Dyslexia/neurodiversity affects around 15% of people worldwide, and impacts on their education, their working lives, and wider social interactions. Dyslexia/neurodiversity are best described as differences, as opposed to disabilities, but the way that society treats them turns them into disabilities. Dyslexia/neurodiversity are poorly understood and often overlooked in government policies. Currently New Zealand gathers no statistics about dyslexia/neurodiversity and New Zealand Human Rights legislation is silent on them. Many people with dyslexia/neurodiversity are not aware they have it and many people with it strive to hide it to avoid ridicule. Sadly, most teachers in most schools are poorly equipped to support children with dyslexia. Pre-service teacher training provides minimal dyslexia/neurodiversity instruction for new teachers entering the education workforce. Without change the challenges facing dyslexic children and adults are not likely to be addressed. Meeting the needs of Kiwis with dyslexia/neurodiversity is an equity issue. Sadly dyslexic/neurodiverse Kiwis have been ignored. It is demonstrably unfair that this group of Kiwis continue to be short-changed and treated poorly. This is also a major workplace productivity issue. No country can achieve to its full potential when 10 – 15% of its population are not fully engaged. This petition is about giving all Kiwis a fair go.

Given the extra risk of exposure and infection because of the recently announced changes, it is becoming increasingly urgent that N95, P2, or equivalent quality masks are available and universally accessible. The Government has said that all healthcare and border workers have access to N95 or equivalent masks. But as the Government opens up the border and eases restrictions internally, the general public of Aotearoa New Zealand need quality masks. These masks are comfortable and breathable, they prevent transmission and save lives. Prevention of infection is the best course of action. Along with concern for the capacity of our health system, we are extremely concerned about the wellbeing of people who cannot social distance or properly ventilate their spaces at work, where they live, or where they study. Good quality masks are vital for our wellbeing. Masks For All! References: 1. https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-hits-a-three-decade-high-at-5-9-percent 2. https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/127544121/rents-still-rising-as-supply-pressures-remain

Trains connect communities and are an important part of climate change action. In late 2021, KiwiRail, announced end of same-day intercity services between Auckland/Wellington and Picton/Christchurch. They were to be replaced by luxury multi-day rail cruises. In a win for this campaign, KiwiRail recently reversed that decision and reinstated the Northern Explorer and Coastal Pacific effective September 2022. While this is a win for the travelling public, it is not the end of the issue. Much of Aotearoa New Zealand remains disconnected by from the rail passenger network and other services, like the the Capital Connection between Wellington and Palmerston North, remain under threat from underinvestment. This comes at a time when the Government has said it is committed to climate action and reducing inequality. Trains have connected friends and families for graduations, weddings, holidays, and business for generations. They have connected towns with the cities, and bought our country together. But a period of privatisation and decades of underfunding has limited the development and use of our national rail network. Trains have an important place in our future but it requires investment and planning from this Government. 🛤 Rail provides a more sustainable and climate friendly method of transport across the country. 🛤 Rail can invigorate the social and economic life of small communities by making them accessible to remote workers and tourists. 🛤 Trains can bring our diverse country together by connecting them to people and landscapes across wide distances. 🛤 Trains provide an accessible method of point-to-point transport for the elderly and disabled. 🛤 Trains can help take traffic off the roads and improve road safety. Rail is an important part of our past, but it should also be part of our future. Join the campaign to support the retention of a national passenger rail network.

The 240 houses that Kāinga Ora has across the District are not enough to house long-term homeless people, let alone the growing number of people who are coming onto the list. This includes people who formerly rented in the private sector and who have been given notice to leave their homes as landlords have decide to sell their properties. Even if there was an adequate supply of private sector accommodation, the exorbitant rents mean that people simply can't afford to meet that cost. There is strong support for this call for action across the entire Kāpiti population. Young people who can't afford to leave home; families with children who move in with their parents because they can't afford the rent demanded; an 85-year-old who has lived in the same unit for 17 years being given notice because the landlord is going to rent to a family member; working single people who can't afford a one bedroom flat - the scenarios come thick and fast and we hear them all.

