Category: New Zealand Legislature

Source: Green Party

The Green Party is urgently calling on the Government to prioritise long-term prosperity of our oceans in its consultation on the Fisheries Act.

“Our oceans are in a state of decline, continuing to put short-term profit before long-term sustainability will see the health of our ocean life wash away,” says Green Party’s Oceans and Fisheries spokesperson Teanau Tuiono.

“Minister Jones has stated ‘sustainability will always be the bottom line for fisheries management,’ but we have seen decisions from the Government completely contradict and undermine this. Today’s proposed changes seem to reward industry for overfishing, posing a significant threat to the sustainability and longevity of our oceans.

“If the Minister truly cared about sustainability he would ban bottom trawling and champion sustainable, adaptive fishing practices, which will increasingly be required in the context of climate change. 

“If we want our oceans to thrive for generations to come we must commit to protecting more of our waters. We campaigned on doing exactly this by establishing a Healthy Oceans Act that would create a legally binding framework to protect at least 30 per cent of Aotearoa’s ocean by 2030.

“The crisis facing our ocean is growing more urgent by the day – and it is communities who depend on the moana for their livelihoods, including Māori and Pasifika communities, who will be impacted most of all. This Government needs to prioritise the sustainability of our oceans, which in turn prioritises long-term wellbeing of tangata whenua and tagata moana.

“It is high time the Government turned the tide on the exploitative and extractive fishing practices that have seen our ocean environment’s health decline and our fisheries be depleted.

“Our oceans are the lifeblood of Aotearoa. It is incumbent upon us to protect them, not only for their beauty, but for their essential role in sustaining life on our planet,” says Teanau Tuiono.

Source: Green Party

The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest.

“Poverty is a political choice this Government is choosing for our communities, intentionally exacerbating inequality and pushing thousands of families into hardship,” says the Green Party Spokesperson for Social Development, Ricardo Menéndez March.

“In this country, we have the means and resources to ensure all whānau have the basics for a good life and don’t fall through the gaps.

“Unfortunately half of all children living in material hardship are in benefit households, the very families that this Government is forcing into deeper poverty with policies that sanction and punish beneficiaries.

“The Salvation Army’s report also highlights the need to transform Work and Income’s culture to one where people are treated with trust and respect. 

“People should not be declined hardship assistance when they are in need of help, and yet more people have been declined for this very critical support at a time when material hardship for children is increasing.

“This report also reinforces what people on the ground have been telling us for years: Māori and Pasifika people have been hardest hit by benefit sanctions, lack of access to adequate support, and ongoing discrimination by the very same agencies meant to support them.

“Poverty is not something we have to accept, we can choose to end it. The Green Party campaigned on ending poverty with our Income Guarantee that would ensure everyone has enough food to put on the table, no matter how tough times get,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.  

Source: Green Party

The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza.

“The Prime Minister must be crystal clear in condemning crimes against humanity and the US President’s stated plans to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza,” says the Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.

“Palestine belongs to Palestinians. To force the mass displacement of people from their homeland, on top of the latest 15-month genocidal assault, is an unthinkable new infringement on human rights. Dozens of other countries have recognised this for what it is.

“Unfortunately, comments today by Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Trump’s proposal either signal a dramatic shift for Aotearoa New Zealand’s foreign policy or were uninformed. Neither is acceptable.

“Prime Minister Christopher Luxon must – now more than ever – be clear that we regard such a plan as grotesque and illegal, and will use our reputation and alliances on the international stage to not only condemn, but ensure it never happens. 

“New Zealanders care about justice and peace. We need the Government to reflect that in international relations.

“Our Prime Minister and his Cabinet must support a rebuild of Gaza that is led and determined by Gazans, and increase aid funding to do so,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Source: Green Party

The Government’s so-called overhaul of the Public Works Act will fail to prevent further injustices around the confiscation of Māori land.

“Now is the time for this Government to be brave and ensure not one more acre of Māori land is stolen by the Crown,” says Green Party Māori Development spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon.

“The Government is failing to address what remains a source of great injustice for Māori – that’s why I’m calling on all political parties to support my bill to protect Maori land from confiscation under the Public Works Act.

“Māori have already lost a significant amount of land and that includes for public purposes. But the plans for the overhaul of the Act give Māori no ability to say no to the state taking their land for public works.

“Adding the Minister of Māori Development into the hierarchy controlling approvals for compulsory acquisition of whenua gives no comfort to Māori. We’ve already seen with Fast-Track, having multiple ministers signing off on things is hardly a protection for whenua or te taiao.

“What’s more, the inadequate compensation package announced by the Minister is a bitter pill for Māori who have already lost so much. 

“The Government’s neglect of Māori concerns is an insult to injury compounded by the Prime Minister’s absence at Waitangi this week.

“Don’t think for one second that the confiscation of land is just a memory of the Land Wars and their legacy – it’s something still confronting us in the present.

