It’s good that the Government has listened to New Zealanders and announced a fairer way to set MPs’ salaries, the Green Party said today. “We’ve been pushing for a fairer system for setting MPs’ pay for a long time and we’re glad that the Government has listened,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said. “We’ve argued for MPs’ salaries to be linked to the nominal median income, and we still think this is the best option, but linking them to public...

The Green Party is calling for cross-party support to agree on a system of indexing MPs’ salary movements to median income, following the announcement of a significant pay rise for MPs, the Green Party said today. “The Green Party is proposing that MPs’ salaries should be indexed to movements in the nominal median individual income,” Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said. “The system needs to change. Every year MPs across Parliament say ‘oh it’s too much’, but then nothing changes....

26 February 2015 The Green Party said today that it is challenging the Government to follow Wellington City Council’s lead and make children’s needs a priority in decision-making. Today (26 February) attendees at the Child Friendly Cities Forum co-hosted by UNICEF and Wellington City Council (WCC) will hear about how the capital city can benefit from including children’s rights and interests in decision-making processes, something the Green Party commends. “We know that better thinking around our kids is needed –...

Today’s announcement that construction work on the City Rail Link will begin this year is a further sign that the Government needs to get on board with immediate funding, the Green Party said today. “While today’s construction announcement is a positive step, if the Government continues to delay funding the people of Auckland will be waiting another decade for decent train services,” said Green Party Transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “Auckland rail patronage has grown 20 percent in the year...

Nathan Guy needs to stop playing politics with biosecurity and face up to the fact that National’s cuts to biosecurity funding contributed to the Queensland fruit fly outbreak, the Green Party said today. Figures compiled by the Parliamentary Library show that under National, spending on biosecurity has not kept up with inflation, the number of biosecurity officers has dropped, and the number of border protection dogs has also reduced. “Serious questions need to be asked about the Government’s secretive approach...

Students at a struggling school in Northland are the victims of the Education Minister’s failed charter school experiment and she must personally ensure they are given the educational help they need, the Green Party said today. Education Minister Hekia Parata approved Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru as a charter school in 2013, despite Ministry of Education concerns it had not outlined a "safe environment" for students. An ERO report released on the school today showed it had struggled from the...

John Key is dragging New Zealand into someone else’s war without a mandate from New Zealanders, said the Green Party today.

Big holes in spy oversight have been revealed by the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence (IGIS) who says that the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has no internal audit mechanism, said the Green Party today.

Partially privatised energy companies are keeping electricity prices artificially high and ignoring international clean energy investment opportunities to ensure private shareholders get big pay-outs, the Green Party said today. Genesis Energy today announced a $172.8 million operating profit, up from $150.6 million, following Meridian Energy’s announcement last week that it will pay a $625 million special dividend to shareholders. “Households must be struggling to understand why their energy bills keep increasing, but the energy companies keep handing over big pay-outs...

John Key must front up to New Zealand and say what he discussed with Donghua Liu when the disgraced businessman paid $25,000 for the Prime Minister to come to dinner at his Remuera home, the Green Party said today. John Key has this week stepped up his desperate attempt to distance himself from Donghua Liu in the wake of revelations the businessman paid the National Party $25,000 to have the Prime Minister over for dinner. “John Key is pretending this...