Kāpō Māori Aotearoa members and whānau have lost confidence in the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) Incorporated governance practices and decision-making processes. - Kāpō Māori, kāpō youth and parents’ do not have a seat at the governance table. - Tāngata kāpō and parent consumer leadership funding continues to shrink. - "We know what’s best” governance approach that incites controversy and distrust of RNZFB governors and employees. - Reactive governance actions that polarise the kāpō sector. - Apathy and disregard to affirm through governance action the articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Our rangatiratanga is being marginalised and will continue to be if we do not take urgent action to fix what is obviously broken! This petition is the first step towards affirmative change. Show your support by signing our petition.

Pregnant women and their unborn children are being put at risk because MIQ emergency allocation request guidelines do not address pregnancy needs. Very few get access to return to NZ. It has been reported that of 229 applications for pregnancy only 23 were approved.(1) We believe it is essential that pregnant people and their partners can return to NZ for antenatal, birth, and postpartum care, and that their health requirements be recognised as critical. Approaching birthing solo without the support of whānau, especially the other parent, is extremely stressful for pregnant people. Having to wait until you are heavily pregnant to return to New Zealand creates an added risk to both mother and baby. There are a number of cases where we’ve managed to get access to MIQ for pregnant people or their partners but it should not be left to individual advocacy. The New Zealand government must recognise and support the rights of pregnant people and ensure they can safely return home to birth their children. You can read more about this issue in the links below: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126612589/pregnancy-should-be-a-miq-priority-because-stress-endangers-the-baby-sir-peter-gluckman-says https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2018816139/father-of-prem-baby-applies-for-emergency-miq https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/127001444/miqsplit-couple-reunited-but-too-late-for-babys-sudden-and-traumatic-birth Reference: 1. https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126598255/how-will-i-manage-pregnant-womans-fears-after-husbands-miq-denial

There is "...no evidence that library overdue charges are an incentive for returning items on time. The experience of libraries in New Zealand and overseas is that overdue charges are a more effective deterrent and barrier to library usage, disproportionately impacting members of the community on lower and fixed incomes." (1). This change is important as it will bring Ōtautahi up to par with its peers across Aotearoa including Auckland, Carterton, Clutha, Dunedin, Masterton, Nelson, Selwyn, South Taranaki, South Wairarapa, Stratford, Upper Hutt, Waikato and Waimakariri that have, and or are removing these fines because evidence does not support that they work, and that they create barriers to access and learning. We have also seen post lockdown when the Council encouraged people to return books with a fee waiver we did, lets now make that permanent (2). (1). Report to Dunedin City Council from 27 October 2021 when they decided in favour- https://infocouncil.dunedin.govt.nz/Open/2021/10/CNL_20211027_AGN_1542_AT.PDF (2). https://newsline.ccc.govt.nz/news/story/libraries-issue-call-to-return-overdue-books

