In a world free from sexual violence, students would be able to learn and achieve, without fear, harm or violence. Students would be able to walk through campus, attend lectures, engage in tutorials, knowing that they are valued, respected, and treated equally. Starting tertiary study is an important time in a young person's life, and sets them up for their entire life course 'pipeline'. When a student faces barriers or trauma during their study, it often has lifelong ripple effects and consequences. Recent research shows that 1 in 3 students will experience sexual harm during study [1], and this mirrors Thursdays in Black's own findings, which highlighted that over 50% of participants had experienced some form of sexual harm during study [2]. Research on wider populations shows that in Aotearoa, 1 in 3 women, 1 in 6 men, and 1 in 2 transgender people will experience sexual harm. Research also shows that women, Māori, Queer/Takatāpui, and disabled students are at significantly higher risk of experiencing harm in comparison to other identities, and that 90% of sexually harmful situations happen between people that know each other, for example friends, relationships, colleagues, or family. At Thursdays in Black, our vision is to improve these circumstances, by mandating sexual consent education for first years students. This education will empower young people by giving them the skills to navigate and create their own healthy sexual relationships, help prevent harmful behaviours, and contribute to the ongoing culture change of tertiary institutions. By teaching these skills to students aged 17-20, we will be setting them up with a kete of tools that will benefit them throughout their life, and help make our communities safer. Yet at present, there is no legal requirement for tertiary institutions to offer compulsory courses to teach students about sexual consent. New Zealand institutions currently have a fragmented approach to consent education, with different institutions offering different levels of engagement, different approaches, and some with out any programmes at all. At Thursdays in Black, we believe that Aotearoa can do better, and see that implementing such an education policy as not only urgent, but long overdue. We request that the Minister pass legislation requiring tertiary institutions in Aotearoa to provide sexual consent education to all first-year tertiary students. Such education should be a research-based program, created with and facilitated by subject matter experts and the sexual violence sector, it should engage student leaders, operate on a bi-cultural model that upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and reflect an intersectional approach that respects the disproportionate impact sexual violence has on specific groups. Tertiary institutions, for the most part, remain out-dated and traditional in their thinking -- often reinforcing a rape culture of power imbalances, misogyny, and toxicity. This does not make a safe environment for our tertiary students. Help make education safe. Sign the petition today to call on the Minister to implement compulsory consent courses for first-year students. 1. Unpublished Phd Thesis by Kayla Stewart, for a preliminary discussion of her findings, see https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113090659/a-third-of-women-university-students-report-being-sexually-assaulted-what-do-we-owe-them 2. In 2017, Thursdays in Black Aotearoa conducted a report titled ‘In Our Own Words’, which details the extent to which tertiary students experienced sexual violence prior to, and during, their studies You can find it here: https://library.nzfvc.org.nz/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=5557

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has a focus under Goal 5 on safe abortion as part of protecting “human rights and promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls”. Target 5.6 seeks to ensure “universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences”. We believe that the Holiday Amendment Bill act could be changed to better suit the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to better support women in Aotearoa. We hope you consider our suggestion as young people and women going into the workforce. As a society, we believe we need to do more to ensure women have equal rights and have equitable working conditions. Thank you for helping us in our fight to remove the word ‘unplanned’ from Ginny Anderson’s Holiday Amendment Bill. Ngā mihi, Lorna Hallett Renee Hamilton Kate Chu Athena Kapralos Ella Murdoch Evie Harrington Bella Redshaw Bintou Fiti-Jaiteh Natasha Taylor Valora Leilua-Tiatia Tia-Rhiena Martin-Upton Nicole Askari Ruby McGovern Sophie Irving

