Our health system has failed Māori for far too long. Report after report has demonstrated institutional racism and exclusion of Māori leadership that has led to devastating outcomes and inequity. For all those years, hapū, iwi, health workers, lawyers, health researchers, and many more have fought for better, and called for practical solutions they knew would work. Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority) is the result of their vision for a health system that better honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and better cares for whānau. A truly Māori-led agency that has the power to resource and lift up kaupapa Māori, and iwi and hapū health services, can improve health for Māori, and all communities in Aotearoa. Without a clear plan to improve hauora Māori, the National, ACT, and NZ First parties have vowed to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora. The coalition Government plan to introduce the disestablishment legislation just days before the hearing of the Urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim is set to begin. This bad-faith move restricts the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to fully consider this breach of Te Tiriti, and the impact on Māori. It is unacceptable for the Crown to unilaterally move ahead and block tangata whenua from being heard. We demand a health system that treats everyone fairly, in ways that uplift them and their whānau, and honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We stand with people on the frontline of the health system: allied, public, and mental health practitioners, nurses, doctors, and many more health professionals, who know Te Aka Whai Ora is important and necessary to deliver healthcare well. Disestablishment is a major threat to Māori health. That’s why we’re calling for the Government to change course now and protect Te Aka Whai Ora. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUTDpxDh90E

UPDATE: 203,653 Signatures was handed over at Parliament on Tuesday 19th of November! But you can still sign to add your power - we'll keep you updated about submissions opposing the Bill so we can turn this milestone petition into a landslide! In 1835, 189 years ago, a gathering of great chiefs of Aotearoa signed He Whakaputanga with representatives of the British Crown. Five years from that date, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed between Māori and the Crown. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of light and hope for both parties that allowed the establishment of a government that acknowledged Māori chiefs having rangatiratanga over their lands and ensured all peoples in this country would be treated the same.  184 years after the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Julian Wilcox reminded us of the vision of Mohi Tāwhai, which told of a time when the mana of Te Tiriti would be trampled on and requested his signature be removed from Te Tiriti. When Governor Hobson said no, and Mohi Tāwhai replied ‘Governor, may your words float like balsa wood in the net, and my words sink to the bottom of the sea like stone’. 184 years later, Mohi Tāwhai's words have sunk to the bottom of the sea like stone. It is obvious today that the current Government has an agenda to diminish the unique place of Māori in relation to the Treaty, by trampling on its mana. The introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill is a transgression against Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy, the promises afforded in Te Tiriti. Today we call all young people and their whānau to action. We ask that we ready ourselves to oppose in all constructive forms the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill. In saying this, it is not just our job to stop what is currently being passed through, we must also ensure the introduction of another Bill that entrenches the text of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti as the constitution of Aotearoa. The proposed Treaty Principles Bill states: • Principle 1: The Executive Government of New Zealand has full power to govern, and the Parliament of New Zealand has full power to make laws, (a) in the best interests of everyone; and (b) in accordance with the rule of law and the maintenance of a free and democratic society. • Principle 2: (1) The Crown recognises, and will respect and protect, the rights that hapū and iwi Māori had under the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi at the time they signed it. (2) However, if those rights differ from the rights of everyone, subclause (1) applies only if those rights are agreed in the settlement of a historical treaty claim under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 • Principle 3: (1) Everyone is equal before the law. (2) Everyone is entitled, without discrimination, to (a) the equal protection and equal benefit of the law; and (b) the equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights. The urgency of this petition cannot be overstated. For Māori, this bill represents a direct assault on our rights, our culture, and our identity. It threatens to perpetuate the injustices of the past, widening the gap of inequality that still persists in our society today, and taking this into our future. But this fight is not ours alone; it is a collective struggle for justice, equality, and dignity that we hope resonates with every soul who calls this whenua home.  We need you to prepare your submissions opposing the bill, inaction means complacency. If we do not oppose it now, in great numbers, it sends a message to the Government that we support this bill and in effect, support the continued trampling and transgressions against Te Tiriti. Historically, we have not used the submission process system to amplify our voices, and legislation continues to remain unchallenged. The time to amplify our voice is now. Kāti, hai whakatepe ake te kōrero, me pēhea e kore ai e mutu ki te reo Māori. He nui rawa ngā kōrero mō Te Tiriti o Waitangi, kai te mārama kē koutou ki te horopaki o tā tātau hōhā ki te whakaparahakotanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Mārama kehokeho ana mātou te Iwi Māori ki ngā atikara o te Tiriti, ko tāku kia koutou te Kāwana, whai tonu i te māramatanga i te pōuri, mā reira pea ka hoki tātau ki te ia o Te Tiriti, he mahi tahi mo te oranga o te katoa, kaua ko te raupatu, kaua ko te whakamate reo, kaua ko te kaikiri ki tōku Iwi Māori. Ka mutu ki ngā kupu a te Haka o Ngāti Whakaue “Hoariri Karauna - Ka riri au.”

