28 August 2012

Greens to push for housing standards in MOU with Government

The Green Party will be pushing for the implementation of recommendations in the Children’s Commissioners expert advisory group report around minimum standards for rental accommodation when it meets the Minister of Housing this week.

The Green Party says the Children’s Commissioners report on solutions to child poverty, released today, offers the Government a blueprint of actions it can take to end New Zealand’s embarrassing record on child poverty.

“The Government must act now. The Children’s Commissioner has offered the Government a comprehensive blueprint for ending child poverty in New Zealand,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“We don’t need any more official reports. We know the problem and we have the plans. Now it is time for action.

“We are particularly supportive of the Commissioner’s recommendations for a child payment and a warrant of fitness for rental housing.

“The Green Party is meeting with the Housing Minister on Thursday regarding home insulation. We will be strongly pushing for the Government to ensure all rental properties are safe and warm for kids.

“Too many kids grow up in cold damp homes. We think we can do something about that now, and are keen to work with the Government on this issue through our Memorandum of Understanding.

“The Green Party’s Warm Healthy Rentals Bill is already in the members’ ballot and would ensure that no more New Zealand kids grow up in damp, unhealthy houses.

“My Bill to extend the current child payment system to the kids of beneficiaries is consistent with the Commissioners recommendation around changes to the child support system.

“If we replace the in-work tax credit with a child payment for all children who need it, including those children whose parents do not work, over a hundred thousand kiwi kids will be better off.

“I call on the Government to support my Bill at its first reading as a practical step it can take to reducing child poverty levels.”

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More