The Government needs to rule out borrowing to pay for tax bribes while funding for core education and health services continues to fall behind what’s needed, the Green Party said today. “Bill English’s surplus works out at $2.20 a week per person – about the price of a pack of chewing gum – so if he wants to cut taxes more than that he’s going to need to borrow to fund his tax bribes,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne...

The National Government’s plans for emissions reduction will melt Antarctica if all other countries follow our lead, the Green Party said today. New research published today in Nature magazine led by Nick Golledge, at Victoria University’s Antarctic Research Centre, has confirmed that Antarctica’s ice cap will melt unless ambitious action is taken to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next five years. “If most countries followed New Zealand’s lead, global warming would exceed 3–4°C leading to major losses of...

The Green Party is today announcing that, in Government, it will ensure half of all Green Cabinet Ministers are women, and will call on other members of any coalition Government it is involved in to do the same.

Leaked TPPA documents show that farmers will be stopped from saving some seed from their crops to grow again and may face other restrictions, as the National Government signs away farmers’ rights as part of the deal, the Green Party said today. “The National Government is more interested in protecting big agribusiness and overseas interests than it is the farmers of New Zealand,” said Green Party GE spokesperson Steffan Browning. New Zealand will be required as part of the TPPA...

National today achieved their own narrow goal for the economy by achieving a surplus, but it’s come at the cost of the things that matter to families and children, the Green Party said today. Treasury reported today that the Government has recorded an operating surplus of $414 million before gains and losses (OBEGAL) for 2014/15. This is National’s first OBEGAL operating surplus since they came to power in 2008. “National has finally secured its first surplus, which is good, but...

The Green Party has praised retiring New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) President Helen Kelly, who steps down today after eight years in the union leadership role. “Since I have been an MP I have had the pleasure of working closely with Helen in promoting the rights of working New Zealanders and resisting the National Party’s attacks on unions,” Green Party Workplace Relations and Safety spokesperson Denise Roche said. “Helen has been a delight to work with. “The Green...

The Green Party will be strongly opposing the Government’s Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Bill, which is due to have its first reading in Parliament today. “There is no justification for the Government to treat Cantabrians as second class citizens, denying them the right to elect a full regional council and the right to access the Environment Court,” said Eugenie Sage, the Green Party’s Canterbury spokesperson. “There is no reason for having the Resource Management Act continue to apply differently in Canterbury than elsewhere in...

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence need to get their stories straight regarding what they knew, and when, about a report highlighting safety concerns at Camp Taji, the Green Party says.

The Government must change its arrogant approach to the public’s right to know about official information, following a court decision that Trade Minister Tim Groser acted unlawfully by refusing to make the slightest effort to release information about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the Green Party said today. “A High Court decision today that Trade Minister Tim Groser acted unlawfully in a blanket withholding of information about the TPPA must signal the end of the National Government’s abuse of the...

Stronger rules and enforcement to protect our beaches and marine environment are needed in the wake of new information that more than 360 oil spills have occurred in New Zealand waters since the 2011 Rena disaster, the Green Party said today. “With summer just around the corner, we need better ways of protecting the beaches and seas that are so important to Kiwi ways of life,” Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage said. “Every New Zealander has a birthright to...