Vision for NZ missing from PM’s speech

Bill English’s state of the nation speech today lacked vision and leaves New Zealanders with a stark choice about the kind of government they want, the Green Party said.

“The new Prime Minister didn’t talk about the housing crisis, or stagnant wages, or polluted rivers and lakes. These issues aren’t going to go away – in fact, it’s now clear that the only way to fix them is by changing the Government,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.

“New Zealanders can have warm, safe, affordable homes and higher wages but only a Green-Labour government will make those things a reality.

“There was nothing in Bill English’s speech for families who are struggling with the cost of living and housing, or people stuck in traffic just trying to get to work, and there was no commitment to ending child poverty or cleaning up our rivers.

“Bill English said at Rātana that the Government had reached the limits of what it could do for poverty and the economy. From today’s speech it’s clear they’re giving up trying.

“National has had nine years to address the major challenges that we’re facing as a country, whether it’s affordable housing, child poverty, low wages, unswimmable rivers, or climate change. For the ninth year in a row, Bill English and National have come up short.

“The Prime Minister didn’t mention climate change even once, or any environmental issues, when New Zealand has a prime opportunity to help lead the global movement towards a high-value, clean-tech economy.

“It’s important that people feel safe in their communities, but we need to focus on fixing the underlying causes of crime with investment in mental health, drug and alcohol services, and helping people find stable jobs and homes in their communities once they’ve served their time.

“Putting more money into Police is how you catch criminals and fill prisons, but it’s not how you reduce crime,” said Mr Shaw.

Action

Protect te reo Māori

Sign our petition asking Minister Erica Stanford to keep prioritising the teaching of te reo Māori.

Action

Bird of the Year

Send Christopher Luxon an email letting him know that his fast track to environmental ruin is not something Aotearoa signed up for.

Action

Submission Guide to the Law Commission for Trans, Non-Binary & Intersex Peoples' Rights

Make a submission today for increased protection our trans, non-binary and intersex communities.

Action

Emissions Reduction Plan Submission Guide

Submit today on the Government's inadequate Emissions Reduction Plan.

Action

Safer Speeds Petition

Sign our petition asking Christopher Luxon to keep our roads safe.

Action

Cut the Coal Petition | Join the movement

Fight back: Tell the government that coal mining is not our future.

Action

Safer Speeds

Submit today on the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits, which stops Councils from being able to implement safe speeds on their streets.

Action

Protect Our Freshwater

Join our Green MPs in calling for the government to protect freshwater. Proposed changes to the Resource Management Act threaten New Zealand's...

Action

Marine Farm Consents Bill | Make A Submission

Tell the government that we will not accept damage to our oceans.

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Building and Construction Announcements

Story

Let’s build better, warmer, and climate-friendly

The Government must take steps to ensure that the way we build our homes is helping to meet New Zealand’s climate change targets, the Green Party s...

Sustainable buildings and warm dry homes

Everyone has the right to a warm, dry home. Instead, housing in Aotearoa often makes us sick from damp and cold. In Aotearoa, much of our housing s...

National would rather save landlords some cash than look after sick kids: Green Party

The National Party is more concerned about the back pocket of property investors than sick kids and the elderly, Green Party Co-leader Marama David...

Stop charging homeless people for emergency housing

The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop sending homeless people into thousands of dollars of debt with the Ministry of Social Develop...

Green Party: Building code out of date and won’t ensure warm, dry homes

In response to calls for a compulsory energy rating for buildings the Green Party is renewing calls for the building code to take better account of...

Green Party calling for bold steps to tackle issues in Salvation Army report

The Green Party agrees with the Salvation Army that bold new steps are needed to stop a worrying trajectory of increased rent rises and homelessnes...

Story

PREFU shows efforts to keep us all healthy, now we need to revenue raise

PREFU has given a good insight into what was required to ensure New Zealanders were largely supported to continue work and remain healthy during CO...

Sustainable business

In the wake of COVID-19, we must empower small businesses in Aotearoa to flourish, create new jobs, and support their local communities. The Green ...

Sustainable jobs

A sustainable economy means good working conditions and fair distribution of the benefits of our natural resources. As we respond to the disruption...

High tech economy

A strong manufacturing and technology sector will create jobs in low-emissions industries and ensure we can sell Aotearoa’s skills to the world. Th...

Green Party welcomes first Wellbeing Budget

“The Green Party is proud to welcome New Zealand’s first Wellbeing Budget to deliver change for New Zealanders,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw s...

Wellbeing: We need to change how we see our economy

“The Wellbeing Budget is a first step in changing the way we look at the economy and our place in it”, said Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson. ...

Story

Govt must maintain Treaty provisions in Corrections Bill

The Green Party is calling on the Government to support its proposed amendments to leave Treaty provisions in the Corrections Bill.

Greens call on Luxon to abandon Treaty Principles Bill following Waitangi Tribunal report

The Green Party is calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill following the Waitangi Tribunal’s scathing rep...

Labelling kids serious offenders sets rangatahi up to fail

The Government’s archaic ‘tough on crime’ approach is weak on evidence and will do little to nothing to keep our communities safe.

Three strikes has failed before and will fail again

Resurrecting the archaic three-strikes legislation is an unwelcome return to a failed American-style approach to justice.

Hate speech law fails women, Rainbow and disabled people

The Green Party today welcomed the first reading in Parliament of legislation to protect religious groups from hate speech, but remain concerned th...

Hate speech change welcome, but still leaves communities at risk

The Green Party welcomes hate speech reform to protect religious groups, but is concerned that the exclusion of women, rainbow, and disability comm...

Story

Rising rents continue to inflict hardship on households

Statistics released today show that rents have increased at 4.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. This comes after last month’s 4.8 p...

Green Party sends open letter to PM on renters’ rights

The Greens have launched an open letter calling on the Prime Minister to respond to the rental crisis.

Renters suffer as soaring rents feed rising inflation

The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent...

Government must build more public houses, not find excuses to sell them

The Green Party says the Government must use the review of Kāinga Ora as a platform to build more homes, not an excuse to sell them off.

No-cause evictions leave no hope for renters

The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million peopl...

A win for Wellington - Greens welcome more housing

The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Counci...

Story

Greens call for public to back Wrybill in BOTY and beyond

The Green Party is calling on the public to support the Ngutu Pare Wrybill not just in this year’s Bird of the Year competition but also in pushing...

Fast track still on track to environmental destruction

Our environment remains at risk despite the Government's proposed changes to its controversial fast-track legislation.

Government throws the environment on the scrap heap

The Government has shown its disdain for nature by undermining and cutting programmes which protect and conserve our environment.

Further environmental mismanagement on the cards

The Government’s resource management reforms will add to the heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment.

Scrapping Significant Natural Areas shows significant neglect

The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife ...

Say hello to NZ’s most anti-environment government in decades

The Government is giving big industry a free pass to bulldoze New Zealand’s precious native wildlife.