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People across Aotearoa deserve thriving, regional polytechnics that meet the needs of learners and the wider community.

Government cuts to vocational education and training have reduced classes, teachers, and support for people trying to build their skills. This means less opportunities for people and even less hope for those struggling under the cost-of-living crisis.

Our campaign is for the Government to properly fund our polytechs, end the cuts, and make a plan with communities to establish thriving polytechs across Aotearoa New Zealand.  

We've made a pack to support the "Save our Polytechs" campaign in your own communities. Fill in the form below to download your free pack! 

Communities across Aotearoa deserve thriving, regional polytechnics that can help meet the needs of learners and the wider community.    

Our polytechs provide people with opportunities to upskill, retrain and meaningfully contribute to communities - but our polytechs are in crisis.  

The Government’s cuts to vocational education and training have resulted in a reduction of classes, teachers, and support for people trying to build their skills. This means less opportunities for people out there and even less hope for those struggling under the cost-of-living crisis.    

The Green Party is calling on the Government to properly fund our polytechs, end the cuts, and work with communities to create a real plan to establish thriving polytechs across Aotearoa New Zealand.   

Sign our petition today and join us in calling on the Minister for Vocational Education, Hon Penny Simmonds, to do just that. 

[Petition Begins]  

Tēnā koe Minister Simmonds, 

Communities across Aotearoa deserve thriving, regional polytechnics that can help meet the needs of learners and the wider community – but our polytechs are in crisis. 

Across the motu we are seeing an extensive wave of staffing cuts, course disestablishments and even campus closures. Campuses across the country from Tokoroa to Wellington have been planned for closure, and staff and courses have been cut from Northland to Otago.  

This is the direct result of the Government’s Vocational Education and Training reforms. These directives for Polytechs to make cuts—just so they look financially viable on paper--are a poor choice.  

Decisions like these directly harm our communities.  

Our communities are already struggling amidst a dire cost-of-living crisis. From Northland to Otago, cuts mean a loss in jobs and opportunity.  

What we need now is support, not a reduction in classes, teachers, and investment in people trying to build their skills and enter into the workforce.  

We need to save our polytechs so they are able to provide people with opportunities to upskill, retrain and meaningfully contribute to communities.   

We are calling on you to Save our Polytechs, by:  

• establishing proper funding 

• committing to no further cuts 

• working with communities to create a real plan to establish thriving polytechs across Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Sincerely,  

The Undersigned.

[Petition ends] 

Open Letter to Minister Chhour 

To: Hon Karen Chhour, Minister for Children 

Kia ora Minister Chhour,  

We are writing to you today with a deep concern for the wellbeing and safety of tamariki across Aotearoa. 

Every tamaiti in Aotearoa, whether in the care of whānau or the state, deserves to grow up with safety and stability, wrapped in aroha.  

However, right now, far too many tamariki are being failed by a care system that is under-resourced, disconnected from whakapapa, and lacking a focus on preventing harm before it happens. 

Social workers are overwhelmed, facing dangerously high caseloads. Community providers are dealing with funding cuts and funding uncertainty every year. Independent oversight recommendations are constantly ignored. Far too many children in our care system are not having their fundamental rights met.  

As Minister for Children, you hold responsibility to ensure this system upholds the rights and dignity of every child in Aotearoa. 

That is why we are asking you to commit to a ‘Duty of Care’. A set of seven core promises that speak to the fundamental system change required protect tamariki, put them at the heart of government decision making and deliver a system that truly serves children. 

These duties of care are based on the voices and lived experience of care-experienced young people, whānau, community providers, Māori leaders, and the recommendations of several inquiries. They reflect the values of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights guaranteed under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Detailed below, these duties of care  are backed by clear, achievable policy commitments: 

The seven duties of care 

1. Every child’s whānau and whakapapa must be centred 
   Tamariki Māori remain disproportionately effected in a colonial state care system. We call for legislative reform to embed whānau and hapū leadership in decisions about tamariki and to re-centre care around whakapapa guided by mana enhancing processes.
2. Every child must be free from poverty 
   Poverty is a key driver of harm. We call for bold income support reforms including a universal payment and a simplified Family Top Up scheme to ensure every child grows up with the resources they need to thrive.
3. Every child must be supported, every step of their journey
   Children often fall through the cracks of the systems designed to protect them. We call for long term investment in prevention, trauma informed care and strong transition pathways, ensuring that funding and support follows the child across government service providers at all stages of life.
4. Every child must be heard, respected, and placed at the heart of decision-making
   Tamariki are still too often excluded from the systems meant to protect them. We call for the full incorporation of the UN children’s rights into domestic legislation, safeguarded funding for independent advocacy and mandatory child impact assessments in all government decisions. 
5. Every child must be protected
   Oversight without binding recommendations is not enough. We call for strong, independent, enforceable oversight of the care system including full implementation of all 138 recommendations of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care. 
6. Every child must have a stable, nurturing home
   Too many children face multiple care placements once in the Oranga Tamariki care system, and as such, lack the secure relationships they need. We call for a professional caregiving accreditation model, strong support for caregivers and clear accountability between the state and care providers.
7. Every child is cared for by a well-supported workforce  
   Workforce shortages, high caseloads and a lack of trauma-informed training undermine care quality. We call for equitable and fair pay, manageable workloads and targeted workforce development that prioritises community providers.

