A 3 News poll today showing only 34 percent of New Zealanders are in favour of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and 52 percent are opposed should be a wake-up call to the National Government not to sign the TPPA, the Green Party said. “It’s very clear from this poll that the Government doesn’t have a mandate to sign the TPPA,” Green Party trade spokesperson Kennedy Graham said. “Thousands of people have demonstrated against the TPPA and National dismissed them...

Finance Minister Bill English’s description of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on sea level rise as mere “speculation” denies the evidence and puts the livelihoods and assets of people living in places like South Dunedin or Napier at serious risk. Mr English dismissed the report’s primary finding that sea level rise is now certain, as mere “speculation”, and rejected her recommendation that he should plan for financial support for people who might see their homes and assets threatened...

The National Government should ban the use of controversial pesticides called neonicotinoids after evidence has revealed that even at low doses they cause harm to bee populations, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of research published in Nature magazine, which confirmed even low doses of neonicotinoids (called neonics for short) affect bumble bees’ ability to forage and pollinate crops. “We’ve long known that neonics kill bees at high doses, but this is the first study...

Today marks the day 25 years ago when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a promise to 'protect and promote' the rights of children and it is time for the Government to deliver on this promise, the Green Party said today. “Fairness is a value every New Zealander holds deeply in our identity, but it is kids who get the raw end of the deal too often,” Green Party co-Leader Metiria Turei said. “Unless the Government takes concrete steps today...

The Government must make safe cycling around schools a priority, following new data that shows the number of children who cycle to school has dropped to just 2 percent, the Green Party said. The 25 Years of New Zealand Travel: New Zealand Household Travel 1989-2014 report shows that the percentage of children cycling to school has dropped from 12 percent in 1989 to 2 percent in 2014, and the number who walk to school has dropped from 42 percent to...

Green Party MP and animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers is proud and honoured to be one of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Lush Prize. The Lush Prize, which is funded by international cosmetics company Lush, recognises people working to end chemical testing on animals. The winners were chosen by an international panel of experts from 51 shortlisted science teams, organisations and individual researchers, with Ms Mathers being recognised for her work in leading the campaign to end the testing...

The National Government should respect the more than half of Kiwis who didn’t vote National at the last election, and immediately reinstate funding it has cut from the Opposition since it’s been in power, the Green Party says. While the Government has generously increased its own ministerial funding over the past 8 years, the Parliamentary Appropriations Review tabled today shows that the funding for opposition parties has remained the same since 2007, amounting to a significant cut when accounting for...

The National Government and Minister for the Environment Dr Nick Smith have been missing in action in failing to provide local authorities with clear national direction on how to plan for sea-level rise, the Green Party said today. “With sea-level rise inevitable, the Government needs to provide national direction under the Resource Management Act (RMA), so New Zealanders in low-lying areas such as Napier and Dunedin South aren’t left with uninsurable and uninhabitable homes,” Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage said....

On the fifth anniversary of the Pike River tragedy, the Green Party has condemned the Government for reneging on its promise to recover the dead men’s remains, and for failing to hold anyone accountable for the disaster, or to honour the men with workplace safety laws to ensure nothing like this could happen again. “Five years ago today, 29 men tragically and needlessly lost their lives at Pike River mine,” West Coast based Green MP Kevin Hague said. “The one...

Fonterra should follow the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s lead and phase out coal use instead of building new coal-fired milk drying plants, the Green Party said. The UK has announced that it will close all coal-fired electricity generation plants by 2025. Unless it takes action, Fonterra will by then be New Zealand’s largest user of coal after Genesis Energy stops burning coal in the Huntly power plant in 2018. “The UK has identified the need to stop burning coal and...