frogblog » Audioblog

What are the Police doing about bike safety?

frog — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:14:39 +0000

Many of us love to ride bikes. It’s a great way to get around, keep fit, beat the traffic, and save the planet. But it’s not as safe as it should be.

Green Party Active Transport spokesperson and champion of all people who ride bikes, Kevin Hague, recently discovered that Police do very little with the information they receive when cyclists report unsafe road behaviour to a dedicated police hotline.

At a time when so many people have died in bike accidents that the Coroner has launched a special inquest, this lax attitude to bike safety is not ok. In this podcast, Kevin talks about what he found out, and what he thinks we could do better to ensure that people who ride bikes are safe on our roads.

If you’ve got issues you’d like Kevin to raise when he meets with the Police about bike safety, email or call his Parliamentary office on 04 817 8253.

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Podcast: The Green Plan for our SOEs

Russel Norman — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:31:04 +0000

Green Co-leader, Dr Russel Norman, last week outlined his plan for a sustainable and prosperous economy at the Party’s AGM.

One of his most talked-about initiatives was how our state-owned enterprises could be leveraged to lift our country’s economic performance in partnership with the private sector. He proposed this as an alternative to John Key’s plan to sell them off after the election — a plan that lacks any kind of vision for a mixed economy that retains New Zealand ownership.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: why you should care about the file sharing law

frog — Thu, 26 May 2011 23:56:53 +0000

If you’re an internet nerd, chances are you’ll know all about the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act recently passed by Parliament. Tech savvy types are united in opposition to the law change, which could see internet access cut off for internet account holders if they intentionally – or inadvertently – breach copyright three times. The Greens were the only party to vote against it.

In this podcast, Green Party ICT Spokesperson Gareth Hughes talks about the new law – what it means, why non-nerds should be worried about it too, and what can be done from here.

If you’re reading this on Friday 27 May, you’ve got the rest of today to make a submission – click here for a form submission to adapt.

If you missed Gareth’s virtual public meeting on this issue, you can download the full audio here, or follow NZGreens on twitter for a link to the video when it’s posted.

Showing the power of social media, this week’s track is Shuffling Joe, by Dub Asylum. Crowd-sourced from twitter! Thanks Dub Asylum. It’s file sharing in action!

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Russel’s Dirty Rivers Wrap-up

frog — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:47:36 +0000

Russel goes over a 7m waterfall on the Kaituna

Russel is about to wrap his second annual Dirty Rivers Rafting Tour. Russel has been visiting rivers that are either dangerously polluted, or threatened due to large dam and irrigation projects, and rafting or kayaking them with local environmentalists, whitewater enthusiasts, iwi, farmers, and media.

The purpose of the tour is to highlight the threats to our precious rivers, but also to celebrate some of the most beautiful rivers in the country. It’s also to put pressure on Environment Minister Nick Smith to adopt clean water rules now before it’s too late.

In this podcast, on the eve of his final trip, Russel talks about the highs and lows of the tour, whether he got sick from the dirty water or scared going over a 7m waterfall, and why we need clean water rules, now.

This week’s track is Regenerate, by the Midnights, supplied courtesy of Loop.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: How to pay for Christchurch

frog — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:43:41 +0000

The Green Party have a plan to pay for Christchurch — a temporary levy on income — one that avoids adding more debt to the Government’s books. I talked to Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman about the details of that plan.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Courteney, Catherine and the WWG

frog — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:00:30 +0000

In our most recent podcast we talk to Courteney, 19-year-old mum of 8-month-old Summer, and first year law student at Victoria University, about her experiences balancing parenting and study on the DPB, and her thoughts on the Welfare Working Group’s final report. It’s refreshing to hear about the welfare debate directly from someone affected!

We also talk to Green Party Work and Income Spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. Music on this podcast was kindly supplied by the good people at Loop.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Christchurch

frog — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:38:00 +0000

Our Green MPs have been down in Christchurch mucking in to help residents in the aftermath of the earthquake. Kevin Hague, Keith Locke, and Catherine Delahunty speak about their experiences, the needs they encountered, and what, if any green shoots of hope they saw emerging from the destruction.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

A view from the inside: anti-nuclear diplomacy in a cold cold world

frog — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:53:28 +0000

Former diplomat and Green MP Kennedy Graham describes the mid-1980s as some of the best years of his life. New Zealand, under David Lange’s leadership, had just become nuclear free, making, in Kennedy’s words, the most fearless, independent, and moral foreign policy choice since nationhood.

I asked Kennedy to describe that time of his life and give us an insider’s view of what happens diplomatically when a small country on the edge of the world declares it’s independence from the world’s largest superpowers.

You can listen to the podcast here [MP3].

Podcast: Green Spirituality, Metiria Turei

frog — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:36:27 +0000

Green Party Co-leader, Metiria Turei, discusses the things that drive her to work for a more humane world in this, the third of an occasional series where I talk to Green MPs about their spirituality. The Reverend Dr Anthony Dancer, Anglican Social Justice Commissioner conducts the interview.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

What are our MPs listening to? Latest podcast

frog — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:37:14 +0000

This podcast is inspired by a close encounter with John Key in the Parliamentary gym by one of our staffers, who observed the PM listening to headphones while pounding the treadmill. It got us thinking: what do our MPs listen to? What’s on their iPods? Do they even have iPods? And if not, where does the music in their lives come from? Do they listen to it actively, passively, at gigs, or make it themselves?

