To value our teachers, we must first understand the immense scope of their role. Every day, they are so much more than just educators. They are: • Mentors and Role Models, guiding students through critical stages of their personal and academic development. • Counsellors and Mental Health First Responders, providing a safe space and crucial support for students facing anxiety, stress, and hardship. • Innovators, constantly adapting their teaching methods to cater to diverse learning needs, including those of students with disabilities and learning challenges. • Mediators, skillfully resolving conflicts and teaching students vital social and emotional skills. • Community Liaisons, bridging the gap between school and home, and working closely with whānau to support student success. • Administrators, managing extensive record-keeping, assessment, and reporting requirements, often outside of teaching hours. This immense emotional and administrative labour is performed on top of their core responsibility: to plan and deliver a world-class education. Why Teachers are Essential for Future Generations: Well-supported, fairly compensated, and respected teachers are the foundation of a thriving society. They are directly responsible for cultivating the skills and values our country will need to succeed in the 21st century. • They build a skilled workforce, preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow and driving our economic growth. • They foster critical thinkers and engaged citizens, which are essential for a healthy and robust democracy. • They nurture resilient and empathetic individuals, creating stronger, safer, and more connected communities. When we support our teachers, we are supporting our children and paving the way for a better future for Aotearoa.  Please sign and share this petition, together, we can make a difference and ensure better working conditions for our teachers and school staff.

Education is essential to our community’s future. Everyone who wants to increase knowledge and skills should have the opportunity to learn. NorthTec isn't just a campus, this is the heart of our region, upskilling in tertiary and vocational education in Te Tai Tokerau. NorthTec is Under Threat - Te Tai Tokerau Needs Your Voice! NorthTec was built to serve our people, but now our future is on the line. If proposed cuts go ahead, we risk losing: • Teachers/Kaiako - the heart of our classrooms • Librarians - keeping knowledge alive • The Student Café - a hub for connection   • Student Voice - silencing the voices of ākonga • Student Support Services - academic and pastoral • Disability + Health Services  • Administration and support services (ICT, Marketing, Enrollments, Registrar, Business) • Academic Programmes - admin coordination are the heart of front line delivery • Regional Campuses must stay open with support services • International Students  These proposed cuts will isolate learners, strip away support and threaten the mana of vocational education in Te Tai Tokerau. Sign now, share this amongst whanau and friends and stand with us here at NorthTec/Te Pūkenga. Your signature adds strength to our movement, join us.

Everyone in our community deserves to be housed. People should have agency over their housing, and it should be designed to be fully accessible and based on how people want to live. This would strengthen our communities, make life easier for whānau and provide the stability needed for a thriving city. But successive governments have not done enough to make sure everyone in our community has a suitable housing. Now, the National-led Government plan to sell off state housing and make it less available to our communities. This will lead to more people living in unaffordable and unsuitable private rentals, in their cars and on the streets. It also means that state-owned land will be privatised that should otherwise be returned to hapū and iwi for Māori housing solutions. In Tai Tokerau we have:  - 1000+ households on the Housing Register  - 5856+ people experiencing Severe Housing Deprivation (homelessness) *Census 2023 (grown since data was collected) - Kāinga Ora is selling 59 homes to the private market - And still, this National government has decided to cancel 40 developments, 450 homes that were in the pipeline, that would've housed whānau in need in Tai Tokerau[1] We know from our own history and from overseas, that when governments play a bigger role in building and providing decent and suitable housing, we lay the foundation for thriving communities. We have built state housing at scale as a solution before, and we can do it again. We are calling on Minister for Housing, Chris Bishop; Minister for Māori Development, Tama Potaka; MP for Whangārei, Shane Reti; and MP for Northland, Grant McCallum to advocate for the people of our communities to ensure that everyone has a decent, stable and accessible home, and to stop the sell off. References: 1. Critical housing shortage: Kāinga Ora axes 40 new Northland projects. Northern Advocate, 12 July 2025

