National’s much touted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) are a shambles and the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill (RLA Bill) should not proceed the Green Party said today. Parliament’s Local Government and Environment select committee is due to report the Bill back to the House by Tuesday 7 November. “The Bill significantly increases Ministerial powers to interfere in district and regional plans and limits the public’s ability to comment on RMA plans and resource consents. It is likely to...

The Green Party is calling on the National Government to introduce sector-wide deposit insurance following Kiwibank’s withdrawal of its deposit guarantee. Kiwibank announced to its customers yesterday that its deposit guarantee on savers’ money was ending on 28 February 2017. After February, no bank in New Zealand will offer protection of savers’ deposits. “New Zealand is the only country left in the developed world that doesn’t offer savers’ deposit insurance to protect them against possible loss if their bank ever...

Minister of Education Hekia Parata would have known about seclusion rooms for more than a year and did nothing to stop their use until she was publicly shamed into doing so, the Green Party said today. The Minister has today proposed to prohibit seclusion in schools and early childhood education services. “It’s a bit rich for Hekia Parata to now claim credit for making seclusion rooms illegal, when she could have taken this action more than a year ago when...

A petition from Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust presented at Parliament today shows that more people are joining the call for a mental health inquiry, the Green Party said. “Who else does the Minister of Health need to hear from to convince him that a nationwide mental health inquiry is desperately needed?” Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said today. “Time and time again, we have heard about the failings in our mental health system and why an inquiry...

2 November 2016   The National Government must stop relying on dodgy accounting loopholes in order to continue avoiding responsibility for real reductions in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, the Green Party said today. Under its Paris Agreement obligations, the National Government plans to change the way it accounts for greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. But a new report released today by the Morgan Foundation reveals that the timing of this change means the Government will avoid liability for a huge...

An increase in the number of unnatural deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons are further evidence of failings in our health and justice systems, and show the urgent need for a mental health enquiry, the Green Party said today. Corrections data for 2015/16 shows there were 11 unnatural deaths in custody, as many as the two previous years combined, and 26 self-harm threat-to-life incidents, six times as many as in 2014/15. Suicide is the most common form of unnatural deaths...

The National Government needs to rethink its multibillion-dollar motorway expansion projects and prioritise investment in public transport and cycling, with new figures showing that young New Zealanders are falling out of love with the car, the Green Party said. Statistics New Zealand figures show there are now fewer teens on the road than those aged over 75, while Ministry of Transport numbers show the number of licences issued each year had been increasing until 2010, before dropping back to levels...

The Minister for Food Safety needs to tell the public whether she will vote for mandatory palm oil labelling at next month’s Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation meeting. Green Party animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers has been campaigning on mandatory labelling of palm oil since 2013. Wellington Zoo and Unmask Palm Oil reiterated the call this weekend for clarity on the Government’s position. “There is absolutely no reason why the Minister should be withholding from New Zealanders...

The National Government has had eight years to take action on climate change and marine protection but has let New Zealand’s oceans decline to a sorry state, putting our economy and native species at risk, the Green Party said today.

The community sector is stressed out and needs a government that supports them properly, especially in the face of large scale Child Youth and Family (CYF) reform, the Green Party said today. The ComVoices State of the Sector Survey, released yesterday, shows that almost half of community organisations are worried about their financial viability, with around a quarter of surveyed organisations only be able to sustain their organisation through reserves for a year or less. “When the majority of notifications...