Finance

National talks about responsibility, their actions are the opposite

While the National Party talks about fiscal responsibility, their actions continue to heap more costs and produce less benefits for New Zealanders, says the Green Party.“Luxon wants us arguing about fiscal metrics because he doesn’t want to talk about his record: the highest unemployment in 11 years, small businesses closing their doors every week, and young New Zealanders leaving in search of a better life in a different country under a different Government," says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  “Headline...

Posted at August 09, 2026 11:57 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

people and communities

Unemployment hits 11-year high under Luxon's Government

49,000 more New Zealanders are out of work than when this Government took office, according to figures released by Stats NZ this morning showing 171,000 people unemployed and actively looking for work."Christopher Luxon's economic decisions have produced the highest unemployment rate in over a decade. Political tit for tat aside, it's time for the Prime Minister to put his hands back on the wheel of this economy and invest in our country. Clearly, cut after cut doesn't grow an economy....

Posted at August 05, 2026 11:48 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

services and systems

Fossil fuel inflation drives up cost of living, Luxon rests assured

Exposure to volatile fossil fuels has driven inflation to its highest level in two years, piling more pressure on New Zealanders' cost of living, says the Green Party. "Stats NZ has today confirmed what every New Zealander already feels at the checkout. Almost everything is more expensive. That is because our economy is wired up to fossil fuels," says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  "Inflation has hit 4.1 per cent in the year to June, up from 3.1 per cent in...

Posted at July 21, 2026 11:16 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

people and communities

Greens commit to tax the super-rich and large corporates fairly, cut income tax for 96%

The Green Party has announced their 2026 tax policy ‘a tax system for all of us’ today. Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says, “All New Zealanders deserve the opportunity to thrive. Today we are proud to announce a tax policy that will tackle inequality and corporate greed to rebuild our country and put more money in the pockets of 96% of New Zealanders.” “People aren’t dumb. They know that while their cost of living has gone through the roof, corporate profits...

Posted at June 21, 2026 1:10 PM by Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick

Parliamentary Budget Office clearly needed ahead of election

The Green Party has written to the National and Labour finance spokespeople urging support for an independent Parliamentary Budget Office to cost political commitments and lift the standard of public debate. “Over the past few weeks we've watched parties fight over the costings of each other's promises, leaving voters guessing whose numbers are right, instead of having an informed debate on the merits of the policy,” says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  "A Parliamentary Budget Office would serve the public interest by giving people an independent,...

Posted at June 16, 2026 4:14 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

NZ Rich Listers own as much wealth as half the country

The richest 150 New Zealand individuals and family dynasties now own as much between them as half of the country, the Green Party says.According to the National Business Review’s report today, assets held by New Zealand’s super rich have increased 26.35% in a single year, from $102.1b to $129b. “One hundred and fifty people and dynasties recorded a $27 billion increase in their wealth as homelessness reached a record high and a third of families suffer food insecurity. These things are connected,” says Green...

Posted at June 15, 2026 4:12 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

Treasury confirms $5 billion bill for Luxon's climate inaction

Treasury has put a price tag on Luxon's Government's climate inaction, with new analysis showing it could cost up to $5 billion to buy the offshore carbon credits needed to meet New Zealand's 2030 climate target.“Every time Christopher Luxon has cut climate action here at home, he has increased the bill we need to pay other countries to reduce their emissions,” says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  “The Government keeps saying they will meet the Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement....

Posted at June 11, 2026 4:09 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

Luxon’s Government commits to billion-dollar gas terminal with no plan to pay for it – which means you will

Luxon’s Government has committed to building a billion-dollar LNG import terminal without knowing how to pay for it.“Luxon’s Government has finally admitted New Zealanders don’t want to pay for their ridiculous LNG terminal, but by pressing ahead without any idea on how to fund it, New Zealanders remain on the hook to pay for this billion-dollar nonsense,” says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  “These self-proclaimed ‘economic managers’ want to sign our country up to a billion-dollar contract and work out who pays for it...

