Tag: Human Rights

Last Thursday, Green MP Keith Locke called for New Zealand to take a stance on the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka. It took a week but the National-led Government has reacted.

Green Party MP Keith Locke says New Zealand still has several human rights challenges 60 years after it signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Tomorrow, December 10, is the Universal Declaration’s 60th anniversary.

The Green Party Population Policy does not seek in any way to influence the number of children New Zealanders should have, as could be taken from a TV3 news item tonight. “One sentence in the policy has been wrongly interpreted to mean the Green Party are putting pressure on parents to have fewer children,” Green Party MP Keith Locke says.

New Zealanders will be disturbed to learn that China has been conducting a massive spying operation on the online phone service Skype, and that one of the trigger phrases is ‘milk powder’, Green Party Human Rights Spokesperson Keith Locke says.

Green Party MP Keith Locke is concerned that the new Search and Seizure Powers Bill will further intrude on New Zealanders’ privacy. "Much of a person’s life is increasingly on their computer these days, so it is worrying that the bill provides more general powers to search computers, even by remote access or hacking," Mr Locke says.

Green Party MP Keith Locke has warned the Labour Government against any ban on gangs. Corrections Minister Phil Goff has been reported today as being prepared to support a ban similar to that being applied in South Australia, if it ‘proves effective’.

Green Party MP Keith Locke says Police Commissioner Howard Broad’s day long consultation with MPs before deciding to introduce Tasers is a travesty. "My high hopes that Mr Broad was serious about hearing MPs have been dashed by this sudden decision," Mr Locke says.

This is a very sad day for policing in New Zealand. Our country has prided itself on a much lower level of violence in policing than other jurisdictions like the United States. Let’s be blunt about it. Some New Zealanders will die unnecessarily as a result of this decision.

Green Party MP Keith Locke welcomes the Court of Appeal’s decision upholding bail to a jailed Iranian Christian, and says Parliament should delete a provision in the Immigration Bill that allows indefinite detention.