Latest news with #Toop
Scoop
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Regulatory Standards Bill Inflicts ACT's Far-Right Principles On Aotearoa
Press Release – Greenpeace 'The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Partys far-right principles – prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti,' says Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop. The Government is facing backlash over David Seymour's controversial Regulatory Standards Bill which passed its first reading today, under the shadow of the Budget. 'After the uproar over the Treaty Principles Bill, the Luxon Government looks to be trying to keep Seymour's latest unpopular Bill quiet. They've clearly chosen to introduce it in Budget week to minimise scrutiny,' said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Party's far-right principles – prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti,' says Toop. This is the fourth time ACT has tried to pass the bill. It's failed not once, not twice, but three times already. This time, more than 20,000 people submitted on the Bill during its first consultation, with only 0.33% of submitters in support, while 88% opposed it outright. The Bill was also the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, brought by over 13,000 claimants. The Tribunal found the Crown had breached its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and called on the Crown to halt further work on the controversial bill until it consults with Māori. One of the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill would create a new and unprecedented expectation that the Crown compensate corporations if environmental or public interest laws affect their property. 'It's a simple principle: polluters should pay – not be paid by the public. But Seymour's bill turns that on its head,' says Toop. 'If this bill becomes law, corporations like ExxonMobil, Fonterra and Monsanto would expect taxpayer handouts when the government introduces basic environmental or public protections.' 'These extreme neoliberal ideas have no place in our legal system here in Aotearoa, where we have long valued fairness and collective responsibility rather than individual entitlements to harm nature or others under the guise of freedom,' says Toop. Greenpeace, along with Forest & Bird, WWF-New Zealand and the Environmental Defence Society, issued an open letter to the Prime Minister on Monday calling on him to reject the Regulatory Standards Bill, warning that it is an 'unprecedented threat' to environmental protection, climate action, and the country's democratic and constitutional foundations.
Scoop
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Regulatory Standards Bill Inflicts ACT's Far-Right Principles On Aotearoa
Press Release – Greenpeace 'The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Partys far-right principles – prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti,' says Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop. The Government is facing backlash over David Seymour's controversial Regulatory Standards Bill which passed its first reading today, under the shadow of the Budget. 'After the uproar over the Treaty Principles Bill, the Luxon Government looks to be trying to keep Seymour's latest unpopular Bill quiet. They've clearly chosen to introduce it in Budget week to minimise scrutiny,' said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Party's far-right principles – prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti,' says Toop. This is the fourth time ACT has tried to pass the bill. It's failed not once, not twice, but three times already. This time, more than 20,000 people submitted on the Bill during its first consultation, with only 0.33% of submitters in support, while 88% opposed it outright. The Bill was also the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, brought by over 13,000 claimants. The Tribunal found the Crown had breached its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and called on the Crown to halt further work on the controversial bill until it consults with Māori. One of the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill would create a new and unprecedented expectation that the Crown compensate corporations if environmental or public interest laws affect their property. 'It's a simple principle: polluters should pay – not be paid by the public. But Seymour's bill turns that on its head,' says Toop. 'If this bill becomes law, corporations like ExxonMobil, Fonterra and Monsanto would expect taxpayer handouts when the government introduces basic environmental or public protections.' 'These extreme neoliberal ideas have no place in our legal system here in Aotearoa, where we have long valued fairness and collective responsibility rather than individual entitlements to harm nature or others under the guise of freedom,' says Toop. Greenpeace, along with Forest & Bird, WWF-New Zealand and the Environmental Defence Society, issued an open letter to the Prime Minister on Monday calling on him to reject the Regulatory Standards Bill, warning that it is an 'unprecedented threat' to environmental protection, climate action, and the country's democratic and constitutional foundations.