We are short 700 social workers, 940 psychologists, 1000 teachers, 1,050 midwives, 1,700 doctors, & 4,800 nurses to name a few. Our hospitals, GP practices, schools, mental health & social services are more stretched than ever. Dangerously low staffing levels & overworked professionals make for burnt-out workforces & inaccessible services. This means long waitlists for surgeries or specialist appointments & long wait times in ED. Delayed access to mental health assessments, treatment, crisis support, & suicide prevention. Family harm & child protection services stretched beyond capacity. Large class sizes in schools mean reduced capacity for individual learning needs to be met & homeschooling for parents when teachers are off sick. The ripple effect of workforce shortages is massive. More staff are needed but it’s nearly impossible to complete course requirements with the current cost of living. Students are burning out & dropping out of study at rates of up to 45%. They can’t afford to work for free when rent, food, & power still cost money. - Students training in professions with placement requirements complete between 500 & 2400 hours of unpaid training depending on registration requirements. Medical students complete 20-42 weeks of unpaid placements for 3 years (after a 3yr BSc Health Science). - Students are often required to live or work away from home to complete placements. The cost of double rent & the impact on part-time work opportunities are significant. For students with on-call requirements, maintaining paid work is almost impossible. - Students must cover course related costs such as textbooks, uniforms, immunisations, equipment, travel, parking, supervision, & childcare arrangements. $1000 course costs loans are insufficient to cover these expenses. - Students participate in paid work to pay their bills on top of unpaid placements, often working up to 80 hours a week to make ends meet. Students from backgrounds of hardship or those caring for tamariki/whānau get excluded from these professions as they have limited financial flexibility or capacity to take on high student loans, unpaid labour & course related costs. - Student hardship disproportionately affects Māori & Pasifika because of existing inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand. We need greater diversity & experience to better serve the needs of our communities but without financial support to study our professions are at risk of becoming more short-staffed & less diverse. Post-graduate students Support must also be available for post-graduate students undertaking placements as part of their registration requirements. Currently, postgraduate students are ineligible for student allowance. - Many degrees are completed at a post-graduate level via an applied/professional masters. - Registered psychology professions & psychotherapy are only available at postgraduate level. - Lifetime student allowance limits are significantly lower for those over 40 years of age. - Mature students’ only option is to take on huge student loans & living costs. Working for free while collecting debt is especially prohibitive for students with additional domestic, family, and financial responsibilities. We must incentivise New Zealanders to gain qualifications in registered professions. Tradies receive support through packages like the Apprenticeship Boost and Police are paid to train while provided bed and board. Paid training for our health, education, and social work professionals must become the norm too. The solution! Provide students with a universal, non-repayable, annually increasing stipend. We are calling on the government to pay students a universal stipend while they train in registered professions with compulsory placement requirements. This is non-repayable & should increase annually to reflect the year-on-year increase in placement hours, skill development, & responsibilities. First year undergraduate programs with placement requirements must start on at least equivalent to the training wage for Aotearoa New Zealand. Postgraduate students should start on at least equivalent to the living wage to reflect their existing qualifications & professional experience. What is a stipend? A stipend is not a wage. It is a tax-free fund to support students to cover living costs, enabling them to fully engage with their studies & placement requirements. A stipend does not make students employees. It will not affect training, practice, or supervision requirements. Year 1: Training wage (tax-free stipend) $32,084.64* Year 2: Minimum wage (tax-free stipend) $39,312.72* Year 3+: Living wage (tax-free stipend) $44,008.58* *Take home amount students would receive at the current rates. These should be reviewed & adjusted annually in line with equivalent wage rates. Additional allowances should be available for on-call requirements, mandatory therapy, & supervision costs. Please sign & share this petition for paid training in healthcare, education, & social work. Funded workforce development will improve accessibility to training, increase the diversity of staff, & enable better access to quality services for whānau & community. Follow Paid Placements Aotearoa’s advocacy on: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PaidPlacementsAotearoa Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paid.placements.aotearoa/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/authwall?trk=bf&trkInfo=AQGfBgJOR0gsnwAAAY0K0NJQ4VSzObpB_5YpuuKfAs4gSu9gxg1BfhglPpZqhKz9ODj2xKAUWfio4DrWWjGr5yXqlQNvywhjI4U3p6L5VKxhaSXw35UEoahOPDPewg04X9Xqqrw=&original_referer=&sessionRedirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fpaid-placements-aotearoa-nz-236384272%2F