We all need to support survivors, provide them the justice they deserve and support setting up an entity with the appropriate authority to address New Zealand’s continuing abuse in care crisis. In 2018 after huge public pressure, the Labour-led Government launched a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in care. Over three years the Inquiry heard evidence of abuse of children and vulnerable adults in care. As many as a quarter-million tamariki are likely to have been abused over decades. The evidence showed institutions chose the protection of their reputation and financial assets over help for the victims of abuse in their care, and have created barriers to discourage survivors reporting abuse. The Government is currently considering the Inquiry's recommendations for providing redress to survivors. However, survivors are not confident they will include the state entity they are asking for or be inclusive of all survivors abused in the care of an institution. It would be a mistake for the Government to set up a body that is not inclusive and separates State abuse from that of other institutions, such as churches or sports clubs. The Government is ultimately responsible for ensuring children and vulnerable adults in care are protected from harm, no matter which institution cared for them. It is also its responsibility to ensure all survivors of abuse in care be provided with sufficient and appropriate redress. Cabinet Ministers are right now considering bids for funding for the Budget 2022. We need to let them know they need to provide for survivors. The millions spent on the inquiry need to result in action. Many of the survivors are ageing, in their 60's, 70's and 80's, and dealing with the physical and mental consequences of their experiences in state care. The impacts from the abuse are significant and lifelong. They cannot wait more years for future offers of support. Justice for survivors will mean redress and the financial compensation, acknowledgement, apology, and the information they deserve and need. It will also include commitment to the scale of change required to ensure what happened to them does not happen to others. Survivors need an independent entity to report to so that they no longer have to engage in the re-traumatising process of reporting to the institution that they could not trust to keep them safe. They are also asking it have the authority to hold institutions that care for children accountable to ensure the abuse they suffered does not happen to others. An independent ‘Entity’ would have the statutory authority to audit and have oversight of the policies and procedures in place in institutions to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm, investigate and hold institutions accountable where they fail, and provide a public audit report to Government with recommendations for further change when required. The government leaving institutions to deal with the abuse of children in their care has failed. Current systems that exist are not fit for purpose and failing to provide what is needed. They are not accessible to all survivors, and are re-traumatising. We need an ‘Entity’ based on the principles of: • Inclusion • Te Tiriti O Waitangi • Accessibility • Impartiality • Transparency • Consistency • Timely access to Redress • Human Rights and Natural Justice The public remains unaware of the significant abuse crisis New Zealand is facing. Survivors are left unacknowledged, struggling, and silenced. Many have no access to redress systems and the barriers to access them are daunting. They need your support.

Rangatira ai te whare pāremata is a social action campaign created by six young rangatahi from Wainuiomata High School. This rōpū was created upon the urge to push for policy change. Our aim is to influence the Sports, Arts, and Culture policy to redistribute the funds fairly. We have chosen to advocate for this kaupapa because we are concerned about the distribution of the government's money and its priorities. One example of this is how the government has excessive vast amounts of money for foreign events (like America’s cup) instead of indigenous ones (like Te Matatini and Matariki). The America’s cup, a rich man's sport, received $149M, whereas Te Matatini which is Māori performing arts only received $1.9M. We believe the New Zealand Government need to re-evaluate their priorities when it comes to funding indigenous needs over international events. With this petition we hope to bring attention to the community matters that our people suffer from on a day-to-day basis. We want to accommodate our people as this affair does not just concern us but all cultural minorities within Aotearoa. We must focus on returning to our roots and strengthening the connections our government has with our communities. Rather than supporting events that do not help the mending the wrongdoings made by colonisation. “I listen to the sound of my ancestor's weep, as our tikanga drowns below Papatūānuku, Reaching out to Aunty Cindy, screeching with my mouth stripped with silence. Tangi te keo wails the words‘ “Whakarongo ki te hotuhotu o ōku mōrehu kuia” Foreigners, the government fishes out their bulk wallets but... will always be at the bottom of the barrel when we are in need. Dust, transparent seems to be what we always receive. Indigenous, an empty word to cover up the imbedded wounds, Te Matatini! Haka Ngāhau! Matariki! Pave the tapuwae for Māori, the tie that holds the pen and paper Past! Present! Future! Our whare tapawhā screams to be coated with truth, Open your eyes and see that the system isn't built for me, Excuses! To see us crumble below their feet, we fight till our words become carved, Māori continue to sail the choppy waters of colonisation. White flags will not be lifted, ka whawhai tōnu mātou. This fight is for justice but with no blood shed.” Keita Moses & Cynthia WiRepa-Kingi

