Trans Liberation Alliance (TLA) and the undersigned are calling on you to deny the visa of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (a.k.a Posie Parker), who has stated her intent to return to Aotearoa in order to attend the trial of Eli Rubashkyn this month. Immigration New Zealand have already confirmed that she has been granted a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority.

24th September 2019 Dear Minister Hipkins, We urge you to address issues that we have not been able to amend as currently there is no available contact at the MOE who is able to assist OOHMA music schools. 1.Bring wages and conditions in line with the current 2019 Adult and Community Education Collective Agreement. (ACE). OOHMA staff have not had any changes to their working conditions since 2003. 2.Give OOHMA staff the same rights as any staff member in the ACE collective. We ask OOHMA is included under the coverage clause in the collective agreement of the ACE. 3.Reinstate a contact person at the MOE for OOHMA music schools. We ask that staff at OOHMA be given the opportunity to have fortnightly payments in line with other staff at schools rather than the current term payments. 4.Review the current Novopay systems for OOHMA schools. Currently School administrators are unable to access or view employee information for OOHMA staff within the Novopay systems. 5.We also ask that you consider a system where schools who are in need of additional hours of funding have the means to apply directly to the MOE. Thank you for addressing these matters. Please ensure we have a bright future for music and art in New Zealand. For more information please contact: Michael Greenwood Supervisor of Marshall Liang Music School for the past 5 years 021 815 150 |[email protected] or Khalia Strong Supervisor of Glenfield Music Centre for the past 12 years 021 932 623 | [email protected]

Ask Countdown NZ to stop using all plastic bags in all their stores across Aotearoa New Zealand.

▪️Widen evacuation support from Afghanistan to more people, including those who are particularly vulnerable to attack. ▪️Expedite visas, deliver support for evacuations from Kabul airport and provide relocation and resettlement ▪️Action an immediate pause on the deportation of people to Afghanistan 26 August 2021: Amnesty International New Zealand, Oxfam Aotearoa and ActionStation combined and delivered the three petitions calling on the New Zealand Government to help as many people as possible get out of Afghanistan in an online event: https://www.facebook.com/ActionStationNZ/videos/308599114396900 Sign the petition to stay in touch with the campaign.

Dear TVNZ, We are deeply concerned with the misleading nature of the journalism presented in your recent coverage of the escalating crisis in Gaza and the West Bank. By focusing on specific language and framing, whilst leaving out the necessary context of international law, the broadcast misrepresents the reality of the situation faced by Palestinians. This has the effect of perpetuating a narrative that could be seen and experienced as biased and dehumanising. The International Court of Justice's ruling on January 26, 2024, mandated that Israel prevent its forces from committing acts of genocide against Palestinians and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. This ruling highlights the severity of Israel's actions and the international community's obligation to hold those responsible accountable. However, TVNZ’s coverage has often failed to reflect this legal and humanitarian perspective. Instead it echos biased narratives that obscure these realities. This includes the expansion of genocidal like acts to the West Bank and the serious concerns about the potential for mass ethnic cleansing and further escalation of grave human rights violations.  Under international law, including the Genocide Convention, media organizations have a crucial responsibility to report accurately and avoid inciting violence or supporting those committing genocidal acts. Complicity in genocide can occur when media coverage supports or justifies the actions of perpetrators, contributing to the dehumanization of victims and the perpetuation of violence. By failing to provide balanced reporting and instead contributing to harmful stereotypes and misinformation, TVNZ risks being complicit in these grave violations of human rights. New Zealand’s own tragic history of attacks on Muslims, such as the Al Noor Mosque shootings, should serve as a powerful reminder of the consequences of dehumanising narratives. The media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception, and it is deeply concerning to see TVNZ contributing to the marginalisation and demonization of Muslims and Palestinians through biased reporting. We urge you to review your coverage of the genocide to ensure that it is fair, balanced, and aligned with international law and journalistic ethics. Specific examples of biased reporting include recent stories on Gaza that failed to mention the ICJ ruling or the context of an illegal occupation.  This includes decades of systematic land confiscation, military control, restrictions on movement, and the suppression of Palestinian voices through media censorship and the shutdown of local newspapers. Accurate and responsible journalism is essential in fostering an informed and empathetic public, especially on matters as sensitive and impactful as this. On August 29, 2024, TVNZ aired a news story that exemplifies problematic media framing when reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The story begins by benignly describing Israel's "entry into the West Bank" as part of a "counter-terrorism strike"—the largest operation in ten years—implying that the context is solely anti-terrorism. Automatically, the use of the word terrorism, set's the narrative of good Israel and bad Palestinian for the remainder of the news story.  However, the report fails to mention numerous critical aspects, such as the provocations by Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque and threatening to build a synagogue at Islam's third holiest site, or Israel's escalations and violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Convention considers the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into the territory it occupies a war crime, and under international law, Palestinians have the right to resist such occupation, a right recognized and protected by international legal frameworks. The story uses footage, presumably provided by the IDF, that portrays the Israeli military as a calm, moral force entering "terrorist strongholds," which is at odds with abundant open-source footage showing the IDF destroying infrastructure, terrorising civilians, and protecting armed settlers as they displace Palestinians from their homes. It portrays the IDF entering the town with bulldozers, but makes no mention of how those bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian homes and infrastructure to make way for Israeli settlements. Furthermore, the report fails to mention that just last month, the Israeli government announced its plans to officially recognize five more illegal settlements in the West Bank and expand existing settlements, understandably exacerbating tensions. The narrative is further reinforced by giving airtime to an Israeli spokesperson who frames the operation as a defensive counter-terrorism initiative. The journalist echoes this narrative, positioning Israel as merely responding to threats. Although a brief soundbite from a Palestinian Red Crescent worker expresses fears of what might happen in the West Bank, the report fails to provide any counter-narrative to Israel's self-defence claim. The story concludes by listing the number of deaths in the West Bank since October 19, implying that the situation began with Hamas’s actions in Gaza on that date, rather than addressing the illegal Israeli occupation since 1967, as the root cause of the violence. 

