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  • Steffan Browning

    Government seems set on GE contamination path - by Steffan Browning



    This weekend, Minister for the Environment Amy Adams followed through with an earlier threat to initiate legislative changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA), which include removing councils’ ability to control genetically modified organisms through their local plans. This is legislation to allow contamination and community conflict. It must be stopped! Councils including Bay of [...] read more
    August 12, 2013 3:28 pm - No Comments
  • Mojo Mathers

    Hand Over a Hundy - by Mojo Mathers



    Nothing quite beats growing your own food in your back yard. It saves money, tastes great, helps keep you and your family healthy and builds community resilience. But it’s not always easy to get that garden started and many people don’t have the first idea of where to start, which is why I am 100% [...] read more
    August 12, 2013 2:18 pm - No Comments
  • frog

    General debate, August 11, 2013 - by frog



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    August 11, 2013 2:14 pm - 11 Comments
  • Eugenie Sage

    National’s RMA changes weaken our environment law when we should be strengthening it - by Eugenie Sage



    At the moment when New Zealand is the focus of international attention over Fonterra’s botulism scare, the National Party seems intent on sabotaging our economy and environment by weakening our environmental laws attacking the Resource Management Act (RMA). National’s changes will make the RMA an economic development act at the expense of nature and local [...] read more
    August 10, 2013 10:15 pm - 18 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    Seeking magical powers – and invitations to the big boys’ club: the Climate Minister rides to our rescue… - by Kennedy Graham



    So we returned to the House on Thursday to extend another opportunity for the Minister to explain to the nation his thinking on climate policy. We were still wrestling to reconcile the scientific observation in the Gluckman report that ‘climate change is now’ with the Finance Minister’s comment that climate change ‘may well be real’.  [...] read more
    August 10, 2013 1:00 pm - 6 Comments
  • Mojo Mathers

    Disability issues and the media - by Mojo Mathers



    As someone with a disability who has to deal with the media on a regular basis, I found the latest report by the  Convention Coalition Monitoring Group very interesting. The time period the report covered was 2012. Note: The full report is available by clicking here: It looks at how the media in New Zealand [...] read more
    August 9, 2013 12:23 pm - 1 Comment
  • Kennedy Graham

    No time for climate change – we’ve got more important matters down here… - by Kennedy Graham



    It may beggar belief, but perhaps it was inevitable. The NZ Government does not have the time to tackle climate change.  It’s focused on milk damage-control.  And it can only do one thing at a time. Last week, the PM’s chief scientific adviser released a report on climate change – its impact on human activity [...] read more
    August 8, 2013 9:48 am - 15 Comments
  • Denise Roche

    Parliament needs to curb gambling harm - by Denise Roche



    Te Ururoa Flavell’s Gambling (Gambling Harm reduction) Amendment Bill should be going through some of its latter stages in the House this week.  Sadly the Green Party is no longer supporting this legislation due to some pretty massive changes that were made at the select committee stage. The aims of the original bill to give [...] read more
    August 7, 2013 1:33 pm - 2 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Family carers, discrimination and the law - by Catherine Delahunty



    Earlier this year, the Government forced a Bill through the House as part of the Budget which discriminates against citizens wishing to challenge on human rights issues, specifically issues around disability and family care. The Bill was a response to the successful court actions against the Ministry Health ban on paying family members arcing for [...] read more
    August 7, 2013 12:39 pm - 1 Comment
  • Mojo Mathers

    Future proofing social housing - by Mojo Mathers



    Social housing is an important means for providing affordable housing for those who are not able to afford private housing and fills a fundamental human right. Currently there is a serious lack of accessible housing for disabled people or older people with mobility impairments, forcing people into unsuitable housing that doesn’t meet their needs. Aging [...] read more
    August 7, 2013 10:37 am - 3 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Deep sea oil drilling rejected by Muriwai meeting - by Catherine Delahunty



    On Sunday the Green Party hosted a meeting of around 80 people about oil drilling off the West Coast of the North Island. We invited KASM (Kiwi Against Seabed Mining) , Oil Free Auckland, and Deep Sea Oil Watch Auckland to speak about their concerns about the Government and the corporates’ agenda to mine the [...] read more
    August 5, 2013 6:04 pm - 94 Comments
  • Mojo Mathers

    Need another reason to go organic? - by Mojo Mathers



    Last Friday I went along to a few sessions of the Aotearoa Animal Rights Conference in Wellington. We heard from a range of people doing great work to protect animals from exploitation and I was really inspired by them. One of the links that I hadn’t made before was between organics and animal welfare. I [...] read more
    August 2, 2013 11:46 am - 9 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    Young women being ripped off - by Jan Logie