Join us. Sign below to demand a care system that finally puts children at the heart of Government decision making. 

Christopher Luxon’s Government has intentionally increased homelessness. They were warned their changes would increase homelessness, they went ahead, and homelessness increased.

They must make different political decisions to stop the growing problem, and instead ensure that everyone in this country has access to a safe, warm, dry, and affordable home.

We are calling on the Government to:

• Reverse their changes to emergency housing eligibility criteria, which are worsening homelessness
• Ensure emergency homelessness responses are fit for purpose by:
  • Introducing ‘Duty to Assist’ legislation, which would require the Government to proactively help people - especially our young people - with the support they need, instead of putting up barriers
  • Ensuring emergency housing assistance is continued until someone has access to suitable housing, without putting people into debt
  • Adequately funding wrap-around support and community organisations that support people with mental health, alcohol and other drugs, budgeting, food and the basics necessary to transition into stable housing
• Invest in long-term solutions to the housing crisis by:
  • Reinstating the state housing building programme, instead of cancelling over 3,479 new homes
  • Repealing no-cause evictions and strengthening renters’ rights

Our vision is for an Aotearoa where everyone’s health is taken care of, no matter who we are or where we come from. Achieving this vision requires strong health services that acknowledge and work with our differences – not a one-size-fits-all approach. 

Unfortunately, the Government’s proposed changes through the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill unwind that acknowledgement, and risk locking in the same one-size-fits-all system that has failed so many of us. 

Read our guide below, and then 

Submissions close at 1pm on Monday 18th August 2025.

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work because we don’t all start from the same place. This is most visible through Māori average life expectancy, which is 7-8 years less than non-Māori.  

We can remedy this – but it takes an approach that prioritises equity – treating each person according to their needs, in order to reach an equal outcome - not by treating everyone the same. 

What is the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill, and why does it matter? 

The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill removes equity principles from the Act, which will have an impact on how Te Whatū Ora, our public health provider, delivers services.  

It also removes Te Mauri o Rongo – the New Zealand Health Charter, the guiding star that requires health workplaces to be physically, mentally and culturally safe, while working towards Pae Ora at every level of the system. 

This will, in turn, impact all communities which suffer inequitable health outcomes, including Māori and Pasifika, migrant, rainbow and Takatāpui whānau. 

The original Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act implemented the recommendations from the Wai 2575 Waitangi Tribunal Report into Māori health, which found successive Governments had failed to bridge the equity gap between Māori and non-Māori health outcomes.  

Pae Ora was to bring us towards health equity by putting legal responsibility on Health New Zealand  Te Whatū Ora to bridge equity gaps. Removing this legal responsibility means Te Whatū Ora is effectively being told not to bother. 

Under the misleading guise of “equality”, this Government are attacking equity from all sides.    

First disestablishing te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, which was tasked with achieving equitable health outcomes and monitoring Māori health.  Then, they stripped Māori and Pasifika of early bowel cancer screening, something that would have saved lives and evened the playing field. Now they’re re-directing our biggest healthcare provider away from equity, and towards the same one-size-fits-all approach that got us into this mess in the first place.    

What you can do today is make a submission against this Bill, and tell the Select Committee how important health equity, and specially designed services are for you and your community! Submissions are open until 1pm on Monday 18th August 2025.

Key things the Bill does  

• Removes the Health sector Principles and Charter from the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act, which contain principles of equitable health outcomes 

• Weakens the role of Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards in decision-making on health services, instead consolidating power for the politically appointed Hauora Māori Advisory Committee 

• Removes the requirement for tikanga and mātauranga knowledge on Te Whatū Ora’s board, and removes requirements for cultural safety  

• Emphasises out-sourcing care to the private sector 

• Changes the title of the Act from Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) to Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) – this will have no material change, and requires the title to be altered in 40 other pieces of legislation. It’s little more than a dog whistle, and a waste of time and money. 
  
  
  

Make a submission  

When you’re ready, click here to make your submission.   

Try to use your own words as much as possible and tell the Government to abandon the Bill.   

Your own words and point of view are enough. Your submission can be as long or as short as you like. Only have one minute? It can just be a sentence saying you oppose the Bill.   

