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The Green Party's Ricardo Menéndez March

Our weekly catch-up with Green Party Co-Leader, Ricardo Menéndez March, every Wednesday on The Wire. 

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Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 26 March, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 26 March, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 26 March, 2025, 25.71 MB
Wed 26 Mar 2025

Just two days ago, the government announced a complete overhaul of the Resource Management Act. 

The RMA as it is would be dismantled and then split into two acts; a planning act regulating the use and development of land, and a Natural Environment Act focusing on the use and protection of land, air, water and other natural resources.

Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court said that the reforms were intended to streamline development more efficiently while also protecting the environment.

The week before, the Greens issued a call for the compassionate release of 77-year old inmate Dean Wickliffe, who is currently on a hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility after being arrested for being made houseless in violation of his probation conditions.

And Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick made a renewed call to the government calling on them to support a members bill of hers that would sanction Israel for their occupation of the Palestinian territories.

For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March: 19 March 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March: 19 March 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March: 19 March 2025, 22.84 MB
Wed 19 Mar 2025

As of yesterday, New Zealand Immigration have implemented stricter health screening requirements for the dependent children of temporary visa holders.

Under the new regulations, migrant children with significant cognitive or developmental disabilities requiring substantial support will no longer be eligible for student or visitor visas.

In that same week, Volunteer firefighters across the motu launched a petition calling for legislation change that would give volunteer firefighters the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts.

And, ACT party leader David Seymour announced that he wants local councillor candidates to be able to run under the party’s banner in the upcoming October elections.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March for the green party’s take on all of these issues.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 12 March, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 12 March, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 12 March, 2025, 26.06 MB
Wed 12 Mar 2025

Last Friday, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced a major overhaul to New Zealand’s public healthcare system.

Among the changes he announced were reinstating a board for Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ and partnering with the private sector to reduce the number of people on the backlog for elective surgeries, which would also see an additional investment of $50 million dollars between now and the end of June.

Earlier this week, the latest Taxpayers’ union Curia poll was released, showing that, for the first time since the general election, public favorability of Labour leader Chris Hipkins was higher than that of the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s.

And in this same period of time, The Greens recently launched a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March for the party’s take on all of these issues.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: 5 March, 2025.

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: 5 March, 2025. , 25.55 MB
Wed 5 Mar 2025

The ministry for Primary Industries has launched an investigation after a number of meals served to children by the School Lunch Collective were found to have their plastic packaging melted into their food.

This would be the fourth investigation launched into the collective after the government introduced the Alternative Provision Model for Ka Ora Ka Ako, replacing local suppliers.

Around this same period of time, a consultation document was sent to schools across the motu by education minister Erica Stanford asking for feedback on a proposal to defund and disestablish 174 full time roles for Resource Teachers of Literacy and Resource Teachers of Māori.

And the Greens recently issued a call to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calling on him to rule out any possibility of joining the AUKUS military pact, following the contentious bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Whitehouse last week.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March for the Green Party’s take on all of these issues.

Weekly Catchup w /The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: 26 February, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w /The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: 26 February, 2025 Weekly Catchup w /The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: 26 February, 2025, 25.85 MB
Wed 26 Feb 2025

Protesters have begun occupying Lake Rotokākahi, a tapu lake in Rotorua, over a decision by the Rotorua lakes council to construct a sewerage pipeline, with the last 1.3km of the pipeline being laid near the lake. The protestors, largely descended from Tūhourangi and Tūmatawera hapū, believe the works will desecrate the lake site and pollute it and seven arrests have been made so far.

The week before, Stats NZ published their annual child poverty statistics report, which showed that the number of children living in material hardships increased by 0.9% from last year and that the government missed all three of its targets for reducing child poverty.

And in that same week, Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament, which would require manufacturers to provide repair parts and resources to allow consumers to extend the life cycle of the products they use.

Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March for the green party’s take on all of these issues.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 19 February, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 19 February, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 19 February, 2025, 23.02 MB
Wed 19 Feb 2025

The government recently announced a new fund of $30 million dollars towards biodiversity and tourism infrastructure projects. 

