Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 6 August, 2025

Earlier this week the government announced they’d be replacing the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) with a new set of national secondary school qualifications.

Minister of Education Erica Stanford says the current NCEA system was failing to help students develop critical thinking skills and was difficult for parents to navigate as well.

In that same week, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the FBI would be opening a dedicated law enforcement attaché office in Wellington. Defence Minister Judith Collins and Police Minister Mark Mitchell said that the new office would strengthen our ties with the five eyes alliance, with Patel additionally saying the move would counter Chinese influence in the region.

And the Green party recently launched a petition calling on the government to reverse policies of theirs related to emergency housing access that the Greens say have led to an increase in homelessness across the country.

For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.