The Green Party will increase pressure on the Government to rule out testing of synthetic drugs on animals by holdings its own hearings today.

Kiwi sports stars have thrown their support behind a new campaign to protect what they say is a major threat to New Zealand beaches.

Handing state homes over to community providers may benefit corporate developers, the Green Party says.

Editorial: Naturally enough, the Government was keen to put the entire blame for what happened on "politicking" by Labour and the Greens.

A restructure and the loss of more than 70 full-time roles from DoC will have a negative impact on the environment, conservation advocates say.

The Greens have joined the Maori Party in calling for a review of the jailing of Teina Pora, who has served 20 years for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett.

The Green Party is calling for the restructuring of the Department of Conservation to be put on hold.

Labour and the Greens have defended their controversial electricity policy after New Zealand's business leaders issued an open letter asking them to withdraw it.

If Meridian Energy had already floated, it's a fair bet that its share price would have dropped after the Opposition unveiled its electricity policy a week ago.

The Green Party is upset that Trade Minister Tim Groser's international travel costs soared to almost $250,000 in the first three months of this year as he lobbied for support for his bid to be the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.

The Labour-Green proposal to cut Kiwi householders' power prices through radical market reform has been given the thumbs-up by consumer groups, but energy sector commentators are divided on the plan.

History shows that minority parties entering into coalitions with major parties are decimated at the next election, writes Bob Jones. One can only speculate why. .

The Green Party will launch a campaign on Sunday to pressure the Government to fund the proposed Auckland city rail link.

The Maori Party and the Green Party are asking the Government why prosecution rates of young Maori appeared to be far higher than Pakeha for the same crimes.

Were senior Cabinet ministers asleep at the wheel? Did they fail to step in soon enough when problems at Solid Energy were apparent? John Armstrong investigates.

Officials are investigating a proposal which could lead to the Pike River mine being turned into an opencast coal pit stretching into a national park.

A Green Party conference in Napier has been told plans for the Ruataniwha water storage scheme in Central Hawkes Bay are "subsidised pollution".

National has risen above 50 per cent again in the latest 3 News political poll, while Labour and the Greens polled 43 per cent between them - well short of a majority.

A proposed levy increase on the maritime industry to pay for cleaning up possible oil spills has been labelled "madness" by an MP.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will not meet a West Papuan freedom fighter who was refused a public forum at Parliament.

Proposals to change the Official Information Act are at odds with the Government's claims it is committed to openness and transparency, the Green Party says.

Times are very tough in manufacturing. The global recession has merely contributed an additional woe to a sector whose share of economic activity has been declining for more than two decades.

Auckland Green MP Julie-Anne Genter is trying to find a woman who retrieved her luggage after a driveby theft from a bus stop.

More leading export companies are on the verge of moving overseas due to the high dollar, Opposition MPs were told yesterday by manufacturers.

A lot of exporters of manufactured products had been waiting for an opportunity to vent anguish over the high exchange rate, writes John Armstrong. The targets of the anger - John Key, the Reserve Bank, Steven Joyce and the Treasury - were absent.

Stopping asset sales, getting government backing for the Auckland CBD rail link and engaging everyday citizens in the political process will be among the Green Party's key goals for 2013, co-leader Metiria Turei announced today.