Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Green Party

Budget 2025 makes it crystal clear that this Government has no interest in protecting nature or securing a liveable future for our tamariki.

Budget 2025 makes it crystal clear that this Government has no interest in protecting nature or securing a liveable future for our tamariki.

“Our environment is in crisis. This Budget proves the Government simply does not care,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Environment, Lan Pham.

“They have no understanding that their so-called ‘laser-focus’ on the economy makes them blind to the indisputable fact that there is no economy without a functional environment.

“Not only is there no new funding in Budget 2025 for environmental protection, but they’ve taken cuts further than we even thought possible. They’ve raided the waste levy and initiatives which were designed to provide at least some basic level of protection for te taiao.

“While our communities are crying out for action, the Minister for the Environment is nowhere to be seen. 

“We needed bold investment and courageous action today. Instead, we got cut after cut after cut. 

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Our Green Budget, with our Green Jobs Guarantee and expanded Jobs for Nature package, would provide credible support for green infrastructure, oceans, native forests, conservation, and climate resilience, allowing nature to flourish and thrive. 

“A better path was possible today. Instead, the Government chose to plunder our whenua and hand it to the highest bidder,” says Lan Pham.

Source: Green Party

Budget 2025 makes clear that the Coalition Government has no long-term plan to help communities most in need of public housing.

“This Budget treats housing like a game of monopoly, where a select few get homes while others are left out in the cold,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Housing, Tamatha Paul. 

“By cutting more money from social and transitional housing, the Māori Housing Programme and emergency housing, this Government for landlords has abandoned all hope of solving the housing crisis. 

“The callous decision to completely scrap emergency housing is paired with scaling down the long-term solutions of public housing. It’s clear this Government simply doesn’t care about people forced to sleep on the streets.

“When we hear the Minister talking about housing the ‘right people’ you know the Government is only looking out for a select few. Everybody needs housing – nobody can live a meaningful, fulfilling life without it.

“We need to ensure everyone has a home, but the Government has pulled the pin on large-scale public housing projects by Kāinga Ora that would have made a big dent in the backlog of people waiting for homes. This includes homeless whānau, people living in tents and those in overcrowded homes. Now families are left prey to the market which has more interest in profit than well-being.

“Public housing is as vital as public health and public education. It’s a human right – one this Government is denying.

“Under our Green Budget, we would build 35,000 new public homes in five years to clear the public housing waitlist and ensure everyone can live in a warm, healthy home because we don’t believe anybody should be left on the street.

“The housing crisis in Aotearoa is spiralling out of control amid rising poverty and homelessness. But instead of fixing it, the Government is making excuses. It’s time to empower Kāinga Ora to build big, and build fast,” says Tamatha Paul.

Source: Green Party

Budget 2025 delays our transition to a low emissions and low-cost energy network, this will put even more pressure on households, businesses and the climate. 

“This Budget doesn’t leave enough to keep the lights on, let alone spark the transition towards a low-emissions and low-cost electricity network,” says the Green Party’s Spokesperson for Energy, Scott Willis.

“Stripping $56 million from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority comes on top of last year’s vicious cut. This cut is effectively delivering energy hardship to those who are already struggling.

“Aotearoa can be a country where every home is powered with clean, green affordable energy that lowers our emissions and lowers costs on households. However, this will require action and ambition, something that is completely missing in this Budget. 

“A meagre $2 million for households to counter energy hardship is a joke when we know there’s some 110,000 households doing it tough.

“Since the Government has come into power we have seen the preservation of an energy market that prioritises profit and fossil fuels over our communities and the climate. This Budget further cements that direction and opens the door wide open to more fossil fuelled climate disasters. 

“A Green Government would separate the gentailers that are dominating the energy market and invest $4.8 billion in renewables over four years directly in new renewable energy and storage to benefit both people and planet in the long and short term. We can have cleaner, cheaper, smarter power with the right political will.  

