Budget Debate 2011: Dr Kennedy Graham: A Green Vision of an (Sustainable) Economy

This year's Budget is essentially more of the same: a traditional neoclassical Budget in a time of national austerity. Let me critique it from a Green perspective, and offer an alternative, ecological Budget in a time of global crisis.

The 49th Parliament has passed 224 Acts in 30 months. These Acts reflect the Government's world view to make New Zealand a better place as it sees it. What stands apart in importance for every Government and every Parliament is the annual Budget, which sets the course for a country's macroeconomic policy.

Extract from draft minutes of 2011 Green Party AGM:

Extract from draft minutes of 2011 Green Party AGM:
This AGM:
1. Overall political positioning
Agrees that, until such time as we are in a position to lead a government, the Green Party will campaign on the basis of the following political position:
(i)                  The Green Party is an independent and distinct party, which in order to urgently advance Green Party policy goals, will attempt to work constructively with, and challenge, whichever party leads the government after an election;
(ii)                To enable any party or parties to form a government, we would need significant progress on Green Party environmental, economic and social policies, and initiatives that give effect to the Green Party Charter.

Guyon Espiner: Greens' private battle for public acceptance

The Greens probably don't get the media attention they deserve.

As Parliament's third largest party, and the only minor party consistently polling above the 5% threshold, they are serious, long term political players.

Perhaps too serious for the media at times, to be honest.

The struggle for control of the Act party or the fight between the Maori and Mana parties has the drama and tension news editors understandably look for when putting together appealing newspapers and news bulletins.

Coordination between central government agencies, local council, and NGOs, in the response to the Canterbury earthquake? Dr Kennedy Graham

Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Is he satisfied that there is enough coordination between central government agencies, local council, and non-governmental organisations in the response to the earthquake?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery) on behalf of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Yes. One example is the coordinated effort by Ministry of Social Development staff, non-governmental organisations like the Salvation Army, community groups, and 400 volunteers in canvassing more than 70,000 houses in the suburbs most affected by the quake, to check on the well-being and safety of residents. A second example is the head of the UK urban search and rescue team, Peter Crook, being quoted in the New Zealand Herald as saying about the emergency response: "The organisation has been outstanding, the best-organised emergency I've been to." However, as in any disaster of this magnitude, there will always be examples of situations where coordination could have been improved. But the Minister is assured that civil defence is doing its upmost to work with the city council and central government agencies to respond to the disaster. That is what the declaration of a state of national emergency is designed to do.

Dr Kennedy Graham: Is he concerned about the focus of effort between the central business district and the eastern suburbs? Has a fair balance been struck between the two?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: Based on all the evidence I have seen, I can say a very fair balance has been struck.

Dr Kennedy Graham: What steps is he taking to ensure that vulnerable people in the east of Christchurch, some of whom already live below the poverty line, will not be pushed over the edge by this crisis?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: I think that yesterday I indicated the number of civil defence grants that have been paid out to people, and the number of emergency subsidies towards housing that have been paid out. I am absolutely confident that if anybody is in dire straits and does need help, it is there. I made the offer yesterday that if any Canterbury member—because I think those members were all supplied with direct phone lines to the national coordinator—knows of a specific example that we have missed, the member should please not hesitate to let somebody know, and the issue will get dealt to.

Dr Kennedy Graham: I thank the Minister for that response. Having attended meetings this morning in the east, I will get back to him on that. Has he attended any local community meetings in the eastern suburbs; if not, will he accompany me to my next meeting?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: The Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery is spending nearly all his time in Christchurch, and hence I can say that yes, he will have. I am doing most of the Wellington-end work, so although I have visited the place and been into the central business district and seen some of the devastation of the buildings, I have not attended any of those meetings.

Dr Kennedy Graham: Will the proposed central agency that is designed to handle the earthquake listen to the people of Christchurch by having their representatives involved in decision making?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: I think as time unfolds, the member will realise that a number of issues have to be dealt with right there and then, immediately. When any human life is involved and a building is causing a risk, a decision that would normally be taken over several weeks may have to be made in that minute. But I give an assurance that where life is not at risk, or human safety is not at risk, a measured, careful process of making decisions will be followed.

Dr Kennedy Graham: Will all the information that the central agency uses for decisions be made available to the public?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: It would be a bold call for me to answer that all of the information would be. Where it is possible, information will be made available to the public..

Dr Kennedy Graham: Will the Government consider a cross-party group with direct advisory powers into Cabinet for the Christchurch rebuild?

Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON: I am really reluctant to give answers about anything of a hypothetical nature into the future, because a lot of decisions are yet to be taken on this track. I assure the member there is a long, long way to go. We will be working on this issue for a very long time, so I cannot speculate on what may occur into the future.

Dr Kennedy Graham: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. With respect, the question was specific. It was not asking for speculation in the future but asking whether the Government will consider doing that now.

Mr SPEAKER: I think the Minister indicated that the Government is not prepared to do that; otherwise he would have said yes. Although the Minister may not have used those precise words, he has not jumped to his feet to say the Speaker's interpretation was wrong.

Climate Change, Lignite & 'Growth' - Debate on the PM's Statement - Dr Kennedy Graham

I acknowledge Mr Quinn's hardness of heart and meanness of spirit. I acknowledge Simon Bridges' comment that Metiria Turei's speech was a good speech. We know who has a political future. The Prime Minister's statement is simply a reiteration of Government policy enunciated first in the Speech from the Throne 2 years ago and recycled every February and May.

