The Government should follow the actions of Grosevnor and take swift steps to ensure its default KiwiSaver funds meet minimum ethical standards, the Green Party said today. Grosvenor announced yesterday that it was shifting its default KiwiSaver fund into a highly ethical international share index, which screens out companies producing items such as alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power and fossil fuels. The move comes after reports last week showed at least five default KiwiSaver schemes were invested in...

The Government needs to set higher ethical investment standards for its default KiwiSaver providers, the Green Party said today. Radio New Zealand revealed today that a majority of the nine default KiwiSaver funds currently invest in companies involved in the manufacture of cluster bombs, landmines, and nuclear weapons. Only one default KiwiSaver provider, KiwiBank, has said that it excludes these companies from its investments. “Profiting from the production of cluster munitions, landmines, and nuclear weapons is immoral, and most Kiwis...

The Reserve Bank was forced to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) today in a bid to drive down the high New Zealand dollar and address growing imbalances in the New Zealand economy, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank cut the OCR today by 25 basis points to 2.0 per cent, with Governor Graeme Wheeler signalling further cuts were likely. “The Reserve Bank has been forced to cut the OCR in an attempt to address growing imbalances in...

House price data released today shows no signs of a slow down to the overheated housing market and overdue cuts to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) tomorrow are likely to add further fuel to the fire, the Green Party said today. REINZ data released today shows median house prices continue to rise, up 8.6 percent nationally (year on year) and up 12.2 percent in Auckland (year on year). The Reserve Bank will likely announce cuts to the OCR tomorrow, which...

Auckland housing is unaffordable and a responsible Government would have a sensible plan to reduce house prices over time, while protecting families with mortgages, the Green Party said today. “The simple fact is that housing in Auckland is totally unaffordable and if we don’t take action to bring house prices down, we will have a whole generation of people locked out of ever owning their own home,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “In around 10 to 15 years’ time,...

Data released today by the Reserve Bank confirms that National continues to let property speculators drive the housing market, hurting first home buyers, the Green Party said. New Reserve Bank mortgage lending data shows that in June, property investors borrowed $2.56 billion while first home buyers borrowed less than a third of that, just $738 million. Investors took out over 7,000 new mortgage loans in June, compared to only 1,970 mortgages for first home buyers. “National is clearly more interested...

Nick Smith’s next step must be action to fix the housing crisis, now he’s accepted that Auckland is unaffordable for first home buyers, the Green Party said. “New Zealand has gone through the five stages of grief in the housing crisis, and now that the Building and Housing Minister has reached the fifth stage – acceptance – it’s time for him to take action,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “Nick Smith has finally recognised what people in...

Lack of Government action to curb housing speculation has forced the Reserve Bank to announce new nationwide investor loan-to-value restrictions (LVRs) restrictions, the Green Party said. The Reserve Bank has today released a consultation paper proposing changes to LVRs to lessen the risks to financial stability arising from rapidly rising house prices. These proposed new restrictions would take effect on 1 September 2016. “The Green Party supports Reserve Bank actions to take some of the heat out of the property...

The National Government’s about-turn on foreign trusts has been welcomed by the Green Party today in the wake of the Shewan Inquiry that found that foreign trusts were a likely vehicle for tax abuse and need to be opened up with increased disclosure and reporting requirements. The Green Party has been pushing for similar disclosure measures around foreign trusts since 2012 while the IRD had made repeated attempts to warn the National Government of the risks of them in 2013...

The Government’s backdown on forcing Housing New Zealand (HNZ) to pay a multimillion-dollar dividend shows that the Government can take measures to help end the housing crisis if it really wants to, the Green Party said today. “Reinvesting HNZ dividends to build more houses just makes sense and I’m pleased the Government is finally showing some flexibility on this,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “It was perverse that National was forcing HNZ to pay a dividend back to the...