The Green Party's Ricardo Menéndez March

Earlier this week, the Government announced science-based biogenic methane targets for 2050, in what they say will provide farmers and exporters with a clear pathway to reduce emissions while maintaining productivity and trade competitiveness.

Following Cabinet approval, the target will be set at a range of 14–24 per cent below 2017 levels by 2050, reflecting the findings of the independent Methane Science Review released in 2024.

For our weekly catch-up with The Green Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about this topic.

They also discussed the most recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and recent findings from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ showing Aotearoa’s oceans are warming 34% faster than the global average.

But first, they discussed the Government’s changes to methane targets.

Just yesterday, workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden revealed that the government had agreed to replace the Holidays Act 2003 with a new Employment Leave Act.

Under the overhaul, entitlements for annual leave, sick leave, and bereavement leave would accrue in hours from day one of employment, rather than being tied to weeks after certain periods.

Last week, Environment Canterbury (ECan) voted 9–7 to declare a “nitrate emergency,” a response to mounting evidence of groundwater contamination in the region.

And more than 5,300 people have signed the Green Party’s petition to restore Te Reo Māori names to two Wellington electorates after the Representation Commission announced that the names of the Rongotai and Ōhāriu electorates would be changed to Wellington Bays and Wellington North earlier in August this year.

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

Towards the end of last week, the government announced a number of measures aimed at expanding the available support services for rough sleepers.

One of the five immediate actions, announced by housing minister Chris Bishop and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka, included expanding the Housing First programme to fund up to 300 additional social homes for people already engaged with Housing First but still sleeping rough, however, both the Green Party and a number of city missioners have said that this wouldn’t be enough to accommodate the total number of people on the social housing waitlist in Aotearoa.

Additionally, earlier this week, Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle recently announced their resignation from parliament. Doyle announced that the reason for their resignation was a series of threats and ongoing abuse they’d received in March onwards, spurred by comments NZ First leader Winston Peters made about their social media posts. 

And last Thursday, statistics released by Immigration NZ revealed that approximately 20,980 people in New Zealand had overstayed their visa, following a previous study in 2017 estimated the amount of overstayers at around 14,000.

In response, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford announced a series of changes to the immigration act, which included: allowing criminals to be deported for serious crimes even if they have been permanent residents for up to 20 years, triggering deportations for providing false or misleading information, and crimes committed before coming to New Zealand.

For our weekly catch up with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss all these issues.

Last week, Defence Minister Judith Collins and Foreign Minister Winston Peters revealed plans to purchase almost $3 billion worth of US aircraft to replace the Defence Force's ageing 757s.

The five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters involved in the purchase, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, would be procured directly through the United States' Foreign Military Sales programme.

This week, a legal challenge against the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, will be heard in the High Court in Wellington.

The case will be argued on the grounds that the government breached the Treaty of Waitangi and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act when making the decision to disestablish the Māori Health Authority.

And the Green party recently launched a petition calling on the government to restore adequate funding to Polytechnics and to reverse cuts to vocational education and training.

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.