Posted at June 09, 2026 3:55 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

Budget 2026 hides a nearly $500 million KiwiSaver hole across the public service

The Green Party says Budget 2026 leaves a hole of nearly half a billion dollars, the cost of the higher employer KiwiSaver contribution for most of the public service, with no sign of funding anywhere in the books to meet it.“Nicola Willis has a hole of nearly $500 million in her Budget that she has left unfunded,” says Green Party Co-leader and finance spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick.  “The Government lifted employer KiwiSaver contributions in Budget 2025, which was the right thing to do. What wasn’t right was leaving that unfunded, meaning Nicola...

Posted at June 08, 2026 3:47 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Chlöe Swarbrick Budget speech 2026

Mr Speaker, the Greens want every New Zealander to feel proud of our country.  Not just for our history; for granting women the vote, standing against the United States for a nuclear free Pacific and splitting the atom. We want New Zealanders to feel proud of the country they live in today.  We want New Zealanders to be able to swim in their rivers.   To be able to grow food in healthy soil.   To catch abundant fish from the ocean to...

Posted at May 28, 2026 6:52 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Cost of living driven by fossil fuels and power price hikes

The Green Party says new Stats NZ data shows a 2.1% increase in household living costs is driven by out of control fossil fuel and power prices, and is hitting lower income people the hardest.  “The Green Party will continue working for practical, common-sense solutions to bring down the cost of living for ordinary people,” says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.   “The Greens have called on the Government to lower power bills by up to $1000 a year by making it easier to put solar panels on homes. We have proposed free, expanded...

Posted at May 01, 2026 11:52 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Soaring power prices show urgent need for electrification

The Green Party says today's inflation figures show power prices are once again a key driver of the cost-of-living crisis, and reinforce calls for a National Electrification Plan."Stats NZ has today confirmed what households are feeling, with the cost of keeping the lights spiralling out of control," says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.    "Electricity rose 12.5 percent in the year to March, four times the overall rate of inflation, and for the third quarter in a row power has been...

Posted at April 21, 2026 11:49 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

The real cost of Willis’ failed economic strategy: empty chairs at Christmas

The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) shows Nicola Willis’ “year of growth” has not only totally failed to deliver but has come at a steep cost to regular New Zealanders.“Today confirmed what regular New Zealanders can already feel: Nicola’s ‘growth at all costs’ mentality is coming at their expense, with significant downward revisions in most economic indicators in the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU)” says Green Party Co-Leader and Finance spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick. “The HYEFU shows...

Posted at December 16, 2025 4:09 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Greens respond to Labour’s CGT announcement

“Labour’s watered down Capital Gains Tax announcement today falls far short of meeting the needs of New Zealanders,” says the Green Party Co-Leader and Finance Spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick.“Our country isn’t working for working people. “Right now, the wealthiest pay half the effective tax rate of our nurses, teachers and firefighters. Labour’s announcement doesn’t even try to fix that. “In a year, the richest family in this country can make more money in their sleep, without lifting a finger, than Labour’s...

Posted at October 28, 2025 12:27 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

OCR cut welcome for some while Govt leaves many behind

Poverty and homelessness continue to grow because of this Government’s decisions, despite the Reserve Bank’s move to lower the Official Cash Rate (OCR). “The Reserve Bank’s decision to lower interest rates today will be welcome news for some but won’t help the thousands this Government has pushed into homelessness and poverty,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance Chlöe Swarbrick.  “Monetary policy is a blunt instrument. It is fiscal policy - that is, the Government’s choices on tax and spend...

Posted at August 20, 2025 2:30 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Greens show Willis’ fiscal straight-jacket is junk, validate case for strong public investment

The Green Party has released its fiscal strategy, demonstrating how we can and must invest in the real-world needs of our country, planet and people.“New Zealanders deserve a Government that actually governs our economy for the good of all of us. Unfortunately, what we have got at the moment is a Government fixated on self-made constraints while the real world crumbles around us,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance, Chlöe Swarbrick.  “Last month, our Green Budget showed that...

