Category: Green Party

Source: Green Party

The Green Party stands in solidarity with the Buller community in its silent protest for better healthcare. 

“Healthcare is a human right that we cannot afford to see our communities miss out on,” says the Green Party’s Health spokesperson, Hūhana Lyndon.

“Our country has enough to ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need, whenever they need it, wherever they need it – it comes down to choices. This Government is choosing to underinvest in our health system at the expense of our communities. 

“What the Buller community is experiencing is sadly something many communities are having to endure. This is a symptom of the complete and utter disregard this Government has for the health of our people.  

“Needing to travel 100km to get to the nearest hospital is something that if left unaddressed will come with fatal consequences. 

“Buller deserves better. It’s nothing short of a crisis when staffing shortages at the local hospital, which has barely been open a year, result in it having to be closed for a month. 

“What’s more, emergency services are almost non-existent in Buller. The one ambulance in the West Coast region is focused more on transferring patients from Westport to Greymouth. To top it off, as of today, all urgent and after-hours clinics for the entire region will be closing. 

“We stand with the Buller community in their call to action and support their demands on the Government. 

“The Green Party will continue to fight for a health system that is resourced to cater to the needs of all,” says Hūhana Lyndon.

Source: Green Party

The Green Party is calling on the Government to honour its promise to Dunedin and build its new hospital to full capacity. 

“Failing to build the hospital to what was promised would be a complete betrayal and an utter kick in the guts for Dunedin,” says the Green Party Spokesperson for Dunedin Issues, Scott Willis.

“Healthcare is a human right and something Dunedin deserves. We need to invest in our health system so it’s fit to cater to the needs of all of our communities.

“The current Government is failing to invest in a health system on its knees, putting priority on trickle-down tax cuts for the already wealthy. Yet for years Dunedin’s health system has struggled with chronic staff shortages, equipment shortfalls and facilities not fit for purpose.

“This Government made a promise during the election, pledging to build a new Dunedin Hospital to modern standards – now this looks set to be broken as the Government offers mealy-mouthed excuses. The Coalition is clearly trying to worm away from its promise to our community.

“Right now, the need for a fully equipped hospital in Dunedin couldn’t be more critical. Dunedin deserves a new hospital, and deserves so much more than this Government. 

“The Government is undermining our health system to fund trickle-down tax cuts. The health of our people must come before the pockets of the wealthy. 

“I look forward to joining the local community this Saturday as we march for the Dunedin hospital and our health services,” says Scott Willis.

Source: Green Party

Proposed cuts to Kāinga Ora reflect a failure to fully commit to fixing the housing crisis.

“The Government is undermining public housing and intentionally aggravating the housing crisis to benefit a privileged few at the expense of everyone else,” says the Green Party’s Housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul. 

“Housing is a human right. Public housing has always been an important safety net for some of the most marginalised people in our communities. Public housing can help to insulate against the uncertainty and unaffordability of private rental housing and ensure that people don’t fall through the cracks and into homelessness and poverty.

“However, this Government would rather treat housing as a business opportunity, rather than the human right that all people rely upon. They have delayed over 300 public housing projects around the country so that house prices and rents continue to rise, and landlords continue to cash in on people’s need to survive.

“The current Government has shown little interest or ambition in building public housing. Kāinga Ora has been clear that these cuts are a result of them planning to build less housing at a time where more than 20,000 people across the country are waiting for a public home to become available.

“These cuts will do nothing to bolster our public housing stock and address Aotearoa’s severe shortage of homes. This is a significant step backwards. 

“As a country we must rise to the challenge of addressing the housing crisis which has left so many New Zealanders struggling for a place to live. It requires commitment to public housing as a means to end homelessness and guarantee everyone a warm and secure place to live.

“The Government must commit to an ambitious public housing programme. We have demonstrated how it would be possible to clear the public housing waitlist by building 35,000 new healthy, affordable, public houses over the next five years.

“The Government must commit to building more homes, not just lining the pockets of landlords,” says Tamatha Paul. 

Source: Green Party

The Government must immediately help evacuate New Zealanders and Lebanese whanau caught up in the current conflict unfolding across south Lebanon. 

“The crisis in Lebanon is deepening by the day. We must act and evacuate our Lebanese whanau out of harm’s way,” says the Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Teanau Tuiono.

“Aotearoa is home to a strong Lebanese community. We owe it to them to offer their families caught up in the unfolding crisis a lifeline with evacuation and a humanitarian visa pathway.  

“Yesterday, almost 500 people were killed in south Lebanon where last week civilians were killed and maimed by indiscriminate terror attacks through tech devices. Hundreds of thousands of people in this region have been harmed by bombing that is destroying homes and targeting civilian populations. 

“The Government has told New Zealanders to leave Lebanon, the least it could do is help before things escalate to a point where we are unable to assist. 

“Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Gaza must be met with consequences. Israel is actively fanning the flames of war. Our Government must issue Israel with sanctions. 

