Gareth Hughes Archive

• 

  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 - 2 Comments
• 

  Farrar wrong on renewables - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  As you might have caught we have (alongside Labour) announced a plan to cut excessive profits from the Electricity Sector and return the money to households. David Farrar over on Kiwiblog yesterday posted about the total cost of Electricity Production claiming that renewable options – which we prefer are more expensive than coal and gas. [...] read more
  April 18, 2013 4:35 pm - 154 Comments
• 

  Akaroa marine reserve - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Dan Rogers marine reserve in Akaroa Harbour has recently been approved by Conservation Minister Nick Smith which is a good step for marine conservation but raises many wider issues and questions. It’s good to see another marine reserve created, even if it was shrunk by Smith, because it’s only the second on the east [...] read more
  April 16, 2013 10:39 am - 3 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
• 

  Should it be a cyber-bullying offence to be offensive? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I welcome the Law Commission’s cyber-bullying report which contains recommendations for reducing harm. As anyone who has been through it knows, bullying is a horrible experience and in New Zealand we have had some tragic examples leading to suicides. It’s important that we discuss the problem and come up with solutions that work. The Law [...] read more
  August 15, 2012 10:47 am - 19 Comments
• 

  Inquiry into election includes low voter turnout - by Holly Walker

  
  
  
  The regular inquiry into the conduct of the General Election will this time address voter turnout out in its terms of reference, and is seeking submissions from the public. 2011 had the lowest voter turnout in over 100 years. How can we turn that around, especially amongst young people? read more
  March 9, 2012 4:23 pm - 20 Comments
• 

  Minister should come clean on uneconomic motorways - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  What does the Minister have to hide on his expensive motorways? read more
  December 7, 2011 2:07 pm - 2 Comments
• 

  Bringing Parliament to the people - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Thanks to social media, it’s much easier for people in the community to engage with their politicians. Instead of holding their hands up in long town hall meetings, they can just log in to Facebook or Twitter and tap a few keys. This is why we at the Green Party take social media seriously. It’s [...] read more
  November 25, 2011 12:46 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  Transport funding CONsultation - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  A few months ago I wrote a draft submission on the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport funding and encouraged members of the public to send it in. Normally, I generally don’t encourage people to make form submissions on a topic but because the issue of land transport funding is pretty technical I wanted to [...] read more
  October 18, 2011 1:55 pm - 5 Comments
• 

  Why won’t National listen to Auckland on CBD rail link? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I was astonished that a few weeks back Auckland MPs voted against inviting the Auckland Council to submit on the CBD rail link debate. I can only talk about it now because the report containing my minority report was tabled in Parliament today. The Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee was discussing my petition to [...] read more
  September 8, 2011 4:52 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  The nose that knows - by frog

  
  
  
  Frogblog readers may have read that Green MP Gareth Hughes broke his nose playing for the Parliamentary Rugby XV last week. The good news for Gareth is that he has now had surgery to straighten his nose, and it is on the mend. The bad news is that he has to wear a rather annoying [...] read more
  September 3, 2011 8:12 am - 5 Comments
• 

  Round up of transport news - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I’ve been whipping around the country a lot lately visiting students at Orientation. So I haven’t had a chance to post much. But here’s a bit of a round up of the big transport stories of the last few weeks and my reaction. More funds for rail upgrades in Wellington. The government has announced an [...] read more
  August 2, 2011 6:59 pm - 10 Comments
• 

  Is urban sprawl inevitable? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Advocates (like Steven Joyce) of removing Metropolitan Urban Limits and allowing lots of low density growth around our cities like to present their case as if urban sprawl is the natural result of market forces. Their narrative is pretty much that people like to live in spread out suburbs with their own back yard and [...] read more
  June 21, 2011 2:43 pm - 45 Comments
• 

  Many questions, but no answers on Telecommunications bill - by frog

  
  
  
  Green MP Gareth Hughes had some questions for Communications Minister Steven Joyce in Parliament yesterday: Here was Steven Joyce’s reply: Nothing to say here. Nothing to say here. Nothing to say here. Nothing to say here. So Gareth tried again: Steven Joyce still wouldn’t take a call to respond. As Toad, one of our regular [...] read more
  June 17, 2011 6:46 pm - 10 Comments
• 

