Super-City lobbyist Grant Kirby's appointment to the Local Government Commission undermines its independence and exposes Rodney Hide's cronyism, Green Local Government Spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

Commerce Minister Simon Power today announced the reappointment of Fergus Welsh as the New Zealand representative on the board of the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).

19 May 2009 - Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced the Government will spend an extra $103.5 million over four years to boost maternity services for parents.

19 May 2009 - The government has today confirmed that it will invest an extra billion dollars in the state highway network over the next three years with the release of its revised Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding (GPS).

19 May 2009 - Green MP and Animal Welfare spokesperson Sue Kedgley says the Sunday programme's footage of a North Island pig farm has lifted the petticoats on the New Zealand pork industry and exposed the truth about the misery of sows kept in cages for months at a time.

The announcement today by Gerry Brownlee that he wants to kick start the New Zealand biodiesel industry is laughable, Labour Energy Spokespersons Charles Chauvel and Chris Hipkins say.

Paula Bennett's blunder over the Christine Rankin appointment is the most recent in what is now a string of bungles, raising real concerns about her own appointment, says Labour's Social Development spokesperson Annette King.

The people of Mt Albert deserve a political leader who is prepared to publicly debate the electorate's issues, so Melissa Lee should engage at tonight's community meeting on SuperCity proposals, Green Party Co-Leader Dr Russel Norman said today.

David Garrett, already famous for spurning individual rights, now alienates gun-owners who frequently support ACT, says Peter Linton, Libertarianz Firearms Spokesman. Garrett claims that "it was a mistake to abandon registering weapons."

Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister David Carter has confirmed that animal welfare investigators are carrying out an inspection of the pig farm at the centre of TVNZ's 'Sunday' programme.