Why is this important? Auckland should be a city built for people, not for cars - no matter where you live everyone should be able to access great, affordable, and reliable public transport. Every Aucklander knows traffic is out of hand and only getting worse Aucklanders spend more than 80 hours a year in traffic on average[1]. It costs the city more than $2billion dollars a year in lost productivity. An estimated 2,247 premature deaths, 9,400 hospitalizations and 13,200 cases of childhood asthma come from vehicle emissions per year in Aotearoa[2]. Transport makes up 39% of Aotearoa's greenhouse gas emissions[3]. It's also expensive: $7,000 a year to maintain a car, and New Zealand has by some measures the highest car ownership in the world. As Auckland continues to grow it is important that we give people alternatives to car ownership. Trains, Buses and Ferries that are all well connected and affordable can make a huge difference. We know this because it happened before. Back in 1955 when the tram system still existed in Auckland, 58% of trips were made via public transport - now in 2025 it’s down to 5%.  It is time to build cities for people and not for cars - sign this petition and together we can make a change!   If it's there people use it: in 1955 when the tram system still existed in Auckland, 58% of trips were made by public transport. Now it's just 5%. 40% of commuters from the North shore now use the Northern Expressway buses. It is possible to build a city for people rather than cars. References 1 https://at.govt.nz/media/pqxhk3cn/auckland-transport-cost-of-congestion-white-paper.pdf 2 https://www.esr.cri.nz/media/edmf0i4c/esr-environmental-health-report-public-health-risks-transport-emissions.pdf 3 https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/transport/

Restoring this vital rail link would benefit over 750,000 people by providing an affordable and accessible alternative to air travel and long-distance coaches, which older and disabled passengers often find inaccessible. It would reduce reliance on private vehicles, improving road safety. Reintroducing this service would boost regional economies, uplift tourism in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful and under-served regions, and build a more connected and equitable transport network for all.

Aotearoa should be a place where people are encouraged and supported by their government to engage in democratic processes. Where usage of plain language in documents is encouraged, and people have the ability to understand their rights within seconds no matter where they come from or what their background is.  Right now our government has chosen to treat accessible language differently to other equitable measures by excluding Plain Language from their budget.  Although plain language is a less tangible concept, the importance of it to people across Aotearoa is no less vital than having wheelchair ramps in public buildings, or sign language interpreters during emergency broadcasts. Simple, easy to read language helps our more vulnerable groups in Aotearoa to receive fair treatment in all sectors of government.  Over 1.3 million adult New Zealanders have low literacy/numeracy skills, with Māori and Pacific peoples significantly overrepresented in this group. This leads to higher barriers in employment, health, income, and civic engagement for these communities[1].  Furthermore, up to 10% of New Zealanders have communication issues, including difficulties that directly affect reading, writing, or understanding official information. There are also more than 11,530 children with swallowing difficulties, 95,000 people with autism, and 60,000 children with auditory processing disorder, all conditions that can impact effective engagement with complex or non-plain language content[2].   Plain language is also a vital tool for older generations, many of whom are navigating digital systems and filling out important forms independently, often without someone to assist them. Keeping Plain Language requirements in legislation means everyone is considered when the government publishes information.  By taking it away, the government is forgetting why it was put into place: to keep all of us in the loop.  No one should have to spend hours filling out and decoding benefit forms, immigration forms, justice information, or health information. The budget we pay for should work for us, too.  Now is the time for us to take action that will protect our most marginalised brothers and sisters. Action that allows for everyone to be part of the conversation, and puts equitable care at the heart of our government's services.  References: 1. An Empirical Portrait of New Zealand Adults Living With Low Literacy and Numeracy Skills. AUT NZ Pathways Research Institute. 2022: https://nzpri.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/522827/An-empirical-portrait-of-New-Zealand-adults-living-with-low-literacy-and-numeracy-skills_report.pdf 2. Communication and Swallowing Disabilities in New Zealand: Data Fact Sheet 2023. Speech-language Therapists New Zealand. 2023: https://speechtherapy.org.nz/assets/Uploads/SLT-Business-Case-2024/Communication-and-Swallowing-Disabilities-in-New-Zealand-Data-Fact-Sheet.pdf?vid=4