Subsidise degrees that lead to mental health jobs. New Zealand has a significant shortage of Mental health workers, which contributes to the lack of Mental Health services available to those who need them. I am calling for a focus on subsiding degrees that lead to Psychiatrists, Clinical Psychologists, Therapists and Councillors. This action is meant to incentivise students to undertake long-term study to become therapists.

AUKUS is an Australia-UK-US military pact, centred on the Australian acquisition of nuclear-propelled submarines. The pact also includes sharing weapons and other military technologies. The New Zealand government is considering joining part of this pact. This petition opposes AUKUS and calls for a foreign policy centred on an independent, demilitarised and nuclear-free Pacific.

Over the last decade, there has been a substantial increase in the number of recorded issues faced by tertiary students arising in residential student accommodation across Aotearoa New Zealand. This has been exacerbated in the wake of Covid-19. The issues within residential student accommodation include poor employment conditions and limited training for staff, inconsistent communication from providers, a lack of legislation to protect accommodation users, and rapidly rising fees levied on students that far outpace the rate of inflation. We believe that these issues stem from the limited legislative provisions and lack of consistency across providers. The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) calls on the Education and Workforce Select Committee to undertake an independent inquiry into residential student accommodation Aotearoa New Zealand. An independent inquiry would allow an in-depth analysis of the purpose of residential student accommodation, current managerial structures, and would ascertain how they impact the lives and wellbeing of students residing in residential student accommodation across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dear Minister of Parliament, We are writing to you on behalf of the Uyghur community in Aotearoa New Zealand, and as a coalition of organisations and individuals concerned about the actions of the state of the People's Republic of China towards the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities living in China. As you can imagine, the small Uyghur community of Aotearoa New Zealand holds deep concerns for their family members back home affected by the actions of the Chinese government. Members of the Uyghur community here who also fear for their safety, and therefore prefer to remain anonymous, want you to hear the following pleas: “The New Zealand Government has condemned China multiple times on different stages including at the UN Forum. We appreciate the Government for speaking out against human rights violations against Uyghur people. But it is time to put the words into action and help the Uyghur community abroad who escaped China from persecution but living in limbo. Thousands of Uyghurs need urgent help in several countries, facing a lot of uncertainty including risk of being deported back to China. We request New Zealand Government to accept Uyghur Refugees as part of Refugee Quota Programme so that they can safely settle here and build their future without fear of being persecuted.” "Being a small community, we would welcome more Uyghurs calling New Zealand home. We are committed to being contributing members of New Zealand society and many of us have been successful in our careers here. However, we often feel marginalised, ignored, and alone. Uyghur refugees cannot go back home as they are facing severe persecution, and are amongst the most vulnerable of diaspora groups. Bringing more Uyghurs to New Zealand will help some of the most persecuted of people find safety. It will strengthen and enrich our community and New Zealand alike." "When I see a group of people doing family barbecue in a park with their relatives, I tell myself, one day. One day this will happen to me." We are writing to ask that you consider working with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in carving a path through our Refugee Quota Programme so that members of Uyghur community here can reconnect with their families and those currently displaced overseas can find safety in New Zealand from persecution. We know this is possible, because it has been done before with the Rohingya. So we invite you, as you firm up your plans for the change you intend to make in the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, to consider this being part of the change you make. As a coalition of concerned citizens we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. Yours sincerely,

Based on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women’s recommendations, we ask you to: ➜ Adopt a comprehensive and cross-party strategy on preventing and ending gender based violence against women; ➜ Run public awareness and behavioural change programmes in collaboration with teachers and the media, including social media, to promote understanding and prevention of violence against women, and encourage victims and witnesses to report violence; ➜ Allocate adequate resources to comprehensive and evidence-based prevention of violence against women; ➜ Ensure that every woman in Aotearoa New Zealand, from every community and background, has access to culturally appropriate domestic and sexual violence support and healing services when and where they need it.