Winston Peters needs to show us how he plans to pay for his $10 billion of recent election promises before he attacks Labour on their fully-costed plan, the Green Party said today. Winston Peters set out another new condition of going into government with Labour this morning, saying that Labour must tell him what its tax plans are. “Winston Peters needs to explain what new taxes he plans to raise to pay for his $10 billion of election promises before...

The Green Party today announced a comprehensive plan to tackle climate change including replacing the Emissions Trading Scheme with a Kiwi Climate Fund. “We’re the first generation that will feel the effects of climate change, and the last that can stop it. We have a responsibility to act, and the Green Party has a plan to do it,” said Green Party leader James Shaw. “The Green Party’s first priority in government will be passing the Zero Carbon Act and to...

The Green Party today announced a plan for honest food labelling to ensure ‘free range’ means what it says, and consumers can easily see where their food comes from. In government, the Green Party will develop mandatory consumer information standards for ‘free range’ and country of origin labelling under the Fair Trading Act. Country of origin labelling will apply to single ingredient foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, nuts, grains, and oils. “We all have a right to know where...

The Green Party today remains deeply concerned about the TPPA’s successor agreement, TPP-11. "The most egregious clauses in the original TPPA were the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which were included largely at the insistence of the United States. Now that the US isn't a part of it anymore, the remaining countries should simply remove the ISDS mechanisms," said Green Party Leader James Shaw. “As long as the ISDS mechanisms remain in place, the TPP-11 undermines New Zealand’s ability to...

Under National, commercial fishers are getting away with killing supposedly protected native wildlife including sea lions, dolphins and fur seals, and our marine mammals need better protection, the Green Party said today. “There is a large disparity between how many marine mammals the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) estimate are being killed by commercial fishers, and how few the industry reports it has caught and killed in its nets,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “New Zealanders should be...

“New Zealand was the first country where women won the right to vote, and now we can be the first country to have pay equity for women,” Green Party leader James Shaw said. “The Green Party has a plan to ensure that women and their families are treated fairly and paid better.” We will: Introduce pay transparency, by requiring all employers to collect data on what they pay men and women. Make public sector chief executives responsible for achieving pay...

National’s latest cynical election promise of sanctions for beneficiaries is a distraction from the pressing issue of poverty in New Zealand, the Green Party said today. Bill English announced that beneficiaries who fail drug tests or refuse rehabilitation will have their benefits cut by 50 per cent or more. “National’s latest cynical announcement ignores the evidence of how to properly treat drug addiction and will punish already vulnerable people,“ said Green Party inequality spokesperson Marama Davidson. “We know that sanctions...

A newly released report by the Auckland Housing Summit reveals the scale of National’s housing crisis, the Green Party said today. New data from Statistics New Zealand has also confirmed the second consecutive quarter that building activity has fallen, with a 0.4 percent fall in residential house-building across New Zealand. “This report reads like a laundry list of things National has done wrong or failed to do,” said Green Party building and housing spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “The results come...

National’s plan to allow developers to bypass the Resource Management Act (RMA) risks another Bexley or Houston, the Green Party said today. “The RMA is not perfect and needs reform. National’s previous ad hoc changes to the RMA have weakened our environmental law and reduced people’s right to have say about development in their communities. Its urban planning proposals are more of the same and another attack on the RMA,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage. The comments come...

The Green Party today proposed creating a Regional Research Institute focused on developing high-value wood-based products for export and use in New Zealand. Green Party leader James Shaw made the announcement at the New Zealand Institute of Forestry Annual Conference in Rotorua. “The Greens in government will support foresters and innovators to add value to the timber they grow already, creating new jobs in the regions and greater demand for timber,” said Mr Shaw. “From my office window I can...