Five actions you can take right now to make a difference

Five actions you can take right now to make a difference
Credit: Maura O'Connor

The rumour going around this week was that Christopher Luxon was going to be rolled as Prime Minister. But it didn't happen. I'm not really sure what I think about it because, to be honest, I don't really see him as Prime Minister. He's just a puppet controlled by David Seymour and Winston Peters.

So do I care? Do I want someone as awful as Chris Bishop, as basic as Nicola Willis, or as cruel as Erica Stanford in charge? Probably not. Does any of it matter?

Who knows.

But our community mahi matters - so let's focus on that. Here are five things you can do to make a difference.

Oppose the Amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area Act

There is a petition up calling on the government to stop the proposed amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act, which threaten Māori rights and breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The amendments are terrible. They undermine Treaty principles of protection and partnership, strip whānau, hapū, and iwi of legal rights, and remove Māori kaitiakitanga, which in turn risks harm to our ecosystems. And like so many of this coalition's awful, rushed-through bills and amendments, it ignores tikanga and the lasting impacts of colonisation.

Attorney-General and Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson has said the changes would be "extremely harmful" to race relations in New Zealand.

Māori lawyer Annette Sykes said the proposed changes were "punitive" and "mean-spirited".

Hunga Rōia Māori co-president and lawyer Natalie Coates has said the coalition is "using the law to extinguish Māori rights in effect, because they do not want Māori to have a say when there’s economic development in the ocean.”.

Find out more and sign the petition here.

Read this great explainer about the bill: Why the government is changing the Marine and Coastal Area Act


Save art history

A lot of people are very worried about art history being removed from the school curriculum. I am a drop-out so I'm reading a lot about what smart people say about it - and it sounds...bad.

What you need to know: The government has announced that art history is is going to be scrapped from the secondary school curriculum. As per, there wasn't any consultation. Nor any evidence base behind the decision.

Here's what people are saying:

The problem with dropping art history from the curriculum - “Art history is so important for understanding the world, so students gain a lot of knowledge about the world's views on things, people's values, religious and cultural beliefs, their philosophies, et cetera."

Why Art History Matters for Designers - "Studying art history also taught me to think critically. It pushed me to ask why something looks the way it does and what message it carries. That same thinking helps me solve design problems today. I am not only focused on how something looks, but on whether it communicates clearly and with purpose."

An art history lesson in five artworks – selected by five experts

‘A terrible, tragic idea’: Outrage as art history axed from school curriculum

So here's the petition to retain art history as a stand-alone subject in Years 12 and 13.


Ban cruel farrowing crates

The Government has once again slipped a bill through without consultation. SPCA New Zealand have said that they were not consulted ahead of changes to the farrowing crate ban.

With just 10 weeks' notice, the Government has announced a bill that would allow the cruel crates to be used indefinitely, despite a ban set to take effect on 18 December.

This is despite a landmark 2020 Court ruling that ruled regulations allowing farrowing crates were unlawful.

That’s not all. The Government have announced that this is now open for public consultation, but only for two weeks.

A farrowing crate is a small, restrictive metal cage that is used to contain a sow (mother pig) during the process of giving birth and nursing her piglets. The purpose of a farrowing crate is to restrict the sow from turning around and to prevent her from lying on her piglets.

Sows are allowed to be kept in farrowing crates for five days before birthing and four weeks afterwards. Imagine being kept in a confined space, unable to even turn around, for 33 days. 

Submissions close at 5 pm on Thursday, 23 October. Find out more here.


What is going on in Sudan?

According to UN officials, Sudan is in “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history."

On the 15th of April, 2023, fighting broke out in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forced (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary faction, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Clashes spread across the nation of Sudan, and the civilian populace is caught in the middle.

With thousands reported killed, 5.6 million driven from their homes and 25 million people in need of aid, the impact of this conflict on Sudan and the region cannot be overstated.

Sign the petition: #HandsOffSudan - Protect Civilians in Sudan NOW

If you can, donate to Empowering Resilience: Micro Grants and Social Enterprise for Displaced Women or Darfur Women Action Group.

We have also donated to: Support Sudanese People Living with Diabetes.

Educate yourself by watching this Sudan video series by Red Ma'at or do the Sudan Syllabus here:  https://eyesonsudan.net/databases/sudan-syllabus.

Talk about Sudan on social media.


Support our firefighters

On Friday, between 12pm and 1pm, professional firefighters across the country will walk off the job as part of a pay dispute between Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU).

Firefighters say across Aotearoa, FENZ is letting the community down because trucks and equipment are failing, and there are dangerously low levels of career firefighters and 111 emergency call centre operators. In 2022, FENZ agreed “in principle” to employ an additional 230 firefighters over 5 years to maintain minimum crew levels. Instead of increasing the number of recruit courses, FENZ has reduced it. A truck offline due to a lack of staffing means one less truck to respond. It implies a truck will have to come from further afield, and minutes cost lives.

Support the strike action by attending an event on Friday.

Subscribe to #DireEmergency Alerts - Stand with firefighters. Stand for safety. Every alert keeps the pressure on — and every supporter strengthens the fight.

Show your support on socials by posting about the strikes with the resources here.

You did it!

Whether you did one action or five actions - you did something. And that matters.

Thank you for supporting your community.

Arohanui Emily x

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