No matter who we are, or where we come from, we all deserve to live a life of dignity, free of pain and struggle. A life where we are believed and we have access to the care that we need. However, there are thousands of us every day who live in the abrupt edges of medical understanding and right now, there are far too many women, girls, and people assigned female at birth are being dismissed, misdiagnosed, or denied access to the care and support they need. [3][6]. At least one in seven women, girls, and people assigned female at birth in Aotearoa live with endometriosis (mate kirikopu), a chronic and often disabling inflammatory condition that causes pelvic pain, fatigue, infertility, and damage to multiple organs [1][10]. Despite this, most with endometriosis (mate kirikopu)are not being taken seriously by our health system. The national endometriosis (mate kirikopu) guidelines, last released in 2020 by the Ministry of Health, were never intended to be formal clinical guidance [11]. They are not mandatory, they are missing key protections, and they are letting them fall through the cracks. The current guidelines are not fit for purpose, they are outdated, non-binding, and were never designed to function as formal clinical guidelines. In practice, this leaves women, girls, and people assigned female at birth with endometriosis (mate kirikopu) facing inconsistent care, delayed diagnoses, and limited access to the treatment they need to live full, healthy lives. The current guidance lacks clear timeframes for action, formal referral pathways, youth-specific approaches, accountability mechanisms, and adequate inclusion of Māori, Pasifika, LGBTQIA+, and disabled communities. Too often, those with endometriosis (mate kirikopu) are passed between GPs and emergency departments for years without answers. The average time to diagnosis in Aotearoa is still 7 to 10 years [2][7]. That means they are missing school, losing jobs, giving up dreams of having tamariki, or falling into depression and isolation before they are even believed [3][5][6]. For marginalised groups, the situation is even worse. Young people, Māori, Pasifika, disabled and gender-diverse people are more likely to be dismissed, misdiagnosed, or denied access to care. [3][6]. That means many healthcare providers don’t follow it, and there are no consequences when patients are ignored, misdiagnosed, or left untreated. We need more than just suggestions. We need mandatory, enforceable standards that every health provider in Aotearoa must follow. We need guidelines that uphold mana, affirm lived experience, and work for all, not just a privileged few who can afford private care or know how to fight the system. Studies show that: • The impacts of Endometriosis (mate kirikopu) go far beyond physical pain, impacting mental health, daily functioning, and overall wellbeing with those affected • Up to 98% of women, girls, and people assigned female at birth with endometriosis (mate kirikopu) experience symptoms of depression, and around 87% experience anxiety [1]. These mental health struggles are often made worse by diagnostic delays, medical gaslighting, and lack of access to effective treatment and support [2][3]. • Women, girls, and people assigned female at birth with endometriosis (mate kirikopu) report a significantly reduced quality of life compared to the general population, especially in the areas of physical function, emotional wellbeing, sexual health, and work productivity [4][5]. This is not just due to pain, but also the psychological toll of being dismissed, misdiagnosed, or ignored by the healthcare system [3][6]. • Research also shows that youth with endometriosis (mate kirikopu)-like symptoms are often told their pain is normal, resulting in long-term harm to mental health, school attendance, and body trust [7]. Without guidelines that address these impacts holistically and offer clear, equitable pathways to care, women, girls, and people assigned female at birth will continue to fall through the cracks. We need guidelines that work in real life, not just on paper. A community-led review by Endo Warriors Aotearoa and our Youth Advisory Board outlines how the current guidance fails us. It shows the harm caused by relying on hormonal contraception as the default treatment [3] [6], how hard it is to access skilled excision surgery [2] [7], and how little support exists for holistic or culturally grounded pain management [3].  He wā tēnei. It is time. Sign the petition today and stand with our hāpori to demand a new standard of care for endometriosis (mate kirikopu) in Aotearoa, a new standard that embeds lived experience, Māori and Pasifika voices, youth insight, and gender diversity into every part of care, a health system that believes us, supports us, and works for us.  References: [1] Armour, M., et al. (2019). The prevalence and impact of endometriosis symptoms on quality of life among young women: a cross-sectional study. BJOG, 126(6), 755–759. [2] Ballard, K., Lowton, K., & Wright, J. (2006). What’s the delay? A qualitative study of women’s experiences of reaching a diagnosis of endometriosis. Fertility and Sterility, 86(5), 1296–1301. [3] Culley, L., et al. (2018). The social and psychological impact of endometriosis on women’s lives: A critical narrative review. Human Reproduction Update, 24(6), 625–639. [4] Riazi, H., et al. (2014). Clinical diagnosis of pelvic endometriosis: a scoping review. BMC Women’s Health, 14(1), 73. [5] Jones, G., Jenkinson, C., & Kennedy, S. (2004). The impact of endometriosis on quality of life: a qualitative study. BJOG, 111(4), 410–418. [6] Denny, E., & Mann, C. H. (2007). Endometriosis and the primary care consultation. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol, 132(2), 224–228. [7] Missmer, S. A., et al. (2014). Incidence of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis by demographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors. Am J Epidemiol, 179(6), 721–730. [8] Missmer, S. A., et al. (2014). Incidence of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis by demographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors. Am J Epidemiol, 179(6), 721–730. [9] Zhang, T., et al. (2020). The link between endometriosis and autoimmune diseases. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 339. [10] Ministry of Health. (2020). Diagnosis and Management of Endometriosis in New Zealand. Wellington: Ministry of Health. “While not a formal clinical guideline, it provides a consensus view of best-practice principles.” (p. 2)

