• Metiria Turei’s Christmas 2012 adjournment speech5December 12, 2012

    Metiria Turei’s Christmas 2012 adjournment speech

    That’s a country to love and fight for — a country that protects its most vulnerable, loves our beautiful environment,...
  • TPP Protest86December 11, 2012

    TPP Protest

    On Saturday afternoon I marched against the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) talks which are being held in secret. The crowd...
  • Pike River, two years on11November 19, 2012

    Pike River, two years on

    At the Pike River memorial service held at our local racecourse on a hot, still day in the weeks following...
  • frog

    Is Kaiteriteri New Zealand’s Best Beach? - by frog



    We’re up to summer’s half-way mark and the competition to find New Zealand’s Best Beach is on. The response has been fantastic. We know that Kiwis love their beaches and want to protect them but we didn’t anticipate such incredible support. Thank you to all our voters and those who have signed up for our [...] read more
    January 15, 2013 4:08 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, January 9, 2013 - by frog



    Fingers crossed that the heatwave in Oz doesn’t last as long as forecast. read more
    January 9, 2013 6:25 am - 28 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, January 1, 2013 - by frog



    Happy New Year! read more
    January 1, 2013 6:09 am - 205 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    What is New Zealand’s best beach? - by Gareth Hughes



    Summer in Aotearoa means sun, sand, BBQs and beaches. But the beaches we love are under threat from deep sea oil drilling. Vote for your favourite beach to find out more. read more
    December 22, 2012 7:22 pm - 22 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 22, 2012 - by frog



    read more
    December 22, 2012 10:19 am - 44 Comments
  • frog

    The final word on bank profits - by frog



    The Report of the Finance & Expenditure Committee on the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement for December 2012 is now public and contains the following gem on bank profitability late in 2012 (from page 9): Recent data released by the Reserve Bank updated information it had provided to us in November about New Zealand banks’ [...] read more
    December 21, 2012 8:35 am - 35 Comments
  • Eugenie Sage

    Where rivers meet the sea – two North Auckland estuaries - by Eugenie Sage



    The murky green water at the Matakana Wharf looked rather less inviting than the array of delicious artisan produce at the nearby Matakana Market. But we were paddling, not swimming, and the Auckland Council’s most recent (2011) monitoring rates the river as having “good” water quality, rather than “fair” as in many other rivers which [...] read more
    December 20, 2012 4:32 pm - No Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Education Minister missing in inaction - by Catherine Delahunty



    It’s not every day that the highest profile public servant, the chief executive of one of our biggest Government departments, stands down, a  week before Christmas, and after a year in which her department was almost never out of the spotlight, for all the wrong reasons. The resignation of a public service chief under fire [...] read more
    December 20, 2012 11:32 am - 12 Comments
  • frog

    Carbon offsets – keeping it real! - by frog



    Simon Johnson is a conservationist, tramper, accountant, former DoC worker and resource management consultant. Simon also blogs periodically at Hot-Topic.co.nz. In this guest post he writes about carbon offsetting from the point of view of a carbon forest. I am one of the trustees of a small 47-hectare carbon forest sink and native re-vegetation project [...] read more
    December 20, 2012 9:21 am - 33 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    All we want for Christmas is good education leaders - by Catherine Delahunty



    The appointment of the very competent Peter Hughes as acting head of the Education Ministry is a welcome present for families this Christmas. But only if it heralds wider change in the Ministry and a new Minister as well. My heart bleeds for the families of Christchurch who are ending another year in uncertainty and moving [...] read more
    December 19, 2012 2:42 pm - 14 Comments
  • frog

    ICT Initiatives Launch - by frog



    On Monday we launched 3 brand new ICT initiatives in a proposal that has had overwhelmingly positive feedback from across the NZ ICT industry, media and social media. We want to see ICT boom in NZ. It is a jobs-rich sector and it employs many more New Zealanders than mining, its jobs are highly-paid, it makes use of [...] read more
    December 18, 2012 5:07 pm - No Comments
  • Mojo Mathers

    Working across the House for strong consumer protections - by Mojo Mathers



    I was very pleased to be able to support the Consumer Law Reform Bill when it came up for its second reading last week. I know that many others are interested in the changes that the bill will make so I have posted the speech I gave in the house below. The main win for [...] read more
    December 18, 2012 9:26 am - 3 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    The Parliamentary week that was, 11 December, for Pacific communities - by Jan Logie