“This Government has been incredibly slow to respond to the crisis in Gaza, it cannot afford to make the same mistake twice and allow the window for evacuations to close. 

“It’s unacceptable to simply look on while innocent civilians lose their lives in this escalating conflict. Aotearoa must play its part in the international community in promoting peace and protecting human rights,” says Teanau Tuiono. 

Source: Green Party

The Green Party vows to reinstate the oil and gas ban and revoke permits when it returns to government following the coalition’s introduction of legislation to reopen offshore oil and gas exploration this afternoon. 

“A Green Government will reinstate the oil and gas ban and revoke any permits granted under the current regime and their obsession with pouring oil, coal and gas on the climate crisis fire,” says Green Party Co-Leader and spokesperson for Climate Change, Chlöe Swarbrick.

“We can have an economy that supports people and the planet, instead of exploiting both. It’s simply a matter of political willpower.

“Overturning the oil and gas ban risks exacerbating energy insecurity and driving exorbitant power prices. The Government must know this. And yet they persist with their lobbyist’s wish list.

“Luxon’s Government has weaponised the energy crisis to argue for more fossil fuels, conveniently neglecting that it’s the very reliance on those fossil fuels which is behind the energy crisis.

“Climate delay is the new denial.

“We can reduce emissions, lower power bills, and improve the resilience of our energy system. All we need is mainstream political willpower. New Zealanders deserve better than the Government’s attempts to pull the wool over their eyes,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Source: Green Party

The Government’s introduction of its interventions in the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act threatens to throw relations between Māori and Crown into deeper disharmony. 

“This legislation is not fit for Parliament and represents an outright assault on the rights of iwi and hapū, disregarding the founding agreement Aotearoa was built upon,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Steve Abel.

“Te Tiriti is foundational, governments are temporary and do not have the right to disregard or trample on the binding contract between Māori and Crown on which our nation is built. Iwi and hapū rights to their customary waters are part of tino rangatiratanga, and are core to the sovereignty tangata whenua never ceded. 

“The Government’s Takutai Moana re-write legislation robs Māori of customary rights to the marine and coastal area without moral justification or evidential basis. It is a regression to raupatu. 

“The disingenuous narrative of ‘restoring parliamentary intent’ that the Government is using to justify this attack on Te Tiriti is a complete misrepresentation of our history that overrides Māori rights in favour of corporations who want to exploit our oceans for private profit. 

“The Waitangi Tribunal was damning in its evaluation of this legislation, stating that it was a clear breach of tino rangatiratanga, antithetical to good government, and sidelined Māori rights and interests in te takutai moana without providing evidence for its claim that the public’s rights and interests require further protection.

“Time and time again, Christopher Luxon has talked about the importance of Te Tiriti, praising it as our past, present and future. But these words are hollow in the context of his assaults on the taonga guaranteed to iwi in our founding agreement. 

“The Green Party will stand alongside Te iwi Māori in opposing the Government’s confiscation of their customary rights to the marine and coastal environment,” says Steve Abel.

Source: Green Party

The Green Party says the Government’s retrograde move to tighten up on Work from Home arrangements is the latest in a series of blows to the Public Service.

“This is shallow soundbite policy and a cheap shot to a public service that is being gutted by the Government,” says the Green Party Spokesperson for the Public Service, Francisco Hernandez.

“Our public service needs to be supported so it can support our communities. Undermining our public servants at every opportunity will only lead to an erosion of the services we all rely on. 

“We saw firsthand during the pandemic the benefit of flexible work arrangements and how they can support people to achieve a better work life balance, being beneficial to productivity and morale. 

“This gimmick Government wants to take us back to the pre-internet days when we lacked the flexibility to adopt working arrangements that work for our workers. This Government quite clearly mistrusts and undervalues the public service. 

“How can the Government claim this is about improving the performance of the public service when it has repeatedly punched down on our public servants? 

“It is laughable for the Prime Minister to claim that this will be good for the Wellington CBD when his Government has cut almost 7,000 public service jobs, which has had devastating down-stream effects to the local economy. 

“If we want to reinvigorate the heart of our cities, we need to support public and active transport, bolster our urban density and stop gutting public services, slashing jobs and cutting incomes.

“Public servants should have the right to safe, decent and meaningful work that affords them the right balance of working from home and from the office. This should be a discussion between employers and employees, not something that is dictated by Nicola Willis.  

“The Greens would reform our employment laws for all workers in New Zealand to enable flexible working arrangements, including working from home,” says Francisco Hernandez.

Source: Green Party

Today’s GDP figures combined with the injustice of our tax system will mean more pain for our lowest-income households while those at the top remain relatively unscathed. 

“Whether it’s high inflation or a manufactured recession, intentional Government policies see regular New Zealanders pay the price while the rich laugh their way to the bank,” says Green Party Co-Leader, Chlöe Swarbrick. 