No matter who we are or where we come from, we all deserve to heal with dignity and safety at its core. For survivors of trauma, access to services that nurture healing in a healthy way are paramount - and this support shouldn’t end at our borders.  I’m a survivor of trauma with an accepted sensitive claim under ACC. But the moment I left New Zealand — for safety, for healing, for survival — ACC cut off my access to the counselling I was promised.I’m transgender, disabled, and neurodivergent. Trauma support isn’t optional for me. It’s survival. ACC’s current policy is cruel. It forces people like me to fly back to Aotearoa — sometimes at great risk — just to be reassessed for support we’ve already been approved for. Others have been left without any care at all, as if their pain matters less once they leave the country. I know I’m not the only one. I know there are others — Māori survivors, queer survivors, disabled survivors — who’ve been silenced, cut off, and left to suffer in silence overseas. This matters because trauma doesn’t respect borders, and neither should care - sign this petition and together we can make a change!

We all deserve to have safe, affordable and secure places to call our home. But for the people of Dunedin, landlords are lining their pockets and regularly getting away with squalid housing conditions, far from meeting Healthy Homes Standards.  The consequences of inadequate housing can be far reaching, affecting people’s health and wellbeing. Many students also suffer from sicknesses, due to the cold, damp and unsafe environments in flats.  It’s time for landlords to take responsibility for the properties they profit from. Students shouldn’t have to choose between affordable rent and safe living conditions.  The Healthy Homes standard sets out compliance obligations with respect to keeping homes warm, dry and safe. These standards aren’t enough to be written on a piece of paper. They must be enforced by the MBIE. 

No matter who we are, or where we come from, people across Aotearoa deserve somewhere safe and dignified to call home. As house prices sky rocket, Aotearoa is plunged deeper into the housing crisis created by this Government, Kāinga Ora have rolled back their commitment to deliver social housing in Rangitata.[1] These homes are desperately needed for our most vulnerable citizens - more and more of whom are forced into rough sleeping as they're priced out of the private rental market and emergency housing options are stripped away. Our construction sector also needs the work it will bring in; over the past year we've lost close to a thousand local jobs with the closing of Alliance Smithfield and the loss of the Antarctica contract as examples, and the recession making times rougher across the board for everyone. We’re calling on you as our representative to ensure Kāinga Ora stays true to their commitment to the Grey Road/Arthur Street development, and to show up for your constituents when it matters not just at campaign time. References: [1] Kāinga Ora cans hundreds of social housing building projects after review, takes up to $180m hit - NZ Herald 

