The Green Party's Ricardo Menéndez March

Last week, the government’s annual budget announcement for 2025 was made, detailing how government spending would be allocated over the course of the year and the programs that would receive additional funding.

While an array of programs are set to receive funding increases, critics have alluded to funding gaps in a number of areas, such as: Environmental Conservation, Māori development and Housing, all of which have received some funding boosts while simultaneously seeing cuts in a number of key initiatives.

For our Weekly Catchup with the Green Party, I spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the party’s take on the Budget 2025 announcement.

Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.

The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.

In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025. 

However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.

And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.

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

Just yesterday, Finance Minister Nicola Willis made her Pre-Budget speech, in the leadup to Budget 2025 which will be delivered next month.

During her speech, Willis said that the government would be halving the operating allowance from $2.4 Billion to $1.3 Billion, going to a select number of government departments that Willis has described as “the most important priorities.”

The week before, it came to light that Climate Minister Simon Watts had rejected advice to review the carbon subsidies given to polluting companies like NZ steel and Methanex.

And the Greens recently made a call to the government to ban the use of engineered stone products.

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

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.