The Green Party wishes to express sadness at the death of renowned Coromandel conservationist and craftsperson Barry Brickell, whose unique miniature railway and potteries are iconic features of the Coromandel Peninsula. “I have known Barry for 42 years and have been privileged to witness his extraordinary creative drive both as a master potter and as the creator of one of the best eco-tourism experiences in this country. His voice and his vision will be hugely missed but never forgotten,” said...

The Green Party is asking the Government to release information about what trade-offs it made and what the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will cost, following a new expert economic analysis that shows how the National Government has overstated the benefits while ignoring the costs. A paper prepared by economists for the New Zealand Law Foundation found that ‘the extent of economic gains is likely to be far lower than predicted and costs far higher.’ Costs may include environmental degradation,...

The staggering difference between the salaries of men and women within Government departments shows how much work needs to be done to close the gender pay gap, said the Green Party today. The report from the State Services Commission (SSC) showed that in some departments men were paid up to 39 per cent more than women. “The fact that there’s such a large pay gap shows how far we have to go on getting women a fair go,” Green Party...

The Government will sign away the power to do what’s needed to prevent climate change and protect the environment when it signs the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the Green Party said today. A new expert environmental analysis of the TPPA by Simon Terry, Executive Director of the Sustainability Council of New Zealand, finds that ‘the environment is a casualty’ under the TPPA, because governments can be sued by multinational corporations for environmental regulations such as changes to the Emissions...

New expert analysis of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) shows that it will take power away from Māori, the Green Party said today. The analysis criticises a lack of consultation with Māori and shows how the TPPA limits the ability of tangata whenua to exercise control over their own affairs because it transfers power from the government, which has obligations to Māori, to multinational corporations, which don’t. It finds that the TPPA’s intellectual property chapter will ‘make it more...

Rumours that Auckland Transport is set to raise the fares on buses and trains are disappointing given the huge fall in oil prices, said the Green Party today. Auckland transport writer, Ben Ross, has reported today that Auckland Transport is set to raise public transport fares on February 28. “Auckland’s bus and train fares should be falling, not rising, if Auckland wants to fix its transport problems,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “With record low inflation last...

An Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report released today, highlights that climate change will expose farmers to more frequent droughts like the one being experienced in the South Island. It confirms that government and farmers must make stopping dangerous climate change a top priority, the Green Party said today. The OECD report concludes that climate change is likely to increase competition for water resources, and exacerbate the challenges of meeting growing global demand for food. The report comes...

Low overall inflation provides ideal economic conditions for the Government to tackle snowballing housing costs, stagnating wages, and increasing climate pollution, the Green Party said today. The Consumers Price Index released today showed 2015 experienced the lowest level of annual inflation since 1999, at just 0.1 percent. “Relatively high GDP growth, low inflation, and low interest rates have created good conditions for the Government to invest in tackling the big economic issues like climate change and inequality,” Green Party finance...

The Green Party is welcoming the recent rise in the price on carbon, and is calling on the National Government to commit to serious reforms of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) so that New Zealand can start to reduce domestic pollution, the Green Party said today. The cost imposed on polluters under the ETS reached $10 a tonne, the highest price polluters have faced in four years. Carbon prices have, to date, been too low to have a discernible effect...

The government has a clear role to play to support people through the job losses and disruption of what the World Economic Forum is describing as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Green Party said today. The World Economic Forum has predicted that a perfect storm of technological, demographic, and other socio-economic forces will lead to a net loss of over five million jobs over the next four years across 15 major economies. The Future of Work Report 2016 predicts that...