Metiria Turei, Catherine Delahunty, Gareth Hughes and David Clendon talk about their musical tastes and predilections.

The featured music in this podcast is Just The Way You Are, covered by Twinset and supplied courtesy of the lovely folks at Loop.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Another podcast with a transcript

frog — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:14:27 +0000

Yay, the momentum is building and we have a transcript for another of our podcasts, thanks once again to a very awesome writer who’s been transcribing them for us!

This one’s from a few weeks back, but it’s been super-popular, so click through to listen or download the transcript of Gareth Hughes talking about his personal sprituality.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Latest podcast – this time with transcript

frog — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:45:42 +0000

Here’s our latest podcast from Parliament, this time about the cross-party friendships Green MPs have struck up across the chamber.

Parliament is a strange place, and often the only images we get are of MPs shouting at each other across the chamber during Question Time. But when the gloves are off, how do MPs from different parties get on? In this podcast three Green MPs – Catherine Delahunty, Kevin Hague, and Gareth Hughes – talk about their cross-party relationships.

Can friendship flourish across the political battlefield? In an adversarial Parliament, is there room to find common ground?

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For the first time, we’re delighted to be able to provide a transcript of this podcast – kindly transcribed for us by an award-winning New Zealand novelist, woohoo! Go here and download the transcript file. This is something we hope to provide more in future.

If you’re having problems with our Flash player, or to download the file and a transcript, go here. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Green Spirituality

frog — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:57:10 +0000

Sojourners founder and best-selling author Jim Wallis was recently in the country talking about faith and politics. He famously said that the Democrats got religion when they saw the exit polls from the 2004 presidential election. It got me wondering how our own Green MPs understand religion, both in their own lives and beyond.

Today is the first of an occasional series where we talk to a Green MPs about their spirituality. First up, Gareth Hughes.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Standing for something

frog — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:18:41 +0000

Local government is democracy working at the grass roots. The stuff that goes on around the council table can have a massive impact on the quality of our lives. I talked to Green MP, Sue Kedgley, one of the first Greens to win office to a city council.

Click this thing to hear from her…

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site. This podcast series is now available on iTunes.

Podcast: Mind the Gap!

frog — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:25:22 +0000

On Monday, Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei launched Mind the Gap, the Green Party’s eight-point Budget strategy to combat growing inequality in New Zealand.

Mind the Gap is the third installment of the Green New Deal, which is what a Green Government would be doing right now to address the biggest environmental, economic, and social problems facing New Zealand.

It’s Budget Day, and Mind the Gap is the Green Party’s alternative vision for investment in our future that addresses the biggest social and economic problems facing New Zealand.

In this podcast, Metiria talks us through Mind the Gap – what’s behind it, what’s in it, and why it’s needed.

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Podcast: Carter, conflicts, and Canterbury

frog — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:37:08 +0000

Cantabrians are fired up about legislation passed under urgency last month which sacked their regional councillors and circumvented the established process for Water Conservation Orders on Canterbury Rivers.

Amidst the furore an interesting set of circumstances has come to light around Agriculture Minister David Carter. Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman revealed in Parliament that Carter may have had a conflict of interest in relation to the ECAN Bill, which he did not declare to Cabinet.

In this podcast, Russel teases out the exact circumstances of this complicated affair.

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Podcast: Natural health – a new direction

frog — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:29:56 +0000

On Friday the Green and National Parties released a proposal to establish a new stand-alone New Zealand regulator for natural health products.

Green Party Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley has been collaborating with Health Minister Tony Ryall and Associate Health Minister Jonathan Coleman on the proposal. This work is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Greens and National in April 2009.

In this podcast, Sue speaks about the proposal – why it’s needed, what it sets out to achieve, and what the process is from here.

Co-Leader Russel Norman also reflects on the MOU between the Greens and National in light of the announcement.

You can read the consultation document here.

This week’s music is from Auckland-based “chamber pop” outfit Canadia, off their most recent EP Beg Steal and Burrow.

You can now subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes – search for “green party” in the podcast section.

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This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Podcast: Green Summer Holidays

frog — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:45:23 +0000

This week, the parties are gearing up for the political year, and the MPs are back from their summer holidays. We speak to Green MPs about how they spent their holidays, and discover that they have been relaxing, trying new things, and of course indulging in some old-school political activism.

This week’s podcast features the lovely sounds of Urban Tramper again. Thanks guys!

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This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Podcast: Green New Deal – Win-Win-Win

frog — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:42:41 +0000

Can the Government tackle two of New Zealand’s biggest problems – creating jobs and protecting the environment – at the same time? The Greens say yes and have released a report that shows how. Co-leader Russel Norman and Conservation Spokesperson Kevin Hague talk about the economic and environmental benefits of the new Green New Deal package.

Big thanks to Urban Tramper for the use of their track ‘My Grand Plan’ in this podcast.

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If you’re having problems with our Flash player, try this alternative site.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Podcast: Mining our Sacred Places

frog — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:28:45 +0000

The National Government are poised to do the unthinkable — open up our most treasured places, our national parks and reserves — to mining. Can they be serious? Didn’t we have this fight 100 years ago? Do New Zealanders really believe that no place is sacred if there’s a goldmine or a coalmine sitting underneath it? I talked to a number of Green MPs to find out why they treasure our last remaining wild spaces.

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This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.