We're asking the NZ House of Representatives to pledge their commitment to the following:  1. Leave no-one behind: Ensure that steps are taken to address digital exclusion and that no-one is left behind or left out because they can’t or don’t wish to engage online.   2. Public services accessible to all: Implement accessibility and inclusion standards for the delivery of public services that include offline channels as part of the proactive design of government service delivery.  3. CAB compensated for cost-shifting: Ensure that the Citizens Advice Bureau is properly funded to meet the demands and cost-shifting that has resulted from government services going online. Add your voice to this call to address digital exclusion!

Migrants on temporary visas are not able to access welfare payments in New Zealand, they have no safety net... Unless the government enacts Section 64 of the Social Security Act (Emergency Benefit: Grant during epidemic in New Zealand). New Zealand did grant this in 2020, but on 31 August 2021 it lapsed. When everyone is being told to stay home, how do we expect vulnerable people pay the rent or afford the essentials like food? We ask that Emergency Benefits for migrants on temporary visas be reinstated, to ensure everyone has support to live and stay safe. These payments need to be enough to live on. The Emergency Benefit rate must be set on par at the equivalent rate of the main benefit type that MSD would normally grant to a person in their circumstances where they would qualify. Standard benefit rates are 20% below the poverty line. If Jacinda and her team can find the kindness in their hearts, please lift the benefit rates to a liveable level.

We ask that the Ministry for the Environment and the Minister for the Environment honour the call from the public for a swimmable bottom line for our waterways, by writing the Ministry of Health's guidelines into the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. We do not support the Government's worse swimming standards for freshwater.[1] We support a return to the Ministry of Health's microbiological guidelines for New Zealand's swimming standards. This is where an acceptable swimming standard is an E. coli count of 260 per 100 mL of freshwater (95th percentile).[2]

Dear Vice Chancellors and Chief Executives of New Zealand Universities and Polytechnics We are students across New Zealand universities and polytechnics asking for your support during the COVID-19 public health crisis. As the government increases travel restrictions and encourages people to avoid mass gatherings, we want to ensure that our safety is met with help and support from our education providers. We believe that these measures need to be introduced urgently. Although classes have not yet been cancelled, it is important that we are supported to stay home when we begin to feel any signs of sickness or where it is important we self-isolate to protect members of our family who have heightened vulnerability. As a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, recordings should be available to ALL students, not only those with medical certificates or those who are in self-isolation. This is because we want to avoid over burdening the already inundated health service and to give students flexibility to stay home if they are feeling unwell.

***UPDATED*** Dear Mayor Phil Mauger and Christchurch City Council Members, Also to Kainga Ora as new owners of the property, -Firstly, we call on all council members to oppose the granting of a resource consent to the housing company that is developing the big property in spreydon at 70,74,76 and 78 domain tce. - Secondly, we ask Kainga Ora to spare the 100 year old elm and beech trees at the front of this property, in which little owls live. - Thirdly, we invite Kainga Ora to take a few step back in the design process and truly engage the voice of the community in redrawing the topology and features of the plan. The fabric of our community needs to be reinforced and empowered by being consulted in the process of it's transformation. We are calling on the Council and Kainga Ora to consider the greater good for all Christchurch communities. Consider, what is really best for our present and future residents? As human beings we yearn for a sense of connection to people and place. We believe this connection is essential to creating healthy humans and nations. We request the council and Kainga Ora supports our residents' need for community focused housing in a time where communities are more and more dislocated and compartmentalised by profit driven developers. All around us established gardens with shelter/shade and fruit trees continue to be levelled to create “concrete wastelands”. With little, if any, interest in building up a sense of connection to people and environment the developers plan to build maximised high-density housing on Domain Terrace which will require an exemption to The District Plan by way of Resource Consent. Why should profit driven developers be allowed to take charge of designing and changing our local spaces and lifestyle? Their plans are a significant departure from the 4002m. sections specified to preserve the intended nature of this area. This plan is already a considerable downsizing from the 8002m+ sections prevalent among the original houses on the street. No one wants to see another cookie cutter development with miniature sections, more fences, streets and driveways in our neighbourhood.

We are asking Minister of Transport Simeon Brown to fund the Greater Christchurch Public Transport Futures Programme (‘PT Futures’)[1], endorsed by the Greater Christchurch Councils (Christchurch City, Selwyn District, Waimakariri District and Environment Canterbury (‘ECan’) and by the NZ Transport Agency (‘NZTA’). PT Futures will deliver a fit-for-purpose public transport system for New Zealand's second largest city, by increasing the frequency of the busiest bus routes to every ten minutes or better by 2028, adding additional direct services to the key centres in Waimakariri and Selwyn, and include new bus lanes, infrastructure such as bus shelters, and real-time displays.

Tēnā koutou to all candidates standing in Aotearoa’s General Election 2020, Together with leading children’s organisations running the Five to Thrive campaign, Barnardos, Te Kahui Mana Ririki, Save the Children New Zealand and Whānau Āwhina Plunket, we are calling on you to commit to getting the basics in place so that all children and tamariki in Aotearoa can thrive. You can do this through your party’s policies ahead of the General Election, and by committing to make change if you are a part of New Zealand’s next government. 2020 has been a year of enormous change for the people of Aotearoa New Zealand as we have joined together to respond to a global pandemic. The challenges already facing so many of our nation’s tamariki and whānau around inequity, poverty, poor housing and access to support services have been increased by the devastating effect of COVID-19 on New Zealand. As we work to recover in our communities and rebuild our nation, we are relying on our political leaders to put the children of Aotearoa at the heart of actions you will take to support us through this time of uncertainty and change. To have a prosperous and equitable society where we all do well, we must deliver on Te Tiriti o Waitangi for all whānau Māori and invest in our children’s early years and beyond. This Election, we are asking you to commit to five key asks to ensure all tamariki have the basics they need to thrive. We are asking that you commit to policies that focus on the following five areas, and take action on them if you are part of the next government of Aotearoa New Zealand: 1. Realise the potential of whānau Māori – the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is yet to be delivered resulting inequitable outcomes for Maori across education, health, justice, and housing 2. Invest in children’s early years – the first 1000 days of a child’s life are critical and impact the rest of their lives 3. Lift children and families out of poverty – 20% of our children in New Zealand continue to live in poverty 4. An affordable and healthy home for every child – around 30,000 children are hospitalised every year due to an unhealthy housing environment 5. Mental health support for every child and new parent – New Zealand has unacceptably high rates of youth suicide and suicide is the leading cause of death of our pregnant mothers. I support #FiveToThrive and am asking you to join me and publicly get behind this important campaign for our tamariki. Please share how you and your party will commit to our children on these five asks and share this campaign with your followers in the lead up to Election 2020. If you are a part of the government after the Election, please, commit to doing all you can to get the #FiveToThrive basics right for all children and tamariki in Aotearoa. They and their families and whānau will thank you for it now, and future generations will thank you, too. Nāku iti noa, nā

Urgent Independent Royal Commission of Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children - formerly CYFS

Now is the time for the Government to level the playing field and pass a law requiring all employers to be transparent and take action on their gender, Māori, Pacific, and other ethnic pay gaps. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it will ensure Aotearoa New Zealand is honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi and meeting its human rights obligations. It will bring us in line with other progressive countries already moving towards closing their pay gaps. Working together, we can build a future where everyone, whatever their ethnicity or gender, is paid fairly for their work and treated with respect and dignity. We are asking the Government to introduce pay transparency legislation with urgency.

We are calling for a pathway for residency for non-citizens who are working on temporary work contracts.