As New Zealanders, we believe in justice and compassion. We want everyone to have the opportunity to thrive. But, right now, hundreds of thousands of people in our country are living in poverty. Despite our differences, we share a responsibility to make sure everyone has a decent standard of living and the same chances in life. Poverty in New Zealand affects people of all ages and situations – children and their parents, young adults, people in and out of work and people with disabilities. The stress that comes with poverty can erode people’s mental and physical health. Showing compassion as a society means making sure no-one has to endure the harms of poverty. On October 1, 2020, the Winter Energy Payment that is provided to people on government income support, to assist with heating a home, is due to expire. This will cut the already low incomes for people locked in poverty by $63 a week for couples and $41 a week for an individual. But as research has shown, $40 - $60 less per week means not being able to go to the dentist or doctor, not being able to afford emergency bills and not being able to pay for kids to participate in extracurricular activities like sports, art or volunteering. At a time where food banks are reporting record demand and the number of people needing government income support had its biggest jump in 24 years in April, the government needs to show some compassion. By permanently extending the Winter Energy Payment, the government can help make it possible for everyone to do well.

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/

The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) is launching a nationwide campaign to highlight the plight of our school libraries. SLANZA is deeply concerned about the demise of school libraries in Aotearoa. It is estimated that of the 2500 schools in New Zealand only 900 have a library. Stuart McNaughtons recent report entitled “The literacy landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand” states that 52% of 15 year olds only read if they have to and 28% think reading is a waste of time. Yet his report did not mention School Libraries once and we know from international research that schools with a well-resourced library and specialist library staff positively impacts learning outcomes across all year levels. Our libraries are being closed, relocated to hallway cupboards, are having budgets slashed. We have low decile high schools trying to raise literacy rates but can only fund their library $1000.00 a year to operate and are buying books from Op Shops to stock the shelves. These stories are not acceptable in New Zealand. SLANZA believes that all school students in New Zealand, at every level of their education, should have access to effective school library services that will support their reading and learning. We plan to promote the value and necessity of every student having access to a school library, supported by a specialist librarian with a budget and hours to provide a high-functioning learning environment within all school communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Ministry of Education will mandate every student to have access to a school library staffed by specialist school librarians and is Ministry of Education funded. We know school libraries make a difference for our students for their well being, hauora, their learning outcomes, their ability to critically analyse and their growth in empathy. School libraries transform and we in this campaign will be informing our nation of the lack of funding, space and staffing within our school libraries. We want the government to listen and to act, so our school libraries can be resourced fully to continue to transform the lives of all of our students. Our campaign will be launched on September 1st and is called “School Libraries Transform.” Please refer to our website for further information pertaining to our campaign. http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/

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.

Huarahi Māori o Te Awakairangi is a social action campaign started by six Year 13 students at Wainuiomata High School. We strongly believe that colonial street names are controversial and not reflective of our communities. We have conducted some research and found that less than 22% of the street names in Te Awakairangi are Māori. With the support of our community, we want to have meaningful street names which reflect our culture. We must keep our culture alive and not celebrate those who have stripped that from Māori. For example, the two Wakefield brothers ended up in prison for three years for abducting a 15 year old girl. Here in Aotearoa William Wakefield manipulated the lands out of Māori hands and condoned and promoted colonisation of our country. That name does not deserve to be represented on our whenua. "...These are the names we say everyday with ease while ancient names, names with stories, and genealogies tied to this place get erased, replaced, and sometimes butchered beyond recognition..." -Dr Emalani Case (from 'Lost in Wellington') We aim to bring change through our values of manaakitanga and peace. Please sign our petition and help us make this change.

