Thanks to Fonterra, New Zealand is implicated in the catastrophic forest fires currently raging across Indonesia.

Fonterra currently imports a third of the world’s palm kernel expeller (PKE) to feed its industrial dairying herds, with figures reaching record highs this year. PKE is a product of the palm industry, much of which is operating unsustainably. It’s used as a supplementary feed on overstocked dairy farms up and down the country.

Decades of rampant expansion by the palm and paper industry in Indonesia has led to fires burning out of control in and around their plantations. Right now, millions of people across South East Asia are facing a fatal smog problem due to the fires, which are also rapidly destroying the habitat of a third of the world’s wild orangutans and other endange... Read more >

Today, the High Court in Wellington served a humiliating judicial slapdown for Trade Minister Tim Groser and his anti-democratic moves to hide the TPP text from the people of New Zealand.

Leading academic and campaigner Jane Kelsey, along with other groups including Greenpeace, had taken Groser to court after he refused to release documents concerning the shady deal under the Official Information Act. 

The judge ruled that Groser’s actions were unlawful and a breach of his Ministerial responsibility.  

We are now demanding that the New Zealand government release the full text immediately, so we can all see for ourselves what is in this deal. All the indications are that the TPP has been concocted solely for the benefit of foreign companies and their sharp-suited billionaires, not for t...

Today, Solid Energy announced that the closure of Huntly’s dirty coal fired boilers will result in more job losses in the coal industry. As the world moves away from polluting power like coal, the pain of this shift is now being felt keenly here, at home.

The writing has been on the wall for some time, yet John Key has failed to put in place a plan to support those affected and their families, and start creating jobs in cleaner industries.

He’s ignoring the enormous opportunity to create many tens of thousands of jobs in powering our homes with clean energies like solar.

The thing is, solar power - harnessing the energy from the sun - has made enormous progress over the years. It’s disrupting the current energy markets as costs crash and consumers are looking for cheaper, smarter ways of p... Read more >

(Photo credit: Sam R. Dyson/ActionSation)

Overnight Monday, ministers, trade officials and corporate lobbyists concluded the highly controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement - a shady ‘trade’ deal that has been cooked up behind closed doors.

While the Prime Minister and Trade Minister Tim Groser throw up the carefully crafted, detail-free words of their spin-doctors that it’s “overall a very good deal for New Zealand” or that “when you sense the bus is going to take off you jump on board”, this is far from a good deal for New Zealanders.

The way it is being reported overseas, the New Zealand trade team are said to be ‘disappointed’ at their 'unsuccessful' and 'failed' attempt to get a good deal as they accepted “ugly compromises”, it’s hard to see what’s in it for us.

In fact, it ... Read more >

There are two exciting, important and rapid shifts happening right now in the way our energy is generated.

The first shift is away from polluting fossil fuel power stations, and towards renewable energy.

The other is a transfer from power being generated at big power stations to power being generated at our homes and businesses.

Yesterday these shifts led to yet another polluting power plant in New Zealand closing down because it’s cheaper to power our homes and businesses with clean energy.

Contact Energy announced that they would be switching off their gas powered plant at Otahuhu because of the growth in clean energy, such as geothermal.

The announcement comes off the back of the decision to close Huntly’s choking smoke stacks as competition from cheaper power like wind and solar is making ... Read more >