The Green Party is calling on the Government to put the brakes on changes to surveillance and passport laws in the wake of a leaked copy of the Government’s foreign fighter legislation revealing serious flaws in the drafting, and sections that potentially breach New Zealand international legal obligations. “John Key is proposing radical changes, that could see innocent New Zealanders left stateless or spied on in their own homes without a warrant, and he wants to ram the law through...

Schools need resources and support to get the best out of children with learning differences and disabilities rather than be told not to bother, the Green Party says. Green Party Education Spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty was responding to Secondary Principals Association President Tom Parsons who claimed children were being misdiagnosed and students who were simply quirky were being wrongly labelled. “The New Zealand education system has come a long way from the dark old days when children who needed help were...

National has further opened the door to Chinese property speculators with the registration of a third Chinese bank here that will make it easier for Chinese investors to invest in New Zealand properties, the Green Party said today. “As well, former party ministers are abetting the newly New Zealand registered Bank of China becoming an active player in the property market,” Green Party housing spokesperson Kevin Hague said today. “Far from acting to limit foreign investors buying up property -...

More than a quarter of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are being silenced with gag clauses under the National government, said the Green Party.

Finance Minister Bill English is softening the public up for an announcement that National is going to fail in even its very limited goal of achieving a budget surplus, the Green Party said today. “No finance minister in a generation has racked up seven consecutive deficits,” Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today. “They have tried to paint themselves as good economic managers but National has, in just over six years, racked up $55 billion in extra debt, equivalent...

The restructuring of the Department of Conservation (DOC) following National’s severe funding cuts has been revealed as failure, the Green Party said today.

Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman congratulated Andrew Little on his election as Labour Party leader this afternoon. “Congratulations to Andrew Little and to the Labour Party for running an open and democratic leadership contest,” Dr Norman said. “We have had good working relationships with previous Labour leaders and look forward to building on this with Andrew Little. “We share common ground with Labour in a number of important policy areas. “We look forward to continuing to build a constructive...

The Government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) should release the report into former Minister of Transport Gerry Brownlee’s airport security breach, the Green Party said today. “The actions of a Minister of Transport breaching security at an airport are a matter of high public interest,” Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said today. The CAA said that after its investigation it had required Gerry Brownlee to pay a $2000 fine while two parliamentary aides had been issued formal warning...

National’s planned cuts to research and development (R&D) funding will further undermine New Zealand’s future economic performance, the Green Party said today. A Grant Thornton International Business Report survey places New Zealand near the bottom of the table of 34 countries for forward investment in R&D. Only 12 percent of New Zealand businesses expect to increase their investment in R&D – a figure considerably less than our major trading partners China (36 percent), Australia (31 percent), the United States (27...

The G20 decision to include climate change in its communiqué despite Australia’s attempt to ignore it, increases pressure on New Zealand to come up with a credible plan to cut emissions.