The Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income to be implemented after the election to help students not captured by the wage subsidy scheme.

A flourishing tertiary education sector is well-resourced, innovative, responsive, and accessible to students. Its institutions reflect the diversity of Aotearoa and champion mātauranga Māori. Aotearoa’s tertiary education institutions have been compromised by decades of corporate behaviour that has prioritised profit over education as a public good. Successive governments have systematically devalued education and its critical contribution to the vibrancy and progress of our communities. Those who teach and research at Aotearoa’s tertiary institutions are often not recognised for the work...

The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt.

Tertiary education is primarily a public good, and its resourcing and accessibility should be based on that understanding. Involving tangata whenua is vital to ensure tertiary education is inclusive of Māori from the outset, provides services appropriate for Māori and upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The education provided by tertiary institutions should be of high quality and focussed on the aspirations of the students, respecting and reflecting cultural diversity and the diverse needs of those of different ages, outlooks and...

Vision   We envisage Aotearoa New Zealand to be a place where young people feel valued, connected, loved, and empowered. Wherever we are, when we look around us, we have a sense of belonging, of hope. We are a part of this world. Values and Principles “Mana is the authority we inherit at birth and we accrue over our lifetime. It determines the right of a young person to have agency in their lives and the decisions that affect them.” The...

The Green Party announced today that, in government, it will provide genuine support for students by bringing in a universal post-graduate student allowance and increasing allowance rates for all students. “The rise in the cost of living and higher rents are making life increasingly hard for students, and the Green Party has a plan to fix that,” said Green Party leader James Shaw. “We will create a universal allowance for all post-graduate students and increase the base student allowance rate...

Students are the only group in society expected to borrow just to get by. We believe that students should be supported so that they can focus on learning the skills they need to contribute to a smart, innovative economy and a fairer society. It’s difficult to do that when you are constantly worried about making ends meet. Tertiary study should be a way out of poverty, not a way into it. The Green Party will:  Make all post-graduate students eligible...

The Green Party is launching a plan today to help people struggling with student loans get into their first home. Green MP Gareth Hughes’s Student Loan Scheme First Home Repayment Diversion Bill was launched today, the latest in a series of Green Party policies to address the housing crisis. “Many young people are struggling to get a house deposit together and we want to make it easier and faster for them to get a foot in the door,” said Green...

Rising unemployment shows how National’s economic mismanagement has failed to deliver enough jobs for New Zealanders, the Green Party says. “Ten thousand more unemployed people is ten thousand real life tragedies for people hunting for work, and their families,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said. “The Government keeps saying that good times are just around the corner but actually, for the 144,000 New Zealanders who are looking for a decent job now, those good times never seem to arrive. “National is too...

The Government is forcing students into more debt, by keeping the student accommodation payment capped at 2004 levels for more than a decade, the Green Party says. Student Debt today tipped $15 billion. “The accommodation payment was capped at $40 a week for single students way back in 2004, before YouTube even existed,” Green Party tertiary education spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “The average student today is likely to be paying 56 percent more rent than they were in 2004.* “Rents...