Kia ora

Welcome to the Young Greens newsletter. What an amazing election it's going to be, when a quarter of our candidates are Young Greens!

Brooklynne Kennedy and Vernon Tava, Young Greens Co-Covenors
Welcome

You might be receiving this email newsletter because you:

* Told us your birth year when signing up for Green Party communications that shows you're under 35
* Are a member of a campus group
* Signed up to receive Young Greens notifications

Kereru will be sent monthly this year. If you want to stop receiving it, email us.

So who are the Young Greens?

The Young Greens are young people aged 16-35 who are passionate about our environment, stand up for fairness and equality, and want to see our economy working to look after our environment and our people.

Earthquake in Christchurch

Following the tragic events of February 22nd we hope that all of our Young Greens and their families are safe and receiving the help they need. We would like to share with you Metiria and Russel's message to those in Christchurch. Watch the video...

From The Young Greens Co-Convenors

Brooklynne on the Welfare Working Group

On Wednesday the Welfare Working Group put out their recommendations to the government. In the current National government everything comes down to how much money is made or saved, no matter the costs. The welfare system is only the most recent victim.

You possibly will already have heard people talking about how this will affect mothers with children. While these are horrible recommendation that would have a negative impact on our society for generations to come, it's the recommendation for those between 16 and 17 years old that interested me.

Those, on the benefit that are 16-17 have to live with a responsible adult and their benefit will be paid to that adult. While in some cases this arrangement will be fine, I envisage the power imbalance and struggle that will result in many cases. I envisage young beneficiaries not being able to access their own benefit, and possibly not even getting any of it.

This recommendation is a pathway to disaster.

Vernon on Campus Issues

The university year has begun and orientations around the country are in full swing.

Green MPs and candidates are traveling all over the country to spread the Green kaupapa.

This year the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill will be coming up for a final vote in the house. The Green Party have worked hard to block this bill and I can say from experience that it took student life at the University of Auckland years to recover from voluntary unionism after it was passed there in 1999.

2011 is an election year. If you've been thinking for a while that you'd like to get more politically involved, there's no time like the present!

If you're at University, your local branch of Greens on Campus would love to hear from you. If you are at a tertiary institution that doesn't yet have a Green student organisation, please get in touch with me. It only takes a small group to get started and you could be the beginning of something much bigger than you imagine.

Kereru newsletter

Kereru is the Young Greens Email Newsletter. We love to hear about your events and and the issues your passionate about.

We will have have articles from Young Greens to help you organise events and other ways to help with the campaign.

We will feature our Young Green candidates and let you know how things are going with them through out this election. We have an amazing bunch of Young Green candidates standing this year.

Send us your feedback or sign up for kereru kereru@younggreens.org.nz.