Families and friends of Taranaki invite you to sign this petition to show you care about meaningful and effective Māori/Pākehā partnership in local government in Aotearoa. This is about Aroha. Aroha to direct one’s essence, energy to another person, place or object. Aro to direct Ha our essence, our energy, our breath. In July, New Plymouth District Council’s Elected Members made an impassioned stand for better representation for Māori around our Council table by voting to establish a Māori Ward at the 2022 local elections. These councillors challenged the severely broken legislation that places roadblocks in the way of Māori representation. This demonstration of collective aroha shown by New Plymouth councillors reflects the genuine voice of our community, 180 years after entering into partnership under the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealanders want to see relationships honoured and friendships with tangata whenua nurtured better. It will only take 2874 signatures for those against the Māori Ward in New Plymouth to succeed in calling a referendum to uphold the racist status quo. Councils nationwide face this same issue. While those against the Māori Ward 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 call on the binding power of aroha to show up and be heard. Aroha is more than just love, it directs our energy, grows that potential and binds us to someone or something. Please sign this petition to show the NPDC and councils nationwide that we support the establishment of a Māori Ward and value on-going work of building relationships with our Māori community! ----- For resources to help us have those prickly conversations with aroha and kindness click here - https://www.facebook.com/kinaconvos (shot Kina Convos!)

1. New Zealand has a public health system and quarantine should be funded as part of that. 2. Quarantine is for the benefit of all New Zealanders, not just those under quarantine. 3. The charging of any fee ($3000 or any other amount) affects low income New Zealanders the hardest and will provide a barrier for some people returning home from overseas. 4. Charging New Zealanders a fee to return to their country is unlawful. 5. Charging Māori a fee to return to their whenua is also a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Lake Horowhenua near Levin is a taonga. Despite it's awful treatment over decades - sewage, stormwater and other run off from the land pouring into its water- this is a place we treasure and have long wished to clean up. The Government is introducing new new rules for the protection of freshwater in our streams, awa (rivers) and roto (lakes). There are some really good things in the new rules, for example caps on the use of synthetic fertiliser. They also put in place greater protection measures for wetlands, as well controls on the soil and sediment allowed to enter waterways.[1] However, we are deeply concerned that you, as Minister for the Environment, are considering leaving Lake Horowhenua out of the new rules, which would allow the lake to be polluted even further. It is clear you consider it 'too hard' to protect the health of the Lake - despite the water being so toxic that a Niwa scientist said in 2012 a small child could die if enough was swallowed. [2] The suggestion that the Horowhenua and Pukekohe be exempted because they grow 30% of our vegetables isn’t a good enough reason, when a change in farming practices, away from overuse of fertilisers etc., could address this (and is important for our overall environmental sustainability.) In fact, we are deeply distressed and angered that there have been talks to allow this type of unsustainable farming to continue - especially as we face worsening climate change. Lake Horowhenua deserves all the care of other lakes. The Waitangi Tribunal found in 2017 the Crown had breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi by being complicit in the pollution and environmental degradation of the lake and for you to exclude it would breach the Treaty further. It is a terrible precedent to set that when a lake has been polluted then we can just forget about it, let it become a dump.This is a slippery slope that we urge you not to go down. Instead, we ask that you put your full weight behind measures to clean up Lake Horowhenua and the region’s other waterways, and to progress more sustainable farming measures in both named regions. Iwi and local communities would then be able to swim in the lake and rivers again, and local farmers would be supported for meeting the best standards for healthy and sustainable practices. We are asking you as Minister for the Environment not to exclude Lake Horowhenua from your National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, due to be finalised this year. The questions raised by your intended actions: Why would the Minister decide this when the lake is treasured? Why, when no one, including hapū and iwi, were properly consulted? Why when there is more money than ever available for storm and wastewater systems and "jobs for nature" from Government in the Covid-19 budget? Why when we know we can do better, that even in our horticultural operations that use what they call "luxury N" - extra nitrogen that is not necessary for growing vegetables but just makes veges look extra green when they hit the shelves - can and should reduce their impact, without risking our supply of veges. Why would the Minister do this when he knows our land can (and should for its own health) put in place better soil conservation methods - his Ministry has just done work on protecting productive land. Why would the Minister exempt any waterway when the freshwater policy does not even put a deadline on reaching bottom lines? Why would the Government okay this when at the same time it is spending millions on "cleaning up" the same lake? Please, Minister Parker, we ask that you immediately include the two exempted regions (Horowhenua and Pukekohe) in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, and consult with local iwi and communities to clean up the lake and insist on more sustainable farming practices in the region. Join us in calling for Lake Horowhenua to be included in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, along with the waterways and aquifers of Pukekohe. References 1. Lake Horowhenua pollution exemption will not help restoration efforts, iwi says, Stuff, July 2020 https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300056712/lake-horowhenua-pollution-exemption-will-not-help-restoration-efforts-iwi-says 2. Lake Horowhenua toxic enough to kill a child, Stuff, 2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/6390665/Lake-Horowhenua-toxic-enough-to-kill-a-child Why? When the lake is treasured. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/118169959/where-we-used-to-swim-lake-horowhenuas-health-a-testament-to-peoplemade-pollution Why? When no one, including hapū and iwi, were consulted. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300056712/lake-horowhenua-pollution-exemption-will-not-help-restoration-efforts-iwi-says Why? When there is more money available for storm and wastewater systems from your Government. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/122062256/new-fund-will-pave-way-for-multibillion-dollar-overhaul-of-water-sector Why? When we know we can do better, even in our horticultural operations that use "luxury N" - extra nitrogen that is not necessary for growing vegetables but just makes veges look extra green when they hit the shelves. Why? When our land can (and should for its own health) put in place better soil conservation methods. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12035548 Why? When the policy does not put a deadline on reaching bottom lines. https://www.mfe.govt.nz/action-for-healthy-waterways Why? When you are spending millions on "cleaning up" the same lake! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/water/news/article.cfm?c_id=362&objectid=12346368 On breaching the Treaty https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/94246816/crown-left-horowhenuas-muaupoko-iwi-virtually-landless-breaching-treaty-of-waitangi?rm=m

