With Australia due to get a grilling at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today, the Green Party is once again calling on the National Government to rule out supporting Australia’s bid for a membership on the UNHRC next year.

The Minister in charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Chris Finlayson, must instruct the agency to reassess all of those New Zealanders who have been denied security clearance and tarnished as a result of unfair vetting processes, said the Green Party today.

It's appalling that the environment chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) does not explicitly cite climate change, the biggest threat to our global wellbeing, said the Green Party today.

The Government must commit to an extended timeframe for select committee consultation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and public hearings throughout the country, the Green Party said today. The full text of the TPPA and accompanying documents were released last night. “The public has been excluded from the secretive TPPA process so far, so it’s time for the Government to make good on its promises of meaningful public input,” Green Party trade spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham said. “It’s vital...

The fact that it took over four months for the Minister to be informed of major breaches of the law by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) shows he has lost control of his agency, said the Green Party today.

The Government’s announcement that it will kick homeless families off the Housing New Zealand wait-list if they refuse to move into mouldy state homes is a classic case of victim-blaming, the Green Party says. Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett has today launched a new policy to kick people off the Housing New Zealand wait-list for 13 weeks if they turn down more than one more state home. “Paula Bennett knows that most people who turn down a run-down Housing New...

The Green Party is supporting Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) staff who are taking industrial action today. “It’s no wonder the Minister of MBIE is failing in his goal to raise wages, productivity, and exports when the people in MBIE,who are supposed to be making it happen, are themselves overworked, underpaid, and insecure,” said Green Party industrial relations spokesperson Denise Roche. “There is something sick about the culture of a Ministry that can waste $140,000 on a TV...

Northland forests are disappearing under National’s watch as a direct result of their long-term conservation budget cuts, the Green Party said today. The National Government has cut $376 million from the Department of Conservation’s (DOC) budget in real terms over the last seven years. DOC has 16 percent less in real terms this year compared to 2008 to fight the pests and predators that are destroying New Zealand’s natural heritage. “National’s cuts to conservation are quietly killing our native forests,”...

The Green Party has today launched a suite of new policies that will dramatically increase the number of electric vehicles on New Zealand roads, save Kiwis money, and cut pollution. The Green Party’s new policies will remove fringe benefit tax from       electric vehicles provided by businesses for their staff, and       public transport passes provided by businesses to help staff get to and from work.   “Tax breaks for businesses who choose electric cars provide a major cash incentive to...

A highly critical review of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) today shows the powers of New Zealand spy agencies need to be curbed and political oversight beefed up, the Green Party said today.