    According to figures from Statistics NZ’s annual income survey reported in the Dominion Post today, young women are earning almost a third less than young men in real terms. The median weekly earnings for men aged 15-24 in 2012 was $600 compared with $384 for women of the same age. This has been put down [...] read more
    August 1, 2013 11:51 am - 16 Comments
  • Steffan Browning

    FCV exemptions are very fishy - by Steffan Browning



    The exemptions given to tuna fishers and Iwi from the Foreign Chartered Vessel (FCV) legislation currently in front of Parliament are appalling and will undermine this otherwise worthy legislation. The Green Party does not agree with any exemptions that mean slave ships continue to operate in our waters beyond the already generous time agreed for [...] read more
    July 31, 2013 4:12 pm - 2 Comments
  • Denise Roche

    Unpackit Awards are back - by Denise Roche



    I love voting. Well, I’m a politician – I would. But I particularly love voting for the annual Unpackit Awards. read more
    July 31, 2013 2:29 pm - No Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    An Internet cable connection from Hawaiki? - by Gareth Hughes



    New Zealand desperately needs a second cable. As the Green’s discussion paper on this issue pointed out: New Zealand is reliant on a single fibre optic cable system connecting us to the rest of the world. Will Hawaiki’s cable deliver? read more
    July 31, 2013 12:21 pm - 4 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    More urgency needed on sexual abuse funding - by Jan Logie



    I’m really pleased to see Paula Bennett’s announcement that she will increase funding to the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation (HELP) by $190,000 per annum. It was less than a year ago they were being told they would have to cut their 24 hours phone line because of a $200,000 funding shortfall. It is great that [...] read more
    July 31, 2013 11:43 am - 3 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Key’s international media FAIL - by Gareth Hughes



    Not every bit of international media our Tourism Minister gets is good news for New Zealand as illustrated on a British website this week. New Zealand featured prominently on the Guardian website this week under the headline “New Zealand pushing plans to drill Middle-earth as Hobbit filming ends” read more
    July 30, 2013 9:47 pm - 13 Comments
  • Denise Roche

    E-waste solutions backed by local government - by Denise Roche



    Local Government New Zealand supports a great solution for electronic waste. At the recent Local Government Conference AGM, Wellington Regional Councillor Paul Bruce won unanimous support for his e-waste remit which calls on central government to:          Declare electronic waste (eWaste) a priority product under the provisions of the Waste Minimisation Act (2008)          Set [...] read more
    July 30, 2013 6:01 pm - 2 Comments
  • Holly Walker

    Are you one of the 70,000 who just got un-enrolled? - by Holly Walker



    The Electoral Commission have just had to remove 70,000 New Zealanders from the electoral roll, after the election packs they sent out for the local body elections later in the year were returned, saying ‘gone – no forwarding address’. This was part of the checks to make sure that everyone who’s eligible is correctly enrolled [...] read more
    July 30, 2013 1:59 pm - 7 Comments
  • Steffan Browning

    Research supports organic farming solution to pesticide residues - by Steffan Browning



    University of Otago researchers have come to the same conclusion as the Green Party regarding pesticide use. In a statement released today, researchers concluded, “We can minimise the environmental impact of farming by going towards organic farming.” This was the result of a study published in the latest Environmental Pollution journal which found agricultural chemical [...] read more
    July 29, 2013 6:40 pm - 2 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    How long is a piece of string? RAMSI, New Zealand, and posterity - by Kennedy Graham



    We flew to Honiara, Wednesday, to mark the 10th anniversary of RAMSI, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.  The Prime Minister, 3 cabinet ministers, Phil Goff, Winston Peters, Peter Dunne and me; several Pacific leaders; NZ officials – several hundred of us, all up.  Australian ministers for foreign affairs and aid, plus officials, flew [...] read more
    July 27, 2013 3:08 pm - 2 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    NBR Rich List highlights inequality - by Jan Logie



    It is hard to find reason to celebrate the latest NBR rich list while one quarter of all New Zealand children are living below the poverty line. The NBR’s annual publication, out yesterday, reports an increase from 2012 of $3.5 billion in total minimum net worth among Rich Listers a total minimum net worth of [...] read more
    July 26, 2013 4:27 pm - 6 Comments
  • Holly Walker

    Impatiently waiting for a real response to election inquiry - by Holly Walker



    This week the Government released their formal response to the select committee inquiry into the last election. I have to say I was pretty disappointed with what was released. Justice Minister Judith Collins has had the select committee report for three months, but rather than present anything substantive, the Minister has instead fobbed off making [...] read more
    July 26, 2013 3:43 pm - 1 Comment
  • frog

    Animal Welfare video shoot - by frog



    The launch of our exciting new Animal Welfare campaign is just around the corner (25th August). The Animal Welfare Act is under review for the first time in a long time, and we’d like to see some big changes. Last week some of our staff headed up to The Animal Sanctuary in Matakana to interview [...] read more
    July 25, 2013 5:01 pm - 2 Comments
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