The Waikato Regional Council is currently processing two applications to build industrial factory farms in the region. Buchanan Ellis Ltd have applied to build 6 new sheds that will house 42,000 chickens each in Waerenga and PIC New Zealand Limited have applied to triple the size of their commercial piggery to house 12,000 pigs in Maramarua. Both of these applications are limited notification, meaning the Council is not allowing the public the right to make submissions on these resource consents. We believe that factory farms are an issue of importance for the entire Waikato community due to animal welfare, environmental and health concerns, not just an concern for those who happen to live directly beside one. More than 70 percent of New Zealanders are opposed to factory farming and the overwhelming majority of Waikato residents do not want more factory farms built in our region. We should have the right to express this view to our local council in a healthy democracy.

Whanau and friends of Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa/Gisborne invite you to sign this petition to show you care about meaningful and effective Māori/Pākehā partnership in local government in Aotearoa. Recently the GDC voted unanimously to establish Māori wards. http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/local-news/20201124/maori-wards/ Historically Māori have not had fair representation at the decision-making table. We now have an opportunity to have equitable Māori representation at a local government level. However, there is a racist clause in legislation. If 5% of registered voters decide they don't want Māori wards, the GDC will be forced into a referendum which will cost our community thousands and will impact the mana of our community. While those against this are gathering momentum to block the establishment of the Ward we can counter the spread of racist ideology through the aroha in this petition. We are a small group of Pakeha, everyday citizens who want to provide support to our Treaty partners and encourage others to do the same. We acknowledge the hard mahi of Tangata Whenua and locals who have been fighting for the establishment of Māori wards. We hope this petition can tautoko te mahi and let you know we are with you. Please sign this petition to show the GDC and councils nationwide that we support the establishment of a Māori Ward and value on-going work of building relationships with our Māori community!

The way the Department of Corrections is currently handling the Waikeria Uprising breaches the human rights of these protesters. As human beings, the protesters deserve food and water. Currently, Corrections is denying them this and won't allow anyone in to deliver these basic needs. It would be an important sign of good faith to the protesters if they are granted this basic human right. Is New Zealand a country that starves people who are protesting for basic human rights?

Alcohol Healthwatch estimates alcohol-related harm in New Zealand costs $14.5m each day. The brunt is disproportionately on youth, Maori and Pasifika in our communities, and there is a link between high density of off-licences and the heavier drinking patterns that result in much of the harm. Harm includes the health of the drinker themselves, such as increased rates of cancer and fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as harm to others, with alcohol playing a direct or indirect role in many fire fatalities, drownings, suicide and self-inflicted harm deaths, and the growing road toll. 43% of all alcohol is sold from off-licences, like the one proposed. This new bottle store would increase the amount of alcohol in our community when we need to limit supply, and in particular reduce sales from off-licences where the liquor is then consumed in unsupervised circumstances (in contrast with on-licences). Local schools and parks end up vandalised and littered with broken glass, as people drink alcohol purchased at bottle shops in public despite liquor bans. Resources of both council and schools have to be used to clean up the mess, when some of it could be avoided by reducing the sale of alcohol in the area. Finally, the District Licensing Committee process allows people to make submissions to object to the application, and this petition is an important opportunity for those who can't make a submission to still be able to show their opposition. It is possible there will also be a hearing on this application, particularly if the petition is signed by a lot of locals, which will provide another opportunity for the local community to have a say.

The proposed rules in the District Plan would enable a huge 25 year housing development programme in eastern Porirua. The project will mean over 1000 state homes knocked down, families displaced and private property acquired under the Public Works Act to free up land for property developers. The plan will see an additional 2000 houses for private sale crammed into the geographically small suburbs of Waitangirua and Cannons Creek. The main theme of the proposed district plan is to allow greater housing density, which is needed, but currently it does so in a way that discriminates on social class. Under the proposed plan the generally middle class suburbs become the low density General Residential Zone and the generally working - class suburbs become the medium density residential zone. This means reduced amenities for the east only! The plan in it's current state doesn't go far enough to tackle climate change. Porirua has an empty city centre that has space for apartment style housing that is walking distance to public transport and amenities. This space should be utilised before digging into our green belt. With over 1000 houses set to be demolished in the East we need to ensure that waste is managed and minimised, and the new builds bring an opportunity to used renewable energy sources. We need a Porirua that all people can get around and the community can live in. Our current housing stock doesn't meet the needs of our disabled and ageing whānau. Building new homes and spaces gives us an opportunity to make sure that everyone is adequately housed, can age in place and is able to participate in community. If you want to make your own submission you can do that here: https://poriruacity.govt.nz/your-council/city-planning-and-reporting/district-plan/proposed-district-plan/

