Week That Was: A new year!
Source: New Zealand Labour Party Kia ora team, and welcome back to a brand new year! We’re already nearing the end of January, and from international trips to movements back here on home soil, things are already busy. You whether you’re back at work or still out enjoying the sunshine, tune in for all the […]
Read More →We wouldn’t allow the state to go through our mailbox, spying online is no different: Green Party
Source: Green Party Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson will be speaking at the annual Waihopai spy base demonstration this Saturday January 26, protesting against international spying which puts the human rights and privacy of global citizens at risk. “The Waihopai spy base represents a worrying culture of spying that is dangerous to society. There would […]
Read More →Govt’s ‘fair pay’ agenda is unionisation by stealth
Source: National Party The recommendations of Iain Lees-Galloway’s Fair Pay Agreement Working Group show the Government’s industrial relations agenda amounts to compulsory unionism by stealth, National’s Workplace Relations and Safety spokesperson Scott Simpson says. “Businesses and workers should be frightened. The recommendations from the working group are as radical as we originally feared – backward, […]
Read More →Where’s Westland Milk loan as bidders circle?
Source: National Party Reports that Westland Milk is talking to well-financed potential bidders for the company raise serious questions about the $9.9 million soft loan from Shane Jones’ Regional Slush Fund, National’s Economic and Regional Development spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “The confidential talks reportedly include Canadian dairy giant Saputo, which rivals Fonterra in scale and […]
Read More →‘Wellbeing’ budget masks economic policy vacuum
Source: National Party The Government is going all out to hype its well-being budget but New Zealanders will rightly wonder if it will differ in substance from previous budgets or just be a fluffy PR exercise masking the lack of an economic plan, National’s Finance spokesperson Amy Adams says. “Despite a lot of talk by […]
Read More →Defeated Housing Minister drops KiwiBuild target
Source: National Party Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s outstanding admission today his policy of building 1000 KiwiBuild houses by July this year is just ‘a target’, and further he can’t guarantee he will hit that target shows just how muddled this Government is, National’s Housing spokesperson Judith Collins says. “This morning Mr Twyford finally admitted what […]
Read More →Govt in denial as most coal burned in five years
Source: National Party It is a sad irony that in the first year of a Government that talks a big game on climate change, New Zealand burned the most coal in five years to keep the lights on, National’s Energy and Resources spokesperson Jonathan Young says. “It’s a foretaste of the imbalances to come. New […]
Read More →Coordinated approach to drug reform needed
Source: National Party A coordinated approach across health, education, law and order and border control is needed to counter the complex issues around drugs in New Zealand, National’s new spokesperson for Drug Reform Paula Bennett says. “The Government’s confused, contradictory and ad hoc policy on drug reform is likely to cause more harm and shows […]
Read More →National announces spokesperson for Drug Reform
Source: National Party National Leader Simon Bridges has appointed Paula Bennett to the new position of Spokesperson for Drug Reform as the Government pushes ahead with its agenda of drug decriminalisation, to signal National’s commitment to holding them to account. Mr Bridges has also appointed Amy Adams Shadow Attorney-General, Mark Mitchell Spokesperson for Pike River […]
Read More →Commuters victims of Govt’s questionable priorities
Source: National Party A substantial increase in fares for Auckland commuters is not going to help the Government’s goal of increasing public transport patronage and is yet another added cost to hardworking Kiwi families, National’s Transport spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. Phil Twyford and Julie-Anne Genter constantly talk about wanting to get more people out of […]
Read More →PM’s ties to Karel Sroubek decision deepen
Source: National Party The Prime Minister must explain her ties to convicted criminal Karel Sroubek and her role in allowing him to stay, as newly released text messages suggest a closer role than she’s let on, National’s Immigration spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says. “The Government has started the year as it finished – cynically dumping information […]
Read More →Twyford must explain resignation of KiwiBuild Head
Source: National Party The announcement that Stephen Barclay has officially resigned from his position in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development does not bode well for Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s KiwiBuild policy, National’s Housing spokesperson Judith Collins says. “Stephen Barclay was appointed the head of KiwiBuild by Mr Twyford in May last year with […]
Read More →Health Minister hiding state of DHB finances
Source: National Party The refusal of the Minister of Health, David Clark, to publish the financial performance of DHBs is a cynical attempt at masking their precarious financial situation, National’s Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says. “Reports on the financial performance of DHBs are usually published regularly on the Ministry of Health website, however, in the […]
Read More →Hardship grant increase shows baseline benefit must increase
Source: Green Party Hardship grants rising demonstrates why the baseline benefit needs to increase, Green Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. “We need to put the heart back into our social support system. This means providing support for New Zealanders so they can live with dignity. “New Zealanders understand that the cost of housing and rent […]
Read More →Benefits up as Govt makes it easier to do nothing
Source: National Party The number of people claiming the job seeker benefit has increased by 11,000 because the Government is going soft on benefit sanctions and those who don’t want to work, National’s Social Development spokesperson Louise Upston says. “Over the past year there has been a 42 per cent decline in the number of […]
Read More →Govt must act to support smoking cessation
Source: National Party The recent increase to cigarettes provides another incentive for smokers to quit but the Government must now ensure that smoking cessation tools are appropriately regulated and able to be used to encourage smokers to quit, National MP Nicky Wagner says. “Excise taxes have gone up by 10 per cent plus the CPI […]
Read More →Prisoner rehabilitation put above safety of guards
Source: National Party The Corrections Minister needs to explain why prisoners are being prioritised over guards after five serious assaults at Auckland’s brand new maximum security prison, National’s Corrections spokesperson David Bennett says. “Five prison guards have been attacked since the wing opened in October in two separate attacks. That includes a guard being punched […]
Read More →500% increase in organ donors being compensated
Source: National Party National MP Chris Bishop is welcoming the news that 92 people obtained full compensation for donating live organs last year, under the first full year of the Compensation for Live Organ Donors Act being in force. “It is fantastic that the implementation of my Member’s Bill, the Compensation for Live Organ Donors […]
Read More →Stricter penalties proposed for contaminated food
Source: National Party National’s Food Safety spokesperson Nathan Guy is backing calls from the food and grocery sector for tougher penalties for those who intentionally contaminate our food or threaten to do so. “My Member’s Bill seeks to achieve what Damien O’Connor appears unwilling to do – protect New Zealanders from those that would threaten […]
Read More →New Bill to protect victims of insane offenders
Source: National Party A new Bill from the National Party would ensure that the victims of legally insane offenders are treated the same as other victims of crime, Taupō MP Louise Upston says. “My Bill, which will be put into the Ballot this month, will rename the verdict of ‘not guilty on account of insanity.’ […]
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