The Salvation Army has raised serious doubts about the Government’s much trumpeted achievements for children, revealing that public performance targets are more about making ministers look good, rather than keeping kids safe, the Green Party says. The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report, released this morning, found there was “no way of knowing” whether child abuse was actually falling, despite Government claims that it had reduced. It found CYF (Child, Youth & Family) was “disregarding” some notifications entirely and...

A blowout in prison population numbers, that appears to have caught the National Government off guard, is the latest evidence of the Government’s failure to manage the Prison Service, the Green Party said today.

John Key’s comment that the “TPP is not a gay and lesbian issue” shows the Prime Minister’s ignorance when it comes to LGBTQI issues, the Green Party said today. The Prime Minister made the comment after people at Auckland’s Big Gay Out on Sunday challenged the Government’s support for the TPPA, regardless of its negative impacts on all New Zealanders, including those from the LGBTQI community. “John Key is wrong – the TPPA is an LGBTQI issue, as it’s an...

The Green Party supports the Labour Party’s call to bring back New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Chief Executive Peter Chrisp in front of the select committee over his comments last week on the Saudi sheep agri-hub scandal.

Power companies should be leading a national shift to clean energy, not lining up to keep the Huntly coal power station open, the Green Party said today. Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes is inviting the power companies that have called for Huntly to keep burning coal to meet with him and find a way to replace coal with cleaner options. “If burning more coal is the answer then as a country we have been asking the wrong questions,” Mr...

Yet another economic study has found the benefits of the TPPA have been overstated, the Green Party said today. Ian Harrison, the lead economist at Tailrisk Economics has added his voice to a growing chorus of experts who are questioning the modelling and benefits of the TPPA trade agreement. Harrison has found that the total benefits of the TPPA to New Zealand’s economy are likely to be in the order of $135 million a year, or about .04 percent of...

SkyCity’s 30 percent profit increase comes at the cost of problem gambling affecting Auckland families and is no cause for celebration, the Green Party said. SkyCity today posted a first half profit of $71 million, up 30 percent on the previous six months, reportedly boasting that it was already profiting from the pokies for convention centre deal. “SkyCity’s boosted profit results reveal just who the Government’s dodgy convention centre deal was designed to benefit – and it’s not Aucklanders,” Green Party Auckland...

ECan has failed farmers who have securely fenced their waterways and provided water for stock on their farms by letting Lakes Station off with no fine, the Green Party said today. Lakes Station cows were photographed wading in Lake Taylor last month, after being deliberately allowed through a fence to cool off. “What sort of message is ECan sending other farmers by letting Lakes Station off with no fine? Many farmers have taken the lead by fencing off waterways to...

New Zealand needs to halt the substantial under-reporting of commercial fish catches and dumping that a new report suggests is widespread in the fishing industry, the Green Party said today. “Systematic under-reporting of commercial catches undermines the credibility of the Quota Management System (QMS) and the fisheries data used to set the Total Allowable Catch.  It means there is a big question mark over whether current catch limits and fisheries management are sustainable,” said Green Party fisheries spokesperson Eugenie Sage....

New research shows the Government is ripping off children with special needs, who are being denied access to the education they need because specialist teachers are not being adequately funded, the Green Party said.   The NZEI TE Riu Roa survey of Special Education Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in schools shows 90 percent believe children with special needs are not getting the support they need to learn.   “Every child has the right to an education, at their local school, that...