SkyCity’s 30 percent profit increase comes at the cost of problem gambling affecting Auckland families and is no cause for celebration, the Green Party said. SkyCity today posted a first half profit of $71 million, up 30 percent on the previous six months, reportedly boasting that it was already profiting from the pokies for convention centre deal. “SkyCity’s boosted profit results reveal just who the Government’s dodgy convention centre deal was designed to benefit – and it’s not Aucklanders,” Green Party Auckland...

ECan has failed farmers who have securely fenced their waterways and provided water for stock on their farms by letting Lakes Station off with no fine, the Green Party said today. Lakes Station cows were photographed wading in Lake Taylor last month, after being deliberately allowed through a fence to cool off. “What sort of message is ECan sending other farmers by letting Lakes Station off with no fine? Many farmers have taken the lead by fencing off waterways to...

New Zealand needs to halt the substantial under-reporting of commercial fish catches and dumping that a new report suggests is widespread in the fishing industry, the Green Party said today. “Systematic under-reporting of commercial catches undermines the credibility of the Quota Management System (QMS) and the fisheries data used to set the Total Allowable Catch.  It means there is a big question mark over whether current catch limits and fisheries management are sustainable,” said Green Party fisheries spokesperson Eugenie Sage....

New research shows the Government is ripping off children with special needs, who are being denied access to the education they need because specialist teachers are not being adequately funded, the Green Party said.   The NZEI TE Riu Roa survey of Special Education Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in schools shows 90 percent believe children with special needs are not getting the support they need to learn.   “Every child has the right to an education, at their local school, that...

The self-proclaimed ‘business friendly’ National Government is out-of-step with its own bank and the wider business community who want stronger action to reign-in climate damaging pollution, the Green Party said today. A new Ministry for the Environment report reveals that nearly all businesses surveyed believed the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could do more to drive down carbon emissions in the business sector and encourage more tree planting.[1] An independent report just released by Westpac has also criticised the National Government...

The report into the treatment of a diplomat found guilty of indecent assault highlights a failure of Government Ministers to show political leadership over sexual violence, the Green Party said today.

The Green Party is calling for the immediate release of the Government report into the treatment of a Malaysian diplomat convicted of indecent assault now that the diplomat has been found guilty and sentenced.

The latest critique of the TPPA, as an old fashioned agreement inconsistent with human rights, is a timely warning that the signing of the deal in Auckland today is not in the interests of New Zealanders, the Green Party said. United Nations Human Rights Council Independent Expert Professor Alfred de Sayas has issued a statement explaining how the ‘outdated’ TPPA is ‘fundamentally flawed and should not be signed or ratified unless provision is made to guarantee the regulatory space of...

The Government must be 100 percent clear with New Zealanders about whether it’s preparing to cave in to US pressure over extending patent protections in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that would make biologic medicines more expensive, the Green Party said. Reports from the USA suggest the pharmaceutical industry is pushing the US Government to force Australia and New Zealand to accept a longer patent period that would raise the cost of medicines, before the deal is signed on...

The Green Party has welcomed the appointment of Abbie Reynolds as Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council (SBC). “We look forward to working with Abbie Reynolds at the Sustainable Business Council, which plays a vital role in transitioning New Zealand towards a smart, high value, low-carbon economy,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “Ms Reynolds’ background driving sustainability in the ICT industry bodes well for the development of more high-tech, low-pollution businesses in New Zealand. “We also want to...