“Through a mix of grants and interest-free loans, our Green Budget would create a Clean Power Payment to help people cover the upfront cost of zero carbon upgrades and energy efficiency.

“It’s not inevitable that thousands of people have to choose between heating and eating. Our energy network needs to work for us, instead of serving shareholders. 

“We can build a more sustainable and affordable energy network that puts people and planet before the profits of our gentailers,” says Scott Willis.

Source: New Zealand Police

Commissioner Richard Chambers, members of the police executive and wing patron former police assistant commissioner, Allan Boreham congratulated 74 graduating constables from Wing 384 today. 

Also attending the graduation and presenting a prize in absence of the Minister of Police was her worship Anita Baker, the Mayor of Porirua.

Families and friends celebrated the newly attested police officers at Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua this afternoon to acknowledge the successful completion of their initial training course. 

There are some likeminded individuals in the wing with 11 of the graduates having family members currently working in police.

Four graduating officers made the change from non-constabulary roles to police officers.

The wing is very diverse with eighteen recruits speaking more than one language and 19 recruits who were born overseas. The top prize winner was born and raised in France.

Top of wing, Constable Diane Aspalvo is a French-trained and certified clinical psychologist. She has worked as a psychologist in Paris and in Tairawhiti New Zealand before deciding to join the New Zealand Police.

She previously volunteered for the French Army as a reserve after a call-up for national security due to the terrorist attacks in France in 2015. She is a keen swimmer, skier and is also into CrossFit.

“I decided to join the New Zealand Police at 41 years old, so I am a living proof that it is never too late to achieve your dreams.”

Diane will be deployed to Eastern District.

Second Top Award winner Constable Hunta Sutherland, Ngāti Kuia is also a sporting talent, representing her district, Tasman, in football up to high school level.

Not only is she a ‘Golden Boot’ winner for the most goals scored  in a regional competition (39), she’s into running track, cross country, and road races with many podium finishes. Hunta has worked as a teacher’s aide with troubled and autistic youth which she found inspiring.

“While training at college I found strength I never knew I had, and a purpose I’ll never forget.”

Hunta will be based in Tasman District.

Leadership Award winner Constable Charise Perez is also a keen sports person excelling in netball. She was born in Wellington and raised by her Fijian dad and Samoan mother. Charise has experience in hospitality, service and politics. 

She began her employment at the Electoral Commission as an administrator. She was a community liaison and worked on the 2020 elections and has also managed administration for an emergency housing organization called Tuatahi Centre. 

As the leadership award winner, Charise gave a speech to the wing.

“I stand here today as a product of the relationships and bonds between the members of wing 384. Together we began our journey as strangers, but today we stand as brothers and sisters.

As we take the next step in our police journey, I believe that each and every one of wing 384 are more than capable of fulfilling the oath that we have just taken.”

Charise, a former Authorised Officer for Police, will be based back in Wellington District to start policing.

The wing is dispersed as follows:

Deployment:

Northland 3, Tāmaki Makaurau a total of 23 and broken down as follows: Waitematā – 9, Counties Manukau – 14, Waikato – 4, Bay of Plenty – 8, Eastern – 3, Central – 8, Wellington – 9, Tasman – 6, Canterbury – 3, Southern – 7.
The new constables will start their first week of duty in their Police districts from Monday 2 June 2025 and will continue their training on the job as probationary constables.

Awards:

Minister’s Award recognising top student: Constable Diane Aspavlo, posted to Eastern District. 
Commissioner’s Award for Leadership: Constable Charise Perez, posted to Wellington District.
Patron’s Award for second in wing recognising second top student: Constable Hunta Sutherland, posted to Tasman District.
Driver Training and Road Policing Practice Award: Constable Ethan Baldwin posted to Waitematā District.

Demographics:

25.7 percent are female, 74.3 percent are male. New Zealand European make up 56.8 percent of the wing, with Māori 12.2 percent, Pasifika 17.6 percent, Asian 10.8 percent, LAAM 2.7 percent. 

