• frog

    General debate, December 20, 2011 - by frog



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    December 20, 2011 9:05 am - 118 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Schools should appoint their own principals - by Catherine Delahunty



    I am concerned by media reports that the Ministry of Education is considering taking off boards of trustees the role of hiring their school’s principal. Rumours about such a significant proposal should not be swirling around in the media without a confirmation or denial from the Ministry. School boards and parents should be formally notified [...] read more
    December 19, 2011 7:42 pm - 9 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Protect our critically endangered New Zealand sea lion - by Gareth Hughes



    I was fortunate to see some sea lions in the wild yesterday on the Otago Peninsular as I launched our push to protect these critically endangered animals. Along with sea lion expert Dr Bruce Robertson and Sea Lion Trust Chairman Stephen Broni, I launched an online submission that people can send to the Government urging [...] read more
    December 19, 2011 5:39 pm - 7 Comments
  • Eugenie Sage

    New Fonterra director can’t have it both ways - by Eugenie Sage



    Russel Norman blogged last week about the conflicts of interest arising from regional councillors accepting Rugby World Cup tickets from Fonterra and about Horizons Regional Council’s plans to invest in the dairy sector – a sector they are supposed to be regulating. This week there is news from Taranaki that one of Fonterra’s new directors, [...] read more
    December 19, 2011 5:06 pm - 7 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Military helicopters attacking West Papuan villages - by Catherine Delahunty



    This week’s stories of an Indonesian military offensive against villages in Paniai West Papua came from sources inside the country, where international media has no access. The Red Cross was kicked out of West Papua some time ago and few aid groups are permitted to operate there. It is therefore difficult to assess the news [...] read more
    December 19, 2011 8:54 am - 2 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    LGBTI Rights Recognised as Human Rights! - by Jan Logie



    Today the United Nations released its first report into ‘Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity’. It is available online now. As spokesperson for Human Rights and Co-spokesperson for Rainbow Issues I am very pleased to see this report. In 2000 I was on [...] read more
    December 16, 2011 3:07 pm - 9 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    Disarmament as a Separate Green Portfolio - by Kennedy Graham



    There has been concern expressed over the folding of disarmament into the Global Affairs portfolio which was created by the Green caucus earlier this week. In response, we have agreed to retain disarmament as a separate portfolio. The intention was not to downplay disarmament as a political priority.  The aim was to develop some clarity [...] read more
    December 16, 2011 2:36 pm - 385 Comments
  • frog

    Garth George on “Dangerous Greens” - by frog



    The moustachio’d poster boy for knee-jerk conservativism , Garth George, had this wonderfully acerbic opinion piece published in today’s Herald. Now the content doesn’t worry us too much — he’s Garth George: he’s not supposed to make sense, just infuriate. What is worrying however are the striking similarities between Garth’s column and this press release [...] read more
    December 15, 2011 5:31 pm - 79 Comments
  • frog

    Parliaments around the world are going Green - by frog



    The New Zealand Green Party is proportionally the second biggest Green Party in the world. We’re just a fraction behind the Luxembourg Green Party. Overall, the German green party Alliance ‘90/The Greens has the most number of MPs in a Parliament, with 68 out of 622 (10.9%). Proportionally the Luxembourg green party, The Greens, has [...] read more
    December 15, 2011 11:47 am - 5 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    The Global Affairs Portfolio: Setting the Foreign Policy Agenda - by Kennedy Graham



    Following the Greens’ new caucus retreat this week, the list of MP portfolios was announced.  I have relinquished the Musterer’s role and the Justice and Energy portfolios and taken on, inter alia, the new Global Affairs portfolio. This is a new development that builds upon, and refines, the previous foreign affairs portfolio.  It focuses on [...] read more
    December 15, 2011 9:08 am - 19 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 14, 2011 - by frog



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    December 14, 2011 7:41 pm - 151 Comments
  • Denise Roche

    Workers’ rights in Fiji - by Denise Roche



    When the Fijian military rule decided to deport New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly and her Australian union counterparts yesterday they gave a clear signal that the reports of abuse of workers’ rights and the physical attacks on Fijian trade unionists are probably accurate. Ms Kelly was part of an Australian and New [...] read more
    December 14, 2011 4:15 pm - 12 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Patents, Pacific Partnerships, and (com)puters - by Gareth Hughes



