Mental health services have been in such a dire state for such a long time that only a full inquiry and a significant injection of Government money will make a difference, the Green Party said today. The Health Minister today announced that mental health services will get a cross-Government approach, mainly funded within existing baseline funding. “Families of people experiencing mental health problems are being short-changed by a Government that has been missing in action for far too long,” Green...

Increased infrastructure spending must focus on the best ways to fix the housing and transport problems in Auckland, not just a few more expensive and ineffective highways, the Green Party said today. “The most serious infrastructure problems Auckland faces are in transport and housing, and National has spent the last nine years showing that they have no idea how to fix either of them,” Green Party Auckland Issues spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “The full trains and overflowing buses every...

The Green Party supports the findings of the People’s Mental Health Review, released today, and is calling on the Government to now do its job and hold an inquiry into our strained mental health system. “Time and time again we’re hearing stories of New Zealanders not being able to get the help they need. The Government needs to do right by those people and their families, and find out why,” Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “People accessing...

     

The announcement that Auckland’s Northern Busway will be upgraded to rail is a huge win for the Greens’ campaign to get rail to the Shore, but Aucklanders shouldn’t have to wait 30 years for it to happen, the Green Party said today. National’s Auckland transport strategy says a second harbour crossing won’t happen for another 20 to 30 years, but a recent Auckland Transport (AT) study released under the OIA shows parts of the Northern Busway will face overcrowding and...

A Green government would immediately halt Simon Bridges’ eye-wateringly expensive motorway expansion between Warkworth and Wellsford and redirect funding to high-value projects like rail to Mount Roskill or the North Shore, the Green Party said today. Government answers to written questions show the Warkworth to Wellsford motorway is now estimated to cost between $1.4 and $1.9 billion with a Benefit Cost Ratio of 0.25. When it was originally proposed in 2009 the 24km motorway extension was expected to cost $494...

Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter is grateful for having had the opportunity to talk to thousands of Aucklanders about making their city even better and even greener, during the Mt Albert by-election campaign.

The Green Party would look at extending the electric rail line and commuter trains north of Waikanae to improve access to Wellington and relieve congestion around Ōtaki and Levin, instead of building more monster motorways. Transport Minister Simon Bridges mooted the idea yesterday of extending the already $2 billion Wellington Northern Corridor motorway north of Otaki ­– an area which already suffers from severe car and truck congestion. “We need to look at all the options to relieve congestion in...

Shifting the approval of cannabis-based products from the Minister to the Ministry of Health is a step in the right direction, but doesn’t go far enough to help the many New Zealanders who want and need access to them, the Green Party said today. Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has today delegated decision-making for prescribing cannabis-based products to the Ministry of Health. “Peter Dunne has removed one hoop New Zealanders have had to jump through to get access to medical...

An independent review into the mental health system in Wellington following five homicides has found serious failings, and highlights the need for a nationwide mental health inquiry, the Green Party said today. “The serious issues with Wellington mental health services should not be ignored, and neither should the problems that are plaguing our mental health system throughout the country,” said Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “We have heard countless stories of people not getting the help that they...