The $19 million in this fund going towards biodiversity funding would be invested in: Stopping the spread of wallabies and managing pest populations in National Parks, targeted predator control to protect native bird species and wilding pine removal.

Just before this announcement, members of Destiny Church held disruptions at multiple pride events over the weekend, including one at Te Atatū library in West Auckland which resulted in a number of library staff and bystanders getting injured in the confrontation.

Additionally, a deportation notice was given to Daman Kumar - an 18 year old of Indian origin who was born and raised in Aotearoa, telling him to leave the country and migrate to India by Monday this week. 

For his weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto discussed all of these recent events with him for the Green Party’s take on the issue

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March:12 February, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March:12 February, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March:12 February, 2025, 25.35 MB
Wed 12 Feb 2025

Last week, and less than a month after the ceasefire in Gaza took place, US President Donald Trump announced plans to administer the Gaza Strip under American control after the final stage of the ceasefire and to relocate the strip’s Palestinian population, turning the Gaza strip into what Trump has described as the “Riviera of the Middle-East”.

While lauded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet, Trump’s proposal was unanimously rejected and condemned, both by Middle-Eastern nations in the region but also US and Israeli allies like Canada and the United Kingdom, who reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution.

However, while Aotearoa’s official policy is also to support a two-state solution to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, there has been no comment on Trump’s proposal by Foreign Minister Winston Peters, or any other government official.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March to discuss Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza and the lack of a response to it from the New Zealand government.

They also discussed the government's plan to change climate reporting laws for companies, and the overhaul of the Public Works Act to compensate Māori for confiscated land.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 22 January, 2025

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 22 January, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 22 January, 2025, 22.13 MB
Wed 22 Jan 2025

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a major reshuffling of ministerial portfolios within the National party. 

Among the most notable portfolio changes was handing over Dr Shane Reti’s role as minister of health to Transport Minister Simeon Brown and the appointment of Nicola Willis as Minister of the newly created portfolio of Minister of Economic Growth, a title formerly known as the Minister of Economic Development.

The cabinet reshuffle has led to concerns about the fate of Health NZ and Aotearoa’s healthcare sector, noting that Shane Reti had over 20 years of experience working in medicine, whereas Simeon Brown has none. 

The reshuffle also comes shortly after a recent poll by the Taxpayers Union showed that National’s approval rating had fallen below 30%, the lowest rating they’ve received while in government since 1999.

For their Weekly Catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March about the Cabinet reshuffle and the implications it may have for the healthcare sector and economy.

They also discussed the government’s new free speech legislation for Universities and the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force.

Treaty Principles Bill Submissions and the Regulatory Standards Bill w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 15 January, 2025

 Treaty Principles Bill Submissions and the Regulatory Standards Bill w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 15 January, 2025 Treaty Principles Bill Submissions and the Regulatory Standards Bill w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March: 15 January, 2025, 23.11 MB
Wed 15 Jan 2025

Submissions on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill were set to close last week, when on the final few days of submissions the portal to submit suffered technical difficulties. 

Due to this, many people were unable to send in their submissions on time. Parliament made the decision to extend the submission period to make up for the issue. With thousands also handing their submissions in person. 

The bill is estimated to have had more than 300,000 submissions prior to the original deadline, making it the most highly submitted on bill in history. 

For the weekly catchup with the Green Party Evie spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the submission process. 

They also talked about the contested Regulatory Standards Bill which has also recently come into the spotlight. 

 

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: December 11th, 2024

 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: December 11th, 2024 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March: December 11th, 2024, 21.47 MB
Wed 11 Dec 2024

The Green party recently released He Ara Anamata - the Green party’s emissions reduction plan.

The document covers more than 10 areas of the economy and energy Sector that a Greens-led government would be looking to adapt to minimise carbon emissions and protect the natural landscapes of Aotearoa. 

It also comes 5 months after the government released their own draft emissions plan. Numerous experts pointed out that the government is behind on their own plan’s targets to meet the crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035.

For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the party’s new emissions reduction plan and how they would address climate and the economy in a greens-led government.