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 “The Government’s fossil fuel-focused energy strategy is looking out of touch and out of date following Contact’s announcement it is closing the Otahuhu B gas plant and Genesis’ announcement it will close the Huntly coal plant,” Green...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...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to go back to the drawing board on state housing, following Bill English’s admission that he’s now looking at leasing the houses out because there’s little interest from community groups in buying them. “Bill English was banking on there being lots of interest in buying these properties and now that he’s been proved wrong, he’s trying to make do by offering to lease them out to whoever’s interested,” said Green Party Co-leader...

Hekia Parata has broken her word not to open another round of charter school applications this year, the Green Party said today. Under questioning from the Green Party in February, Hekia Parata was asked if she was planning another round of charter school applications this year, her reply was a categoric “No”. The Government announced this morning that there is to be a third charter school application round opening today. “It defies belief that the Government would plough ahead with another...

The Government is creating a country of two halves, with child poverty skyrocketing by 45,000 and a third of all income earners getting no benefit from the so-called rock star economy, the Green Party says.   “The annual household income survey out today is a damning indictment on the Government’s economic plan and shows it is simply not working in the interests of all New Zealanders,” Green Party co leader Metiria Turei said.   “An economy that is not working...

Parliament will get to vote on a simple amendment to the Electricity Industry Act that would guarantee households a fair price for any excess renewable electricity they supply back to the grid, the Green Party said today. Green Party MP Gareth Hughes had a Members’ Bill in his name pulled from the ballot today. The Electricity Industry (Small-Scale Renewable Distributed Generation) Amendment Bill will empower the Electricity Authority to act as an independent umpire setting a fair, reasonable buy-back rate...

The Government has forced Solid Energy to the point of no return with a deliberate series of actions and policies, and now wants to sell it off, the Green Party said today. “It’s a relief for Solid Energy’s 540 staff, 200 contractors, and their families and communities, that they still have jobs for the time being, but everyone knows the sun is setting on the coal industry and hundreds of workers are being let down by the Government,” Green Party...

Tertiary students have become significantly more financially distressed since National took office, according to the NZUSA Income & Expenditure Survey out today. The survey shows that almost half (44 percent) of all tertiary students report that that they do not have enough income to meet their basic needs. This results in higher levels of student debt, higher levels of credit card debt, and longer working hours outside of full-time study. Despite the increased need, Government support for students through student...