  Pedestrianise Queen Street? Hell yeah! - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Auckland Council is consulting right now on a discussion document called the City Centre Master Plan (PDF). It almost slipped under my radar but I’ve managed to draft up a quick submission to go in before the closing date – this Friday, the 17th of June. I encourage you to make an online submission [...] read more
  June 16, 2011 11:51 pm - 14 Comments
• 

  Growing in a way that makes us happy - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  According to a piece in the Herald today, people with longer commutes are less likely to be healthy, happy or stay married. The study found that if you commute for 45 minutes plus then your chance of getting divorced is 40% higher than for those with shorter journeys. This is good news for me (and [...] read more
  June 8, 2011 6:42 pm - 17 Comments
• 

  UN: Internet termination breaches human rights - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  One of the main reasons the Green Party opposed the new controversial file-sharing law passed under urgency was that it still contained internet termination as a potential remedy. I argued at the time it was disproportionate, wouldn’t work, and took away a modern human right. More and more of our democracy, interaction with Government departments, [...] read more
  June 4, 2011 5:38 pm - 29 Comments
• 

  Podcast: why you should care about the file sharing law - by frog

  
  
  
  In this podcast, Green Party ICT Spokesperson Gareth Hughes talks about the new file sharing law – what it means, why non-nerds should be worried about it too, and what can be done from here. read more
  May 27, 2011 11:56 am - 3 Comments
• 

  Government’s transport funding plans just silly - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  A while ago the Herald wrote an editorial about the Government’s transport plans for Auckland. They observed that if you define insanity as doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different outcome, then the Government’s transport policies are insane. While I was reading the Government Policy Statement on Transport Funding last week [...] read more
  May 15, 2011 8:44 am - 13 Comments
• 

  Flash mob for CBD rail loop - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Budget is fast approaching and so far the government has shown no sign that they will fund the CBD rail loop. In fact, their latest Government Policy Statement on transport funding shows that over the next 10 years they’re planning to spend $7 on roads for every $1 they spend on sustainable transport options [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 1:00 pm - 19 Comments
• 

  Council rail-roaded into supporting roads - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I attended the extraordinary Wellington City Council meeting that voted last night to support the Government’s $2.4 billion roading plans. Essentially the Council has written a blank cheque to the NZTA. It is preposterous that the Council could vote on a project when no one, not even the council officers, has seen the final plans. [...] read more
  April 21, 2011 12:01 pm - 34 Comments
• 

  Will Auckland ever get new trains? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  While Auckland’s public transport systems are getting seriously overcrowded, we are still waiting to find out which company has been awarded the $500 million contract to build the new Auckland electric rail cars (aka Electric Multiple Units or EMUs). The trains, themselves, won’t be operational until 2014 at the earliest. As motorway, after motorway, finishes 6 months [...] read more
  April 19, 2011 5:00 pm - 28 Comments
• 

  Digital copyright debated in the House and online - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  It was a privilege to speak in Parliament last night and oppose the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill that passed this morning under urgency. It was also a fun debate, with some hilarious gaffes made by National MPs who got their inter-webs mixed up with their Skynets that have been immortalised in online parodies. [...] read more
  April 14, 2011 2:13 pm - 19 Comments
• 

  Paying for CBD rail and Christchurch - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Lately I’ve had quite a few people ask me whether it’s realistic to continue pushing for the government to fund the CBD rail loop in the after-math of the Christchurch earthquake. I can understand what they’re thinking. After all, the CBD rail loop is an expensive project and the reconstruction of Christchurch will also cost [...] read more
  April 13, 2011 11:05 am - 1 Comment
• 

  Which motorway project(s) would you cut? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  So, the Minister of Finance has confirmed its full steam ahead with the national motorway gamble. Even the Transport Minister has made it clear that he will not consider cutting the budget for the poster-child of uneconomic motorways, the Puhoi to Wellsford ‘Holiday Highway,’ after the quake. Government cabinet papers also say that the government [...] read more
  March 18, 2011 2:00 pm - 25 Comments
• 

  Wider motorway or marine reserve? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Last weekend I visited the Motu Manawa Marine Reserve as part of Sea Week. I was there to help Forest and Bird and Friends of the Whau with a boat based clean up of the marine reserve. As you can see from the photo below we collected a lot of rubbish – especially given that [...] read more
  March 9, 2011 9:52 am - 8 Comments
• 

