August 12th, 2010

Podcast: Standing for something

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.

May 20th, 2010

Podcast: Mind the Gap!

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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April 21st, 2010

Podcast: Carter, conflicts, and Canterbury

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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March 22nd, 2010

Podcast: Natural health – a new direction

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.

February 9th, 2010

Podcast: Green Summer Holidays

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.

December 7th, 2009

Podcast: Green New Deal – Win-Win-Win

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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This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

November 10th, 2009

Podcast: Mining our Sacred Places

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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November 2nd, 2009

Audioblog: Green MPs pay tribute to Sue Bradford

Sue Bradford delivered her valedictory speech in Parliament on Wednesday, to a packed gallery of supporters from the Green Party, unions, child welfare groups, churches, NGOs and the public, and a standing ovation from MPs of all colours.

This week, as Sue leaves Parliament after ten years, the Green MPs pay tribute to one of Parliament’s hardest-working, most visible, and most colourful MPs.

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October 5th, 2009

I want to ride my bicycle

Greg Paterson is the Auckland cyclist fighting for his life in hospital. He’s one of about 200 cyclists who will be seriously injured or killed on our roads this year. He’s also one of the huge majority of cyclists that gets injured or killed through no fault of their own. What has been this Government’s response to date on creating both safer places for cyclists to ride and changing the attitudes of the drivers who are hurting them? Green MP and cycling advocate, Kevin Hague, has some answers.

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September 23rd, 2009

Podcast: Taxing Investment Properties

New Zealanders love their houses and love investing in them. In fact, we borrow more money to invest in houses than we do to invest in business or agriculture combined. As Bernard Hickey tells it, “New Zealand doesn’t have an economy as such. It’s a housing market with a few other things tacked on.”

Why is it that we have such an unbalanced economy and how can we fix it? Here’s an interview with Green Party Finance Spokesperson Russel Norman on this and all the recent talk about a possible new tax on property.

Click to play (10:37 mins):

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