Health Minister Dr David Clark and Associate Health Minster Julie Anne Genter have announced that Porirua will be the first community to benefit from a trial of free mental health support.

The opening of the new refugee resettlement housing unit in Whanganui marks a step forward in New Zealand’s commitment to offer a safe home for families fleeing war and persecution, Green MP and refugee Golriz Ghahraman said today.

The Minister for Climate Change has welcomed new New Zealand-led research that warns of more “dangerous and unpredictable” weather in the future if the world doesn’t get more serious about climate change action.   “This research explores what could happen with ice melts occurring at both polar caps and paints a disturbing picture of what our world will be like if we fail to act,” says James Shaw.   “It is research like this that emboldens me in my work...

New research highlights the importance of New Zealand’s wetlands for one of our most secretive native birds, the Australasian bittern or matuku, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said today on World Wetlands Day.   GPS tracking of matuku/bittern has, for the first time, revealed that this threatened swamp dweller flies more than 300 km between wetlands in the eastern South Island as well as large distances between North Island wetland sites. Previously it was thought bittern ranged only small distances from...

Edward Ellison is the new Chairperson of the New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA), Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. A sheep farmer on the Otago Peninsula, Mr Ellison has previously served on the NZCA, Otago Conservation Board, Queen Elizabeth II National Trust Board, the South-East Marine Protection Forum and the Otago University Council.  The NZCA is a national statutory body that provides strategic policy advice to the Department of Conservation and the Minister.  It also has statutory functions around approving...

​Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson will be speaking at the annual Waihopai spy base demonstration this Saturday January 26, protesting against international spying which puts the human rights and privacy of global citizens at risk.

The Ministry of Justice has released a summary of feedback on draft guidance for information sharing under new family violence legislation. The Family Violence Act 2018 outlines how and when family violence agencies and social services practitioners can share information about victims or perpetrators of family violence. “The purpose of the new law is to encourage agencies to work together to identify, stop, prevent and otherwise respond to family violence,” says Jan Logie, Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic...

The Green Party welcome the National Party to the drug law reform conversation, with Paula Bennett announced today as the party’s spokesperson on the issue.   

With temperatures high around the country, Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter has launched the Ministry of Health’s new Heat Health Plan Guidelines. “Climate change is a big threat to our society, and we need to plan for anticipated weather like hotter days now,” says Ms Genter. “Although it is great to enjoy the outdoors, getting too hot is a serious risk that will happen more in our future. Our health will be impacted by climate change, and we need...

Hardship grants rising demonstrates why the baseline benefit needs to increase, Green Co-leader Marama Davidson said today.