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Tide has turned on National after Northland nightmare
The National Party’s loss in the Northland by-election is proof that the tide has turned on an increasingly out of touch Government, says the Green Party.
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Green Party welcomes IGIS inquiry into GCSB
The Green Party is pleased the Inspector General of the Intelligence and Security (IGIS) has confirmed that she will be undertaking an inquiry following a complaint from the Green Party into the actions of the Government Communication Security Bureau (GCSB) in the South Pacific.
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Govt’s R&D experiment has failed
The National Government’s research and development (R&D) strategy has failed, with no growth in the proportion of businesses investing in R&D since its first year in office, the Green Party said today. The Statistics NZ Business Operations Survey, released on 20 March 2015, shows that in 2009 eight percent of businesses invested in R&D and that in 2014, the proportion of businesses investing in R&D was still just eight percent. “Steven Joyce’s R&D experiment has clearly failed, with just eight...
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TPPA leak proves foreign corporations can sue New Zealand
National appears to be giving foreign corporations extra rights to sue governments if they legislate to act in the national interest, says the Green Party. New documents, leaked today, show that under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the investor state section under negotiation appears to go further than similar clauses in existing trade documents. “National is governing in the interest of foreign companies at the expense of local interests,” said Green Party trade spokesperson James Shaw. “The Prime Minister needs...
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Govt must rule out selling state homes for developers to profit
The Government must rule out selling state homes for private developers to profit from, the Green Party said today. “The Government looks set to sell off these assets to property developers, and then pay the same developers to house low income tenants through the Income Related Rent Subsidy. It’s a perverse money-go-round in which only the developers win,” Green Party housing spokesperson Kevin Hague said. “New Zealand has built up a valuable stock of state houses that meets a need...
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State house sell-off puts New Zealanders at the mercy of property speculators
The Government’s grand state house sell-off will pit the welfare of the most vulnerable Kiwis against the profit motives of big business, as good community organisations refuse to have a bar of the extreme housing reforms, the Green Party says. The Salvation Army has announced they will not participate in the buy-up of state houses, despite being one of the organisations championed by the Government as a possible purchaser since they announced the scheme. “The Sallies have clearly recognised this...
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Spy agencies used for personal gain, again
New Zealand’s spy agencies are once again being used to further the personal ambitions of Cabinet Ministers, the Green Party said today.
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Govt out of step with PM's science advisor on childhood obesity
The Government’s hands-off approach to childhood obesity is out of step with the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor who, in another role, recommends a ban on the marketing of junk food to kids, a ban on junk food at schools, and has given the thumbs up to a tax on fizzy drinks, the Green Party says. The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, is also Co-chair of the World Health Authority’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity, which...
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Government must immediately act on damning Roastbusters report
The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Police to immediately establish an independent taskforce to implement and enforce changes in police culture in the wake of a damming report from the Independent Police Complaints Authority’s (IPCA) into the so called Roastbusters gang.
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Super Fund should divest $140 million in high risk coal
The Green Party is calling on the New Zealand Super Fund to divest their $140 million investment in coal companies that are vulnerable to becoming financially stranded according to a damning new report from Oxford University. The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University has identified the world’s least efficient and most polluting ‘subcritical’ coal-fired power stations – assets vulnerable to becoming ‘stranded’. The Super Fund has $140 million invested in companies identified in the report. “The...