Posted at June 16, 2025 5:03 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Rich get much richer, driving inequality and poverty

The 2025 NBR Rich List makes immediately obvious the need for a fair tax system, says the Green Party. “The rich list is now worth more than one hundred billion dollars, while the Government has chosen to cut support to tens of thousands of the lowest income New Zealanders. It’s time to tax wealth, and build a country where all of us can thrive,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Finance and co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. “Poverty and homelessness doesn’t come from...

Posted at June 09, 2025 1:09 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Greens find over half-a-billion dollar hole in Govt Budget

The Green Party has found that the Government has not accounted for its own increased costs as an employer incurred by the KiwiSaver changes rushed through under Budget urgency last week.“There’s anywhere between $633 million to $714 million of costs to the Crown unaccounted for in the Government’s Budget, as a result of its rushed changes to KiwiSaver contribution rates,” says Green Co-Leader and Finance spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick. “The Finance Minister must have been aware of this, but despite incurring...

Posted at May 26, 2025 7:07 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Greens mark May Day with Green Jobs Guarantee

The Green Party has marked May Day with a pre-budget announcement in Tokoroa, detailing the party’s plan for a Green Jobs Guarantee. READ THE FULL POLICY DOC  “New Zealanders should be in control of our economy, our jobs and our future. We don’t need to leave our fate to be decided by international shareholders,” says Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.  “From the West Coast of the South Island, to Ohakune, to Tokoroa, in the last year alone, we’ve heard the...

Posted at May 01, 2025 11:00 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities

The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to keep the lights on.“New Zealanders looking around at the state of global politics and asking how things got so bad have their answer in the kind of slash and burn...

Posted at April 29, 2025 9:14 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Co-Leaders announce plans to launch Green Budget this year

Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics.   “New Zealanders care about each other and the planet we live on. Our Green Budget will lay out the plan for an economy that respects and protects those things, instead of exhausting and exploiting both,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance Chlöe Swarbrick. “Poverty, and all...

Posted at February 26, 2025 2:27 PM by Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

NZers didn’t need this much pain to reduce OCR

Today’s OCR cut will fail to soothe the long-term pain Christopher Luxon’s Government is inflicting upon our communities. “Luxon’s Government had options to cool demand in the economy. Instead of sharing resources around so everyone could get through the hard times, they threw jobs, public services and livelihoods on the scrapheap,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance Chlöe Swarbrick.  “The collateral damage of Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis’ decisions mean more inequality, more homelessness, more climate-changing emissions, more inequality...

Posted at February 19, 2025 2:14 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Government spin won’t pay the rent

The latest Consumer Price Index figures show rents rising almost twice as fast as general inflation. “Christopher Luxon tells New Zealanders one thing while doing another,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance Chlöe Swarbrick.   “He says he is rebuilding the economy, when in reality, his Government’s decisions have helped create rent inflation double the rate of general inflation and driven more people into poverty while deepening and lengthening the recession. Those are consciously made choices, with clear consequences that...

Posted at January 22, 2025 12:21 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity

The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces.“Christopher Luxon is choosing to prolong the recession and kneecap productivity through merciless cuts,” says the Green Party Co-Leader and Finance spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick. “Today’s HYEFU shows the Government’s trickle-down decisions come at the cost of the very ‘economic growth’ they crow so much about. It doesn’t add up and it doesn’t make...

Posted at December 17, 2024 3:56 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

RBNZ lowers OCR, Govt continues ‘let them eat cake’ strategy

While the Reserve Bank lowers the Official Cash Rate, it’s this Government’s policies driving poverty in our communities.“The Reserve Bank’s decision to slightly lower interest rates today will be welcome news for some, but won’t help the approximate 23,000 more kids the Government is pushing into poverty,” says Green Party co-leader and spokesperson for Finance Chlöe Swarbrick.  “Monetary policy is a blunt instrument. It’s fiscal policy - that is, the Government’s choices on tax and spend - which dictates the...

Posted at August 14, 2024 3:41 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

people and communities

Trickle-down tax cuts while the planet and social contract burns

The Government’s bloody-minded commitment to delivering trickle-down tax cuts at all costs comes at the expense of investment in people and planet. “The Government has today pledged their allegiance to inequality through an unfair and unproductive tax system,” says Green Party co-leader and Finance spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick.  “While their Fiscal Strategy says they are committed to a more productive economy, they have made decisions to entrench a tax system that does the opposite. Once again, they’ve cherry-picked statements from the IMF...

