confirmed it spent $47,583 on the 2016 Minerals Exploration Data Pack – a collection of valuable data for overseas fossil fuel companies as a sweetener to make drilling for oil in New Zealand more attractive....

The Green Party is supporting the announcement made by the Chief Ombudsman on TV3s The Nation that he will produce a league table revealing Government agencies’ lack of compliance with the Official Information Act (OIA).