If you want to go into more detail, below is a basic structure your submission could follow, and we’ve linked more information below.  

Start your submission with:   

[I oppose the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill] and ask the Select Committee and recommend the Government abandon this Bill.]   

Make your recommendation:  

Tell the Select Committee why you OPPOSE the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill.  

We recommend putting this in your own words and making it your own.  

If you have experience receiving healthcare from kaupapa Māori services, Pasifika services, services designed for rainbow and Takatāpui people, or the migrant or whaikaha community – tell the select committee your experience and why you value these services.  

Providing these safe spaces, specifically designed for your community, is equity in action, and it’s important.  

Then you could say for example:    

• The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill takes us further away from where we need to be in terms of health equity.  

• The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill undoes the work towards meeting the recommendations in the Wai 2575 Kaupapa Inquiry on Health Services and Outcomes, and therefore continues to breach te Tiriti o Waitangi, as successive Governments have failed Māori health.   

• The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill undermines tino rangatiratanga by making Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards whānau voice only; Māori should have an active decision-making role alongside the Crown for Māori health.   

• The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill emphasises out-sourcing care to the private sector. Increasingly relying on the for-profit health sector will undermine the capability of our public health system to deliver the care that people need. 

• The removal of a focus on equity will impact my community, because it could result in less funding for services specifically designed for rainbow people and our needs.  

• The removal of the requirement for culturally competent care concerns me, because I often don’t feel listened to or believed in regular primary care settings.  

• I really value the hauora service that takes care of me and my whānau. The practitioners took the time to build a relationship with us, and we have a high level of trust we weren’t able to have with other health services.  

Then tell the select committee your recommendation: 

This is where you make recommendations for changes you want the select committee to make. We suggest you include here that you recommend the select committee to abandoning the Bill.   

This can just be sentence saying you recommend the select committee abandons the Bill.  

If you wish to expand on this, you can speak to key areas of the Bill you are concerned about, and connect those to the recommendation to abandon the Bill. This should be written in your own words.  

• e.g., “In light of the shortfalls and failings outlined above, I recommend the select committee abandon the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill.”  

This Government is breaching basic human rights and undermining our democracy by making it harder for thousands of people to vote. 

Everyone in Aotearoa should be able to have their voice heard, especially when it comes to choosing the government. Voting is one of the fundamental ways we decide who gets to represent us, and who gets to make decisions over some of the most important issues in our lives. 

Sign our petition to tell the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice to drop their anti-democratic changes to voter enrolment! 

The National-led Government's new electoral law reform will remove the right to enrol to vote in the 13 days before election day, including the right to enrol on the day itself.  

Tens of thousands of people could be denied the fundamental right to choose their government, with the Attorney-General’s report making it clear that Māori, Asian, and Pasifika voters, as well as young people are more likely to be affected by these changes. 

Sign our petition to stop the Government's attempt at voter suppression.

PETITION BEGINS:

Our request: That the House of Representatives urge the Government to abandon their anti-democratic changes to voter enrolment, and to not pass the Electoral Amendment Bill. 

Tēnā koe Minister, 

We demand that you abandon your government’s anti-democratic changes to voter enrolment. 

These changes will undermine participation in our democracy, and disproportionately exclude Māori, Asian, Pasifika, and younger voters. 

Your Attorney-General has determined that these changes violate our right to vote, as protected by the Bill of Rights Act. 

Your Ministry advised against this change because it would harm voter participation. 

We ask that instead of restricting the right to vote, you instead make it easier for more people to participate in our democracy, such as the recommendations of the 2023 Independent Electoral Review. 

Sincerely, 

The Undersigned 

PETITION ENDS

Have you enrolled to vote?

Once you have signed the petition, make sure you’re enrolled to vote for upcoming local government elections! Your vote can support good decision-making locally on transport, environmental protections, housing, water, parks and so much more. You can check your enrolment here. Enrolment for Local Government elections closes 1st August, after that you can enrol to do a special vote - check with your local council on their process.

We already have a rail network stretching across the motu – it’s time to use it properly and bring back passenger rail.  

New Zealanders deserve a modern, efficient transport system with real choices for how they get around – whether it’s driving, taking a bus, flying, or taking a train. 

Aotearoa was once linked up by railways and public bus services – with services between major centres, and a myriad of small towns in between. Today, we have a rail track sitting under-utilised, while fossil fuel prices continue to rise and flying domestically is unaffordable for many New Zealanders. 

Now is the perfect time to use the track that we already have and revitalise our passenger rail network. We’ve proven the demand for rail through the Te Huia service: it regularly exceeds patronage targets, has reduced emissions, and has high levels of customer satisfaction.  

It’s time to invest further in this network: expand Te Huia to Tauranga, reinstate the overnight rail service between Auckland and Wellington, and bring back the Southerner connection between Christchurch and Dunedin.  

