Today’s vote on the Health and Safety Reform Bill is the Government’s last chance to show it has a genuine commitment to promoting workplace health and safety, the Green Party says. “The National Party’s snubbing of yesterday evening’s gathering at Parliament of families of workers who had died on the job, including those from Pike River, was shameful,” said Green Party Workplace Relations and Safety spokesperson Denise Roche. “However, today the Government has the opportunity to make amends by supporting...

The Government needs to strengthen Kiwibank or face the risk of another foreign-owned bank entering our market and sending its profits offshore, the Green Party said. PwC’s New Zealand Banking Perspectives report predicts that another major foreign-owned bank may decide to set up in New Zealand, citing room for greater competition due to high profitability. The report also shows that bank profits rose to $2.37 billion in the first half of 2015. “The Government should strengthen Kiwibank and allow it...

John Key should protect New Zealand’s international reputation by standing down Murray McCully while his role in the Saudi sheep saga is investigated by the Auditor-General, the Green Party said today. “It’s embarrassing that Murray McCully is representing New Zealand on the international stage while he’s under investigation for the role he played in these very dodgy dealings,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw “Keeping Murray McCully on duty overseas may help protect him from having to answer to the...

The Government must rule out mass sales of Landcorp’s 137 farms to overseas interests, following suggestions that the state-owned farmer is under pressure from the falling dairy price, the Green Party said. “The Government needs to rule out sales of Landcorp’s farms to overseas interests, especially given that 5 percent of New Zealand’s agricultural land has been sold to offshore buyers in the last five years alone,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “The Government’s hands-off approach to SOE management...

Jonathan Coleman misled a health Select Committee in June when he claimed that Pharmac was happy to work within the Government’s flat-line funding of the drug-buying agency, the Green Party revealed today. “We’ve learned today that, in fact, Pharmac had asked the Government for an extra $11 million for its combined pharmaceutical budget so it could invest in new drug treatments for sick Kiwis,” said Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague. “Instead, it was given a $5 million increase, which...

The National Government must not allow one of New Zealand’s largest, most productive farms – Lochinver Station – to fall into foreign ownership, the Green Party said today. Offshore company Shanghai Pengxin has confirmed that it is aiming to buy the $70+ million Lochinver Station in the central North Island, which would be the second-largest foreign purchase of New Zealand land. The sale is currently awaiting approval from Government ministers. Shanghai Pengxin previously bought the 7,900 hectare Crafar farms. “National...

The Green Party is calling on all power companies to follow Contact’s lead and equalise pre-paid power prices with post-paid prices. “All power companies should follow Contact’s lead and drop their pre-paid rates to be in line with post-paid prices,” Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “It’s good to see power companies like Contact and Mighty River Power responding to repeated calls from the Green Party to treat pre-paid and post-paid customers fairly. “We know that some of our...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to set a goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation or risk being left behind as industry leads the transition from dirty fossil fuel electricity generation to clean renewable power, the Green Party said today. “The Government’s fossil fuel-focused energy strategy is looking out of touch and out of date following Contact’s announcement it is closing the Otahuhu B gas plant and Genesis’ announcement it will close the Huntly coal plant,” Green...

Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English need to get their stories straight over Landcorp’s large scale dairy conversions, the Green Party said today. While Mr English said on Saturday that the Government is “uncomfortable”  with the extent of Landcorp’s plans to add another 29,500 cows to the upper Waikato farms it is converting from forestry, Mr Key said this morning that Landcorp’s plans were not a matter for Ministers to concern themselves with. “The Green Party are...

New Zealand’s ability to add value to primary products and develop our economy is being undermined by selling land and productive assets offshore, the Green Party said. KPMG’s Foreign Direct Investment in New Zealand report shows that the ownership of primary industries is increasingly being sold offshore. “It’s very difficult for the New Zealand government to promote a strategy of adding value to our primary products when New Zealanders are steadily losing ownership of land, forests, and productive assets in...