We support a 4-year parliamentary term to encourage future governments to implement longer term, more forward-thinking, strategic and visionary policies for Aotearoa New Zealand - rather than the current short-term decision making and electioneering cycle. A 4-year parliamentary term was suggested in the 2019 report 'Foresight, insight and oversight' authored by the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (Victoria University) and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. In September 2020, the local body organisation Local Government in New Zealand passed a remit supporting a 4-year election cycle. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/392952/new-report-calls-for-four-year-term-more-mps-in-parliament https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/four-year-term-worth-debating

In 2017, in the Speech from the Throne, the Labour/NZ First/Green Government made a commitment to having no new mines on conservation land. The Government has, however, failed to implement this policy, and as a result numerous permits for mining related activity (prospecting, exploration and mining) have been granted across the nation’s conservation estate. This is unacceptable. This campaign is so important, and so urgent that the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand are now supporting this petition also (from May 2021). Conservation land is highly valued by New Zealanders, and is held by the Government for conservation purposes. It makes up approximately 1/3 of New Zealand's total land area and is simply too precious to mine. There are classes of conservation land including National Parks, public conservation land and marine reserves and other protected lands and waters; public conservation land includes forest parks, scenic reserves, ecological reserves and stewardship land. Stewardship land has been cited as one of the main reasons that the no new mines policy has not been implemented. Some are of the belief that stewardship land is 'low value' and should be excluded from the policy, when in fact, stewardship land includes a range of land, a significant portion of which has very high conservation values; stewardship land contains approximately 28% of biodiversity priority sites. The Hauraki Coromandel region alone has more than 300,000 hectares of stewardship land, including the Hukarahi Conservation Area, the site of the first closure due to kauri dieback on the Peninsula, the Whangapoua Forest Conservation Area, some 5000ha of mature native forest and the Otama Wetland, a part of the nationally significant Otama Dune system. To groundtruth all stewardship land in Aotearoa will take many years, and our conservation land must not be left vulnerable to mining until that happens. The simple fact is that the Government indicating their intent to ban new mines being established on conservation land has resulted in the industry not only rushing to get permits to prospect, explore and mine in areas they want to target, but also lobbying to exclude stewardship land. This can not be a blanket in or out decision - there is too much at stake. Changes proposed in any review of stewardship land must include giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi via negotiations with manawhenua of that rohe. A moratorium would ensure that the question of stewardship land can be considered carefully to ensure that any policy is robust in protecting all conservation land, while not sacrificing some of our most significant areas to mining while the policy is finalised. Support from: https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/themes/custom/forestandbird/images/logo-forest-and-bird-og-image.jpg

Have you or someone you know ever tried to fill out a government form online? How about doing that on your phone? And uploading documents to it? What if your internet connection was limited? Or English wasn’t your first language? Or you were vision impaired? Or didn't have a credit card? What if you needed help to understand, and what you really wanted was someone to talk to? Consider the frustration this causes you and what it looks like when you’re made further vulnerable as you stare into the digital divide. The digital-only or digital-first approach being embraced by government agencies is excluding some of Aotearoa’s most vulnerable people and communities. This is unacceptable. We want to see people’s needs put at the centre of public services and are asking our representatives in Parliament, to pledge to ensuring this is the case. Interacting with government services is often about accessing rights and entitlements and it’s important that there aren’t any barriers in the way. Digital services are not the right response for all people or in all circumstances. There needs to be genuine choice for people about how they can interact - whether online, face-to-face, through others or by phone. It is critical that as a country we don’t allow the digital transformation of public services to further entrench disadvantage and vulnerability. We have written to politicians asking them to commit to addressing digital exclusion so that no-one is left behind or left out because they can't or don't wish to engage online. As part of this campaign, we are also seeking funding to cover the transfer of costs that has resulted from government agencies closing up shop in communities and sending people to get help from CABs, including to get paper copies of forms. Join us in this call to address digital exclusion so that we leave no-one behind! This campaign builds on the findings and recommendations of our report, ‘Face to Face with digital exclusion’. You can read the full report here: https://www.cab.org.nz/what-we-do/social-justice/digital-exclusion/

