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hopping along the corridors of power - a political blog from the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
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Another twist in the Waterview saga
The latest twist in Auckland’s Waterview motorway saga is that more of it will go underground and less houses will be threatened. The New Zealand Transport Agency says that the number of houses affected will now drop from 365 to 205. Of course...
End of a shameful year for pay equity
As the holidays approach and people start to finish work for the year, I’m reminded of the fact that New Zealand women have effectively been working for free since mid-November thanks to the 12 percent average pay-gap between men and women in t...
Copenhagen 5: Supping with the World Bank
Well I didn’t have dinner but I did have an hour with the World Bank President just before eating. And an intriguing pre-prandial exchange it was. Jeanette and I are at the Copenhagen Conference as part of GLOBE – Global Legislators for a Balan...
Video: Green MPs head to Copenhagen
Green Party MPs Dr Kennedy Graham and Jeanette Fitzsimons talk about what attending the Copenhagen conference means to them personally. ...
Waiwhetu ooze spill sadly not an isolated incident
Yesterday’s spill of toxic ooze on the road in Lower Hutt indicates a lack of rigour in the handling of dangerous materials. The Waiwhetu ooze is heavily contaminated with lead. Lead is known to have serious effects on the health and learnin...
The smacking lobby ignores 8 positive reviews of S59
After the latest report on Section 59 from the Prime Minister’s taskforce you would think that the media would stop calling the circus performers whose only interest is in keeping the circus going. The review included Dr Nigel Latta – someone who...
Have your say on factory farm proposals
The “battery cows” story rolls on this morning. Fonterra has weighed in with concerns that the plans will damage our international image, and even Prime Minister John Key made a naive comment this morning that he was – true to form ...
The training wheels are off – it’s our tenth B’day!
Happy birthday to us! Today we marked a decade of being represented in Parliament as the Green Party. Interestingly our win in 1999 spelled the end of at least six parliamentary careers. When Jeanette won the Coromandel after special votes had ...
TVNZ – step up to the Convention
Today, December 3, is International Day for the Rights of People with Disabilities. TVNZ might be at risk of becoming blasé about complaints to the Human Rights Commission. After all, it is becoming a regular occurrence thanks to their ongoing suppo...
2025 Taskforce a tragi-comic farce
Dr Don Brash - the leader of the 2025 Taskforce - a Govt sponsored 'think-tank' that considers lowering NZ's minimum wage will see us close the wage gap with Australia. Hard to believe and tragic that Don Brash and his cohorts would serio...
Tax Working Group conference
I spent a few hours at the Tax Working Group conference at Victoria Uni today. It’s good that we are having a reasonably open debate about tax policy. I particularly enjoyed the discussions about capital gains taxes and land taxes and pros and cons...
Goff delivers wedge to split the left
For all the indignation at the response to his speech , what did Goff expect whanau and hapu would hear in it? He starts with a criticism of Hone, he attacks the Maori Party, he promotes unjust treaty settlements and he defends the discriminatory for...
World AIDS Day
December 1st is World AIDS Day, and should be a reminder for us all that we stand still in the midst of a global pandemic that will continue to have profound impacts on the global community. For me it’s always a day of multiple emotions and jum...
Universities shouldn’t be schools for spies
Image created by Lyndon Hood It’s good to see the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) come out against lecturers being asked to spy on their students for the SIS. Supposedly this is necessary to uncover students using our universities to do research rel...
Sustainable Vehicle and Timber Bills hit the House
Who would vote against better Govt vehicles!? Our Green MPs will today be busy at Parliament talking about two Green member’s Bills. Russel will be championing the Climate Change (Government Vehicle Procurement) Bill which aims to see the Gov...
Onus on polytechnics to settle fairly
Some unfortunate news from the Tertiary sector late last week as strikes continued at six polytechnics where staff are engaged in a dispute with their employers, seeking a fair pay increase and the protection of their existing working conditions. Amo...
Podcast: Work and Income and the culture of disrespect
This week, our MPs have reallocated some of their portfolios in the wake of Sue Bradford’s departure and the arrival of new Green MP David Clendon. One portfolio to change hands is Work and Income, which is now being looked after by Green MP Ca...
Albatross chicks – photos
These photos of albatross chicks were taken on Midway Atoll, a tidy island slap bang in the middle of the pacific, about as far from large numbers of humans as it’s possible to get, without going to Antarctica. No plastic was moved or altered b...
Leaky homes crisis – Hyde/Joyce won’t waste an opportunity
So the leaky houses fiasco could cost $11billion dollars to fix, or more. The leaky houses debacle was caused by the National Party Government with their 1991 Building Act, an act which basically said “whatever” when it came to building ...
Beenie Man invitation shameful
News has broken today that the Big Day Out has invited ‘Beenie Man’ to perform at the 2010 event. Big Day Out, while getting a little long in the tooth, is still the major music festival in New Zealand, and holds a special cultural appea...
Access to Dental Care a Human Right
I am horrified that the Ministry of Health’s mobile dental clinics won’t be wheelchair accessible. If the vision is to take health out to the people then access is a fundamental issue. The excuse that a ramp would cost $70,000 must be examin...
Afghanistan’s Agony: What in the world to do?
Afghanistan gets progressively worse. The US President is caught in a vice-like grip between personal judgment and political constraint. Having characterised Afghanistan as a war of necessity to escape a war of choice (Iraq), he cannot exit early...
The last ocean
Sourced from www.linz.govt.nz. Crown Copyright Reserved The Ross Sea is described as the world’s last ocean. The Ross Sea, Antarctica, is stunning. A jigsaw puzzle of floating ice extends to the horizon in all directions, punctuated by floating...
Attack on invalids is a sick policy
Last month one-time Act party candidate and full time crusader against the DPB Lindsay Mitchell released a statement criticising National for not implementing their draconian pre-election welfare policy. According to Ms Mitchell, who writes from th...
Economic debate gets Green voice
TVNZ7’s much hyped economic debate (you’ve probably seen the adds by now) will have a Green voice. Following TVNZ’s Guyon Espiner interviewing Finance Minister Bill English Green Party Co-Leader Dr Russel Norman will critique National’s...
TVNZ plan plainly all wrong
Obscene is the only word that springs to mind when contemplating the $830,000 salary of the Chief Executive of TVNZ Rick Ellis. Perhaps it could be justified in some purely commercial enterprise. But TVNZ is supposed to be a public service broa...
Do the Greens like farmers?
Not the bad ones. This from Granny today: A farmer left hundreds of his cows stuck in mud to starve, resulting in some decomposing bodies polluting waterways and contaminating watercress locals picked to eat. Whenever the Green Party criticises ind...
Misusing urgency
Since taking office, the National Government has been using urgency with a vengeance. As of today, Parliament has sat for a little over 548 hours. Of these hours, 35% has been under urgency. What does this mean? Due process is condensed, legislation ...
A 350 Banner In Parliament!
Metiria Turei displayed the 350 banner in parliament today, while asking Nick Smith what the government’s ppm target is. Thanks to scoop.co.nz for the photos Click for big version Click for big version Click for big version Click for big ve...
Homophobia the enemy of a fair society
The elimination of prejudice and discrimination is important not only for the creation of a fair society that celebrates difference and diversity, but also because our nation will be stronger if it uses all the talents and strengths available to it. ...