Sign our petition to tell the Minister for Rail that you want passenger rail services reinstated! 

Petition Begins 

Tēnā koe Minister, 

We write to you to ask that you reinstate our much-loved passenger rail services across the motu. 

Travelling through Aotearoa is becoming inaccessible for many New Zealanders. The rising cost of fossil fuels is pushing up air fares, and the expense locks many of us out from travelling easily and affordably to see whānau, friends, and loved ones.  

New Zealanders deserve a modern, efficient transport system with real choices for how they get around – whether it’s driving, taking a bus, flying, or taking a train. 

Knowing you are an advocate for rail, we ask that you reinstate passenger rail services as a matter of priority, beginning with: 

• Extending Te Huia to Tauranga 
  
  
• Restarting an overnight rail connection between Auckland and Wellington with modern sleeper cars 
  
  
• Bringing back the Southerner between Christchurch and Dunedin 

Reinstating passenger rail will connect our regions up and down the country, allow for more efficient movement of people and freight, and reduce congestion on our roads – especially in peak holiday travel times between cities and towns.  

Te Huia has proven the success of passenger rail already, by exceeding patronage targets, reducing emissions, and having high levels of customer satisfaction. New Zealanders have shown they want rail and they will use it. It’s time to give the people what they want! 

Sincerely, 

The Undersigned 

The Winter Energy Payment is a government support payment that provides $20.46 extra a week from May to October to support beneficiaries and pensioners with the cost of heating their homes. Tertiary students are currently ineligible for this payment, despite lower incomes and disproportionate experiences of cold and damp rental housing.   

The Green Party’s members bill from MP Francisco Hernandez would remedy this inequity by expanding eligibility of the Winter Energy Payment to full-time students in tertiary education, supporting students to reach their full potential in tertiary education by reducing the cost and burden of high winter energy costs. 

You can read the full bill here.

Would you support this bill? Show your support today! 

Speak up for vocational education and training!

Make a submission on the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill. Submissions close at 11.59pm Wednesday, 18 June 2025.

Read more below on how to do a quick, or longer submission.

Our rangatahi and adult learners deserve opportunities for learning, and these need to be resourced well across the motu. 

The Greens have a vision for a vocational education and training system where learners and staff are respected and valued, where education is recognised as a public good and invested in. All communities – from Kaitāia to Bluff – deserve a network of thriving polytechs. 

Unfortunately, proposed changes from the government outlined in the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill do not share this vision. This bill threatens cuts to the courses and teaching staff that learners value and will block the vocational education and training sector from thriving.  

We know our staff and students deserve better.  

This bill: 

• Pulls apart Te Pūkenga into separate organisations, forcing polytechs to cut courses, cut in-person training, and cut teaching staff to stay afloat 

• Allows polytechs to have zero student and staff representation on their governing councils 

• Transitions the Workforce Development Councils into Industry Skills Boards but leaves the creative sector out of the new structure. 
   

We encourage you to make a submission to the select committee.

Tips:  

Your own words and point of view are enough. Your submission can be as long or as short as you like – it can just be a sentence saying you oppose the Bill. 

Try to use your own words as much as possible and tell the Government to stop the bill 

If you want to go into more detail, below is a basic structure your submission could follow, and we’ve linked more information below. 

1. Start your submission: 

I oppose the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill and ask the Select Committee and government to abandon this Bill. 

2. Make your recommendation: 

Tell the Select Committee why you oppose this bill. We recommend putting this in your own words and making it your own. 

You can start by saying who you are, what you do (for example “I am a parent, I am a teacher…”), what you value about access to education, and living in Aotearoa New Zealand (Te Tiriti, environment, looking after one another). 

Then you could say, for example:   

• Staff and student representation must be guaranteed on the Polytech Councils, similar to how it’s guaranteed for University Councils 

• If Te Pūkenga is disestablished, all staff and students must be supported through the transition, particularly those that need tailored support – such as the disabled, Māori and regional communities 

• The $20 million that was set aside in the budget is not enough – polytechs must get the funding they need if the Government is serious about thriving and independent polytechs. The polytechs that went into Te Pūkenga with debt must have their debts written off and the polytechs that went into Te Pūkenga with a surplus must have their surplus restored 

• If the new Industry Skills Board goes ahead, there must be a dedicated space for the creative industry to recognise their role as one of New Zealand’s top exports and biggest employers 

• Share your concern about cuts to staff, courses, and in-person training as a result of this model, and the impacts those cuts will have on people’s education and skills development, and the wider community. 

Communities around Aotearoa deserve a thriving vocational education and training sector with thriving polytechs that support learners and staff in their region. Your submission is a key part of making this happen – thank you for taking the time.