Thousands of heavily-mortgaged first home buyers in Auckland could be hit hard by rising interest rates, thanks to out of control house prices, according to documents released to the Green Party under the Official Information Act. An email from Reserve Bank analysts to senior Beehive staff in January 2017, titled “response to PM’s questions”, highlights a “significant likelihood of financial distress” for people who have recently got mortgages in Auckland, in the event interest rates rise as predicted. “The Prime...

The Government must immediately put the full resources of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Department of Conservation (DOC) towards finding the cause of the myrtle rust incursion and preventing a wider outbreak, the Green Party said today.

A new gas power plant granted consent today in southern Waikato is a step backwards for New Zealand’s efforts to generate more renewable electricity, the Green Party said today. “New Zealand is blessed with an abundance of renewable electricity options like solar, geothermal, and wind, so there’s no good reason we should be allowing new power plants that burn fossil fuels in the era of climate change,” Green Party energy and resources spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “It’s irresponsible that climate...

New data shows rising rents are hitting people on modest incomes and beneficiaries in the pocket, while the cost of living for wealthier households is more manageable, the Green Party said today. In the last three months, the cost of living rose 1.4 percent for beneficiaries and 1.3 percent for low expenditure households, compared to just 0.5 percent for high expenditure households, according to the Statistics NZ Household Living Costs Price Index. “Under National, it’s getting harder for people on...

Mental health services have been in such a dire state for such a long time that only a full inquiry and a significant injection of Government money will make a difference, the Green Party said today. The Health Minister today announced that mental health services will get a cross-Government approach, mainly funded within existing baseline funding. “Families of people experiencing mental health problems are being short-changed by a Government that has been missing in action for far too long,” Green...

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry will have to go against the will of the New Zealand public if she pushes ahead with more open-cast coal mining on conservation land on the West Coast, the Green Party said today. It has been revealed that the Government is planning to open up areas of the West Coast’s Buller Plateau for open-cast and underground coal mining, home to kiwi, geckos, and other rare plants and animals. “It looks like Maggie Barry herself is at...

The National Government’s water standards are a murky mess that won’t protect our rivers, lakes and aquifers, the Green Party said today. The comments comes on the back of news this morning that the Government hasn’t released information to scientists clarifying how the standards will improve water quality. “If even our freshwater scientists aren’t being given the full picture of how the so-called Clean Water package actually makes our water cleaner, how are the public meant to know?” said Green...

It’s time for a moratorium on new dairy farms and to start thinking about how to reduce the number of cows on our paddocks to halt water pollution, the Green Party said today. “Even Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has admitted that there’s no room for more cows because of the impact they have on our rivers, lakes and aquifers,” said Green Party primary industries spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “The Government has all the reports it needs to show the...

Increased infrastructure spending must focus on the best ways to fix the housing and transport problems in Auckland, not just a few more expensive and ineffective highways, the Green Party said today. “The most serious infrastructure problems Auckland faces are in transport and housing, and National has spent the last nine years showing that they have no idea how to fix either of them,” Green Party Auckland Issues spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “The full trains and overflowing buses every...

The Green Party’s Māori Caucus is excited to be launching a national outreach tour to engage with Māori communities, kicking off in Northland today.