Green Party Immigration spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman has this morning written to the Minister for Immigration, expressing concern about the Ministry’s discriminatory use of immigrants’ personal data.  “We’re very concerned to hear that Immigration NZ is using an algorithm that includes age, gender and ethnicity to determine access to immigration opportunities, including identifying people who are supposedly more likely to commit crimes based on their ethnicity,” said Ms Ghahraman. “We know that the previous government introduced the use of so called...

The roll-out of 20 innovative cleaning stations has started as part of the Department of Conservation’s efforts to reduce the spread of kauri dieback, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Stations will be installed on busy and high-risk DOC managed tracks in the kauri region, including the Kauri Loop track in the Hakarimata Scenic Reserve, near Huntly – the first track to have one of the new cleaning stations installed. Other tracks are in the Kauri Coast and Bay of...

A climate change report released today (4 April) by Westpac shows there are big savings to be made from early and planned action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, says the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw. “This report is in line with what I have been saying since becoming the Minister for Climate Change, that there are big opportunities to be had from acting on climate change sooner rather than later to meet Paris Agreement commitments to limit global temperature...

The Green Party is welcoming a report released by the Prime Minister’s Chief Scientist, Sir Peter Gluckman, which acknowledges our justice system is broken and incarcerating more New Zealanders won’t fix it. “This report points the way forward for justice in New Zealand, and fits with what the Green Party has been advocating for some time,” said Green Party justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman. “I know, having worked on the frontlines of our criminal justice system, that so-called ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric and...

In a world-leading conservation effort, mice have been successfully eradicated from Antipodes Island in the New Zealand Subantarctic, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Million Dollar Mouse, a joint initiative between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and funding partners the Morgan Foundation, WWF-New Zealand, Island Conservation and public supporters, has successfully delivered one of the most complex island eradication projects ever undertaken.  “This is huge news for conservation both in New Zealand and internationally,” Ms Sage said. “Special plants and...

Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage are accelerating work to improve protection of the nationally endangered Hector’s dolphin, after five were accidentally killed in a fishing net off Banks Peninsula. The dolphins were trapped in a commercial set net about six nautical miles north of Banks Peninsula on 17 February. The fisherman reported the incident to Fisheries Inshore New Zealand (FINZ) and to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Mr Nash and Ms Sage have identified a...

The Green Party has today announced that, from this week, most of its allocation of questions for Question Time will be handed over to the Leader of the Opposition to use, in order to limit the prevalence of “patsy questions” in Parliament and to strengthen the ability of Parliament to hold the Government of the day to account.  The only exception is if the Green Party wishes to use a question to hold the Government to account on a particular...

Nominations for Conservation Boards have been reopened to ensure they reflect the diverse communities they serve, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The Department of Conservation re-opened the nomination process for recruiting a broader cross-section of members from the different communities each board represents on the Minister’s recommendation. The nomination process for the 2018 appointments was undertaken late last year and may have been affected by the Christmas holidays. The Department received 143 nominations for a total of 45 positions...

From today New Zealanders can register their interest in being part of the Government’s consultation on what the Zero Carbon Bill should look like, Climate Change Minister James Shaw has announced.

The Government is inviting input as it sets the priorities for New Zealand at international climate change negotiations.