383 Wing Patron: Allan Boreham:

Allan Boreham is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and former head of Youth Justice for Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children. Allan holds the New Zealand Police in very high esteem and is honoured to be the patron for Wing 384.

He says he is looking forward to supporting the wing members to succeed and gain all the satisfaction a Police career offers. Allan joined Police in 1985 (in Wing 97) and served for more than 33 years. He was also a Deputy Chief Executive in the public service for five years in charge of Youth Justice.

His Police career was varied and involved completing a wide range of roles in public safety, investigations, and road policing. These included postings in Auckland, Tokoroa, Hamilton and Wellington.

He received an award for his leadership in solving the 1997 kidnapping and murder of an Auckland businessman, Graham Kirkwood.

Allan holds a Bachelor Arts, majoring in Sociology, from Massey University. He is currently learning to speak Spanish and is also a keen motorcyclist and skier.

His father Bruce, now in his eighties, also served in the Police for 32 years.

ENDS

Watch out for our Ten One story coming soon with more images and stories.

If you’re interested in joining police check out newcops.govt.nz

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

Police can now release the name of the person who died in the two-vehicle crash on State Highway 2 near Takapau, on Tuesday 13 May.

He was Tony Paul Saunders, 55, of Norsewood.

Police extend their sympathies to his family and friends at this difficult time.

The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.

ENDS

Source: Green Party

Budget 2025 has put our climate targets in serious jeopardy, says the Green Party. 

“Today the Government has done even worse than deny or delay climate action – they’ve actively chosen to pour gas on the fire,” says Green Party Co-Leader and spokesperson for Climate, Chlöe Swarbrick. 

“The Government is setting $200 million of our public money on fire to support fossil fuel executives’ profit, handing a lifeline to a sunset industry, instead of investing in real, resilient, renewable energy.

“They have the gall to call themselves ‘responsible economic managers’ while leaving us vulnerable to paying out billions in climate liabilities for failing to meet the Paris Agreement, which they also consistently act to push further out of reach.

“Our communities are confronted with ‘one in one hundred year’ climate change charged weather events year on year. The climate crisis is here. The measure of how much worse things get is the Government’s willingness to act.

“Christopher Luxon knows all of this and has said, ‘yeah, nah’ to a liveable future for all. New Zealanders need to know that this is not inevitable.

“The Greens have shown how we can reduce climate-changing emissions five times faster than the Government’s plan, while reducing the cost of living, and improving the quality of life.

“Time and again, this Government shows us whose side they’re on, and it’s not that of regular people, future generations or the planet we all share,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Source: Green Party

The future of the Ka Ora | Ka Ako school lunch programme looks to be uncertain with Budget 2025 failing to provide any funding beyond 2026. 

“The Government’s refusal to commit to funding the school lunch programme leaves thousands of families unsure whether their kids will be fed or forgotten,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Education, Lawrence Xu-Nan.

“Our children deserve better. They deserve kai that nourishes them, setting them up to achieve their full potential. The Government could have used today’s Budget to commit to feeding our kids good food, instead, it has left our most vulnerable tamariki wondering whether they will have lunch at school past next year. 

“The writing has been on the wall for months. ‘Seymour’s slop’ was always funded to fail. All of this looks to be a prelude to the programme being cut completely. 

“Expecting children to focus and succeed in school with empty stomachs is not just unrealistic, it’s inhumane. 

“Failing to fund this programme beyond next year shows exactly where this Government’s priorities lie–and it’s not with our children’s wellbeing. 

“As the Green Party showed last week, this is not inevitable. Our plan lays out real solutions, including expanding free school lunches, as a baseline funding, to more than 150,000 additional children every day. 

“We want all tamariki in Aotearoa to thrive and have a sense of belonging in schools.

“That means no child should go to school hungry. Full stop, end of story,” says Lawrence Xu-Nan.