Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has today announced two important new transparency measures, which will apply to Green Party Ministers, MPs and staff, to help counter the influence of money in politics.

Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today pledged to take action on plastic bags when she accepted a petition signed by over 65,000 people along with a letter from Greenpeace. “Since I took on this portfolio I have been struck by how much New Zealanders really care about the harmful impacts of single use plastic bags. The message I’ve got is that it’s time for change,” Ms Sage said. “The previous National Government ignored this problem when a similar petition by...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw says Stats NZ’s release of their first combined Environmental Economic Accounts will provide a valuable basis for understanding New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions economy.

The Green Party has today congratulated the Hon Simon Bridges, who has been announced as the new Leader of the National Party.

The Green Party strongly supports today’s announcement to amend the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 to provide a statutory power for senior courts to make declarations of inconsistency under the Act. “At its heart, this amendment is about protecting New Zealanders’ human rights across the board,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “There is nothing more important or fundamental than that. But there have been numerous cases over the years of Parliament passing legislation, including where advice from...

The Green Party is renewing its call to remove the double standard that allows for referendum on the establishment of only Māori wards from law.

The critically endangered Antipodes Island wandering albatross will be functionally extinct within the next 20 years unless the devastating decline in their population is halted, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says. The population of this rare wandering albatross, which breeds almost exclusively on the remote Antipodes Island in the New Zealand subantarctic, has experienced an alarming decline in the past 13 years, with very high mortality of females and reduced breeding success. Ms Sage, who has just visited Antipodes Island, says...

Punakaiki suffered from a lack of planning under National, and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage is pleased this will now change with today’s Provincial Growth Fund announcements. The fund will provide $100,000 to help Punakaiki develop a master plan to future-proof the township. “The famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes at Punakaiki are major drawcards for visitors, as are the dramatic karst landscapes in the Punakaiki and Pororari Valleys,” Ms Sage said. “Of course people want to come see these special places...

Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is stoked that her Election Access Fund Bill was pulled from the Members’ Ballot today. If passed, the Bill will establish a new contestable fund to be overseen by the Electoral Commission. People with disabilities who wish to run as election candidates will be able to apply for money from the fund, to make the electoral process more accessible; for example a profoundly deaf candidate could apply and use the money to hire a sigh...

The result of one of the most complex island mouse eradication projects ever undertaken will be known in a few short weeks. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage is accompanying a Department of Conservation-led Million Dollar Mouse monitoring team heading to Antipodes Island group in the New Zealand subantarctic. The monitoring team will begin the month-long assessment to determine whether the project was a success. Ms Sage said it was an exciting, albeit nerve-wrecking time, for everyone involved. “The Million Dollar Mouse...