    Have a read of this interesting opinion piece on NBR about the ramifications the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will have for software patents in New Zealand. I think the most interesting part that Paul Matthews hits on is that by signing the TPPA, New Zealand law could be overridden. New Zealand recently completed a [...] read more
    December 14, 2011 4:11 pm - 3 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Horizons chairman hot under the collar on World Cup Tickets - by Russel Norman



    On Sunday we released information gained under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act that several regional councillors had received gifts and hospitality from Fonterra in the form of Rugby World Cup tickets for quarterfinal and bronze medal matches. There is a clear conflict of interest when the regulator is accepting gifts from the [...] read more
    December 14, 2011 12:28 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 13, 2011 - by frog



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    December 13, 2011 8:34 am - 22 Comments
  • frog

    Catching up with Australia - by frog



    New Zealand is finally catching up with Australia – at cricket! Australia 136 and 233 (Warner 123*, Bracewell 6-40) lost to New Zealand 150 and 226 by seven runs. Pity we can’t do this with wages too, but the Government’s policies will result in that gap widening. read more
    December 12, 2011 5:59 pm - 6 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Survey shows we can turn around low voter turnout - by Gareth Hughes



    The final election results were released over the weekend bringing with them some good news and some bad news. The good news: the Greens achieved a record result, including our bonus 14th MP Mojo Mathers. The bad news: official voter turnout was only 74.21%, the lowest in over 100 years. This record low voter turnout [...] read more
    December 12, 2011 5:37 pm - 16 Comments
  • frog

    John Key’s new Cabinet announced - by frog



    Prime Minister John Key announced his new Cabinet this morning. The line-up is pretty predictable, but some of the portfolio allocations and rankings are interesting: The big winners are Steven Joyce and Hekia Parata, moving up 10 and 13 places respectively in the Cabinet ranking. Parata replaces Anne Tolley as Minister of Education. Paula Bennett’s [...] read more
    December 12, 2011 1:02 pm - 10 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    New report on ‘New Media’ - by Gareth Hughes



    The Law Commission have today called for submissions on their latest issue paper The News Media Meets ‘New Media’. The paper is a thorough look at the state of how media, blogs, social media, and such are currently regulated, what the loopholes are, and it gives suggestions for where the Government may want to change [...] read more
    December 12, 2011 12:38 pm - 2 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    Is Anyone Out There? Failure on Climate Change at Durban - by Kennedy Graham



    In Durban, the Kyoto Protocol is kept on life support. Kyoto is, of course, the only binding climate instrument with specific emission targets. It compels the world’s worst emitters to reduce emissions. But it has always been inadequate in itself – a first step to greater things. And it terminates within 12 months. The 194 [...] read more
    December 11, 2011 12:28 pm - 113 Comments
  • frog

    Good Green gains in final election results - by frog



    The final election results are out, and the great news is that the Greens have achieved an historic high of 11.06% of the party vote.  That gives us one additional MP to the election night count – the talented Mojo Mathers. Mojo’s election will cause a shake-up in the way things work around Parliament.  Shamefully, [...] read more
    December 10, 2011 9:50 pm - 5 Comments
  • Jan Logie

    Political window dressing is not an appropriate response to abuse - by Jan Logie



    The appalling and heart-wrenching situation for the woman in Invercargill whose rapist moved in next door highlights several areas for legislative review and policy & funding change. This woman has an indefinite protection order in place but this does nothing to prevent her abuser moving in next door. The police have been for a ‘chat’ and [...] read more
    December 10, 2011 2:53 pm - 5 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    Thanking our gracious hosts: Minister Groser and the Durban Conference - by Kennedy Graham



    Minister Timothy Groser, fresh from electoral triumph back home, has alighted upon Durban this week. Yesterday he delivered our country’s main speech to the UN climate change conference – the 17th meeting of the parties to the UN Framework Convention. “I would like to acknowledge”, he begins, “and thank our gracious hosts, South Africa, and [...] read more
    December 9, 2011 12:58 pm - 2 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    There ain’t no party like an ICC State Party: Vanuatu joins the Court - by Kennedy Graham



    “A treaty is not a law imposed by a superior authority on its subordinates [but] only a contract whose signatories cannot decree penalties against themselves since there would be no one to implement them. The only reasonable guarantee should lie in the creation of international jurisdiction with the necessary power to compel obedience”. Prophetic words [...] read more
    December 9, 2011 10:31 am - No Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 9, 2011 - by frog



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    December 9, 2011 6:35 am - 58 Comments
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