The Green Party's Ricardo Menéndez March

Yesterday was the 7th and final day of Hīkoi Mō te Tiriti, the week-long Hīkoi in opposition to the treaty principles bill introduced by ACT, and other government policies impacting Māori.

It is estimated that more than 50,000 people from across the mōtu gathered outside parliament in Wellington yesterday, after a week of marching from the northern and southernmost points of Aotearoa, making this one of the largest protests for Māori and indigenous rights in history.

For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the conclusion of the hīkoi and the turnout at parliament yesterday. 

They also discussed a new proposal by Conservation Minister - Tama Potaka, to introduce fees to access conservation land.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has recently returned from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, also known as CHOGM, where one of the main topics of discussion was the impact of climate change and extreme weather events on island nations. 

While attending CHOGM, Chris Luxon told media and other delegates that he was concerned about rising sea levels and the pollution of water bodies in the Pacific, and that the government was doing “everything they could” to combat climate change and achieve net zero emissions.

Luxon’s attendance at CHOGM and stated commitment to mitigating emissions and sea level rises has been at odds with environmentalists and experts, who’ve said that the government’s domestic climate and industrial policies go directly against the Prime Minister’s statements in Apia, with measures such as the Fast-Track Approvals bill and reinstating of offshore gas exploration preventing New Zealand from achieving net zero emissions and contributing to the very same problems he was discussing.

For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March about Prime Minister Chris Luxon’s visit to Samoa for CHOGM, and his defence of the government’s climate policies. 

They also discussed a new partnership between Germany and Aotearoa to combat emissions in the agricultural sector, and the Green party’s call to close Youth Justice residences.

Over the weekend, the government announced a number of amendments that would be made to the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill.

The amendments included the addition of 19 new marine protection areas, 12 of which are high protection areas, but would also allow the continuation of authorised customary fishing in High Protection areas by authorised fishers.

While Conservation Minister Tama Potaka, who introduced the amendments, has lauded the bill for protecting the biodiversity of the Hauraki gulf while allowing local fishers to provide for their communities, the Hauraki Gulf Forum and numerous conservation groups have said bill will do the exact opposite, by opening critical areas of the gulf up to commercial fishing and threatening the region’s already endangered marine life. 

For their weekly catch up, I spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the recent amendments to the Hauraki Gulf Marine protection bill and the party’s take on it. 

They also discussed the recent 1news Verian poll showing that 40% of New Zealanders thought that Aotearoa was in a worse state today than it was last year, and the Samoan Citizenship Bill by Greens MP Teanau Tuiono getting passed in the select committee and moving on to it’s second reading.

Last week, infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Health Minister Shane Reti announced that the planned redevelopment of the new Dunedin Hospital would need to be scaled back, based on projections that the upgrade costs could reach or exceed $3 billion New Zealand dollars. 

Advice given to Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand, has been to either reduce the scale of the hospital’s infrastructural development or to develop the project in stages.

The decision has been widely criticised, both by the general public and local government officials in Dunedin, who say that the announcement contradicts the coalition’s promise to continue a project started by the previous Labour government to rebuild Dunedin hospital to full capacity and capabilities.

For their weekly catchup, I spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the decision to roll back on the development of Dunedin Hospital.

They also had a kōrero about the end of free covid test distribution and the government’s sign off on changes to increase speed limits.