Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March: 16 April 2025

Foreign Minister Winston Peters recently completed the last leg of his trip across the Pacific in Hawai’i, having hosted a number of meetings with US military and political leaders in the American Indo-Pacific territories.

Winston Peters said that this portion of his Pacific trip was aimed at strengthening New Zealand’s partnership with the United States and our shared strategic objectives in the Pacific, additionally saying that “Our Pacific links with the United States are more important than ever”.

The week before, the Greens recently made a renewed call for Visa waivers to be granted to Pacific Nationals looking to travel to Aotearoa after the government announced that visitors from Pacific Islands Forum countries may be eligible for a multi-entry visa, into Aotearoa from July onwards.

And the government recently released their annual child poverty statistics, which showed an increase in the number of Tamariki experiencing material hardship, rates of food insecurity and the number of children in households receiving a main benefit.

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.