The Green Party is heralding today’s transport announcement in Auckland as a game changer that will deliver on some of the core commitments of the party’s confidence and supply agreement.

The Minister for Climate Change says a Productivity Commission draft report into New Zealand’s transition to a low-emissions economy supports work the Government is already putting in place to get there. “The Productivity Commission’s draft report clearly shows it is possible for New Zealand to transition to a low-emissions economy and the Government is already doing or planning to do many of the things that will make this happen,” says James Shaw. “As the Productivity Commission points out, this transition...

Key leaders from the finance, business, environment, church, government and academic communities met today to talk about how the New Zealand financial and economic sector can best respond to climate change. Climate Change Minister James Shaw says he’s been impressed by the enthusiasm and leadership shown by the financial and business sector during the panel discussion in Auckland. “Our new Government has made the commitment that New Zealand will transition to a net zero economy by 2050,” says James Shaw....

The Green Party is heralding today’s announcement ending new fossil fuel exploration in New Zealand’s oceans as a massive step towards a stable climate and to protecting our marine life and beaches. “The Green Party and thousands of New Zealanders have been working for decades towards this day and this decision – that fossil fuels are not our future," said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “Ending deep sea oil and gas exploration has long been a key goal of the...

The Green Party is celebrating the passage of a Bill that will require coroners to consider Māori protocols, which had its first reading in Parliament last night.

South Auckland-based MP Marama Davidson will join James Shaw in the role of Green Party Co-leader, after the result of the leadership contest was announced this morning in Auckland. Ms Davidson secured 110 delegate votes. Julie Anne Genter, the Minister for Women and Associate Minister of Transport and Health, also contested the Co-leadership role and won 34 votes. Ms Davidson entered Parliament in 2015 following Russel Norman’s resignation. She is the mother of six children and has before entering parliament...

The Green Party is today marking a significant step toward cleaner rivers and less climate pollution, with the wind down of taxpayer subsidies for industrial irrigation schemes, as outlined in the Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Green and Labour Parties. “Today’s announcement marks an important step in cleaning up our rivers and protecting our water and climate for generations to come,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “The Green Party’s Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Labour Party promised...

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...