Latest news with #GreenBudget
Scoop
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Greens Launch Petition For Regional Passenger Rail
The Green Party has launched a petition calling on the Rail Minister Winston Peters to reinstate passenger rail services across the country. 'New Zealanders have shown they want rail and will use it. It's time to give the people what they want,' says the Green Party's spokesperson for Transport, Julie Anne Genter. 'We already have a rail network stretching across the motu – it's time to use it properly and bring back passenger rail. 'We're launching this petition in Tauranga because people here want passenger rail reconnected to Hamilton and Auckland. Our petition, which you can sign here, also calls for a night train with modern, comfortable sleeper cars between Auckland and Wellington to be reinstated, and for the Southerner connection between Christchurch and Dunedin to be brought back on a regular basis. 'New Zealanders deserve a modern, efficient transport system with real choices for how they get around – whether it's driving, taking a bus, flying, or taking a train. 'We are in a climate crisis, so moving away from fossil fuels towards modes of transport like trains is a no-brainer. But also, driving in cars is becoming very expensive and traffic congestion is getting worse. 'We've proven the demand for rail through the Te Huia service between Hamilton and Auckland: it regularly exceeds patronage targets, has reduced emissions, and has high levels of customer satisfaction. 'It's time to invest further in this network. Under the fully costed plan in our recently released Green Budget, we allow for five and a half billion over about five years, which is 80 percent less than the current Government's proposed spending on expensive highways,' says Julie Anne Genter.
Scoop
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
New Study Shows Speed Of Antarctic Ice Melt, Govt Fans Climate Flames
As the Government pulls out of global climate commitments, a significant new report shows that sea ice around Antarctica is melting at unprecedented speed. 'This is a clear and urgent signal that the climate crisis is accelerating, and a critical tipping point may have already been passed. It's not a distant threat to think about somewhere down the line; it's here,' says the Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. 'The Aotearoa we all deserve is entirely within our grasp. Devastatingly, this Government is failing us all, undermining global climate efforts at every opportunity–all in the name of short-term thinking and profit. 'Last month, we learned the Government was being sued for their lack of a climate plan. Then we learned their 'investment' into gas fields was a breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), having sought no advice on the ramifications. 'Then, just two weeks ago, Luxon's Government abandoned the international Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. It cannot go on. 'The Green Party is calling on the Government to urgently show real climate leadership, by honouring the global commitments we have signed up to. 'We also need serious investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, which is possible and affordable, as we've shown in our Green Budget. 'Truly prosperous economic activity is only possible if our planet is also thriving. We depend on a stable climate for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the materials for life–the things of true value,' says Marama Davidson. Using Scoop for work? Scoop is free for personal use, but you'll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features. Join Pro Individual Find out more
Scoop
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Family Boost Announcement Does Little To Boost Families
Today's announcement on the Family Boost scheme is little more than tinkering around the edges while real issues in the ECE system are ignored, says the Green Party. '$15 more a week for a small number of families who can jump through the hoops to apply is a pittance in this cost-of-living nightmare. We need a whole system reset,' says the Green Party spokesperson for Māori Education and Early Childhood Education Benjamin Doyle. 'Every child in Aotearoa deserves an education that sets them up for success. That demands an ECE system that places tamariki at the heart. 'The Family Boost scheme entirely fails to address the fundamental issue of the profit-driven ECE sector passing on huge costs to parents and the government, with very little transparency about how the funding is used. 'Family Boost is complex for families, administratively expensive and doesn't address the gouging by private ECE owners. Tens of millions of dollars are taken in profits by ECE owners, with no benefit for tamariki. We don't need for-profit companies running schools – why do we need them in ECE? 'Our Green Budget clearly showed how we can cover the full cost of delivering free, quality ECE for whānau, end subsidies to corporations, and instead support community-based and public centres that prioritise the needs of our kids, not the interests of shareholders. 'Tiakina te rito o te harakeke. We need to put our tamariki and mokopuna at the heart of decisions about education, where they should have been all along,' said Benjamin Doyle.
Otago Daily Times
18-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Decision on proposed Waikato medical school near: Reti
Fernando Hernandez. Photo: Peter McIntosh D-Day is approaching for the fate of the proposed Waikato medical school. At Tuesday's parliamentary tertiary education committee, Green MP Francisco Hernandez asked Universities Minister Dr Shane Reti about the status of the project. Dr Reti said the cost-benefit analysis for the project had been completed and the government would be making a decision in a matter of weeks. The Waikato medical school proposal has proved controversial — the existing medical schools at Otago and Auckland universities argue they can deliver more medical school students more cheaply and efficiently. National campaigned on the third medical school at the 2023 election, but Act New Zealand made it part of its coalition agreement it would not like the project to go ahead without a detailed cost-benefit analysis. Documentation from Treasury, the Tertiary Education Commission and Ministry of Education have all expressed concern about the cost of the project, the logistical hurdles in establishing it and the speed at which the government hoped to complete it. Mr Hernandez said he was disappointed it appeared to still be a going concern. "It was disappointing to find out at [Tuesday's] select committee hearings that the Waikato medical school project is still continuing to lumber on between life and death. "Every moment of delay is another burden at our health system which is already at crisis point. The government must do the right thing and embrace the Green Budget which would invest in funding more places at Otago and Auckland, so that everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand can get the healthcare they need — sooner and for cheaper than the Waikato medical school proposal."
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
ECE Funding Review Must Centre Tamariki
The Government's review of Early Childhood Education funding, announced today, is a clear and appalling reflection of its priorities, with a ministerial group being directed to balance 'quality and affordability for services'. 'This is a false and harmful trade-off that should never be on the table when envisioning a future for our youngest learners,' says the Green Party's ECE Spokesperson, Benjamin Doyle. 'Every child in Aotearoa deserves an education that sets them up for success. That demands an ECE system that places tamariki at its core. 'Instead of investing into our children's critical early years, the Government continues to prop up a profit-driven system that relies on overcharging parents, underpaying kaiako and, as a result, short-changing our tamariki. 'In our Green Budget, we've shown the solution is already right in front of us: remove the corporate for-profit sector and make high-quality ECE free and accessible for all. 'Kaiako and whānau have been crying out for the Government to put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE. 'Instead, the Government has really shown their cards today. More resources directed away from solutions we already have, and another ministerial group packed with people invested in preserving a for-profit system. Our tamariki deserve so much better. 'Private profit and greed have no place in the education system. It's time to remove the profit motive from ECE and turn it into a genuinely child-centred, public good service,' says Benjamin Doyle.
