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 Youth Policy is based on the Mana Taiohi values framework. The framework comes in two parts: the mana that young people have (mauri, whakapapa, hononga, te ao) and the ways youth development can enhance mana (whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, whai wāhitanga, mātauranga). Decisions about policy that primarily affect young people should be led by young people with the support of their whānau and people who work with young people. This policy has been developed by the Young Greens network.

Strategic Priorities

The Green Party’s strategic priorities include:

“All people will be empowered to shape the systems that affect them through community engagement enabled by good evidence, co-design, and adequate resourcing.”

“Our democracy will be accessible and enable inclusive, participatory decisions, where people can influence the collective choices that affect them.”

This includes ensuring: 

  • Affordable, safe and healthy homes;
  • Appropriate and accessible mental health and social services;
  • Free access to education, including tertiary education;
  • Liveable allowance for all young people;
  • The voting age is 16.

Connected Policies

Young people are connected to and affected by all other Green Party policies, especially Health (access to health), Education (schools and studying), Income Support (income and basic services), Workforce (fair pay), Justice (youth justice), and Governance (voting age). This policy is distinct from the Children’s Policy.

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Latest Tertiary Education Announcements

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Green Party launches petition to Save our Polytechs

The Green Party is today launching a petition calling on the Government to properly fund our polytechs, and end the cuts.
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Minister must back regional vocational education with real support

The Government’s move to re-establish ten polytechnics fails to ensure the thriving, future-focussed vocational education sector Aotearoa deserves.
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Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom

The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires o...
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Tertiary lifeline buys time to get model right

The Green Party is today welcoming news that the Government will ensure much needed funding for the tertiary sector.
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Greens call on Education Minister to bring tertiary sector to the table

The Green Party is once again calling on the Minister of Education to bring union, government officials and sector leaders together to urgently imp...
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Greens back uni strikes and call on Hipkins to bring sector to the table

The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Education to bring the tertiary education sector together so we can urgently improve the pay and cond...
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Latest Youth Announcements

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Time to shut down failed Youth Justice Residences

The Green Party is calling for Youth Justice Residences to close, following a protest in which a group of young people spent the night on the roof ...
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Youth Parliamentarians pass motion declaring climate emergency

The 2019 Youth Parliament has declared a climate emergency via a motion in the Parliament.   The motion was put forward by Chlöe Swarbrick’s youth ...
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More Free Mental Health Support for Young People

The Green Party welcomes the expansion of free youth mental health support announced today, says Green Party mental health spokesperson Chlöe Swarb...
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Greens announce free counselling for young people

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 pac...
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NZ First putting politics before child protection

NZ First has chosen to put political game playing ahead of the safety of children by proposing a referendum on the ten year old amendments to the C...
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Government must raise the age of youth justice

The Green Party is joining with youth, justice and disability groups in calling on the National Government to raise the age of youth justice to inc...
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