Today’s launch of the new union E tū, formed through the merger of the EPMU and the Service and Food Workers’ Union, has been welcomed by the Green Party. The new union covers over 50,000 members and is New Zealand’s largest private sector union. “A strong union movement is essential to reducing inequality, and I am confident the new E tū union, with its larger membership base and organising capacity, will be able to cover more hard working New Zealanders...

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund’s commitment to invest NZ$540 million in clean energy is its clearest signal yet that they are taking climate change seriously, the Green Party said today. The release of the Fund’s annual report today details how the Fund’s $540 million commitment to invest in clean energy as part of a wider priority this year to explore opportunities to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure and complete their Climate Change and Investment Strategy project. “The Super Fund is putting...

The Government needs to ban neonicotinoid pesticides in light of new research that proves they kill bees and other important pollinating insects, the Green Party said today. “Banning neonicotinoids is one way the Government can take steps to ensure healthy bees thrive in New Zealand,” said Green Party pesticides spokesperson Steffan Browning. “Healthy bees are critical to our food chain and we must do everything possible to protect them. They pollinate the plants that we and other animals eat. We...

The Department of Conservation’s (DoC) decision to allow the habitat of threatened species such as long-tailed bat to be used for an irrigation reservoir sets a dangerous precedent that threatens our native wildlife, the Green Party said today. DoC’s Director-General has agreed to revoke the conservation status of 22 hectares of Ruahine Forest Park to allow the Ruataniwha irrigation dam and reservoir to proceed in return for 170 ha of private land called the Smedley Block. “DoC’s decision to sacrifice...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) makes it more likely that everyday New Zealanders will become tenants in our own land, while private companies snap up the limited gains of about one percent of GDP, the Green Party said today. “The TPPA is a bad deal because the costs will be worn by everyday New Zealanders while the benefits will go to private companies,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “New Zealanders are more likely to become tenants in our own...

The Green Party is celebrating the conclusion of an uphill battle to get National to run a competitive tender process for New Zealand’s biggest banking contract – the Government’s master banking contract. Westpac has been the Government’s banker for over 25 years and the Green Party has pushed to have this cosy banking relationship exposed and put up for tender. The open tender process will now save taxpayers $120 million in lower bank fees over the next eight-year contract. “The...

New data released today shows that the difference between median hourly wages for men and women is the largest since National took office in 2008 – evidence that National’s hands-off approach to closing the gender pay gap has failed, the Green Party said. The difference between men’s and women’s median hourly wages was 11.8 percent in the June quarter 2015, according to the Statistics NZ New Zealand Income Survey, an increase from 9.9 percent in June 2014.* “It’s clear that...

The Government must listen to Pacific leaders and start taking climate change seriously on the international stage, the Green Party said today. "In addressing the United Nations today, John Key said he hoped Paris would amount to a meaningful agreement on climate change,” said Green Party co-leader James Shaw. "And yet the emissions reduction target that New Zealand is taking to Paris is embarrassingly weak.” "Key has been in talks with Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. If the National Government...

The Green Party will return all prisons to state control because a person’s liberty should not be

Hekia Parata’s admission that the Government wants to tie school funding to achievement data, and her bizarre comments about charter schools and Apartheid, shows just how flawed National’s ideologically driven education reforms are, the Green Party said today. The Minister made the comments in her speech at the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) annual conference in Wellington. “The Minister has done a complete flip-flop on tying school funding to achievement data – first she ruled it out and now we’ve learned...