The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow.
“Today the Government has unveiled no surprises and no meaningful solutions in their 36-point bingo card for environmental destruction and trickle-down economics,” says Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.
“Christopher Luxon is not in the boardroom anymore. The irony is these bullet points wouldn’t even hold up in the corporate world: vague, immeasurable and untethered from reality and evidence as they are.
“What on earth does raising the energy New Zealand brings to international relationships mean? For who precisely, and how in reality, does the Government want to ‘improve the rental market’?
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them. This Government has shown these past six months that its focus is squarely on gutting environmental, climate and social gains in order to line the pockets of a few at the top. They could at least be honest about it,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.
“The vagueness of a lot of these action points fails to paint over the true colours of this Government, which is to prioritise profit over people and planet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson.
“Climate change is barely mentioned across this plan, and even then, it is to state that the Government will be initiating a review of its methane targets that excludes farming related methane, and that it will keep farming out of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
“Looking to reopen an oil refinery in the middle of a climate crisis, rolling back Significant Natural Areas at a time our biodiversity is in decline, leaving agriculture as our most polluting sector to continue as is. This all exposes the fact that this coalition of cowards is too scared to defy the demands of their donors and do what is right and fight for a liveable climate.
“Three strikes is failed legislation that has been widely criticised by the legal community. It is the same story with bootcamps which have failed in the past and will do the same in the future. Aotearoa deserves better than this tough on crime, soft on evidence approach to policy.
“Today’s plan has shown, once again, that this Government is more concerned with keeping its wealthy mates happy than building a better future for all,” says Marama Davidson.