The New Zealand Government should take controversial and outdated Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions off the table in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade negotiations in Auckland this week, the Green Party said today. Trade Minister Todd McClay has been reported as saying that RCEP should include ISDS provisions, which allow foreign corporations to sue governments in secretive extra-judicial tribunals. “ISDS rules that allow foreign corporations to sue governments have no place in 21st century trade deals,” Green...

The National Government’s failure to fix the Auckland housing crisis continues to keep interest rates higher than they need to be, meaning families and businesses face higher than necessary costs of borrowing, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 2.25 percent despite economic conditions that favour lowering the rate, citing risks to the economy from high house prices and a lack of housing supply. “National’s failure to fix the Auckland housing...

Will he now use his power under section 32 of the Public Health and Disability Act 2000 to direct Capital and Coast District Health Board to initiate the transitional support plan for Ashley Peacock, which recommends a pathway to a community placement, immediately; if not, why not?

The National Government has been caught spending billions of dollars of public money on motorway projects without measuring the impacts these major infrastructure investments will have on the climate, the Green Party said today. Information received under the Official Information Act shows that the Government has done no analysis on the likely impacts its $30 billion spend on transport infrastructure will have on climate pollution. “The National Government is pumping billions of dollars of public money into motorways without a...

The Government needs to come clean about how many more of the construction-related jobs for the SkyCity convention centre will actually be overseas, following news that half of the steel frame construction work has been given to a Thailand-based company, the Green Party said today. “Steven Joyce needs to front up about how many more of the jobs he promised for New Zealanders will actually be overseas,” Green Party gambling spokesperson Denise Roche said. “The pokies-for-convention-centre deal was always bad...

New data showing that the number of homeless people in the Auckland CBD has risen 20 percent in the last year shows the Government needs to start building desperately needed homes, the Green Party said today.* “The Government needs to stop joking about homelessness, as the Prime Minister did in Parliament today, and get on with building more houses,” Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said. “Families sleeping on the floor of marae, or in their cars, would be...

Kua hinga he tōtara nui o te wao nui a Tāne, kua hinga he rangatira mīharo rawa atu o Ngāti Kahu. E rere haere ana ngā mihi aroha o Te Rōpū Kākāriki ki te whānau pani me ōna iwi whānui e tangi ana i tēnei wā pōuri. The Green Party expresses its sorrow over the passing of Sir Graham Latimer, a great Māori leader of modern times. “Sir Graham Latimer was an inspirational leader, and will be remembered for helping...

The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Health to give an immediate Ministerial Directive to the Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) to free an autistic man who has been locked in a cell-like room for five years. The New Zealand Herald revealed today that Ashley Peacock has been kept in effectively solitary confinement in Porirua for the past five years, allowed only one and a half hours outside each day. “The Minister of Health has specific...

The Green Party today launched a campaign and petition to fight for our rivers, to ensure they are safe for swimming now and in the future. “We’ve chosen 10 rivers from around the country to visit, and highlight what needs to be done to make them clean enough to swim in again,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said at the Party’s annual conference at Lincoln. “New Zealanders want rivers that are safe to swim in that they and future generations...

Kia tau te rangimārie o te Rangi e tū nei o Papatūānuku e takoto nei o te Taiao e awhi nei ki runga i a tātou. Tīhei mauri ora! He mihi nui ki ngā mana whenua o tēnei takiwā, Ngāi Tahu, Tuahuriri, tēnā koutou katoa mō tō manaakitanga.                                                                 ...