Whether these lands are called stewardship lands or Schedule 4 lands they are all part of the DOC estate and many areas contain rare species or act as buffers for their habitats. We urge you to protect the waterways above and below ground and prevent the creation of thousands of tonnes of toxics waste containing heavy metals. Climate change is already affecting the natural world and creating serious environmental stress. To sacrifice species such as the 200 million old Archeys frog species so that overseas corporations can make large profits, is bad for the economy and our reputation. You will recall that in 2010 40,000 people marched down Queen St in Tamaki to protest the proposed mining of conservation lands and National Parks. There is no mandate for the destruction Shane Jones is determined to impose, in fact there is huge public support for protecting the natural world. These places are too precious mine and we need leaders in Cabinet to actively protect them.

Israel’s long running siege of the Palestinian territories and its current destruction of Gaza are illegal under international law. This has been well documented in UN Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions, International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court rulings, and by international legal experts and human rights organisations. On 12 December 2023, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) – a federation of 188 human rights organisations from 116 countries – stated that Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people constitute an unfolding genocide and that states and individuals who provide assistance to Israel are rendering themselves complicit. They called on the International Criminal Court to immediately issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials who are responsible for international crimes against Palestinians. Under international law, all states including New Zealand have the individual obligation to prevent atrocity crimes. Currently, however, the New Zealand Government is ignoring national and international appeals to preserve human life and uphold international law. The Government appears oblivious to the serious humanitarian violations taking place, including the murder of civilians in refugee camps, churches, schools, hospitals and UN facilities. And it has said nothing about Israel bulldozing people as they sleep in their tents, or the collapse of the health system, spread of disease and unfolding famine. This makes our country complicit in the war crimes of genocide, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and denying the right of a people to self-determination. New Zealand has traditionally taken a strong moral position on serious injustices around the world, including acting to end apartheid in South Africa and to stop the genocide in Rwanda. New Zealand also recognised universal jurisdiction as a well-established principle of international law in 2018. This provides a legal basis for States to prosecute and punish war crimes and crimes against humanity, regardless of where the conduct occurred and the nationality of the perpetrator. We must therefore ask our Government to show the moral courage to stand up to these crimes against humanity and take immediate action.