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can have a tax system and economy that works for people and planet, instead of exploiting both. We don’t live in a game of Monopoly. The rules can and must change when they don’t work for the majority of people.

“Luxon’s Government has chosen to double down on trickle down tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the wealthiest by siphoning resources from those who need it and the creaking infrastructure all of us rely on.

“Today’s research from Tax Justice Aotearoa makes clear that National’s crying wolf that the wealthy would leave the country if they paid their fair share simply doesn’t add up. In Australia, England, America and several other comparable countries, those same people would pay far higher taxes and more fairly contribute to the social infrastructure necessary for them to generate that wealth in the first place.

“Nothing in this country is working as it should. Our hospitals, schools and public services are starved of the resources they need to thrive, and all of us pay the price of escalating inequality and a deteriorating social contract.

“A year ago, the IRD told us the wealthiest 311 households hold more wealth than the bottom two and a half million New Zealanders. That’s not an accident. It’s the consequence of a tax system that sees those at the top pay an effective tax rate less than half that of the average New Zealander.

“That means multi-multi-millionaires are paying a lower effective tax rate than nurses, teachers, firefighters and supermarket checkout operators. That’s unfair. It can and must change.

“The Greens campaigned unapologetically on ensuring the wealthiest pay their fair share. If we did that, we could introduce a tax-free bracket for income below $10,000, fund meaningful climate action, build tens of thousands of public houses, de-carbonise and reduce energy costs for homes, make dental care-free and invest in the infrastructure we all rely on for the country we all deserve,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Notes to Editors –

Our tax plan includes:

• A 2.5% Wealth Tax on assets – things like properties or shares – worth more than $4 million (minus mortgages and other debt) for couples and $2 million (minus mortgages and other debt) for individuals. This will not affect most family homes or retirement savings
• A Trust Tax of 1.5% so people cannot just move their money into a trust to avoid the Wealth Tax. 
• A new top rate of income tax of 45% on income over $180,000, so the top earners contribute more. 
• A new corporate tax rate of 33%, returning corporate tax to what it was before National came into government in 2008. 

Source: Green Party

New climate projections from NIWA underscore how urgently climate action is needed.

“A future of flood and drought painted by NIWA is the reality of an unabated climate crisis,” says Green Party Co-leader and spokesperson for Climate Change, Chlöe Swarbrick.  

“These projections show us that climate delay is the new denial, and emphasise how this Government’s plan to increase emissions will cost us all dearly.

“We can have an economy that works for people and planet, instead of exploiting both. That means stopping pollution at the source and ensuring a just transition.

“Instead, the Government’s draft Emissions Reduction Plan relies on technologies that are not guaranteed and planting pine trees. This lack of ambition will take us off track to reach 2050 carbon neutrality, and worse, compound inequality. Luxon’s over-reliance on market mechanisms will cost the poorest New Zealanders four times as much money as the wealthiest.

“We cannot ignore inconvenient truths. We’re talking about the hard scientific fundamentals necessary for life on earth as we know it. This can and must be yet another wake-up call to meet the climate crisis with the scale of transformative action it requires.

“The climate crisis is no longer a yarn about future generations. We’re talking about the growing risk of climate-change-charged weather like the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle becoming all the more commonplace in our lifetimes, directly exacerbated by immense pollution enabled by negligent Government policies.

“It’s time for Christopher Luxon to show some leadership and live up to his own word that we will meet our climate commitments – which his own Government policy plans currently themselves say we’ll miss,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Source: Green Party

Today’s announcement from the Minister of Workplace Relations emphasises how deep in the pocket of big business this Government really is. 

“This is the latest episode in a series of assaults on workers’ rights,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Workplace Relations, Teanau Tuiono. 

“Our economy has been built upon the backs of our workers, by supporting our workers we support ourselves. Across generations and over many decades, the rights of workers have been hard fought for and should be celebrated as a hallmark of a modern economy that looks after people.  

“However, the Government is laying a brick wall between the most vulnerable workers and the rights that belong to them. 

“The coalition’s proposed amendments to the Employment Relations Act will insert another barrier for people who are classed as contractors being able to have the reality of their working arrangements be recognised as an employee. 

“This is something that quite clearly plays directly into the hands of companies looking to cut corners and boost profit margins at the expense of our workers – by denying people sick pay, holiday pay, and job security. It’s yet another example of this Government legislating over hard-won rights in the favour of the corporate interests.

“These changes would also allow companies to limit the number of people they employ on full-time contracts and instead rely on flimsy working arrangements that have less protections and less accountability. 

“This slapdash approach goes against the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the Uber case which carefully considered the nature of the working arrangement on the facts, and confirmed the legal status quo that if it looks like an employment arrangement and works like an employment arrangement, it’s an employment arrangement. 

“A Green Government would undo the laundry list of attacks on the rights of workers this Government is guilty of, including this one,” says Teanau Tuiono.