    Parliament has been very busy trying to pass quite a few pieces of relatively uncontentious legislation over the last couple of weeks. Select committees have also been very busy. Wednesday 12th December was the last day that the House sat for the year, which means the various parties made their adjournment speeches. Greens Co-leader Metiria [...] read more
    December 17, 2012 4:33 pm - No Comments
  • frog

    ICT discussion paper – faster internet, productive jobs and more! - by frog



    The Green Party has launched a package of proposed initiatives to help grow the ICT sector. Government investment in a second internet cable system, supported by smarter government procurement policies, will lead a step-change in the ICT economy, growing exports and creating green jobs. The ICT sector is a key component of our vision for [...] read more
    December 17, 2012 12:05 pm - 20 Comments
  • Mojo Mathers

    Government panders to food industry - by Mojo Mathers



    The Minister of Food Safety has just released her Advisory Group on front of pack labelling’s final report. The report is disappointing and its proposed labelling scheme will do little or nothing to improve our high rates of diet related diseases, which are highest in disadvantaged groups. There is plenty of research which shows that [...] read more
    December 17, 2012 10:01 am - 3 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 15, 2012 - by frog



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    December 15, 2012 7:02 am - 20 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Salisbury School - by Catherine Delahunty



    The Green Party is pleased that Salisbury school for girls with learning disabilities is to remain open for at least another year. We are not attacking other schools or their capacity to keep young people safe from abuse. We are also not the champions of residential schools as a long term model for disabled students. [...] read more
    December 14, 2012 12:24 pm - 40 Comments
  • Eugenie Sage

    Yet another environmental attack from National Government - by Eugenie Sage



    The Resource Management Act is a cornerstone of environmental management in New Zealand. We may hear complaints about it, but rarely do we think about what our back yards, our beaches, our streets, parks and rivers would look like without it.   Our living space would be much worse off if the RMA was not [...] read more
    December 13, 2012 3:59 pm - 6 Comments
  • David Clendon

    D.I.Y. Lawyering in the Family Court? - by David Clendon



    Last week the Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill got its first reading in Parliament.  There are 58 family courts around the country, and while it is a place most people would no doubt prefer to avoid, the courts nevertheless have a very high case load, especially in regards to the Care of Children Act. The [...] read more
    December 13, 2012 9:12 am - 2 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Correnso proposal to undermine Waihi residents - by Catherine Delahunty



    On Monday I attended the hearings in Waihi for a new mine underneath a residential area. This proposal known as Correnso will immediately affect 30 houses but as residents have told me effects can ripple in unexpected directions. I attended the hearings to hear the mining company Newmont Gold employees submitting that the Mine would [...] read more
    December 12, 2012 6:16 pm - 1 Comment
  • Metiria Turei

    John Key and me - by Metiria Turei



    John Key and I have a similar background in some ways. We both come from a childhood of deprivation and honour our parents for their hard work and unconditional love.  As children, we both had access to a state education, to free healthcare, to a state provided home and state support for our parents when [...] read more
    December 12, 2012 4:04 pm - 53 Comments
  • frog

    Metiria Turei’s Christmas 2012 adjournment speech - by frog



    That’s a country to love and fight for — a country that protects its most vulnerable, loves our beautiful environment, and empowers all its children to become the best they can be. That’s a country I want my kids to grow up in, and my neighbour’s kids to grow up in too, no matter who they are, rich or poor, Maori or Pakeha, girl or boy. read more
    December 12, 2012 4:01 pm - 5 Comments
  • Holly Walker

    Students – the numbers don’t lie… - by Holly Walker



    It seems like we’ve been inundated with news and information relating to students and the tertiary sector over the last few days, so I thought I’d get it all down in one place… A week ago, two Victoria Uni students released the Keep Our Talent survey, which raised serious concerns about the future for postgraduate [...] read more
    December 11, 2012 2:27 pm - 3 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    TPP Protest - by Catherine Delahunty



    On Saturday afternoon I marched against the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) talks which are being held in secret. The crowd in Auckland was a great mix of tangata whenua, union networks, GE free New Zealanders, asset keepers and citizens who cannot be manipulated. The Greens and the Mana Party were the only MPs visible and [...] read more
    December 11, 2012 1:52 pm - 86 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    Make your voice count on International Human Rights Day - by Jan Logie



    Today is International Human Rights Day, a day when we can all celebrate our human rights but also make our voices count for those who’s rights are under attack across the world. In ten different libraries across Auckland City today, Amnesty International organised Write For Rights events for people to write letters in support of [...] read more
    December 10, 2012 4:52 pm - No Comments
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