  Student Volunteer Army defeats student stereotype - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Today I got to spend time with the students and organisers behind the Volunteer Student Army in Christchurch as they wound down major operations. Organised by Canterbury students, the student army recruited hundreds of volunteers, including a Green Party contingent to shovel liquifacted soil, leaflet, and door knock in areas badly affected by Christchurch’s devastating [...] read more
  March 4, 2011 5:55 pm - 122 Comments
• 

  Before the holiday season ends send a submission on the Holiday Highway - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  It’s almost Christmas time and I’m sure most of you are ready for a holiday. But before you go, if you live in Auckland, Rodney, Whangarei, or anywhere else and want smart transport decisions please take a few minutes to make a submission on the New Zealand Transport Agency’s latest proposal for the Holiday Highway – [...] read more
  December 22, 2010 1:45 pm - 2 Comments
• 

  New Auckland motorway causes congestion - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Herald has carried another story today about how building a motorway has made congestion worse in Auckland, not better. Suprised? The New Zealand Transport Agency has admitted that they seriously under-estimated how much traffic their upgrades of State Highway 16 (SH16) to form the Western Ring Route would create. Motorists are now experiencing delays of up [...] read more
  December 21, 2010 1:10 pm - 47 Comments
• 

  Northland: the front-lines of how we move people and freight around - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I went to Northland last Friday to visit a region which is on the front-lines of the government’s ideological attack on how we move people and freight around. The state of Northland transport right now epitomises the Government’s pro-truck ideology: more motorways and less rail. To investigate the impacts of the Government’s push for more [...] read more
  December 20, 2010 2:49 pm - 10 Comments
• 

  VSM: a very silly measure - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Last year Heather Roy’s (formally Roger Douglas’) Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill was drawn from the members bill ballot. The bill which was badly drafted when it entered the ballot biscuit tin emerged from select committee still in a shocking state. Tonight it comes back to the house for committee stages and we will [...] read more
  December 8, 2010 7:01 pm - 18 Comments
• 

  What are our MPs listening to? Latest podcast - by frog

  
  
  
  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 [...] read more
  November 15, 2010 4:37 pm - No Comments
• 

  Way less than 10% Pure New Zealand marine environment - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Kiwis love our ocean. Oceans cover 70% of our planet and represent over 95% of the biosphere and in New Zealand our waters are particularly special. You may not have noticed (I didn’t see anything in the papers about it) that last week a big conservation meeting wrapped up in Nagoya, Japan. The UN Convention [...] read more
  November 5, 2010 2:14 pm - 2 Comments
• 

  Uneconomic motorways – one thing Brash and I agree on - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  There aren’t many things that Don Brash and I agree on however one thing we have in common is we both share concerns around the Government’s massive motorway infrastructure projects. In the media statement on the latest 2025 Taskforce report it mentions “Public investment in big projects needed to be justified, such as the spending [...] read more
  November 3, 2010 6:07 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  Digital copyright and suspending suspension - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I may be a geek, but not the type that can fix your computer. I love technology, and even though I haven’t had a huge history of looking into tech and copyright issues, I really enjoyed hearing submissions on the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. The Bill essentially sets out a three-strike “notice and [...] read more
  November 3, 2010 1:42 pm - 48 Comments
• 

  Another podcast with a transcript - by frog

  
  
  
  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 [...] read more
  October 29, 2010 4:14 pm - No Comments
• 

  Latest podcast – this time with transcript - by frog

  
  
  
  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 [...] read more
  October 26, 2010 3:45 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  State of the libraries - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I love libraries. Sure I’m the bookish type – but I think everyone loves them for one reason or another: to meet friends, listen to music, borrow a DVD, browse a magazine, to take a class, attend a public meeting and soon borrow an e-book for your digital reader. Even actor Michael Caine talks about [...] read more
  October 20, 2010 4:06 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  Podcast: Green Spirituality - by frog

  
  
  
  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 [...] read more
  October 11, 2010 3:57 pm - 124 Comments
• 

  How to stop drink driving? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  A few days ago the Government announced another set of tough penalties for teen drink drivers. They have effectively reduced the blood alcohol limit for teenage drink drivers to zero. I think it is a case of youth scapegoating but I’m not complaining about this because we need to cut down on teen drink driving [...] read more
  October 4, 2010 9:58 am - 19 Comments