The Green Party is today welcoming the Justice Minister’s announcement to resume the Law Commission’s sexual violence Trial Proceedings work following repeated calls for the work to start again.

Today’s Inspector General of Intelligence and Security’s (IGIS) report confirms that the Prime Minister’s office engaged in a serious abuse of power, says the Green Party. The IGIS report looked at the release of an Official Information Act request to disgraced blogger Cameron Slater prior to the 2011 election revealed in the Dirty Politics book. The investigation was held in response to a complaint lodged by the Green Party. “John Key is accountable for the dirty politics emanating from his...

Reports that the Prime Minister’s senior advisor gave secret SiS information to blogger Cameron Slater in order to embarrass the Labour Party shows John Key and his staff were up to their necks in Dirty Politics and abused their power to manipulate at least one election campaign, the Green Party said. Media outlets are reporting that Inspector General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn will heavily criticise former SIS head Warren Tucker in her report to be released tomorrow, citing...

John Key has not made a case for rushing through counter-terrorism laws that infringe significantly on the rights of New Zealanders, the Green Party said today

The Green Party says an inquiry is needed to investigate whether the State Services Commission followed due process in handling a complaint against CERA boss Roger Sutton, in a bid to restore confidence in the State Sector’s handling of sexual harassment complaints.

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...