Everyone is entitled to live with justice and dignity, this includes Palestinians.  These rights are often protected by both national and international laws. Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinians working in Israeli society, and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes.  While political leaders and governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide. “It’s time for businesses to cut ties with Israel. The very fact of engaging in something that concerns and translates into economic gain and profits, it’s problematic, lest, companies and their executives are ready to face responsibility and even criminal liability”  - Francesca P. Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories  While the government is stalling on imposing sanctions on Israel, we the people will use our consumer power to “push for better” and de-shelve SodaStream from all retailers around the motu.  Why SodaStream Historical Complicity SodaStream’s first factory was built over the remains of seven destroyed Palestinian villages in the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, in the occupied West Bank. Settlements like Ma'ale Adumim, and companies operating in them, are illegal under international law. In 2014, under constant pressure from the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, SodaStream shut down its West Bank factory. This was a big win. However, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum claimed: “We are not giving in to the boycott. We are Zionist."  He framed the move as a cost-saving decision, despite accusing the BDS campaign of hurting opportunities for Palestinian workers.  New Factory, Still Profiting from Apartheid  After leaving the West Bank, in 2015 SodaStream relocated to the Idan Industrial Zone in the Naqab (Negev) desert. This is land that Israel confiscated from Palestinian Bedouin communities in the 1950s. That is, SodaStream is still implicated in settler colonial dynamics — just in a different region. The SodaStream factory is located near the city of Rahat where many Palestinian Bedouins were forcibly relocated. Today, Palestinian Bedouins live under constant threat of displacement by the Israeli state. Across the Naqab, hundreds of Palestinian homes are demolished every year, with the second-highest number of them occurring in Rahat. (176 in 2022 alone). These home demolitions as well as systematic exclusion from basic infrastructure and services, all contribute to Israel's long-term plan to remove them from their land and traditional practices. SodaStream and other Israeli and international companies receive government financial incentives and subsidies when they base their factories in the Naqab region. The region has been designated a ‘national priority area’ in accordance with Israel’s ten-year “National Strategic Plan for the Negev”, designed to tighten the Israeli state’s hold on the region, and vastly increase the Israeli population there.  SodaStream can thus be seen as an instrument of Israel’s plan to remove indigenous people from their land through urbanisation and industrialisation. Exploitation of Palestinian Workers Over 100,000 Palestinians work in Israel and settlements—because their own economy is strangled by occupation and Israeli labour laws are not fairly applied to Palestinian workers. A 2022 report by Kav LaOved (an Israeli workers' rights NGO) found that many Palestinian workers face wage theft, unsafe working conditions, denial of health care or accident compensation, long hours without rest or proper documentation. SodaStream uses its employment of Palestinians as a public relations tool, portraying itself as a “coexistence” model while hiding the broader apartheid context that underlies the company’s operation, and which created those economic dependencies in the first place.   BDS Works! We’ve seen SodaStream shutdown its illegal factory in the Occupied West Bank due to BDS pressure. In the UK, we recently saw The Co-operative Group vote to remove Israeli products from its shelves. McDonald’s has missed sales targets, Starbucks slashed its annual sales forecast after a slump in growth, Turkey’s parliament voted to remove Coke from the shops and restaurants on its grounds - we can use our collective consumer power to create change. References: https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/120 https://electronicintifada.net/content/new-sodastream-factory-could-help-destroy-bedouin-agriculture/13182 https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2015/9/25/sodastream-factory-shows-palestinian-bedouins-plight  https://www.bdsmovement.net/news/sodastream-close-illegal-settlement-factory-response-growing-boycott-campaign https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/03/27/471885452/when-500-palestinians-lose-their-jobs-at-sodastream-whos-to-blame

As student associations, we’ve had countless students share their struggles with us. A common story is that they’re having to choose between paying for transport to their place of study or covering essential costs like rent or food. That is simply not good enough. Every student deserves to access education without the burden of wondering how they’ll afford to get there. With rising tuition fees and living costs, transport should not be another barrier to success. This change would ease a major financial pressure and help ensure students can stay in school and thrive. The Bigger Picture: We imagine a city where education is genuinely accessible, where no student misses class because they can’t afford the bus or train. Right now, this vision feels out of reach for many tertiary students in Auckland. Students are being squeezed by the rising cost of living: higher rents, more expensive groceries, and growing tuition fees. When you add full-priced public transport on top, it becomes unsustainable. Tertiary students within Auckland receive the lowest discount out of all the groups that have discounts.  Group Current Discount Children (Aged 5–15)  | 40% off Secondary School Students  | 40% off Tertiary Students  | 20% off  Community Services Card Holders  | 50% off  Senior Citizens  | Free  Providing a 50% fare concession for tertiary students is a step toward fairness. It’s an investment in Auckland’s future, in its young people, and in educational equity. Let’s remove the barriers, not raise them.