The Green Party wishes to extend its best wishes to the Prime Minister, following his resignation today.   “On behalf of Metiria, the Green Party MPs and the Party, I would like to thank John Key for his eight years of service as Prime Minister,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.   “No matter your political allegiance, you have to respect someone who chooses to make the personal sacrifices required to be our country’s Prime Minister.   “I would like...

News that National’s Auckland Housing Accord is likely to miss its target for the number of homes actually built shows that new ideas under a new Government are needed to fix the housing crisis, the Green Party said today. The Housing Accord’s three-year target of 39,000 new homes and sections is reportedly likely to fall short by around 1,000, with just 7,000 actual new builds in the last year, according to Radio New Zealand. “The Housing Accord was National’s flagship...

The Government has put East Coast snapper fisheries at risk by prematurely slashing the number of observers charged with monitoring and preventing commercial fish dumping, and undersize fish and wildlife being caught, the Green Party said today. Information obtained by the Green Party shows the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) cut the number of fisheries observers on trawlers by 60 percent in 2015/16 in the East Coast snapper fishery, which runs between the North Cape and Cape Runaway. Observers were...

The Green Party is thrilled to have two important bills drawn from the ballot today, both of which will help to create a fairer Aotearoa. Jan Logie’s Domestic Violence-Victims' Protection Bill introduces workplace protections for victims of domestic violence, including allowing victims to request paid domestic violence leave for up to 10 days. “I’m very pleased that my Bill has been drawn because helping victims of abuse stay in work is critical to reducing the effects of violence. When women...

The Green Party is supporting the Māori Women’s Welfare League’s call for the Minister for Social Development, Anne Tolley, to delay the introduction of the second CYF reform Bill, which will see more Māori children removed from their family and wider whānau.

The Green Party is working to improve earthquake legislation currently before Parliament, the Party said today. The Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquakes Emergency Relief Bill will pass today with changes to ensure local people can have more of a say, while still enabling Kaikōura to get back on its feet again. “During recent cross-party talks on the legislation, we were able to put some of our concerns to the Government. We are pleased that Government took some of these on board and we’d...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to listen to New Zealanders and urgently reassess the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides in this country, the Green Party said today. Green Party MP Steffan Browning will today present a petition signed by more than 6000 people to the EPA, asking it to reassess neonicotinoids – a type of insecticide that accumulates in the pollen and nectar of sprayed plants and kills pollinators such as bees. “Healthy bees are critical to our food...

The Green Party is today congratulating three Taranaki iwi on the passing of the their Treaty settlement bills. 

Government-owned Landcorp’s decision to sell a further 10 farms, totalling 11,650 hectares, is a short-sighted decision that could see valuable farmland go into offshore hands, the Green Party said today. “We need local farms to remain in local hands,” said Green Party land information spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “Fertile land is one of the building blocks of our economy and the basis of a productive primary sector. New Zealanders will miss out on the benefits of owning our production base if these...

The Minister for Social Development needs to issue a full universal apology to those abused while in state care, and immediately set up an independent body to resolve historic and current complaints of abuse and neglect, the Green Party said today. More than 1100 people abused in state care as children submitted to the Confidential Listening Service, headed by Judge Carolyn Henwood, which recommended that an independent body be set up to hold the state to account. Minister for Social...