The Green Party will ensure equitable access to recreational and sporting facilities and, through public funding, ensure that cost is not a barrier to participation in recreation and sport in our communities. We will regulate harmful forms of recreation and sport, including gambling.
Vision
Recreation and sport contribute to the mental and physical health, active lifestyles and social wellbeing of all.
Values and Principles
Decisions relating to recreation and sport must uphold the following values and principles:
- Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi: For Māori, sports and the art of playing and recreation have been core parts of Māori society for over a thousand years so tākaro Māori should be recognised and supported.
- Ecological Wisdom: Communities need access to the natural environment and public open space for a range of recreational opportunities, whilst ensuring sensitive ecological habitats are protected.
- Social Responsibility: Recreational and sporting activities should be accessible to all, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or disability, and should be equitably resourced.
- Appropriate Decision-Making: Community-led recreation and sport should be prioritised.
- Non-Violence: Recreation and sport should be provided and supported in a way that supports wellbeing and avoids harm.
- Regulation: Public policy should operate to reduce the harm caused by gambling and to protect our communities and public services from gambling harm. The most harmful forms of gambling should be regulated.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“We strive to create a more connected, compassionate and equal Aotearoa (where) decision-making about resource use will provide for community participation.”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Support ecologically and socially robust decisions on recreational and sporting facilities and activities being made by local communities. (1.1)
- Provide facilities that are sufficient to meet the diverse needs of local communities now and into the future (...). (2.2.1)
- Remove all barriers that discourage and prevent Rainbow people, especially those who are trans, non-binary and intersex, from participating and competing in sports. (2.10)
- Amend all gambling legislation to ensure the primary focus is the elimination of gambling harm. (3.1)
Connected Policies
Through the environmental impact of recreation and sport and its dependence on the natural world, this policy is connected to our Conservation, Environmental Protection and Tourism Policies. Gambling is connected to Animal Welfare and, through funding of community organisations from gambling proceeds, to our Community and the Economy Policy.
