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Govt must build more state houses to get our children off the streets
The Green Party is calling on the Government to uphold its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child* and increase the supply of state homes in Auckland, to help house the growing number of homeless families in the city. The call comes after the release of a Salvation Army report which revealed that 47 per cent (568) of people who sought help from the Army and Catholic community services were children, some of whom were...
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Another case of pay hypocrisy from the Government
The Green Party is accusing the Government of hypocrisy following revelations that it is paying Paula Rebstock $2000 a day to chair the Child Youth and Family review panel at the same time as it refuses to pay Parliamentary cleaners a living wage so they have to work two jobs just to get by. “Under the National Government there is one standard for its mates and a different standard for ordinary New Zealanders,” said Green Party Workplace Relations spokesperson Denise...
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Change the Govt if you want action on climate
The National Government’s unwillingness to work cross-party to address climate change is putting businesses and the economy at greater risk, the Green Party said today. Green Party co-leader James Shaw questioned Finance Minister Bill English in the House today on reaching a consensus on the climate — the first of a week-long series of questions on the climate in the lead up to talks in Paris starting on November 30. “The National Government’s unwillingness to work cross-party means the Government...
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Green Party abstaining on Returning Offenders Bill
The Green Party will be abstaining on the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill.
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Families set to suffer as SkyCity hits jackpot
The roll-out of 470 new gambling machines and tables at SkyCity’s Auckland casino from today, as reported on RNZ this morning, will hit families in the pocket and put already-vulnerable Kiwis at further risk, the Green Party said. The multi-national gambling corporation is allowed to increase the number of tables and machines as part of its highly controversial back-room deal with the National Government, in exchange for building a new convention centre. “SkyCity may be laughing all the way to...
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Green Party expresses sympathy for Paris victims
The Green Party's thoughts are with the people of France, as we offer our sympathy to the family and friends of those who have been killed and injured in the attack.
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What role did ministers play in keeping Saudi report secret?
Minister must say whether they had anything to do with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s (NZTE) refusal to release a report into the deaths of 900 lambs sent to Saudi Arabia as a Government bribe to a Saudi businessman, the Green Party said today.
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Amy Adams must clarify why New Zealanders are being detained on Island
The Green Party is calling on the Justice Minister to release the full list of the reasons New Zealanders are imprisoned on Christmas Island, and for the Prime Minister to correct his statement that the detainees were “rapists and murderers”. Justice Minister Amy Adams has given media an edited summary of offences committed by some of the New Zealanders on Christmas Island, but has refused to release details about those detainees who have not committed any offences, or who were...
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Supermarket referee long overdue
Parliament will have the opportunity to establish a supermarket referee to ensure supermarkets treat suppliers fairly, after Green MP Mojo Mathers’ Commerce (Supermarket Adjudicator and Code of Conduct) Amendment Bill was pulled from the members’ bill ballot today. The Bill establishes an independent supermarket adjudicator who would work with the industry to develop a code of conduct for relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers, and deal with complaints about behaviour that allegedly breaches the code. “The two huge supermarket chains...
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Greens call out Government’s agenda of politicising environmental decision making
The Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith should not be given the power to appoint Environment Protection Agency (EPA) decision-makers who decide applications for seabed mining and other development in New Zealand’s oceans, the Green Party said today. Yesterday, Greenpeace revealed that Dr Smith is seeking to change the law to give himself the power to personally choose who will sit on the Environmental Protection Agency’s “decision-making committees” for marine consent applications, responsible for deciding if companies can prospect for oil...