The Green Party is calling on the Government to honour New Zealanders’ outpouring of goodwill for refugees, and not block the introduction of the Green Party’s Bill today, that would give Parliament a say in setting a better, long-term refugee quota.

The Green Party will be seeking leave of Parliament, on Tuesday, to immediately introduce Denise Roche’s Members’ Bill which would permanently increase New Zealand’s refugee quota. “While it is a good first step that New Zealand has agreed to an emergency intake of 600 refugees over two and a half years, this doesn’t solve the long term problem of New Zealand’s embarrassingly low refugee quota,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “The National Government has only moved to increase the number...

The Green Party is disappointed by reports that John Key is only willing to take 100 extra Syrian refugees as a response to the desperate humanitarian crisis unfolding around the world.

The Green Party has launched a climate plan today showing it’s possible for the Government to set a much more ambitious emissions reduction target that New Zealanders can be proud of. 

The Green Party is calling on the Government to embrace new ideas to steer New Zealand away from global economic turmoil following stock market crises in China and the USA, or else risk repeating the mistakes it made in 2009-10. “The Government’s response to the last financial crisis was to borrow billions of dollars and spend it on tax cuts for the rich and motorways with dubious business cases,’ Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “Six years and billions of...

SERCO should now be issued with a final warning following new revelations a staff member at the Mt Eden Correctional Facility was caught on camera fighting with an inmate, said the Green Party today.

John Key should protect New Zealand’s international reputation by standing down Murray McCully while his role in the Saudi sheep saga is investigated by the Auditor-General, the Green Party said today. “It’s embarrassing that Murray McCully is representing New Zealand on the international stage while he’s under investigation for the role he played in these very dodgy dealings,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw “Keeping Murray McCully on duty overseas may help protect him from having to answer to the...

The Government must rule out mass sales of Landcorp’s 137 farms to overseas interests, following suggestions that the state-owned farmer is under pressure from the falling dairy price, the Green Party said. “The Government needs to rule out sales of Landcorp’s farms to overseas interests, especially given that 5 percent of New Zealand’s agricultural land has been sold to offshore buyers in the last five years alone,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “The Government’s hands-off approach to SOE management...

The National Government must not allow one of New Zealand’s largest, most productive farms – Lochinver Station – to fall into foreign ownership, the Green Party said today. Offshore company Shanghai Pengxin has confirmed that it is aiming to buy the $70+ million Lochinver Station in the central North Island, which would be the second-largest foreign purchase of New Zealand land. The sale is currently awaiting approval from Government ministers. Shanghai Pengxin previously bought the 7,900 hectare Crafar farms. “National...

New Zealand’s ability to add value to primary products and develop our economy is being undermined by selling land and productive assets offshore, the Green Party said. KPMG’s Foreign Direct Investment in New Zealand report shows that the ownership of primary industries is increasingly being sold offshore. “It’s very difficult for the New Zealand government to promote a strategy of adding value to our primary products when New Zealanders are steadily losing ownership of land, forests, and productive assets in...