Together we can build a future where everyone, regardless of their background or where they grew up, is a respected part of a vibrant, connected community and country. Where everyone feels a sense of belonging and knows their children will have what they need to thrive. We already have a blueprint to make this future a reality. Te Tiriti o Waitangi guides us to live peacefully and respectfully together.(1) In recent decades, we’ve seen a growing understanding of the importance of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including amongst tauiwi (non-Māori).(2) Many of us have experienced the benefits of Māori leadership and changes which reflect Te Tiriti commitments to work together and share decision making on important issues. We value the development of respectful and reciprocal relationships between tāngata whenua and tāngata Tiriti (people of Te Tiriti). Through these relationships we are better able to care for our land and waterways, improve the care we receive in our health system, and to build an education system that values the unique strengths of all of our tamariki (young people).(3) We’ve seen important steps taken and we know that there is still much more to do. Since it was signed, people in successive governments have breached what was agreed to in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They've created laws, policies, and decision-making processes that harm whānau, hapū and iwi. The actions by the kāwanatanga (Government) – controlling decision-making, suppression of language, culture and tikanga, and alienation of land - have created intergenerational harms and injustices, and damaged relationships. We are seeing a continuation of this harm in the actions of the members of parliament in the new coalition Government. They are undermining efforts for a healthier, more unified society for future generations by removing or rewriting legislative Te Tiriti commitments, restricting the use of te reo Māori, repealing laws and withdrawing funding from initiatives that seek to heal and rebalance inequities caused by colonisation. Whilst spouting racist rhetoric with the aim of dividing us from each other. These actions reach far beyond this current Government's mandate. They don’t align with the unity and respect for each other that most people value in our daily interactions in our places of work, faith, learning, and community. We know that by honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi we can lay the foundations for a future where all people can feel a deep sense of belonging in Aotearoa. We understand that whānau, hapū, and iwi, having the power and resources to determine their own futures (tino rangatiratanga), as was promised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, creates a better society for us all. We know that when Māori are empowered, all our lives are enriched. We know the potential that learning from our past, healing the harms of colonisation and bringing reciprocity and balance to our relationships, holds for our collective future. It has taken us a long time to get to this point, and there is still so much to achieve together. Now is the time to stand up and show the Government that we intend to stay on course. That instead of being divided, we are determined to remain united, to grow and strengthen the relationships we have built, and continue to work together for a just and flourishing Aotearoa for all. There will be many ways you can take action on this important issue in the coming days, weeks and months, one thing you can do today is sign this petition calling on Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa - The New Zealand Government to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. References: 1. Te Tiriti o Waitangi: https://nwo.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Treaty_Poster_with_Declaration_of_Independence.pdf 2. Human rights and Te Tiriti/ Treaty issues (views and understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi/ Te Tiriti o Waitangi), Horizon Research 2023: https://tikatangata.org.nz/cms/assets/Horizon-Research-Te-Tiriti-o-Waitangi-results-for-Te-Kahui-Tika-Tangata.pdf 3. Te Tauihu iwi, councils sign up to historic partnership, Te Ao News 2023: https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2023/12/12/te-tauihu-iwi-councils-sign-up-to-historic-partnership/ Iwi and council join forces as government signals cuts to co-governance, RNZ 2023: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/503396/iwi-and-council-join-forces-as-government-signals-cuts-to-co-governance

Dunedin city centre should prioritise walking as a carefree right and allow retailers to thrive off a steady flow of safe, comfortable, and eager customers. The current renovations on George Street have made progress towards this ideal, but they have been undermined by the decision to permit car travel between the pedestrian zones. Cars will only cause congestion and damage to the tiled road surface, resulting in great harm both for retailers, who have endured a pandemic on top of everything else, and pedestrians. Given that the city has survived without direct vehicle transit through George Street for many months now, it is self evident that cars are not needed within the city centre. We call on the Dunedin City Council to change its approach and fully pedestrianise the renovated George Street once it is reopened. In doing so, pedestrians can safely enjoy their town and retailers may enjoy a steady flow of foot traffic to support their small businesses. Let’s keep the charm of our inner city by making it car free, sign the petition if you agree!

Bringing people living with dementia together to work, share food, use their long learned skills and remind them that they are valued members of our society, helps keep people well for longer. It improves their quality of life and enriches our communities. But currently, the Ministry of Health only provides the financial support needed to attend daycare services to the full time carer of someone who is terminally ill, someone who has ongoing health or mental conditions or someone who has an age related disability. The carers needs are assessed based on their situation and the disability/illness of those they are caring for. They are then allocated a number of days per year to allow them respite from those they are caring for, or they can get financial support to bring the person who is ill to a daycare facility. People who live on their own or their carers are still in employment do not qualify for this support. Often resulting in people being unable to afford daycare programs that would greatly benefit their quality of life. Ensuring funding for people living with dementia, regardless of whether they have a carer or not, means enabling people to attend services where they can be part of a community while in a safe environment. Dementia can hit everyone, is not picky about age, or intelligence. When it hits a person who is young and therefore still working, it can take a while before it is recognised/diagnosed. Because of this, often people are lonely, having lost their job, their income and their working community. More and more people are living alone because of the loss of partners, and have no carers around. All people living with dementia deserve to be cared for and given opportunities to be part of a community.

