A Green Party Member’s Bill pulled from the ballot today will put renters’ rights firmly on the political agenda, where it belongs. Metiria Turei’s Residential Tenancies (Safe and Secure Rentals) Amendment Bill strengthens tenants’ rights, and will lead to stable, long-term tenancies that are good for both renters and landlords. The 2013 Census records 453,135 households as renters, an increase from 388,275 in the 2006 Census. “My Bill will help people who rent get the stability they need to put...

The Reserve Bank was forced to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) today in a bid to drive down the high New Zealand dollar and address growing imbalances in the New Zealand economy, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank cut the OCR today by 25 basis points to 2.0 per cent, with Governor Graeme Wheeler signalling further cuts were likely. “The Reserve Bank has been forced to cut the OCR in an attempt to address growing imbalances in...

National needs to show some moral backbone and speak out on the abuse of children held by the Australian Government in Nauru detention centres, the Green Party said today. Documents published yesterday by the Guardian show the horrific scale of abuse in offshore detention centres on Nauru, where asylum seekers trying to reach Australia are being detained. “It’s appalling that the National Government refuses to condemn the suffering that children fleeing war and persecution are experiencing under the Australian Government’s watch,”...

The Government must do a better job of creating a National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity than it did with its National Policy Statement (NPS) on Freshwater, the Green Party said today. The Minister for the Environment Nick Smith this afternoon announced that the Government is establishing a stakeholder group to design a National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity. “The Government must do a better job on this NPS than it has on the freshwater version, which allows rivers to...

Corrections’ ongoing accountability failures make it clear that an Independent Prisons Inspectorate is more necessary than ever, the Green Party said today. A RNZ report today revealed that Corrections has refused to share details about the treatment of a prisoner who was tied to his bed as far back as February. His treatment has sparked an investigation by the Ombudsman’s torture team, but Corrections’ own report into the situation is MIA. “Corrections has shown that it cannot be relied upon...

House price data released today shows no signs of a slow down to the overheated housing market and overdue cuts to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) tomorrow are likely to add further fuel to the fire, the Green Party said today. REINZ data released today shows median house prices continue to rise, up 8.6 percent nationally (year on year) and up 12.2 percent in Auckland (year on year). The Reserve Bank will likely announce cuts to the OCR tomorrow, which...

A campaign launched by education unions today against global funding should make the Government carefully consider its next moves on education funding, the Green Party said today. “Make no mistake, global funding is bad old bulk funding in disguise,” Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said today. “The Government’s global funding model will force schools to make impossibly tough choices, such as allowing larger class sizes or paying the power bill. “Teachers and educators are on the frontline of our...

The Green Party congratulates Landcorp for making the responsible and environmentally sound decision to stop using palm kernel extract (PKE) on its farms.

The Green Party is calling on the Government to put its money where its mouth is and safeguard Auckland’s second harbour crossing for rail. In response to the launch of the Green Party's campaign for a rail line to the North Shore, the NZ Transport Agency said today that it was "100 percent committed to providing Aucklanders with a future multi-model transport corridor" as part of a second harbour crossing, without providing any specific detail on what that might look...

The Green Party has today launched a new campaign to get rail to Albany and Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore by 2030. In March, Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced that work would restart on a second harbour crossing. However, official briefings released in June show the NZ Transport Agency plans to safe-guard the harbour crossing for a road-only tunnel, meaning the option of connecting rail to the Shore may be shelved completely. “The Green Party is calling on the Government...