Posted at May 30, 2024 3:34 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Minister of Finance reheats austerity politics

This morning’s pre-Budget speech from the Minister of Finance offered no “meaningful” news on the Government’s trickle-down economics based plans.“We can expect tax cuts in the form of crumbs for everyone except those who own for a living. These decisions come at the cost of gutting public services, cutting half-price public transport, chopping fees-free prescriptions and slashing benefit increases, making life all the more difficult for anyone but those at the top. The Minister of Finance is basically just saying,...

Posted at May 09, 2024 9:01 AM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fire

Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse.“The Government’s $2.9 billion tax cut for landlords has been called out for what it is by our very own central bank: a boost for property speculators at the expense of anyone else who wants a roof over their head,” says Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. “The Reserve Bank’s Financial Stability Report details that the...

Posted at May 01, 2024 1:36 PM by Chlöe Swarbrick

culture and innovation

State of books makes clear case for wealth tax

The case for a wealth tax has never been stronger.“The evidence is out and it shows an urgent need to change the tax system,” says Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “The case has never been clearer for changing the tax system to raise the money needed to invest in things that will make a real difference to people - like increasing Working for Families, doubling Best Start, and building thousands more warm dry homes. “While the books are...

Posted at September 12, 2023 1:12 PM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

Labour needs to reconsider wealth tax

The announcement today that the Government has decided to cut funding to public services shows exactly why they need to tax wealth and big corporations.“The Labour Government is constraining itself unnecessarily by refusing to change the tax system to raise revenue from the wealthiest few which can be used to support everyone in Aotearoa. The time is now for a wealth tax,” says Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “Aotearoa’s tax system that has been designed to favour the...

Posted at August 28, 2023 5:13 PM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

Change the tax system to support struggling households

While inflation is no longer increasing, the current rate will still bring little comfort to families struggling to make ends meet, says the Green Party.“Last week Labour decided to rule out implementing a wealth tax or a capital gains tax. While inflation has eased slightly, we know that thousands of families are still struggling to afford the basics. We must build an Aotearoa that works for everyone, with a fairer tax system to pay for it,” says Green Party finance...

Posted at July 19, 2023 10:52 AM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

Market study welcome, but Govt can act now

The Green Party is today welcoming the announcement of a market study into banks, but is urging the Government to act now and raise corporate taxes.“Banks have made eye watering record profits recently due entirely to circumstances out of their control, while low income people in Aotearoa spend more and more of their income on essentials. A market study will be useful, but the time is now to lift every single family out of poverty through our Income Guarantee and...

Posted at June 20, 2023 12:36 PM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

GDP figures show why Greens’ Income Guarantee is essential

As today’s GDP figures show that Aotearoa is in a technical recession, it’s clearer than ever that Aotearoa needs the Green Party’s Income Guarantee.“We know that a recession will hit lower-income New Zealanders who spend the majority of their income covering the essentials like food and rent the hardest. The time is now to lift every single family out of poverty through our Income Guarantee and to pay for it with a fair tax system,” says the Green Party spokesperson...

Posted at June 15, 2023 10:55 AM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

Tax the banks

Instead of creating an appeal fund and one-off lotto draw, the Labour Government could tax the billions of dollars banks have made in unearned, excess profits and use the money to support people.“Has the Government heard of tax? It’s simple: tax the banks; don’t work with them to set up an appeal fund,” says Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “The profit made by the Government’s chosen appeal fund partner, Westpac, hit a record $1.1 billion last year.   “While...

Posted at February 27, 2023 4:30 PM by Julie Anne Genter

culture and innovation

Urgent action needed to support families

 The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says.“The impact of inflation is not felt equally. As things continue to get tough for those on the lowest incomes, we urge the new Prime Minister to prioritise action to lift incomes and reduce basic costs,” says the Green Party’s finance spokesperson, Julie Anne Genter.“When those at the top get richer,...

Posted at January 25, 2023 5:25 PM by Julie Anne Genter