The Government is taking immediate action to support people into work and improve income security for New Zealanders on benefits, in response to the release of the Government’s Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) report today.

The Government is backing New Zealanders with innovative ideas to solve our waste crisis Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage said today as she opened a fresh round of Waste Minimisation Funding.  Applications to this funding round of the Waste Minimisation Fund open on today and close on 29 May 2019.  For more information on the Waste Minimisation Fund visit http://www.mfe.govt.nz/more/funding/waste-minimisation-fund. "I am excited to open this new round of Waste Minimisation Funding. The fund backs New Zealanders with innovative ideas for new projects that help tackle...

“We’ll continue to work with Labour to make our tax system fairer,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said today following the Government response to the Tax Working Group release. “The Green Party has long called for a capital gains tax as a way to level the playing field for hard working New Zealanders who have struggled to get ahead. “Taxing income from capital the same way we tax income from work would reduce the wealth gap, fix the housing crisis...

Water extraction should be considered a sensitive asset under new consultation launched today on the Overseas Investment Act review, Green Party Coleader Marama Davidson said today. The Green Party announced at their 2018 AGM that water bottling issues would be involved in the next consultation of the Overseas Investment review. “The protection of water must be at the heart of decision-making for our Overseas Investment Act, and I am pleased that, following Green Party pressure, New Zealanders will now be...

News that OMV intend to start drilling in the Great South Basin is bad news for our planet, the Green Party said today. “It is time to put a line in the sand on offshore oil and gas drilling,” Green Party Energy & Resources spokesperson Gareth Hughes says.  “Only the Green Party is committed to stop deep sea oil drilling. This isn’t the future we want for New Zealand or the world. “The consent application announced today for oil drilling...

The Government is going the extra mile backing the Sustainable Business Network’s Million Metres Streams’ project with a $200,000 funding boost, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. “I am excited to be able to announce this funding from the Community Environment Fund for the Million Metres project in time for this year’s autumn planting season. “The Million Metres project aims to improve water quality by restoring native vegetation along more than 500 kms of New Zealand’s waterways which makes...

Monitoring by the Department of Conservation has confirmed the predicted mega mast or heavy seeding in New Zealand’s forests this autumn, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said today. Results from extensive seed sampling across the country in February and March point to the biggest beech mast for more than 40 years with exceptionally heavy seed loads in South Island forests. Rimu forests and tussock grasslands in the South Island are also seeding heavily. Forest seeding provides a bonanza of food for...

A block of native forest which is home to threatened native frogs /pepeketua and Coromandel brown kiwi will be preserved after being purchased by the Nature Heritage Fund. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage today announced the formal protection of 130 hectares of native forest, at Papa Aroha, 11 kilometres north of Coromandel township.  “The owners offered the Aradia block to the Fund to guarantee it would be protected for future generations,” Eugenie Sage said. The land is covered by logged kauri...

Government Ministers Damien O’Connor and Eugenie Sage are visiting the West Coast to see how flood recovery work is going and hear views of the local community. Rural Communities Minister and MP for West Coast-Tasman Damien O’Connor said good progress was being made in a number of areas and he and Eugenie Sage wanted to see what else needed to be done. “I understand services are being returned and work is underway to restore access. This morning I have been...

The Green Party is disappointed that the Ngāi Tahu Representation Bill to increase tangata whenua representation on the Canterbury Regional Council was voted down at first reading today, says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. “While tangata whenua have guaranteed political rights on a national level, representation is often lacking or non-existent in local government. This does not always make for robust decision making and in the past has led to significant breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” Marama Davidson said. “Local governments are willing and ready to take this step forward in giving Māori a guaranteed voice in...