News

  • Make child safety investigations mandatory in domestic violence cases

    Child Youth and Family (CYF) investigations into the safety of children should be mandatory in domestic violence cases involving families with children, the Green Party said today. The Greens’ call comes after two high profile judicial decisions this week – the coronial inquiry into the deaths of Bradley and Ellen Livingstone and the verdict in the trial of the West Auckland boys charged with the death of Arun Kumar. “Each of those cases revealed a well-documented history of domestic violence,”...
  • Stand-alone health agency needed for Corrections

    The Green Party is calling for a stand-alone agency to monitor and provide for prisoners’ health needs. The call for a stand-alone agency comes after a Coroner’s report into the death of a remand prisoner, Jai Davis, at a South Otago jail in 2011.  The Coroner expressed concern that the health of the prisoner was not the main priority of Corrections.  
  • Housing should be warm and dry – full stop

    State houses should be warm and dry, and not require tenants to beg for more help, the Green Party said today. “John Key’s assertion that those in poor quality state housing should ‘reach out for more help’ mocks the fact that 40,000 children are hospitalised each year with respiratory illnesses that their damp, cold housing has helped cause,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “People are reaching out for help, and asking to be transferred out of their mouldy, wet...
  • Green Party supports moves regarding corporate manslaughter

    The Green Party supports moves by some within National to institute a corporate manslaughter charge in the Health and Safety Reform Bill.   Justice Minister Amy Adams has reportedly brought to Cabinet a suggestion that there be a corporate manslaughter charge included in the Health and Safety Reform Bill. This would mean, for example, that the charge of corporate manslaughter would have been available to those investigating the Pike River tragedy. It could attract substantial penalties and fines.
  • Govt can improve human health by tackling climate change

    The National Government should adopt the recommendations of the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, given that the authors say that climate change threatens to unravel the last 50 years of health gains, the Green Party said today. “The National Government needs to stop contributing to the climate change problem and start being part of the solution, in light of the fact that health experts are calling climate change a medical emergency,” said Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague. Mr...
  • Petition demands Landcorp conversions stop to protect water quality

    More than 8000 people have asked for a moratorium on state-owned enterprise Landcorp’s conversion of Waikato forestry land to dairy farms, in a petition presented to Parliament by Green MP Catherine Delahunty today. “New Zealanders are very concerned about water quality in our country. More than 66% of our rivers aren’t clean enough to swim in, and a big part of the problem is large scale dairy farming. The 8,102 people who signed the petition are saying Landcorp has got...
  • Green Party supports Action Station call for Saudi sheep scandal investigation

    The New Zealand public deserve to know the full facts behind the Saudi sheep scandal and the only way this will occur is through the Auditor-General investigating the matter, Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said today. The Government has paid $11 million to an influential Saudi businessman to prevent a ‘possible’ lawsuit over a false promise the National Party made to the businessman before they were in Government.
  • Swamp kauri shambles continues with muddled maths

    Further evidence that the Ministry of Primary Industries may have been negligent in its implementation of the Forests Act 1949, including confusing diameter and circumference measurements, means a moratorium on swamp kauri mining and exports is urgent, says the Green Party. “The Green Party has no confidence in the Government and MPI's implementation of the Forests Act, or in its understanding of basic mathematical measurements. An urgent halt to exports is needed while an inquiry is conducted into the chaotic...
  • Proposed National Environmental Standard could wipe the right of communities to stop GE

    The National Government is attempting to remove the right of communities such as Northland, Hawkes Bay and the Bay of Plenty and their councils from controlling the release of genetically engineered trees in their regions. “The proposed National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF) aims to replace existing plan rules for many plantation forestry activities,” Green Party forestry spokesperson Steffan Browning said. “Increasing numbers of councils, in response to their ratepayers and businesses, are including precautionary provisions or controls for...
  • Key’s comments expose Saudi sheep scandal

    After weeks of misleading statements, it’s time the Government comes clean about the Saudi sheep scandal, the Green Party said today. “It’s clear that Murray McCully and John Key knew the supposed legal threat was completely empty all along. But they still used this empty legal threat to justify spending $11.5 million on establishing a sheep farm in a Saudi desert,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “We need the truth about whether Foreign Minister Murray McCully deliberately mislead Parliament...