The Government’s Department of Corrections is performing abysmally and needs to be overhauled so that it stops costing tax-payers, prisoners and the wider community, the Green Party said today. “Finding out that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been held in prison for longer than they should have been is the latest in a long list of failures for this disastrous department,” said Green Party Corrections spokesperson David Clendon.   “Minister Judith Collins needs to front up and explain how...

New Zealand’s smaller hydro and wind electricity generators are being put at risk from changes proposed by the Electricity Authority (EA), while Energy Minister Simon Bridges seems more focused on the static electricity in his office, the Green Party said today. Along with controversial proposed changes to the Transmission Pricing Methodology that would see Auckland and Northland households pay more for power, the EA is also proposing significant changes to the rules around distributed generation. Distributed generation includes everything from...

The Green Party is today releasing its Medically-Assisted Dying policy. “Adults with a terminal illness should have the right to choose a medically assisted death,” Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague said.  “The Green Party does not support extending assisted dying to people who aren't terminally ill because we can’t be confident that this won't further marginalise the lives of people with disabilities. “This policy outlines the medical and ethical safeguards that need to be put in place to ensure...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to support Green MP Catherine Delahunty’s Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill, to protect the small amount of land still in Māori ownership for future generations.

The Prime Minister could pay more than just lip service to the Syrian refugee crisis on the global stage by offering more funding and more resettlement places to refugees in New Zealand, the Green Party said today. Tomorrow’s (NZ time) meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) will be chaired by John Key, following a historic meeting of world leaders to discuss the global refugee crisis. “The Prime Minister is talking a big game in New York, but resettling more...

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has condemned the Government’s handling of the proposed Kermadec/Rangitāhua Ocean Sanctuary. “Because it was more interested in a publicity stunt than a proper outcome, National has achieved the impossible – disagreement about a sanctuary that virtually everyone wants,” said Green Co-leader Metiria Turei. “The Green Party has campaigned for the Kermadec/Rangitāhua Sanctuary for a long time and remains committed to it. “Everyone wants healthy oceans and abundant fish for current and future generations....

Understaffing and underfunding of regional Police stations are putting the public and frontline staff at risk, the Green Party said today.

The Government’s new Block Offer will open up another half a million square kilometres of our oceans to mining and oil drilling, including part of the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin marine sanctuary, the Green Party said today. Approximately 4,000 sq km of the Maui’s dolphin sanctuary – roughly a third of its total area – is up for grabs by oil and mining companies. “Opening up another half a million square kilometres to mining smacks of desperation from a Government...

The Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy must step up and investigate failures in his ministry and fisheries management, which are allowing widespread fish dumping to threaten the sustainability of fish stocks, the Green Party said today. The comments come on the back of an email from a senior Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) official saying that if the current law was enforced, half of all inshore fishers would go out of business. This means that not only is fish...

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) must stop letting commercial fishers off the hook for illegal fish dumping, the Green Party said today.