National needs to do an about-face on climate change if we want New Zealand to stop setting new records for the hottest year ever, the Green Party said today. The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) predicts that 2016 will be the hottest ever recorded in New Zealand, breaking the previous record set in 1998. The record confirms the longer-term global trends of climate change. “2016 is going to be the hottest year on record and things are...

Incoming Prime Minister Bill English should make a commitment to all New Zealanders that he will do what John Key refused to – build more affordable homes, close tax loopholes for property speculators, and end homelessness, the Green Party said today. The median Auckland house now costs $851,944 and the median house price nationwide is now $520,000, a new record high, according to data released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). “Bill English needs to make...

Beaches in Wellington, Wairarapa, and the top of the South Island are at less risk of being decimated by an oil spill after Anadarko surrendered its fossil fuel exploration permits in the Pegasus Basin, the Green Party said today. “As we head into summer, people can celebrate that the chance of an oil spill on their favourite beach just got much lower,” Green Party energy and resources spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “Our beautiful beaches are an iconic part of the...

Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman needs to stand up for the health of all Kiwi kids, recognise he got it wrong, and move to implement a sugary drinks tax, the Green Party said today. The New Zealand Dental Association and its partner organisations, including Diabetes NZ and the Cancer Society, have today issued a joint statement calling for a sugary drinks tax, to help combat our growing childhood obesity problem. “The way this is going, the Minister of Health will...

The Green Party today released its updated drug law reform policy, which would regulate access to cannabis and allow for medicinal cannabis. “The Green Party’s cannabis policy is evidence-based, and is focussed on ensuring New Zealanders’ health and wellbeing,” Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said today. “Current cannabis laws are out of date and causing harm, including the criminalisation of individuals and families.  “A harm-minimisation approach means that people’s mental and physical wellbeing is prioritised ahead of criminalising...

The Green Party will today support the Hurunui/Kaikoura Earthquake Recovery Bill through Parliament, after the legislation was significantly improved during the Select Committee process, following pressure from the Green Party and others. “We’d caution the Government to use the extraordinary powers in this Bill carefully and in partnership with communities to get quake- affected regions up and running again,” said Green Party civil defence spokesperson Jan Logie. “We hope the many new checks and balances in this Bill create a...

The Government’s improving books give it scope to address the long-term deficits National has been running in health, housing, and the environment, the Green Party said today. The Treasury’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update, out today, forecasts the Crown’s fiscal position to steadily improve so that by June 2021, surpluses are expected to rise to $8.5 billion and net debt to reduce to 19 percent of GDP. “Treasury has signalled that the Government has scope to address the long-term...

New measures that will sit alongside GDP to chart the nation’s progress, as well as compulsory country-of-origin labelling on food, will be debated in Parliament following today’s Member’s Bill ballot. The Green Party had two bills pulled from the ballot today: Co-leader James Shaw’s Public Finance (Sustainable Development Indicators) Amendment Bill, and MP Steffan Browning’s Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Bill. “GDP is a highly imperfect measure of our country’s progress,” said Green Party Co-leader James...

The Government is actively seeking overseas buyers for 2,500 state homes in Christchurch, the Green Party said today. Government officials are hosting an invite-only session for potential investors in Sydney next week. “It’s bad enough that National is selling our state homes out from underneath some of our most vulnerable New Zealanders, but now they want to sell the land to overseas investors too,” Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said. “National used to say its state house sales...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to end bottom trawling, dredging, purse seining and other destructive fishing methods in Tikapa Moana/the Hauraki Gulf, which damage the ecosystem and put livelihoods at risk. The comments come on the back of last night’s release of the Tai Timu Tai Pari/Sea Change report, a marine plan for the Hauraki Gulf produced by a collaborative co-governance group. “Tikapa Moana/the Hauraki Gulf supports the livelihoods of more than 1.5 million people. It needs...