“The Waitangi Tribunal found that the Crown must actively protect Māori interests, and this is what my Bill seeks to do, by protecting the small amount of Māori land left from compulsory acquisition – thus giving primacy to Article Two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“The Green Party’s Hoki Whenua Mai commitment would prevent whenua Māori being taken in future, and provide a clearer path for the return of land previously taken.

Source: Green Party

The latest labour market figures confirm unemployment has risen to levels not seen since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This Government lacks a plan for creating jobs, its only plan is entrenching poverty for our poorest communities,” says the Green Party’s Social Development spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March.

“Our country has the means to build an economy that works for everyone and leaves nobody behind. We can invest in the public services and infrastructure which support our communities into meaningful jobs and livelihoods.

“The latest stats lay bare the poverty trap this Government is setting for our communities. Cutting thousands of jobs and undermining support for people doing it tough is setting our communities up to fail.

“There are not enough jobs – this is by design. We can’t use austerity to condemn people into deeper poverty due to hard times

“The Government has introduced new benefit sanctions while they push more people into unemployment, knowing full well there aren’t enough jobs for every single person on the benefit, and will never be while it’s in power.

“Where is the workforce planning desperately needed for our country, with its many challenges including the huge infrastructure deficit and meeting the needs of an ageing population? Nowhere to be seen under this coalition for the rich.

“We have a plan for a Future Workforce Agency to strategically upskill New Zealanders and coordinate industrial planning.

“The Greens would end poverty with a Guaranteed Minimum Income, more training opportunities, and restarting public investment in healthcare, schools, and building housing that creates good jobs. Our jobs for nature plan will also be a central plank for providing people with meaningful and stable work.

“The Government needs to boost benefits and abolish sanctions, so that the increasing number of unemployed New Zealanders aren’t left to languish in poverty, and aren’t punished for struggling to find work in National’s barren economy,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.

Source: Green Party

The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis.

“The Government has given up on the housing crisis, using the review into Kāinga Ora to push their privatisation agenda,” says the Green Party spokesperson for Housing Tamatha Paul.

“Public housing is as essential as public healthcare and public education. Housing is a human right that this Government is denying our communities from accessing. 

“The housing crisis in Aotearoa is getting worse and worse. Instead of making excuses to allow poverty and homelessness to skyrocket, the Government needs to back Kāinga Ora to build at scale and at pace. 

“This Government is deliberately stripping Kāinga Ora to the bare bones, playing straight into the hands of wealthy landlords looking to exploit housing insecurity for private profit. We cannot rely on the private market to solve our problems, we have seen it entrench poverty and homelessness across generations. 

“The last Government sold just 276 state houses over six years, but increased public housing supply by over 7,000 homes. With this new direction, Bishop will sell 900 per year. That’s not just opening the door to privatisation, it’s welcoming it in with open arms. 

“In the past, our country’s leaders made a conscious decision to house everybody and grow public housing stock at scale. We can make that decision again and we must resist the sale of public housing at all costs because it will have consequences for generations to come.

“Public housing is a crucial part of ensuring we don’t have gentrified, segregated communities, and that our neighbourhoods reflect the make-up of our wider society, culturally and economically.

“Housing is a public good that provides the basis for a stable home for whanau, so that no one is left behind. The Government should be building thousands of new homes,” says Tamatha Paul.

Source: Green Party

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. 

“I am alive, I am well and I am back,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. 

“I’m delighted to be returning to my Taitokerau whenua, and to stand alongside my fellow wahine co-leader Chlöe and our Green Party colleagues to demonstrate our movement’s core beliefs in upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and in championing the wellbeing of people and planet. 

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to return to my work. And I am grateful, beyond words, for the aroha and support my whānau, my community and so many have graced me with this past year.  

“I believe in community – I believe in our collective strength, and my journey over the past year has made so clear how necessary it is to take care of others, and to be taken care of. 

“We know the value of caring for one another. Together, we will create the future our mokopuna deserve,” says Marama Davidson. 

Source: Green Party

Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine.

“These communities have successfully opposed mining for the best part of 50 years – Jones’ latest announcement is a mere blip in history that will be undone when there’s a new Green Government,” says Green Party Spokesperson for Resources, Steve Abel.

“They know first-hand that long after the jobs have dried up and the mine bosses have taken the profits overseas the locals are left with a toxic legacy of cyanide tailings dams and acid mine drainage. 

“Our public conservation lands exist to protect our rich natural landscapes, and the unique native plants and animals that they sustain.

“When John Key’s National government proposed a similar policy in 2010, 40,000 people marched up Queen Street in vehement opposition. Now, Christopher Luxon is resurrecting the same terrible idea. 

“Mining more conservation land was a terrible idea 15 years ago and it’s a worse idea now. The message back in 2010 was clear: conservation land is for all of us, not for the profits of a wealthy few. Nothing’s changed.

“We can’t mine our way to a liveable planet. The resources we need for energy transition need to come from better waste recovery. Coal and gold are not critical minerals.

“We can’t rip, strip and bust our way to real prosperity – our well-being relies on a thriving natural world and a stable climate–and that’s why the extractive mindset is unfit for the 21st century,” says Steve Abel.