In this present moment, the world is witnessing the merciless genocide of Palestinian people by the state of Israel. It is estimated that over 20,000 Palestinian’s have been martyred, thousands are trapped beneath rubble, and millions have been displaced (2). There is an utmost urgency for us to stand in solidarity with Palestine, rather than “neutrality”, as they suffer under blatant breaches of international humanitarian law. “Silence the guns and return to dialogue – the suffering inflicted on civilians is too much to bear” - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk, 03/12/23 (3) References: 1. https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/300543010/civic-service-in-hamilton-to-stand-with-ukraine 2.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/12/4/israel-gaza-war-live-israel-expands-ground-attack-in-southern-gaza?update=2532359 3. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/12/gaza-unbearable-suffering-civilians-demands-end-violence-turk

Wastewater in the moana affects many aspects of life in Porirua, from getting an infected cut from going in the harbour to having the smell of sewerage throughout the city at low tide. Within the community there is a deep concern and frustration regarding the persistent and hazardous issue of wastewater overflow into the ocean. Further growth and development planned for Porirua without critical infrastructure updates to accommodate for how this may impact our waterways will lead to further health risks for residents, the environment and ecology of the harbour . Stop the disposal of untreated sewage into Te Awarua o Porirua. We acknowledge that Porirua has been facing this issue for an extended period, and despite multiple attempts to address it, the problem remains largely unmitigated. The adverse effects of wastewater overflow are evident and detrimental. We need a bold plan out of this crisis, not fragmentary change and band aid solutions. Wastewater overflow affects Porirua in multiple ways. 1) Greenhouse gas emissions: Continuous wastewater overflow is contributing to environmental degradation and climate change. The Porirua Wastewater Treatment Plant produces 13% of Porirua’s GHG emissions. With a number of new housing developments emerging around Porirua our current infrastructure won't be able to sustain a growing population on top of incoming climate change effects. This poses a direct threat to the well-being of our community and future generations. 2) Public Health Risks: Wastewater overflow introduces harmful pathogens and contaminants into our environment, putting our health at risk. Exposure to these pollutants can lead to waterborne diseases, respiratory problems, and other health issues. 3) Environmental Degradation: The continuous discharge of untreated wastewater has detrimental effects on our local ecosystems, polluting water, soil, and air. It harms aquatic life, vegetation, and contributes to the degradation of our environment. 4) Diminished Quality of Life: Residents of Porirua are forced to endure unpleasant odors, unsightly conditions, and leaves us unable to interact with the ocean without anxiety of potential health risks. 5) Long-Term Sustainability: Invest in sustainable wastewater infrastructure and practices that minimize environmental and climate impact and provide a reliable and resilient system for the future in collaboration with Mana Whenua. 6) Impact on mātauranga and cultural practice: Mana whenua, Ngāti Toa have a rich cultural heritage that is deeply intertwined with the moana. The constant overflow of wastewater not only disproportionately affects our physical health but also jeopardizes the cultural practices and mātauranga that reinforce them. We urge you to take immediate action and allocate the necessary resources to eliminate the threat of wastewater overflow. Porirua deserves a cleaner, healthier, and safer environment for ourselves and future generations. This issue requires immediate attention and your commitment to finding a lasting, sustainable solution. References “Public urged to stay out of flood, sea waters as Porirua wastewater treatment plant overflows” 1news. https://www.1news.co.nz/2019/12/07/public-urged-to-stay-out-of-flood-sea-waters-as-porirua-wastewater-treatment-plant-overflows/ “Sewage spills lead to rāhui for Porirua Harbour” Te Ao Māori News. https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2021/07/26/sewage-spills-lead-to-rahui-for-porirua-harbour/ “Te Awarua o Porirua” Ngāti Toa Iwi News. https://www.ngatitoa.iwi.nz/new-page-17 “Wellington region records more than 7000 sewage overflows in five years” NZ Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-region-records-more-than-7000-sewage-overflows-in-five-years/5P5QXC5NWZFFPOF3OAYDUKRGRI/ “Porirua wastewater proposal 'a licence to pollute', critics say” RNZ. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/447665/porirua-wastewater-proposal-a-licence-to-pollute-critics-say

Māori Leadership in 2010 led the march to protect Māori and all population groups of Aotearoa against the negative harm of tobacco on whānau. A Smokefree Aotearoa goal by 2025 was set with a target of having less than 5% of all populations smoking. This new coalition government of National, ACT and NZ First will go down in history in the wrong way, allowing Big Tobacco lobbyists to inform a roll back of world leading public health action. Our communities have spoken, loud and clear, since the 2010 Health Select and Māori Affairs Select committee that this is what they want, the people of Aotearoa New Zealand will be failed once again, all in the name of a handful of tax cuts. Currently, 5,000 New Zealanders die from the harms of tobacco-related illnesses every year. If we repeal the Smokefree Act, loved ones will die, all so tobacco companies can continue to profit. In 2022 we introduced world-leading legislation to support the goal for Aotearoa to be smokefree by 2025. The need is clearly demonstrated, that Māori, Pacific and low socio-economic neighbourhoods are saturated with tobacco sale points, and have the highest smoking rates. We simply cannot afford to go backwards, while our whānau continue to die at the hands of this product. The government of 2023 will walk away with the literal blood of its constituents on its hands.

