Parliament’s Speaker David Carter needs to consider allowing a personal vote on legislation to relax Easter trading laws, the Green Party said today. “MPs have traditionally exercised personal votes on Easter trading,” said the Green Party’s Workplace Relations & Safety spokesperson, Denise Roche, who will be writing to Mr Carter requesting the personal vote “Past voting has not been along party lines, with eight current National MPs, including Workplace Relations Minister Michael Woodhouse himself, voting against Easter Sunday trading in...

National is playing politics with New Zealanders’ holidays by proposing to liberalise Easter Sunday trading laws while they are on the back foot with their own proposed health and safety laws in tatters.

SERCO should now be issued with a final warning following new revelations a staff member at the Mt Eden Correctional Facility was caught on camera fighting with an inmate, said the Green Party today.

The horrific deaths of 400 mother and baby pigs in a Waikato farm fire is another example of why farrowing crates must go, the Green Party said today. “I am extremely saddened by the appalling deaths of these intelligent animals,” said Green Party animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers. “Not only did these pigs lead terrible lives, living in cramped pens with little room for movement, they ended up suffering horrible, traumatic deaths as well. "This is another example of why free-range...

National Party MPs are continuing to mislead the New Zealand public, claiming they will be able to have input into the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) once it is signed. “Backbench MP Shane Reti was today caught out trying to tell Northlanders that the TPPA comes before Parliament to be debated and modified – something that is blatantly not true,” said Green Party Trade spokesperson Dr Russel Norman. “Steven Joyce had to correct a similarly untrue statement in Parliament in...

The Green Party is delighted the Basin Reserve flyover will not be going ahead after a ruling by the High Court today. “The Green Party is very happy with the decision by the High Court today dismissing the appeal over the Basin Reserve flyover,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) should not have taken the decision to court in the first place after the Environmental Protection Agency made a rational transport decision....

The Green Party is calling on the Government to let the computer game development industry access incentives already available to the screen production industry, following new information from the New Zealand Game Developers Association that suggests growth in the gaming industry is constrained by a lack of Government support. “Unless the Government provides an equal playing field with the movie industry, new gaming companies and high-value projects are likely to dry up,” Green Party information and communications technology spokesperson Gareth...

The Government’s refusal to set minimum warrant of fitness standards for rental homes is causing Kiwi kids to get sick, the Green Party said today.

National’s 30-year infrastructure plan fails to address the biggest long-term challenge our economy faces – responding to climate change, the Green Party said today. The National Government today released a document called The Thirty Year New Zealand Infrastructure Plan. “While we strongly support long-term thinking around infrastructure planning and spending, by relegating climate change, National’s infrastructure plan is already out-of-date,” said Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “In thirty years’ time, New Zealand’s economy will need to be low...

The Green Party has initiated a Parliamentary Inquiry into dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum disorders in schools in New Zealand. Following a request from the Green Party, the Education and Science Select Committee has today agreed to investigate the identification of and support for students facing the significant challenges of dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum disorders. “So many students are missing out on education because their learning differences are not identified early enough and help is not made available. We...