Poor New Zealanders forced to keep their heater turned off

Low-income New Zealanders are struggling to keep warm this winter, the Green Party said today.

A new report by Statistics New Zealand revealed that around one in three New Zealand households are experiencing some form of energy hardship.

“It’s disgraceful that almost one in three New Zealand households are having to keep the heater turned off because they can’t afford to pay the electricity bill,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson.

“20 Kiwi kids are dying every year from cold, damp housing, and there are more than 40,000 hospital admissions for children a year from conditions related to poor housing – that’s a national disgrace.

“Poorer families shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on their table or keeping their house warm.

“In the long-term, the Green Party will permanently lower the cost of heating through insulation subsidies, and a mandatory rental warrant of fitness,” said Ms Davidson.

Action

Protect Nature

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Housing Announcements

Story

Landlord Government leaves little hope for renters

The Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters.

Greens call for strong public build programme following release of report

The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Gove...

Coalition of cruelty punishing people for being poor

Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma ...

Govt gets its priorities all wrong with Kāinga Ora review

The independent reviews of Kāinga Ora announced today should be focused primarily on building enough houses to make sure everyone has a warm, dry, ...

Public transport and housing must be prioritised from remnants of Let's Get Wellington Moving

The new government's decision to walk away from Let's Get Wellington Moving shows they are still tied to the failed approach of building more roads.

Only the Green Party will make life better for renters

Green Party co leader Marama Davidson spoke at a Fair Rents rally at the University of Auckland today.

Story

Greens launch petition to save oil and gas ban

The Green Party has launched a petition to save the ban on oil and gas exploration.

Greens would push Labour much further on solar power

Labour’s plan to support rooftop solar is a step in the right direction, but falls short of what could be achieved through the Green Party’s Clean ...

Bills lower, climate happier under Green Party plan

Labour’s announcement of an energy rebate is a step in the right direction, but the Greens’ Clean Power Payment would do much more for households.

Government must stop all new oil and gas exploration

The Green Party are welcoming a pause on all remaining oil and gas exploration, and call on the Government to stop it all together.

Crown mineral change does not go far enough

Long overdue changes to the Crown Minerals Act are a welcome step in the right direction but the Government needs to go further to end the nonsensi...

Fix electricity market to help both climate and cost of living

The four big electricity companies should be required to reinvest massive profits into cutting both household bills and climate pollution, the Gree...

Story

Let’s build better, warmer, and climate-friendly

The Government must take steps to ensure that the way we build our homes is helping to meet New Zealand’s climate change targets, the Green Party s...

Sustainable buildings and warm dry homes

Everyone has the right to a warm, dry home. Instead, housing in Aotearoa often makes us sick from damp and cold. In Aotearoa, much of our housing s...

National would rather save landlords some cash than look after sick kids: Green Party

The National Party is more concerned about the back pocket of property investors than sick kids and the elderly, Green Party Co-leader Marama David...

Stop charging homeless people for emergency housing

The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop sending homeless people into thousands of dollars of debt with the Ministry of Social Develop...

Green Party: Building code out of date and won’t ensure warm, dry homes

In response to calls for a compulsory energy rating for buildings the Green Party is renewing calls for the building code to take better account of...

Green Party calling for bold steps to tackle issues in Salvation Army report

The Green Party agrees with the Salvation Army that bold new steps are needed to stop a worrying trajectory of increased rent rises and homelessnes...