Simon Bridges’ lacklustre electric vehicle announcement today will do little to increase the number of electric vehicles on New Zealand roads, the Green Party said today. “Sadly, National has failed to make electric cars more affordable and accessible for New Zealanders,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “The policy is actually unfair and counterproductive. Those wealthy enough to afford electric vehicles will be exempt from paying to maintain the roads we all drive on, and will be allowed...

The Government’s failure to fix Auckland’s broken housing market has forced the Reserve Bank to keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) higher than normal hurting exporters and jobs, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank kept the OCR unchanged today at 2.25 percent despite economic conditions that favour further cuts. The Bank cited high Auckland house prices and a need for additional housing supply there. “Housing market pressures are building in some other regions,” it added. “National’s failure to...

27 April 2016 National should let KiwiRail compete for funding from the enormous roading budget and scrap the two-tiered funding system which grossly favour costly highway projects, the Green Party said today. The comments come following a report by KiwiRail showing it considered shutting down its entire freight business to meet the Government’s requirements to deliver a short-term profit. “The $3 billion a year in National’s transport budget should be opened-up to be invested in rail, not just roads," said...

Wellington bus operator Infratil’s decision to repower its iconic electric trolley buses with electric drivetrains is a victory for the environment and all those who campaigned to keep clean buses in the capital, the Green Party said. “Electric buses will be excellent for Wellington’s air quality and for reducing our contribution to climate pollution,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “I want to congratulate Infratil for making a good decision, and also congratulate the people who signed postcards...

Low inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hides the way the housing crisis is hitting peoples’ pockets and distorting our economy, the Green Party said today. The CPI showed that inflation was 0.2 percent in the March 2016 quarter and 0.4 percent for the year to March 2016, but housing costs rose 3 percent in the year. MBIE data shows rents across the Auckland region rose on average 5.2 percent in the last 12 months. “Low oil prices mean...

The Government must stop allowing the foreign trust industry to operate in secret here to prevent New Zealand becoming a tax haven for criminals, the Green Party said today. New Zealand foreign trusts have again been implicated in money laundering, tax avoidance, and criminal activity following a massive document leak from a Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The documents reportedly show that New Zealand is being used by overseas investors to keep tax secrets. “New Zealand is today being described...

Productivity growth under National’s economic management is the weakest it’s been since 1996, the Green Party said today. Productivity statistics released today by Stats New Zealand show that while productivity growth this year has been positive, productivity growth over the whole economic cycle is well below longer-term trends. Productivity is best observed in growth cycles rather than in single year figures, they say. “Productivity growth over this most recent economic cycle (2008-2015) is the weakest it’s been in twenty years,”...

The gap between the tradable and non-tradable parts of the economy has grown to its biggest since 2000 meaning the economy is growing more unbalanced under National’s economic leadership, the Green Party said today. GDP statistics released today by Statistics New Zealand show that the tradable parts of the New Zealand economy (exporters and trade-exposed businesses) shrunk by 0.8 percent in the December 2015 quarter while the rest of the economy (the non-tradable sector) grew by 0.9 percent over the...

The Green Party today announced a new Safe to School plan, which aims to dramatically increase the number of young people biking and walking to school. The campaign calls for a 30 km/h speed limit outside all urban schools, and an 80 km/h speed limit around rural New Zealand schools, with the limit dropping to 30km/h during school hours. Our plan would see these changes introduced over three years. Local authorities, in conjunction with schools, will also be able to...

The Green Party welcomed today’s cut in the Official Cash Rate (OCR) but restated that the Government’s failure to take the heat out of the Auckland housing market meant risks remained for further house price increases. The Reserve Bank today reduced the OCR by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent. “We welcome the long overdue decision to lower the OCR which will be a relief to indebted dairy farmers and households paying off their mortgages,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie...