29 November 2012

Home insulation scheme a green success story

The Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation scheme is a success story that shows how government can work with community groups and local businesses to create green jobs, improve the lives of New Zealanders, and reduce our impact on the environment, Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.

The Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation scheme was initiated as a result of the Greens’ Memorandum of Understanding with the National Government. It has now reached its target of 188,500 homes insulated with sufficient remaining budget to bring the total to around 230,000.

“Heat Smart has been a massive success and is a perfect example of what the Greens mean when we talk about smart, green economics,” said Mrs Turei.

“For a relatively small government investment, 188,500 Kiwi homes have been insulated meaning families enjoy better health and lower power bills; over 2,000 skilled Kiwi jobs have been created; and the heating needs of those homes has been slashed, reducing their impact on the environment.

“Heat Smart has been a brilliant example of government playing its part alongside local community groups and local businesses to achieve something that benefits New Zealanders economically, socially, and environmentally.

“The scheme has been so cost-effective that another 41,000 homes will benefit from home insulation within the existing $300 million budget.

“The Greens are proud that we got this scheme off the ground. But the work is not done yet. I have met with the Housing Minister to make our case for extending and improving the home insulation scheme once the current funding is exhausted.

“There are still hundreds of thousands of poorly insulated homes in this country, many of them rented by our poorest families. We can achieve great things for those families and for New Zealand as a whole if we make their homes warmer, healthier, and less expensive places to live,” said Mrs Turei.

ends

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>