The use of private sector finance to build the Pūhoi-Warkworth motorway will make an already uneconomic project more expensive, the Green Party said today. The National Government today announced it was putting the financing and construction of the Pūhoi-Warkworth motorway out to tender as a public-private partnership (PPP). “Building the Puhoi-Warkworth motorway sooner doesn't stop it being an unwise use of money,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “Borrowing from the private sector to finance the earlier construction...

The Government’s closure of Relationships Aotearoa creates a worrying gap in the provision of specialist counselling services to Maori and domestic violence victims and perpetrators, the Green Party said today. “By shutting down Relationships Aotearoa, the Government is shutting down years of highly specialised knowledge and experience, which has made a real and positive difference to thousands of New Zealanders,” said Green Party women’s issues spokesperson Jan Logie.  “Relationships Aotearoa was New Zealand’s largest provider of counselling ­­– a national,...

New information shows the Government did a second dubious deal with a disgruntled Saudi businessman who was blocking progress on the Gulf States Free Trade Agreement (FTA), says the Green Party today.

It’s time for the Government to pull out all the stops to protect Maui’s dolphin in the wake of news that estimated numbers have fallen to between 43 and 47 individuals, said the Green Party today. Research from NABU International shows that the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin has only 10-12 mature females left, and could be extinct by 2029. It was previously thought that there were 55 individuals remaining. “We either do everything we can to save these unique...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to withdraw New Zealand troops from Iraq given the Iraqi army seems unwilling to fight the Islamic State, Green Party defence spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham said today.

New Zealand is now experiencing the worst annual trade deficit since the height of the global financial crisis because the National Government has failed to diversify the economy away from dairy and oil, the Green Party said. “The $2.6 billion trade deficit for the year ended April 2015 is the largest since June 2009 when the global economy was deep in crisis,” Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said. “National has failed to put in place an economic strategy to...

The National Government has just handed SkyCity the last trump card in its convention centre deal, delivering the casino complete control over the centre, removing any last pretence that it’s a public facility, the Green Party said today. The Government and SkyCity today released a preliminary design on the convention centre, in which the casino has bought off the Government for millions of dollars so the public will have no more influence over the building or design of the facility....

Contact Energy’s decision to pay nearly 100% of its profit to its shareholders rather than drop retail electricity prices, invest in clean energy technology exports, or pay down debt, shows that it doesn’t put its customers first, the Green Party says. “The National Government has let the electricity market get away on them, and consumers are suffering as a result,” Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “The Government’s only response is to tell people to shop around but the...

Figures in National’s 2015 Budget revealing that nearly $31 million is being spent on increasing greenhouse emissions show just how much the emissions trading scheme (ETS) is unfair to New Zealanders who are trying to do their bit to prevent climate change, the Green Party said.   “All New Zealanders are essentially giving climate polluters almost $31 million via the tax system, whether they like it or not,” Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said.   “The Budget has revealed that...

Pink Shirt Day is the perfect time for politicians of all stripes to launch a cross-party LGBTI working group. MPs put aside their differences today and donned pink shirts to take a stand against the bullying of LGBTI people in New Zealand. The group has been established to provide education, leadership and legislative progress on LGBTI rights. It was initiated by Green Party MP Jan Logie and includes 12 members from National, Labour, NZ First, Act and the Greens. “We...