The National Government’s paltry emissions reduction target announced today means that New Zealand is not pulling its weight internationally when it comes to climate change, the Green Party said. The Government announced a 2030 emissions reduction target of 30 percent off 2005 levels. This translates to an 11 percent reduction on 1990 levels. “By committing to such a small reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it means other countries will have to pick up our slack, or we’ll get runaway climate...

Environment Minister Nick Smith should not be endorsing the Taranaki Regional Council’s State of the Environment Report released today, because the Council didn’t follow his Ministry’s own rules when collecting the water quality data. “Nick Smith should not be endorsing a report which paints an incomplete picture of water quality in the Taranaki region,” said Green Party water spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. Ms Delahunty was referring to the public release of the Taranaki State of the Environment Report, by Nick Smith...

Stimulatory spending to help boost the economy can also help address climate change, the Green Party said today. ANZ Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie yesterday called for central and local Governments to move to a more stimulatory fiscal stance. “If the Government is smart, any new stimulatory spending to boost the economy can address climate change at the same time,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said. “For smart, new capital expenditure, the Government can move forward spending on Auckland’s City Rail...

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...

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...

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.

New leaked documents from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) show that New Zealanders could lose access to affordable medication, said the Green Party today.

The Green Party is joining calls from top legal academics in New Zealand for the Government to stop funding the justice sector in Nauru while their democracy and rule of law is failing.

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. 

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...