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 learning), Tertiary Education (universities and polytechnics etc.), Income Support (liveable allowance), Workforce (fair pay), Justice (youth justice), and Democracy and Constitutional Transformation (voting age). The Youth Policy is distinct from the Children’s Policy.
