We the undersigned are writing to address the crisis facing our young people.  Aotearoa New Zealand is in the grip of a fuel crisis driven by conflict in the Middle East. Petrol prices have surged past $4 a litre in some parts of the country, and the consequences are being felt most acutely by families who cannot afford bus fares, let alone drive their children to school. Students who rely on public transport to reach university and higher education campuses are also feeling it.  This Open Letter is grounded in the Government’s own words and commitments. The Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Minister of Transport have all spoken clearly about their determination to protect education during this crisis. We are simply asking them to match their words with urgent action, for every child and young person in this country, whether they live in a city, on a farm and everywhere in between. The solution is simple: Free Fares for all children, young people and under 25’s Therefore, we call on the Government to respond to this crisis by: • Immediately reinstate free public transport for all children and young people aged 5-18 on buses, trains and ferries across Aotearoa for the duration of the fuel crisis and beyond. • Immediately reinstate free or half-price public transport for all young people aged 19-25 enrolled in tertiary education (university, polytechnic or any other approved provider of higher education).  • Restore all rural school bus routes that were cancelled or amended in the 2024 Ministry of Education reviews and impose a permanent moratorium on further cancellations until a full community-led review of rural transport is completed.  • Lower the eligibility threshold for government funded rural bus services from eight students to four, as recommended by Federated Farmers, to better reflect the realities of rural communities.  • Guarantee that school bus operators are resourced to continue running rural routes despite rising diesel costs, by classifying school transport as an essential service and ensuring diesel fuel is prioritised for school buses in any future fuel rationing phases.  • Work with NZTA and regional councils to rapidly implement free urban fare changes. • Commit to making free fares for under 18s permanent policy beyond the immediate crisis, as long-term investment in the education and well-being of New Zealand’s children and young people. The Government has said, in its own words, that it will take ‘every step necessary” to keep children in the classroom. We are calling on Ministers to take the most obvious and proven steps available to them: restore free and subsidised fares, restore cancelled bus routes, and fund the school buses that rural children depend on. “We do not want to see children outside the classroom as occurred during Covid. We do not want to see children forced to learn from home. We think maintaining access to schools through all of these phases is essential, and the Ministry of Education are working actively on plans to ensure that. This generation have already had years of learning disrupted by the Covid experience that had a marked impact on their achievement, and we will be taking every step necessary to keep kids learning in the classroom.” - Finance Minister Nicola Willis, ‘Government Fuel Crisis Rationing Plan Announcement’, 29 March 2026 (RNZ/Scoop). “I just want to be clear: kids are going to school, they are not sitting at home. This is not Covid, this is about a fuel crisis.’ -  Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, 27 March 2026 (RNZ). These are strong and unambiguously clear commitments. But promises alone will not get a child onto a bus. The Government must now provide the practical means to back these promises up and free public transport is the most direct and effective tool available. 

When Māori have a say in local decision making, our communities and our natural world benefit. Māori wards or constituencies are one way of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and ensuring Māori have a say in local decisions after decades of underrepresentation. We, the undersigned, • Support keeping Māori wards on our councils  • Ask local councils to commit to keeping Māori representation on their councils, both through Māori wards or other forms  • Call on the Government to prevent racist violence towards Māori ward councillors and candidates in any referendums • Call on future Governments to commit to supporting Māori representation in local decision-making, including entrenching Māori wards in legislation

We would like the Hamilton City Council to declare a climate emergency so that urgency is taken when making climate action. Our Climate is in a state of emergency because we have failed to act upon the warnings that science has given us for over 40 years and the council needs to recognise this. Declaring a Climate Emergency would send a message to society that now is the time to act and therefore ensure current and future generations have a place to live in the years to come. The current plan put in place by the government isn't good enough. 2050 is too late. 2025 may even be too late unless we start taking action right now.

On Thursday 6 May Manawatū District Council voted to defer the decision of the establishment of Māori wards until 2023. On 11 May a Notice of Motion was put forward by four councilors to revoke this decision. Two additional votes FOR a Māori ward are needed to revoke the 6 May decision. Mayor Worboys & Deputy Mayor Ford have supported a Māori ward before, and have recently said in a press release that they would bring the deferral forward to 2022, at which time they would support a Māori ward. But this isn't soon enough, and those are promises that they may not be able to keep. Also, this proposal is not a real compromise, as it would still mean Māori won't get a seat at the table until 2025. This petition is to urge them to change and reconsider their position at the next meeting on 20 May, and vote to establish Māori wards NOW.

People Against Prisons Aotearoa demand that Corrections provide the basic supplies it is required to by law to all prisoners. Clause 68(5b) of the Corrections Regulations (2005) requires - that "Clothing or footwear is provided by the prison must be adequate for safety, warmth, comfort, and health."  Put pressure on Corrections to provide, in addition to the blankets and pillow prisoners get upon arrival, that they also be given: • 7 pairs of socks • 7 pairs of underwear • one pair of enclosed shoes suitable for exercise • one set of thermals Seven pairs of socks and underwear will mean that prisoners will have a clean pair for every day of the week and won’t have to resort to washing their only pair in the sink.  Many prisoners have reported having only one pair of jandals instead of proper shoes. Enclosed shoes will mean that prisoners are not only able to wear these for exercise, but these shoes will also provide them some much needed warmth and protection.  People in prison need and deserve to have their basic needs met and supplies provided. We demand that they receive the list above, and that these supplies are replaced at request. How can we keep people incarcerated for not following the law, while the very agency in charge of prisons fails to follow the law itself? 

We call on the Government to ban any NEW oil and gas prospecting, exploration and mining permits including extensions of existing permits in Taranaki AND to ban any NEW coal mines or expansion of existing coal mines in Aotearoa by 2022. We call for an end to prospecting, exploration and re-drilling in all existing fossil fuel permits by 2025 to allow only for current production to come to an end. We are in a climate emergency. We need to transition off fossil fuels urgently. The current accepted notion of being carbon neutral by 2050 is far too late. Taranaki and other energy provinces hold solutions for energy security in Aotearoa through demonstrating a substantial reduction and re-prioritising of energy use across all sectors, careful investment in public controlled renewable energies, a shift from the export-import economy to a low carbon domestic focused economy and re-invigoration of our communities to transition to a safer and fairer world for all.

We call for the government to commit to safe walking, biking, scooting and free buses for all students in Aotearoa. The government is preparing its response to climate change, and we want our tamariki to be at the heart of it. We want to say goodbye to school traffic, make it safe to travel to school, and remove the cost of transport as a barrier to education. We approve of the general direction of the government's Emissions Reduction Plan but believe it needs to be more ambitious with clear targets and commitments. That’s why we’re calling for the below actions to be part of the Emissions Reduction Plan and funded in Budget 2022: 🚃Free public transport for all school students from 2023 onwards. 🚌Access to dedicated school buses for all schools that need them. 🛴Commitment to providing safe walking, cycling and scooting routes to and from school by 2025. 🚲Funding for school travel coordinators (to organise initiatives like walking school buses and bike trains). Sign our petition to urge the Government to take urgent action for the climate and people!

Update the Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Act to remove loopholes and make country of origin labelling compulsory for all foods including processed meats.

We're calling on Auckland Council and the Government to address Auckland's unacceptable traffic which has huge health, environmental, social and productivity costs by investing in public transport:  • Making fares affordable • Getting light rail done • Speeding up investment in local and regional rail

We call on you to proceed with building the desperately needed 450 Kāinga Ora homes in Tai Tokerau that have been cancelled by your government, and stop selling state houses to the open market.