News

  • Govt should declare climate change a threat to peace and security

    The Green Party is calling on the New Zealand Government to use its presidency of the UN Security Council to introduce a determination, in the form of a presidential statement or resolution following the Open Debate, that climate change is a threat to international peace and security. “New Zealand can use its UN Security Council presidency to highlight the threat that climate change poses to international peace and security,” said Green Party global affairs spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham. “There is...
  • More ‘greenfields’ SHAs a bad deal for Aucklanders

    The Government’s newly announced Special Housing Areas in Drury and Glenbrook will condemn thousands of Aucklanders to a life of “transport poverty”, the Green Party said today. “Nick Smith is trying to sell these SHAs as the magic bullet to ‘fix’ the Auckland housing crisis, but the real cost of these homes can’t be measured just by their over-inflated sale prices,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today. “These houses are going to be built on land miles away from...
  • Government must plan for rising sea levels

    The rebuild of Christchurch offers a unique opportunity to plan for more extreme weather events, and for rising sea levels caused by climate change,” Green Party Christchurch spokesperson Eugenie Sage said today.  Nearly 6000 properties in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula could be under threat from coastal erosion over the next century, a new report suggests.
  • Move back to democracy for Christchurch too slow

    The Government is still intent on trying to control Christchurch’s future from the Beehive, Green Party Christchurch spokesperson Eugenie Sage said today. The Green Party today responded to the announcement of new power structures for Canterbury’s recovery from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. 
  • Crown land sold at bargain basement prices a lost opportunity for the NZ public

    Unless the Government reviews its processes for valuing high country pastoral lease land, it will continue to give away millions of dollars to private interests that should be going to the New Zealand public, the Green Party said today. This follows analysis from Lincoln University researchers showing that farmers are making huge profits from on-selling Crown land that is sold to them under the tenure review process - land that they had previously leased from the Crown. Green Party conservation...
  • Low dairy prices highlight the failure of National’s economic strategy

    Further falls overnight in dairy auction prices have highlighted the failure of National’s economic strategy, the Green Party said today. Dairy prices fell a further 11 percent overnight, reaching their lowest point in six years at US$2054 a tonne. Increasing supply suggests there could be more bad news to come. “National has failed to build a strong, resilient export sector,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “The simplification of our export economy to a few basic commodity exports like milk...
  • Greens challenge National to rule out replacing electric trains with diesel

    The National Government shouldn’t drag New Zealand backwards by replacing its climate friendly electric trains with carbon-polluting diesel trains, the Green Party said today. “We are calling on the National Government to rule out replacing KiwiRail’s electric trains with diesel trains,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. Today, Ms Genter, the RMTU, and Generation Zero have gathered near Parliament to tell National not to replace our electric train fleet with diesel trains. The group will then march backwards...