We, the students, staff, and alumni of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Universities, urge you to release a joint statement on behalf of our Universities standing in solidarity with Palestine. We call for this statement to condemn Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians and call for an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. To understand why this joint statement from our Universities is urgently needed, it is important that you acknowledge that Palestine has been subject to Israel’s settler-colonial violence for the past 75 years. As an independent UN expert reported last year, for 55 of these years, “the Israeli military occupation has prevented the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, violating each component of that right and wilfully pursuing the ‘de-Palestinianisation’ of the occupied territory.” This expert also affirmed that Israel's endeavours in Palestine are “illegal”, amount to “gross violations of international law, including racial segregation and subjugation” and are “indistinguishable from settler-colonialism.” Similarly, a UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry into Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine concluded last year that “by continuing to occupy [Palestinian] territory by force, Israel incurs international responsibilities and remains accountable for violations of the rights of the Palestinians, both individually and as a people.” On 7 October, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that the Palestinians of Gaza would pay an “immense price” for the actions of Hamas fighters. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, also stated that the Israeli government holds the entire Palestinian population of Gaza responsible for the actions of militant groups, and should therefore be subject to collective punishment and unrestricted use of force, saying: “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible.” Since 7 October, Israel, with the support of the United States, has killed at least 9,061 people in Gaza, including at least 3,760 children as of 2 November. Israel’s attacks have also displaced at least 1.4 million people in Gaza, with approximately 629,000 of them seeking refuge in 150 UN emergency shelters. It is also estimated that at least 2,200 people are currently buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza. A group of independent UN experts have repeatedly stated that Israel’s attacks on Palestinians are genocidal and constitute war crimes and violations of international law, remarking: “We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide. The time for action is now. Israel’s allies also bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action. The Israeli airstrike on a residential complex in the Jabalia refugee camp is a brazen violation of international law – and a war crime. Attacking a camp sheltering civilians including women and children is a complete breach of the rules of proportionality and distinction between combatants and civilians.” In terms of the reasons for Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians, international human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber noted in his resignation letter from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that this “textbook case of genocide” is “rooted in an ethno-nationalist colonial-settler ideology” which “has entered its final phase, toward the expedited destruction of the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine.” As a collective of Aotearoa New Zealand's University communities, we want to highlight that a key part of Israel’s genocide against Palestine is its epistemicide due its targeted attacks on Universities in Gaza. These attacks are not only murdering Palestine’s University communities, they are also systematically destroying the rich knowledges, histories and literatures of Palestine, without which our world, and our understanding of it, will forever be incomplete. To be clear, Universities that fail to condemn these attacks can no longer claim to be genuinely committed to the pursuit of knowledge and any meaningful vision of a local and global scholarly community. In our Universities, we teach and learn about the genocidal violence that has occurred and is still occurring around the world - from the Holocaust against Jewish peoples in Europe to the Crown’s ongoing violence against Māori here in Aotearoa New Zealand. During these lessons, we often ask how so many people, including those with great influence and power, can enable such violence and stay silent when marginalised groups are being dehumanised and murdered. Now, many of us no longer have to ask this question, as we are seeing this enabling and silence in real time around the world, including here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Not only is our country's media and government failing to condemn Israel’s genocidal violence, each of you, as the leaders of our Universities, are failing to do so as well. We note that some of you have released statements incorrectly framing this genocide as “escalating conflict in the Middle East”, and others among you are choosing to remain silent. Some might say that it would not make any difference if our Universities in Aotearoa New Zealand stood in solidarity with Palestine. However, the reality is that our Universities play a crucial role as the “critic and conscience of society" which means your enabling statements and silences are helping to allow this genocide to continue by making it appear like we, as communities of learners, teachers, researchers and professionals, deem it acceptable. *Full letter here: https://www.pantograph-punch.com/posts/university-communities-call-for-solidarity-with-palestine*