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Green Party welcomes interest rate caps on loan sharks
“I congratulate Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi, for deciding to introduce an amendment to cap interest rates on high cost loans”, Green Party spokesperson on Consumer Affairs Gareth Hughes said today. -
Green Party calls on Commerce Commission to investigate supermarket duopoly
Supermarkets should be the next industry to come under scrutiny once the law has passed that allows for the Commerce Commission to properly investigate petrol companies in New Zealand, says Green Party MP Gareth Hughes. -
Greens announce plan for honest food labelling
The Green Party today announced a plan for honest food labelling to ensure ‘free range’ means what it says, and consumers can easily see where their food comes from. In government, the Green Party will develop mandatory consumer information standards for ‘free range’ and country of origin labelling under the Fair Trading Act. Country of origin labelling will apply to single ingredient foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, nuts, grains, and oils. “We all have a right to know where... -
National should act to protect New Zealanders’ savings
National should follow today’s advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and implement deposit insurance to protect New Zealanders’ savings, the Green Party said. The IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Programme recommended today that introducing deposit insurance is “the best option” to strengthen the Reserve Bank’s crisis resolution framework. “New Zealand is the only developed country in the world where we can lose our savings if our bank makes a bad decision, and that’s because we don’t have deposit insurance,” Green... -
Kiwis one step closer to knowing where their food is from
Support for Green MP Steffan Browning’s member’s bill is a win for the vast majority of New Zealanders who want to know where the food they buy is produced, the Green Party said today. -
Poll shows huge support for Greens’ country of origin labelling bill
The Green Party is calling for cross-party support for its Members’ Bill that would introduce mandatory country of origin labelling for meat, fruit, vegetables and nuts, after the release of a poll that shows more than 70 percent of New Zealanders support the idea. -
Greens win chemical reassessment
People’s homes are one step closer to being free of a potentially harmful chemical with the reassessment of triclosan, the Green Party said today. Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that, following an application from the Green Party, triclosan can be put forward for reassessment of how it is used. Triclosan is found in hundreds of household products, including soap and toothpaste. “This is a great win and the first step in getting this nasty ingredient out of people’s... -
Greens support call to bring NZTE back to select committee
The Green Party supports the Labour Party’s call to bring back New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Chief Executive Peter Chrisp in front of the select committee over his comments last week on the Saudi sheep agri-hub scandal. -
Parliament to debate supermarket referee to give suppliers a fair go
Parliament will today have the opportunity to support the establishment of a supermarket adjudicator tasked with developing a code of conduct to level the playing field between big supermarkets and local produce suppliers, following problems exposed by the 2014 Countdown investigation. Green Party MP Mojo Mathers’ Commerce (Supermarket Adjudicator and Code of Conduct) Amendment Bill will be given its first reading this evening, followed by a vote. “Today Parliament will have the opportunity to support local produce suppliers to get... -
Supermarket referee long overdue
Parliament will have the opportunity to establish a supermarket referee to ensure supermarkets treat suppliers fairly, after Green MP Mojo Mathers’ Commerce (Supermarket Adjudicator and Code of Conduct) Amendment Bill was pulled from the members’ bill ballot today. The Bill establishes an independent supermarket adjudicator who would work with the industry to develop a code of conduct for relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers, and deal with complaints about behaviour that allegedly breaches the code. “The two huge supermarket chains...