Is anyone else wondering whether the Government has a credible plan for the future of New Zealand? It seems to me that all the talk of John Key being a 'safe pair of hands' when it comes to developing a prosperous future for our country is wearing very thin.

Every other day another snippet of information hits the headlines that undermines the business case for selling off our energy companies. The National-led Government insisted that selling our national assets was vital to balance the economy, but this we all now know is nonsense. Only recently, Bill English was forced to admit that Solid Energy is in much worse commercial shape than we were led to believe and could not be sold. So we have to keep it and spend more taxpayer millions fixing it up so we can then sell it. It’s a coal compan... Read more >

Lijon was from Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands and was 8 years old when her home island was showered in radioactive fallout from the March 1, 1954 US Bravo test on nearby Bikini Atoll. Bravo was the biggest of the 67 nuclear tests the US conducted in the Marshalls.  The Rongelap community and their islands were badly contaminated by the radioactive fallout and it was people like Lijon that bravely ensured that it did not go unnoticed.

Lijon will be remembered for her advocacy on behalf of her own people and nuclear test victims everywhere. She gave testimony to the US congress, travelled to the Japan, the Pacific and Europe telling the story about her community and the ongoing health problems from the fallout, which included multiple birth defects, thyroid tumours and cancers.

Li... Read more >

"With her death, a Totara has fallen," Wellington writer Fleur Beale said of Margaret Mahy's passing and, she was a well loved one at that.

Margaret Mahy was a fabulously fantastic storyteller who cast a spell over many of our lives with her way with words.  I remember well going to visit her 6 years ago. I was new in the job and she was one of Greenpeace's biggest fans and oldest supporters, having been part of Greenpeace since the 1980s.

I was feeling slightly nervous about meeting one of the NZ's literary giants but she made us feel so welcome and was so grateful for what Greenpeace was doing that sitting and drinking tea in her cosy Governor Bay house felt like sitting at home. She told us that when she first joined Greenpeace, there were "not too many voices on behalf of the environment... Read more >

Today is the 27th anniversary of the 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret service agents here in Auckland harbour.

That is a long time ago now, but every year at this time I am reminded in crystal clear detail of the day and the times, and of Fernando.

I’m reminded of what happened to New Zealand and to Greenpeace and of how important what happened then is still today.

I was on the Warrior as we sailed into Auckland on July 7^th. It was a bitterly cold winter day but we were welcomed by lots of boats out on the water. Many of which were from the Peace Squadron, a group of people that took to the water and protested every time a nuclear powered or armed ship sailed into our waters.

This time they were welcoming one of their own.

I remember very well sailing down the coa... Read more >

Damage at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reactor no. 4 and no. 3.

Because of the earthquake disaster in Christchurch, New Zealanders right now are probably feeling more deeply for those affected by Japan’s earthquake disaster than they might o... Read more >