Scoop
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Regulatory Standards Bill Inflicts ACT's Far-Right Principles On Aotearoa
The Government is facing backlash over David Seymour's controversial Regulatory Standards Bill which passed its first reading today, under the shadow of the Budget. "After the uproar over the Treaty Principles Bill, the Luxon Government looks to be trying to keep Seymour's latest unpopular Bill quiet. They've clearly chosen to introduce it in Budget week to minimise scrutiny," said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop. "The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Party's far-right principles - prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti," says Toop. This is the fourth time ACT has tried to pass the bill. It's failed not once, not twice, but three times already. This time, more than 20,000 people submitted on the Bill during its first consultation, with only 0.33% of submitters in support, while 88% opposed it outright. The Bill was also the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, brought by over 13,000 claimants. The Tribunal found the Crown had breached its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and called on the Crown to halt further work on the controversial bill until it consults with Māori. One of the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill would create a new and unprecedented expectation that the Crown compensate corporations if environmental or public interest laws affect their property. "It's a simple principle: polluters should pay - not be paid by the public. But Seymour's bill turns that on its head," says Toop. "If this bill becomes law, corporations like ExxonMobil, Fonterra and Monsanto would expect taxpayer handouts when the government introduces basic environmental or public protections." "These extreme neoliberal ideas have no place in our legal system here in Aotearoa, where we have long valued fairness and collective responsibility rather than individual entitlements to harm nature or others under the guise of freedom," says Toop. Greenpeace, along with Forest & Bird, WWF-New Zealand and the Environmental Defence Society, issued an open letter to the Prime Minister on Monday calling on him to reject the Regulatory Standards Bill, warning that it is an "unprecedented threat" to environmental protection, climate action, and the country's democratic and constitutional foundations.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Scorched Earth Budget - Tax Cuts For Polluters And Investing In Fossil Fuels
Greenpeace Aotearoa is condemning the Government's 2025 Budget as a fighting fund for the war on nature, taken from hard-working New Zealanders to funnel towards wannabe seabed miners and oil and gas exploration. As part of Budget 2025, the Government announced over a billion in tax cuts for corporates and a $200m dollar fund f or gas exploration and extraction. "This is a Scorched Earth Budget delivered in the middle of a climate crisis. The Government should be doubling down on action to cut emissions - not dumping public money into more fossil fuel extraction." "Let's be clear about why they're slashing equal pay for women and gutting environmental protections - it's to fund tax cuts for landlords and big tobacco, and now give handouts to the fossil fuel industry." Greenpeace warns that "balancing the books" will only get harder if the Government pushes ahead with the Regulatory Standards Bill and RMA reforms. Both proposals include compensation clauses that could see corporations demand taxpayer handouts whenever new environmental or public health protections are introduced. "It's hard to see how any future government is going to afford basic protections for people or nature if polluters can demand payment every time they're regulated," says Toop. Greenpeace says this Budget is part of a pattern of slashing money for environmental and climate initiatives. Since taking the reins, the Government has:
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Greenpeace Braced For ‘Scorched Earth' Budget From Govt
Press Release – Greenpeace New Zealand With the Government set to release its Budget tomorrow, Greenpeace is calling for bold investment in climate and nature, but is bracing for the worst. 'Given that this Government just legalised killing kiwi, we're bracing for a Scorched Earth Budget,' says Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Gen Toop. Greenpeace has been critical of the Luxon-led Government's anti-environment policies, but says that the PM's war on nature does not have to continue in the 2025 Budget. Budget 2024 decreased funding for DOC to such an extent that last year the agency was asking for public donations to fund its work and is this year reportedly facing a 30% shortfall for maintaining its hut and track network. 'This Budget is a chance for the Government to change course from its war on nature,' says Toop. 'It's a chance to invest in climate action, protect biodiversity, and support everyday people with the cost of living – that's what a responsible, future-focused Budget would do.' 'People have a right to clean water, a livable climate, and groceries and power bills they can afford. Any budget that prioritises corporate profits and tax cuts for landlords instead of those basic rights is not the kind of budget we need,' says Toop. Greenpeace says a Budget that truly tackles the climate, biodiversity, and cost of living crises would: Make a significant investment in distributed solar to bring down power bills, reduce emissions and help communities generate their own energy. Create an ecological farming fund to support farmers to transition away from intensive dairy and take advantage of the rise in demand for plant-based food. Bring back Jobs for Nature, funding real employment in the restoration of forests, rivers and wetlands to combat the biodiversity crisis. Fund it all by taxing corporations and the ultra-wealthy, starting with bringing the country's biggest climate polluter, Fonterra and intensive dairying into the Emissions Trading Scheme. Since taking the reins, the Government has abolished the clean car discount; forced the Ministry for the Environment, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Conservation to cut jobs; canceled the Auckland Light Rail Project; cut public transport subsidies for young people; and steadfastly refused to put agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