We are writing to express our extreme disappointment, concern and outrage at your statement on 06 October 2021 that you are not sure the Government would be stepping away from the Covid19 elimination strategy if the general population had the same vaccination rate as Māori. We believe that you have just confirmed the worst fears of many tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti people that the Crown still regards the Māori population as disposable? The implications of your statement are destructive. Firstly, the history of pandemics in this country has been a history of various forms of discrimination and neglect against Māori communities with the mass graves to prove it. Why would you perpetuate this tradition by making a statement that implies a high-risk community is not worthy of the highest level of consideration, protection and resources? The lower vaccination rates are a call to change monocultural strategies not a call to put them at increased risk when you know what that risk amounts to. Secondly you are failing the Crown obligations to be in an honourable relationship with whānau, hapū, iwi and all Māori organisations. Māori are not a minority group or stakeholder in the struggle against Covid 19. Their rangatiratanga means the Crown has an obligation to negotiate regarding changes to a strategy that has direct and potentially disastrous effects on Māori. Thirdly you are undermining the Māori communities and health professionals fighting so hard to work with you and protect people. The success of the vaccination programme in places like rural Tairāwhiti and Te Whānau Apanui, the generous and effective programmes led by urban Māori groups tell us what works. People have been giving their all to ensure this pandemic does not decimate a population with health issues caused by years of inequity in the health system.

The New Zealand College of Midwives is holding their biennial conference in November of 2021 with the theme “Celebrating Diversity, Growing Stronger Together.” While the theme of this conference is diversity, the college has invited an openly transphobic writer to present as their keynote speaker. This writer and proposed keynote speaker has actively perpetuated harm within rainbow communities, shared hate speech toward gender minorities, and had her connection with large organisations in the UK severed in response to her continued harm towards rainbow communities. These organisations include Birthrights who said the following in response to terminating their connection with her: “Birthrights is very clear that we are an inclusive organisation and are here for everyone who gives birth, regardless of how they identify. We reject any suggestion that respecting pregnant non-binary and trans people diminishes women’s rights. I have also seen other social media comments/replies where you undermine trans and non-binary people and state that people can only be male or female. This is harmful and distressing and in my view not compatible with a rights-based approach to pregnancy and childbirth. I’m afraid that Birthrights isn’t able to work with people who don’t share our inclusive values.” Despite NZCOM's conference theme of diversity, the college of midwives only has one presentation about gender and sexual diversity within pregnancy & birth. The college did not make any effort to reach out to members of the LGBTTQIA+ community within their own workforce, or adjacent workforces, to present their work. To hold a conference with the theme of “Celebrating Diversity,” and to make no effort to engage with the rainbow communities on being visible and safe at their conference is concerning. To have a keynote speaker who actively engages in perpetuating harm against rainbow communities is alarming. This keynote address also jeopardises the safety of any members of the rainbow community wishing to attend the conference. Further information and background on this speaker can be found by reading our open letter here: https://sites.google.com/empwr.nz/no-transphobia-in-midwifery/home The Rainbow Midwives Alliance are calling on the New Zealand College of Midwives to urgently remove Milli Hill as keynote speaker, apologise for the harm this has caused to LGBTTQIA+ communities, engage a local member of the community as keynote speaker, and outline their commitment to doing better going forward.

https://vimeo.com/596169867 Public transport is crucial in the fight against climate change, making our cities more liveable and supporting sustainable mobility for vulnerable and low-income communities. However bus drivers, passengers and the environment have been victims of a decades-long experiment in privatisation. The Climate Commission has called for a doubling of public transport use nationwide, however poverty wages are making it impossible for operators to recruit new workers. Cancellations are rife, and further industrial action looms on the horizon. The bus privatisation experiment has failed. In July 2021 FIRST Union’s #BusFair campaign called for the Ministry of Transport to abolish the current tendering model (the “PTOM”), massively increase investment in public transport, and work together with stakeholders to bring our public transport back into public ownership. That’s because three decades of bus privatisation has been disastrous for drivers, passengers, and the environment, shifting wealth from workers’ wages into offshore private equity firms that control our network. The PTOM tendering model put this approach on steroids, rewarding operators with the lowest labour costs. Significant investment is needed to lift workers’ wages, increasing the reach and regularity of our bus network, progressively reducing fares and establishing more bus-only infrastructure. However private ownership is a barrier to addressing these concerns. Support for public ownership is now growing, with Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Green Party supporting, as well as bus drivers and passengers across the country. Tell the Minister of Transport that it’s time to bring #ourpublictransport back into public ownership.