Moko, a divine treasure etched into the skin to enhance the cultural identity of Māori in New Zealand. Moko, beautiful markings reflecting the whakapapa (geneology), history and mana of the wearer. Moko, an important traditional practice used by Maori since time immemorial. Please support this petition to include 'moko','moko kauae','mataora', 'ta moko' as prohibited grounds for discrimination. History tells us our tipuna enjoyed freedom of movement as moko wearers, a legacy we should able be able to carry on as well.

Your support is urgently required as the Auckland Council will soon make decisions to cut funding for programmes that are designed to improve sediment and contaminant control in our waterways. A Sediment Programme is vital for our marine reserves and coastal waterways, however, the Chief Planning Office advises the planned Sediment Programme may be reduced due to a lack of budget. The Auckland Council Emergency Budget proposes reducing the programmes of the Healthy Waters Department and the Chief Planning Office. The budget cut will jeopardise Council’s ability to meet and support its obligations required by the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM), as it will negatively affect the Council’s ability to manage how much sediment and pollution is released into the Hauraki Gulf. This will affect the programme’s next step to improve sediment controls on large-scale greenfield developments and improve transparency between compliance performance and iwi / community expectations of water quality. This will have devastating consequences on the health of the Long Bay Okura Marine Reserve and other important estuaries and waterways around the Auckland Region, that are affected by the sediment from coastal development. Your support is urgently required as the Auckland Council will soon make decisions to cut funding for programmes that are designed to improve sediment and contaminant control in our waterways. The future of our waterways depends on action, please sign this petition to show your support. State of the Gulf: Auckland Council report finds estuaries choking in sediment, shellfish dying, June 2020 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12342221&fbclid=IwAR3yYpTDHB8QKcaqk2G2vrtEDDtvDGb3sBBYVlWEEXNp9szNuYBk05DF_lg

As the youth of Aotearoa, it is important that the decision and projects that we put forward work around securing our generation a safe future. The children of New Zealand will be paying off the debt collected from the stimulus project. We demand that you, as the leaders of today, ensure us a safe future

A creative culture needs critics and forums for discussion about art. NZ Review of Books reviews books published in New Zealand, it is solely dedicated to NZ books and is the only long form print review channel left in NZ. They have been running for nearly 30 years, and their editors estimate they've reviewed 15,000 NZ books in that time. Without funding this journal cannot survive. Without NZ Review of Books, writers, publishers, readers, librarians, booksellers, academics and students lose a vital part of the conversation about NZ literature. We wish to communicate our dismay at the decision Creative New Zealand have made to stop funding the journal New Zealand Review of Books Pukapuka Aotearoa. We ask that Creative New Zealand reconsider this decision. We believe that by deciding not to fund the journal Creative New Zealand is doing harm to the literary arts ecosystem in Aotearoa by removing one of the load-bearing pillars of critical discussion of books and ideas across multiple disciplines. As writers, readers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, academics, students and promoters of New Zealand writing, we rely on journals such as this to inform how we buy, lend, read and talk about our own literature. Our understanding is that Creative New Zealand’s work is to encourage, promote and support the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders. We believe the decision to stop funding NZ Review of Books undermines this work. It also sends a message that open discussion, debate and critical exploration of the literary arts and the world of ideas are not valued. We sign this statement as a protest against the withdrawn funding and to ask that Creative New Zealand will reinstate it so that NZ Review of Books can continue to publish.