Small is beautiful: economy of resources, and the politics of enough by Claire Browning

Economy, by definition, means prudently managing resources, yet in practice growth consumes them, unsustainably. We need a new narrative, say the Greens, that decouples progress from growth: this might be a myth and it is a gamble, but so is growth

Here is a spectre of some straw men. Huddled around a carbon-emitting camp-fire, they scorn even the primitive fun of chewing on a mammoth bone: it’s burlap and lentils for these guys, if they’re lucky.

Green Bill to make judicial system more transparent pulled from ballot

The Register of pecuniary interests of judges Bill - pulled today from the Parliamentary private members' bill ballot - will provide greater transparency within the judicial system, Green Party justice spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham said today.

The Register of pecuniary interests of judges Bill will require Judges to make an annual return of their pecuniary interests to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner. This information will be made publicly available.

“The purpose of my member’s bill is to promote greater transparency within the judicial system,” said Dr Graham.

“The messy situation around former justice Bill Wilson could have been avoided had New Zealand had a register of the financial interests of members of the judiciary.

A sustainable economy for New Zealand

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A sustainable economy for New Zealand can no longer be achieved purely within the confines of national monetary and fiscal policy.  National sustainability for every country today has to take into account the broader context of the global economy.

The impact of human activity on the planet has transformed in the past two centuries.  The global population explosion and increases in per capita production and consumption have generated a sixty-fold increase in the size of the global economy.  Many aspects of the global ecosystem are facing serious strain as a result, and this is being exacerbated now by climate change (and perhaps ‘peak oil’).

Parliament Passes 'Extreme' Earthquake Measures- Marie McNicholas

Parliament has unanimously passed legislation that gives the Government
rare, sweeping powers to over-ride a raft of laws it fears could impede
the speedy reconstruction of earthquake-hit Canterbury.

But at the urging of the Green Party, the Government agreed to make a
late change to the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill to
ensure the Recovery Commission set up under the legislation is not
exempt from  official information scrutiny.

A fair trial includes the right to be there

A last-minute change to draft legislation in Parliament last night preserved the right of defendants to be present at their own trial and will help ensure that they get a fair go, said the Green Party today.

“It is great to see that the Government has listened to the Green, Labour and Maori parties and protected the right of defendants to be present at their own trial,” said Kennedy Graham, Green Party Justice Spokesperson.

The Courts (Remote Participation) Bill would have removed the right of defendants to be physically present at substantive criminal trials. The issue was raised in Select Committee by the Green Party but was ignored by the Government. A Supplementary Order Paper was introduced yesterday by Dr Graham to fix the problem.

Courts (Remote Participation) Bill in Committee Part 1 Dr Kennedy Graham

I listened with considerable interest to what the Minister has just said by way of explanation. I have to say that with respect he has not persuaded me in any way at all. I think in my year and a half in the 49th Parliament this is the most serious attack on constitutional rights that I have experienced. This Parliament has adopted 114 Acts reflecting Government legislation.

I pay tribute to the hard work that goes into that. I think it is important, while we are on this semi-jocular note that we do not denigrate the dignity of this discussion by introducing ad hominem, endless, interminable arguments about whether the previous Attorney-General was a lawyer, because that is a red herring, and this issue is far too important to try to politicise it and get red herrings going.

Question 12 Dr Kennedy Graham International Non-aggression Measures

Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Is the Government committed to ratifying promptly the amendment to the Rome Statute reflecting the resolution adopted by the states parties to the International Criminal Court at their review conference in Kampala on 11 June 2010, incorporating aggression as a justiciable crime?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs): The Government supports the resolution adopted by the review conference. The aggression amendment itself provides that the court's exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression is subject to a decision to be taken by the States parties some time after 1 January 2017. The Government does not intend to ratify the amendment until after that decision has been taken.

1st reading International Non-Aggression Bill

Courts (Remote Participation) - Thanks

From: Kennedy Graham
Sent: Wednesday, 30 June 2010 10:02 p.m.
To: Green - MP
Cc: Green - Staff All
Subject: Courts (Remote Participation) - Thanks

Thanks to everyone for pitching in on this.
We won it -- a rare moment of parliamentary democracy at its best, and the Greens genuinely influencing things.

The Minister proposed an amendment that guarantees the right of a defendant to be physically present in a criminal trial.

So, we were able to withdraw our SOP (and Labour did theirs).

-------------------------------------
Dr. Kennedy Graham
MP, Green Party
Parliament Buildings
Wellington, NZ

Justice Policy - Making Good

Definitions

Introduction

Vision

Key Principles

Specific Policy Points

1. Restorative justice
2. Righting wrongs and compensating victims of crime
3. Sentencing alternatives
4. Access to courts and the justice system
5. Maori justice
6. Youth justice
7. Prison management
8. Women in prison
9. Independent Prison Inspectorate
10. Independent Judicial Appointment Commission
11. Domestic/family violence
12. Gun control
13. Supporting a just society
14. Freedom of information
15. Privacy and surveillance issues
16. Police issues
17. International justice

Trade and Foreign Investment - Policy Summary

Key Principles

• The ecological limits to production and trade need to be understood and respected.
• We must promote sustainable and just ways to economic development and prosperity.
• Human rights and fair labour standards must be promoted and respected.
• The environment must be protected.

Specific Policy Points

Trade Agreements

• All international treaties must be voted on in Parliament before being signed, must give full effect to our Treaty of Waitangi obligations, and must put the rights of peoples and governments before those of multinational company investors.
• Uphold international labour and environmental agreements through an International Trading Organisation and regional trading agreements to replace the WTO).

Human rights