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ACC Minister must help sexual violence survivors
The Green Party is calling on ACC Minister Nikki Kaye to remove the obligation for sexual violence survivors to be diagnosed with a mental illness before being allowed additional ACC-funded counselling. Green Party MP Jan Logie and survivor advocate Louise Nicholas today launched a new campaign and petition to demand that survivors don’t need a mental illness diagnosis in order to have their sensitive claims proceed. “Being the victim of sexual violence is not a mental illness,” Ms Logie said....
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Creative accounting can’t hide DOC budget cuts
National needs to admit it has cut funding to the Department of Conservation (DOC), rather than spin the facts and hide from its decision to claw back core conservation funding, the Green Party said today.
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More money, not lip service, needed to fix our troubled waters
The Freshwater Improvement Fund of just $10 million a year is a drop in the bucket of what is needed to make our rivers safe for swimming, the Green Party said today. “The Waikato River will need between $3 billion and $8 billion alone to clean it up. Nearly $36 million has gone into cleaning up Lake Taupō from the Government alone. Billions of dollars are needed to clean up waterways damaged by dairy intensification, sewage, and industrial and urban...
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Govt must stop blaming and start building
Auckland's housing crisis will never be fixed unless the Government stops blaming the Council and starts taking the steps it can to solve it, the Green Party says. Finance Minister Bill English has ramped up his attacks on the Auckland Council this weekend, putting the sole blame for Auckland's housing crisis on the Council's difficulties freeing up land. "The Finance Minister's attacks on Auckland Council this weekend are an excuse not to take responsibility for his own Governments failures," Green...
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Budget comment: Arts funding down in Budget
New analysis shows that while some arts organisations have benefitted from Budget 2016, others have lost out and overall arts and culture funding has fallen $217.5 million behind where it needs to be to keep up with rising costs since National came to power, the Green Party said today. “It’s great that the NZSO, Royal NZ Ballet and Te Matatini kapa haka got more funding this year, but frozen Creative NZ funding means many artists and creatives will lose out again,”...
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Freshwater Improvement Fund can also be used to pollute waterways
The Government’s Freshwater Improvement Fund, announced in the Budget, will do little to make New Zealand’s rivers safe to swim in because the money can be used to fund irrigation schemes that will ultimately harm the environment, the Green Party said today. “The Government is spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money on clean-up while at the same time subsidising further pollution. It makes no sense,” said Green Party water spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. “The Government’s view of water is...
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Budget 2016 opts for future tax cuts over real investment
The Government has clearly signalled that tax cuts next year are more important than trying to fix the big issues we’re facing today, like the housing crisis, the Green Party said today. “This Government is more interested in getting re-elected than showing real leadership and vision for our country,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “Auckland is bursting at the seams – it desperately needs more houses and more investment in its infrastructure -- but this Budget offers neither of...
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State-house shambles in Invercargill
News that the only potential buyer for 348 state houses in Invercargill has pulled out of the deal is another blow to the Government’s flawed plan to rid itself of responsibility of state homes and their tenants, the Green Party said today. “The state-house sell-off has been a disaster from day one, and what’s happened in Invercargill is just another example of the Government’s sheer ineptness on this issue,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson. “This risk now...
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Budget comment: Government cuts Warm-Up programme that saves lives and cuts power bills
National has cut home insulation funding to its lowest ever level in Budget 2016, which will leave thousands of people shivering in their houses again this winter, the Green Party said today Budget 2016 allocates just $12 million this year for the Warm Up New Zealand programme this year and $4.5 million for the Healthy Homes programme, compared to $23.9 million for Home Insulation last year. “Over 2,000 families will miss out on getting a warmer, dryer, healthier home under...
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Shock school funding freeze means parents pay more
Parents up and down the country will have to pay more for their child’s education, following the National Government’s surprise budget move to freeze funding for schools’ operational grants, the Green Party said today. “It is shocking that National is freezing funding for schools. Education should be at the top of any Government’s agenda,” said Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. “After the class sizes back-down a few years ago, it is surprising to see the Government again attacking school...