If John Key is serious about tackling child poverty he must approach it with an open mind, and overcome his ideological block to raising incomes as a solution, the Green Party said today. Papers released to Radio New Zealand today show that officials' advice to Government Ministers is that raising incomes was "positively associated with virtually every aspects of child wellbeing that is measured". The advice was to inform Ministers' response to the solutions recommended by the Children's Commissioners' Expert...

The Green Party has today written to the Prime Minister asking him to engage in wider consultation prior to changing any laws as a result of the recently announced terrorism law reviews, said the Green Party today.

John Key is misleading the public to push through terrorism law changes under urgency, the Green Party said today.

The National Government is stooping to a bizarre new low in blaming “planning processes” for  poverty and inequality, after spending six years doing nothing about either the housing market or child poverty, the Green Party said today. Finance Minister Bill English reportedly said today that urban planning processes had done more to increase income inequality and poverty in New Zealand than “most other policies,” saying that inequality would have been improving if it wasn’t for growing house prices. “After spending...

National's decision to shift the state provision of housing to third parties is a smokescreen for the Government decreasing the provision of affordable housing, the Green Party said today. "What National should be doing is increasing the supply of both social and state housing," Green Party housing spokesperson Jan Logie said. "Newly appointed Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett admits that the demand for state housing exceeds the supply. There are currently over 3,000 applicants with a severe and persistent need...

National ignored official advice and is spending less than half what was originally recommended by the Ministry of Transport on urban cycleways, the Green Party has revealed today. Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that the Ministry of Transport (MOT) recommended in July that the Government spend $260 million on upgrading urban cycleways. The Government rejected this advice, announcing only $100 million of new spending over four years despite years of ‘insufficient funding’. “National’s $100 million investment into...

The return of Green MP Steffan Browning to Parliament on the special votes means the Green Party will continue this term with a strong team of 14 MPs again. "This is great news for the Green Party and shows we held our own in the election, returning the same number of MPs to Parliament, despite a swing to the Government," said Green Party co-leader Russel Norman. "The Green Party continues this term with a strong team of 14 MPs, a...

The New Zealand public have once again been deceived by National and SkyCity regarding the cost of the International Convention Centre deal, the Green Party said today. SkyCity is building a hotel on land that the Government surrendered to SkyCity on the proviso that the land was essential to build a Convention Centre. In response to a written question from the Green Party Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce stated that the contract with SkyCity "prevents the land being used for...

The New Zealand Government needs to urge China to respect human rights and the freedom to protest in Hong Kong, the Green Party said today. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters have taken to Hong Kong's streets in response to a ruling by Beijing that it would vet candidates wishing to run for Hong Kong's leadership in 2017. "The people of Hong Kong deserve the right to enjoy the democracy that was promised to them by the Chinese Government in...

A new report on global extreme weather events confirms climate change was a factor in last year’s crippling North Island drought. “Scientists are generally wary of linking single weather events to climate change, so this is a significant acknowledgement of the role man-made climate change played what was one of the worst droughts in New Zealand’s history,” said Green Party climate change spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham. The report, “Explaining extreme events of 2013 from a climate perspective”, was published overnight...