The education system's purpose should be to nurture and support children, unfortunately this is not the case. Not all children are treated equally in our current system. Countless children have experienced racial abuse in the New Zealand education system, this disturbing problem has persisted for decades with little to no improvement. The effects of racial abuse on children has been well documented in academic literature. The Ministry of Education has been negligent in their response to the problem and have failed to protect vulnerable children from racial abuse. https://www.renews.co.nz/endless-stories-of-racism-in-nz-schools/ Testimonies of racial abuse victims will be included with this petition. Testimonies of racial abuse can be emailed to [email protected] or @ngati_frybread on Instagram. If you sign this petition please also consider to writing your local MP with your thoughts on this kaupapa. https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/members-of-parliament/ We can make change, ngā mihi!

Teachers in one of our biggest early childhood corporations are fighting a new contract that could cut their guaranteed hours and income by 50%. Please stand up and support them! In one of the worst examples of how broken New Zealand’s early childhood education system is, Evolve Education – which continued to get full government funding through the Covid-19 lockdown and got millions in wage subsidies – is asking hundreds of teachers to sign new contracts guaranteeing them just 20 hours of work a week. What’s worse, Evolve would require them to be available for a further 20 hours a week - with no compensation for this availability and no chance to earn an income elsewhere. This is unfair and unlawful Evolve owns Lollipops, Active Explorers, Learning Adventures, Pascals, Little Earth, Little Lights and Little Wonders. This contract would impact on the quality of teaching and consistency of relationships with thousands of young children. Many teachers in Evolve are refusing to sign the contracts – but we need your support. We want to stop this now before it leads to further diminishing of quality teaching and working conditions across the whole ECE sector. We are taking a stand to protect the quality of teaching and learning for children, and to protect basic working conditions for all ECE teachers. And we’re angry that in spite of increased Government funding for ECE services in May’s Budget, there’s still a pay gap of more than 24% between ECE teachers and our colleagues in kindergarten and schools. Sign this petition asking the Government to step in urgently to stop the new Evolve contracts and to change the system to protect children and teachers everywhere.