Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick has welcomed the extension of funding for Te Kūwatawata mental health service in Gisborne while the Government conducts its review of mental health services.

Statistics revealed today by the coroner show that suicide in New Zealand is at its highest since provisional statistics were first recorded in 07/08, with young people aged 20 to 24 the age cohort most effected. Māori rates are the highest since records began.  Green Party Youth spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick said, “These are not just statistics. Each number is a life of an incredible person with whānau and friends who’ll be experiencing immense loss. “This is a heart-breaking crisis, and...

The Green Party today welcomed the settlement of the nurses’ dispute that will give them a decent pay rise. “Nurses, who are at the heart of health care, have historically been underpaid and undervalued,” Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said. “It is great they have fought for and won their battle to be paid reasonably and to have more staff employed so they can safely carry out their vital work.” “Given how much nurses have been neglected by the previous...

Figures released today showing 40 to 45 people have died due to synthetic cannabis since last June show the need for urgent cross-party work on sensible drug law reform, says the Green Party. “The current approach based on prohibition and punishment is clearly not working,” says Green Party drug law reform spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick. “The war on drugs is a failure. “We need a strategy based on evidence and harm reduction, which supports people instead of forcing them into the...

The Green Party said today a sharp increase in support for cannabis use shows New Zealand law is deeply out of touch with everyday New Zealanders. A Curia Market Research poll published today, commissioned by the New Zealand Drug Foundation, demonstrated swelling support across the board – for medicinal and recreational purposes, and among supporters of every political party. “This research demonstrates that New Zealand is more than ready for a mature conversation on common-sense cannabis reform.” Green Party Sensible...

The Green Party said today nurses have historically been underpaid and undervalued and they deserve to be paid more.  Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson was commenting after it was announced nurses rejected the DHBs’ latest pay offer in their ballot. “Nurses are totally professional, so for them to reject an offer of 9% over 15 months reveals how undervalued they feel after nine years squeezing by National,” Ms Davidson said. “We support their call for urgent mediation.” “Every day it...

The Green Party welcomes the belated fronting by Housing New Zealand today on the bogus meth contamination of houses and agrees HNZ should consider repaying tenants costs associated with their evictions. “Not only were hundreds of tenants evicted on the basis of this bogus testing regime, but to add insult they were charged for it,” Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said. “The issue of compensation should be seriously considered. At the very least, HNZ should repay costs around testing.”  “Hundreds...

The Green Party is supporting the Government’s medicinal cannabis legislation introduced to parliament today, but is encouraging the public to use the select committee process to push for improvements to expand the law in relation to New Zealanders suffering from chronic pain and other medical conditions who could benefit from the use of medicinal cannabis, but who are excluded from legal protections in the Bill. 

This was a joint report from the Green Party and Labour Party, following on from original work in 2010. It has informed our work in Government this term.

The Green Party in government will fund free counselling for all New Zealanders aged 25 and under as part of a $260 million youth mental health package. “Free counselling for any young person who wants to talk about the ups and downs they are experiencing with a trained professional will make a huge difference to people’s wellbeing,” Green Party leader James Shaw said today. “Everyone goes through ups and downs and as a society we can do more to recognise...