The Green Party's Ricardo Menéndez March

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.

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.

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.

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.