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Housing crisis hitting essential services
Auckland could face a shortage of teachers, nurses, and police officers if house prices continue rising out of their reach, the Green Party said today. A new survey of Auckland primary schools found that high housing costs are putting teachers off seeking jobs in Auckland, leading to potential staff shortages and overcrowded classes in schools. “It’s becoming completely unaffordable for the people who make our communities function to live in our country’s biggest city,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said.... -
Green Party congratulates organics sector
The Green Party is congratulating the organics sector on taking major steps this weekend to unify the sector, as well as wishing the Soil & Health Association a happy 75th birthday. In a show of the sector’s strength and confidence about the future, major organics organisations Soil & Health and BioGro New Zealand have combined to bring their significant strengths together, and sector umbrella organisation Organics Aotearoa New Zealand has chosen to expand its membership, embracing key food industry players... -
Rising house prices shut more first-home buyers out
First-home buyers in Auckland are earning only about half as much as the daily increase in house prices, and are being increasingly shut out of the market, the Green Party said today. REINZ house price data released today showed the median Auckland house price rose $500 every day in June, to a new high of $821,000. “First-home buyers who had scraped together a deposit a month or two ago now won’t have enough and will have to keep saving,” Green... -
Auckland house prices still out of control
Out of control house price rises in Auckland and around the country further highlight how the National Government’s tinkering is failing to address the housing crisis, the Green Party said today. The latest QV House Price Index released today shows that Auckland house prices have continued to rise strongly, with Auckland's average house value now $975,087. The Auckland market has increased 16.1 percent year-on-year and 4.7 percent over the past three months. Values there are now 78 percent higher than... -
New building consents going wrong way in Auckland
New building consent numbers declined further in Auckland in May, again highlighting the National Government’s failure to address the city’s housing crisis, the Green Party said today. Statistics NZ Building Consents data released today shows that the number of new building consents in Auckland has been trending downwards since November 2015. “If the National’s Government’s solution to the housing crisis in Auckland is for the private sector to build more houses, it’s not working,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.... -
New data paints stark picture of inequality in NZ
New data showing that the top 10 percent of New Zealand households own half our country’s wealth, while the bottom 40 percent of households own just 3 percent of the wealth, helps explain why so many people are living in cars and being forced to choose between putting food on their table or seeing a doctor when they’re sick, the Green Party said today. The data is from Statistics NZ’s Household Net Worth survey. “When wealth inequality is this stark,... -
Govt was wrong to dismiss foreign trust concerns
The Shewan inquiry has found that foreign trusts are open to being abused and has recommended new disclosure requirements in line with what the Green Party has been pushing for since 2012, the Green Party said today. The Government Inquiry into Foreign Trust Disclosure Rules found today that existing foreign trust disclosure rules are inadequate and has recommended a significant increase in the information required for disclosure at set-up and on a yearly basis. “The Shewan inquiry into foreign trusts... -
GDP doesn’t show the story of National’s New Zealand
Today’s GDP numbers fail to capture the increasing numbers of families sleeping in cars and declining water quality in our rivers and lakes, the Green Party said today. Gross domestic product (GDP) statistics released today by Statistics New Zealand show that the economy grew by 0.7 percent in the March 2016 quarter, but only grew 0.1 percent when population increases were accounted for. “Once increasing population pressures are factored in, the economy grew by just 0.1 percent this quarter,” said... -
National spends billions driving up transport pollution
The National Government has been caught spending billions of dollars of public money on motorway projects without measuring the impacts these major infrastructure investments will have on the climate, the Green Party said today. Information received under the Official Information Act shows that the Government has done no analysis on the likely impacts its $30 billion spend on transport infrastructure will have on climate pollution. “The National Government is pumping billions of dollars of public money into motorways without a... -
Overseas SkyCity steel jobs expose holes in pokies-for-convention-centre deal
The Government needs to come clean about how many more of the construction-related jobs for the SkyCity convention centre will actually be overseas, following news that half of the steel frame construction work has been given to a Thailand-based company, the Green Party said today. “Steven Joyce needs to front up about how many more of the jobs he promised for New Zealanders will actually be overseas,” Green Party gambling spokesperson Denise Roche said. “The pokies-for-convention-centre deal was always bad...