Māori will be among the most impacted by the Government’s cruel, irrational, and senseless plan to stop funding pre-sentencing background reports.

The Green Party is pleased with further improvements to the Government’s proposed terrorism law, Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman said today.

The Green Party has negotiated important civil liberties changes in the proposed Terrorism Suppression Bill which will now establish human rights and process safeguards. “We’ve ensured that foreign convictions and deportations won’t be accepted without proper scrutiny and we’ve ended the use of secret evidence without an advocate,” said Golriz Ghahraman, Green Party spokesperson for Justice. “We’ve been clear from the start about our key concerns. Our position in Government has allowed us to negotiate and get agreement from the...

“Today’s report from the State Services Commission shows Government departments colluded with private security firms working for oil and gas companies to spy on New Zealanders,” Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. 

The Green Party welcomes the adoption of a human rights based approach to the upkeep of the Waikeria prison facility, focused on rehabilitation instead of the American-style mega-prison planned by the last government. “We know that imprisonment has failed to reduce crime rates or keep our communities safe. New Zealand needs a new approach and we see this decision as a start,” says Green Party corrections spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman. “The new 100-bed mental health treatment unit, in particular, shows the...

The Green Party is welcoming a report released by the Prime Minister’s Chief Scientist, Sir Peter Gluckman, which acknowledges our justice system is broken and incarcerating more New Zealanders won’t fix it. “This report points the way forward for justice in New Zealand, and fits with what the Green Party has been advocating for some time,” said Green Party justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman. “I know, having worked on the frontlines of our criminal justice system, that so-called ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric and...

Paula Bennett’s comment that some people have fewer human rights than others is deeply concerning and reflects the National Government’s backward approach to drugs, the Green Party said today. “National are proving once again that they are out of touch, out of date, and out of time to do anything that will actually help us to reduce violence and drug addiction,” said Green Party leader James Shaw. “Human rights are not something you can take away from people because it...

A new report highlighting the causes of the runaway growth in the prison population released today is further proof we need a cross-party consensus on justice issues, the Green Party said today. JustSpeak’s new report ‘Bailing out the Justice System’ shows that new laws introduced in 2013 reversed the longstanding decline in prison numbers and forced the Government to spend a billion dollars on a new prison. “This report makes clear that morally and economically, we can’t afford to keep...

Today’s report from the Waitangi Tribunal is a wake-up call about National’s failure to tackle Māori overrepresentation in the justice system, the Green Party said today. The Tribunal found the Department of Corrections in breach of the Treaty principles of equity and active protection because of an insufficient focus on Māori  reoffending, and has recommended urgent reforms. “What we are seeing is more evidence of a Government which is content with doing the bare minimum. Today’s findings from the Tribunal should...