Haere ngā mate ki tua o paerau; te moenga roa o ngā mātua tupuna. Haere, haere, haere. It was with a huge sense of loss that we learned of the death of Dame Nganeko Minhinnick yesterday. The Green Party acknowledges the extraordinary contribution that she has made to environmental protection, katiakitanga rights and in the […]
An apology only works for healing if it is sincere and if it is accepted. We teach our children to apologise and to be genuine if they want to be forgiven. On Friday, June 9 at Parihaka, the Crown apologised to the people of Parihaka and many of us wept. Only a block of wood […]
On June 1st the Greens swimmable rivers tour visited the Mataura river and communities connected to it. All we need now is a Government willing to set clear strong rules and support the new conversation about measuring our success by the health of our rivers. We started our day at the Mataura river bridge with […]
Last week I hosted Free West Papua leader Benny Wenda at Parliament and travelled with him to a number of important events. Benny is spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and lives in exile in England. 14 years ago he escaped from prison in West Papua where he was sentenced to 25 […]
While in Whangarei last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Buddhi Manta from the Hare Krishna movement whose cafe is making lunch for some schools in Whangarei. His group have been feeding up to 1,000 primary school kids at local schools for the past two years. The hot and healthy food has been provided to […]
On the same day at the Ministry for the Environment reported the grim state of our rivers, lakes and streams, we were out on the Wairua River in Northland seeing the state of our water first hand. We were lucky river champion from Te Uriroroi Millan Ruka could take us out on the river so […]
Today I am heading to the north to travel on the Wairua River, the seventh river we’re visiting on the Swimmable Rivers campaign. The Wairua River, which flows into the Wairoa River and eventually the Kaipara Harbour, is one of many in the Northland region that are impacted by agriculture, gravel extraction, and forestry sediment. The […]
The Government changed the law in 2015 so that the Code of Ethics for teachers was changed into a Code of Conduct. This may seem a minor issue to those outside the profession. But for some teachers it has felt like another kick in the teeth from a Government that does not respect their professionalism […]
This wonderfully talented man has been claimed by Australia, but how I remember John Clarke is as a young Wellington actor who performed satirical pieces in a show called “Knickers” at Downstage Theatre. The show featured other future luminaries like John Banas, Paul Holmes (yes the broadcaster), and Ginette McDonald. My sister Sarah, a playwright […]
On Wednesday, I was fortunate to visit the lovely Manawatū river as part of our Swimmable Rivers tour. Our day started at Awapuni School in Palmerston North with the bilingual class – a bright and beautiful group of tamariki who have a passion for swimming and have many questions about the creatures who live (or should […]