A strong and diverse agricultural sector is an important part of an economically viable and environmentally sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand. Farmers who do the right thing by the environment should be recognised and rewarded. Rural communities should be strengthened and enjoy high quality of life Rural communities should enjoy quality public services, including potable water, health care, education, justice, and broadband. The sale of rural property and farms should be restricted to New Zealand citizens and residents, with government discouraging...

The Green Party welcomes legislation that will create certainty for people locally and overseas who want to buy organic Kiwi products.

The Green Party has a plan to support farmers to move to less polluting, more environmentally sustainable and more profitable ways of farming so that our rivers and lakes are safe to swim in and our drinking water from aquifers is protected. It is not enough to address the symptoms of dirty rivers, we must also address the causes. The simple fact is that we need fewer hooves on the land, creating less pollution for our waterways. Ten million dairy...

We have a right to know where our food comes from and under what conditions it was produced, so we can make informed decisions about what we buy and eat. The Green Party will: Require “free range” to mean what it says, by developing a mandatory consumer information standard under the Fair Trading Act. Introduce mandatory country of origin labelling for fresh and single ingredient food so people know where their food comes from. There are many reasons why people...

New Zealanders’ health is being put at risk by a chemical in commonly used weed killers deemed unsafe by international agencies, but not our own Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Green Party said today.

Nathan Guy must immediately order the removal of herbicide tolerant (HT) swedes from the market following new reports of cows experiencing ill-health after eating them, the Green Party said today. Dairy NZ today updated an advisory on its website about HT Swedes, saying “in 2017, there have been two farms experiencing ill-health with cows on swedes". In 2014 hundreds of dairy cows died in Southland from liver damage after eating swedes. “It's simple, HT swedes should be taken off the...

The Green Party is applauding the decision by the Ports of Auckland to require total recapture of the toxic gas methyl bromide at the port by the end of the year, and says other ports must now follow suit. Methyl bromide is used to fumigate logs for export. Exposure to the gas, when it’s not safely recaptured, can pose serious risks to people’s health and contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. “We’re really pleased by this decision. The...

The Green Party is calling on WorkSafe and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake an urgent review of the ongoing use of methyl bromide – a highly toxic fumigant – at ports across the country. The call follows a decision made by the Environment Court last Friday to block an application by Envirofume Ltd to fumigate logs for export using methyl bromide at the Port of Tauranga. Envirofume’s application to use methyl bromide was rejected on the basis that...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to listen to New Zealanders and urgently reassess the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides in this country, the Green Party said today. Green Party MP Steffan Browning will today present a petition signed by more than 6000 people to the EPA, asking it to reassess neonicotinoids – a type of insecticide that accumulates in the pollen and nectar of sprayed plants and kills pollinators such as bees. “Healthy bees are critical to our food...