Data obtained by the Green Party shows that the National Government’s funding announcement at the Paris climate change conference is a cut to assistance to help other countries deal with climate change.

The IRD warned the Government in 2013 of massive, systematic tax avoidance by multinational companies but National is still to act on it, the Green Party said today. The New Zealand Herald today released analysis that showed multinational companies operating in New Zealand could have avoided paying up to $500 million in tax last year. The IRD warned both the Ministers of Finance and Revenue in 2013 that multinationals were avoiding tax by profit shifting and that work to protect...

The Prime Minister deliberately misled the New Zealand public into believing women had left New Zealand to join terrorist groups and become what he described as “jihadi Brides”, the Green Party says.

The gap between the tradable and non-tradable parts of the economy has grown to its biggest since 2000 meaning the economy is growing more unbalanced under National’s economic leadership, the Green Party said today. GDP statistics released today by Statistics New Zealand show that the tradable parts of the New Zealand economy (exporters and trade-exposed businesses) shrunk by 0.8 percent in the December 2015 quarter while the rest of the economy (the non-tradable sector) grew by 0.9 percent over the...

The Health Minister should follow the bold move of the UK chancellor who overnight announced he’d introduce a sugar levy on soft drinks, a move that is being tipped to “take over the world”, the Green Party says. UK Chancellor George Osborne is being hailed as a hero for children after overnight introducing a sugar levy on soft drinks from 2018. New Zealand Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has repeatedly refused to introduce a similar levy here, despite advice to do...

Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK) officials were barely consulted over the Governent’s formal analysis of the impact of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement on New Zealand, leaving doubts that the impact on Māori was properly assessed, the Green Party says.   Emails released to the Green Party under the Official Information Act show TPK weren’t given enough time to read the agreement, and its written submissions on the National Interest Analysis amounted to three short emails over two days.   “Consultation...

The Prime Minister’s admission that he “doesn’t have a clue” how many farmers will fail as a result of the dairy downturn shows that the Government is in denial about the scale of the threat facing our wider economy, the Green Party said today. Green Party Co-leader James Shaw asked the Prime Minister several straight questions on the numbers of farmers, small businesses, and rural retailers likely to be impacted by the downturn of the dairy industry and the risks faced...

The Government is restricting the public’s right to have a say on what happens in their neighbourhoods and on environmentally damaging activities, the Green Party said today. “Under proposed changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA), council officers will be able to strike out submissions if they don’t meet a high enough threshold. This means that unless people have the time and money to pay for expert evidence, their submission can be ruled out,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie...

The Green Party will withdraw its request for a Select Committee briefing into gun control if an independent inquiry is to go ahead.

Every child who is suspected of having dyslexia must be provided with a publicly funded assessment, after a select committee of MPs heard children from lower income families are still missing out, the Green Party says. Last year half of all the schools that made no Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) applications, which help dyslexic students with their exams, were decile one or two. This follows previous revelations that the vast bulk of kids who got one on one assistance in...