Posts by frog

• 

  A weekend of action against deep sea oil - by frog

  
  
  
  This weekend saw New Zealanders out on our coastlines around the country with a clear message: no deep sea oil drilling in our waters – our environment is too precious to risk. Green MPs Catherine Delahunty and Steffan Browning joined Hands Across the Sand events in Coromandel and Christchurch. Kaikoura might have put on the [...] read more
  May 22, 2013 5:11 pm - 1 Comment
• 

  General debate, May 19, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  May 19, 2013 7:02 am - 28 Comments
• 

  General debate, May 12, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  May 12, 2013 9:55 am - 32 Comments
• 

  General debate, May 5, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  May 5, 2013 7:31 am - 178 Comments
• 

  Introducing our Green Youth MPs - by frog

  
  
  
  Danielle Lusk – Metiria Turei Age: 16 School: Buller High School, Westport Tell us a bit about yourself: Hello there, I’m a keen adventuress, I love the outdoors, it’s pretty mean. It is my intention to become a white water kayaking guide, because who wouldn’t want to work, live and breathe the outdoors!  My main [...] read more
  May 1, 2013 9:02 am - 119 Comments
• 

  General debate, April 28, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  April 28, 2013 8:24 am - 112 Comments
• 

  Al Morrison’s replacement - by frog

  
  
  
  You might have spotted that DOC Director General Al Morrison is moving on. After overseeing job cuts and setting DOC on the track to commercialisation, he is moving on to fill the newly created role Deputy Commissioner Corporate Centre at the State Services Commission. There he will be overseeing the Government’s Better Private Public Services, [...] read more
  April 24, 2013 4:22 pm - 5 Comments
• 

  General debate, April 22, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  April 22, 2013 8:40 am - 262 Comments
• 

  MPs said ‘we do’ to marriage equality - by frog

  
  
  
    We are all celebrating today at Parliament after an amazing night in which love was the winner.   A huge number of people came to watch the marriage equality debate and vote. The queue stretched around the building and people were bubbling with excitement to see such happy history being made. The speeches made [...] read more
  April 18, 2013 11:27 am - 63 Comments
• 

  General debate, April 14, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  April 14, 2013 9:55 am - 165 Comments
• 

  General debate, April 7, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  April 7, 2013 6:51 am - 163 Comments
• 

  General debate, April 1, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  It’s All Fools Day. Make the most of it! read more
  April 1, 2013 6:12 am - 16 Comments
• 

  General debate, March 24, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  March 24, 2013 7:55 am - 115 Comments
• 

  General debate, March 17, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  March 17, 2013 7:21 am - 26 Comments
• 

  National’s blind spots on tax reform - by frog

  
  
  
  This week, the Victoria University Business School hosted renowned international tax expert, Dr Alan J. Auerbach. He contrasted the work and findings of our own recent Tax Working Group with the findings of the UK Mirrlees Tax Review, and the Australian Henry Tax Review. While he saw many positive parallels with the three reviews, he [...] read more
  March 14, 2013 8:18 am - 7 Comments
• 

  Climate change – two dirty little words nobody wants to mention - by frog

  
  
  
  On Friday Green Party climate spokesperson Kennedy Graham wrote about the droughts hurting our farmers and the connection with climate change so it was interesting  at the weekend to see the Sunday Star Times front page story about the drought. Cool, I thought, now we finally get to have a conversation about climate change and [...] read more
  March 11, 2013 2:45 pm - 96 Comments
• 

  General debate, March 10, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  March 10, 2013 7:35 am - 27 Comments
• 

  General debate, March 3, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  March 3, 2013 7:08 am - 26 Comments
• 

  General debate, February 24, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  February 24, 2013 7:29 am - 185 Comments
• 

  General debate, February 17, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  February 17, 2013 8:39 am - 27 Comments
• 

  General debate, February 10, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  February 10, 2013 9:19 am - 178 Comments
• 

  370,000 signatures already collected to stop asset sales, only 22,000 to go! - by frog

  
  
  
  Can you join us for one last big weekend of collection on the 16th and 17th of February? We’re on track to submit the petition before any asset sales are started. A referendum will give every New Zealander who wants a smart, green future a chance to be heard. There will be collection points at [...] read more
  February 9, 2013 11:23 am - 78 Comments
• 

  General debate, February 3, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  February 3, 2013 8:02 am - 7 Comments
• 

  Infographic – jobs in manufacturing vs mining - by frog

  
  
  
  One of these industries is shedding thousands of jobs, urging the Government to help, and being ignored. One of these industries is jobs-poor, urging the Government to back it, and being listened to. How about this instead? read more
  February 1, 2013 4:26 pm - 15 Comments
• 

  Treasury fudges numbers to hide growing inequality - by frog

  
  
  
  Treasury is fudging its numbers to hide the real levels of inequality in New Zealand, and in doing so politicising its research and advice to Government. This week the Treasury published a background note entitled ‘Increasing Equity’ that looks at the drivers of New Zealand’s growth in inequality in comparison to other OECD countries and [...] read more
  February 1, 2013 11:39 am - 15 Comments
• 

  Under-unionised work force not an asset - by frog

  
  
  
  Hey the world – New Zealanders are smart but poorly paid and not that many are protected by unions. Wahay come on down and go for it! I’ll change the laws to make it even better for y’all!!! LOL Yours sincerely, John Key. The New Zealand Herald today reported how John Key sees the lack [...] read more
  January 24, 2013 3:43 pm - 26 Comments
• 

  General debate, January 20, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  January 20, 2013 7:58 am - 18 Comments
• 

  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 - 5 Comments
• 

  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 - 51 Comments
• 

  General debate, January 1, 2013 - by frog

  
  
  
  Happy New Year! read more
  January 1, 2013 6:09 am - 209 Comments
• 

  General debate, December 22, 2012 - by frog

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

  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
• 

  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
• 

  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
• 

  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
• 

  General debate, December 15, 2012 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  December 15, 2012 7:02 am - 20 Comments
• 

  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
• 

  General debate, December 9, 2012 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  December 9, 2012 6:35 am - 41 Comments
• 

  Superannuation funds caught out on cluster bombs - by frog

  
  
  
  In 2008 New Zealand hosted the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions.  This was the largest disarmament meeting ever convened in New Zealand.  On its closing day 82 Countries committed to negotiating a treaty banning these weapons. Cluster bombs are weapons that can go on killing long after a battle has taken places.  They are a [...] read more
  December 7, 2012 9:49 am - 5 Comments
• 

  Palestine’s path to UN Observer Statehood - by frog

  
  
  
  (All photos via the Guardian, the New York Times and Indymedia) Early November saw a huge surge in violence between Hamas and Israel: A Palestinian man kisses the hand of a dead relative: A Palestinian officer inspects an unexploded Israeli missile which landed in the Gaza strip: Ibrahim Khamis, a Palestinian refugee in Ramallah. He [...] read more
  November 30, 2012 1:22 pm - 7 Comments