https://youtu.be/MuRVoO8mK5U Dear House of Representatives, We the undersigned request the House of Representatives to fully fund NZ Sign Language accessibility to Waitangi Day Commemorations and other commemorations, anniversaries & festivals throughout NZ. We request that: - NZ Sign Language Interpreters are fully funded for formal coverage of commemorations, anniversaries & festivals in their local regions throughout NZ. - NZ Sign Language Interpreters are fully funded for social interpreting throughout the day of the commemorations, anniversaries & festival events occurring throughout NZ. - Update all legislation and policies to reflect this access need for example: Waitangi National Trust Board Act 1932: Within the preamble of this act, 'with a view to presenting and giving the said land as a place of historic interest, recreation, enjoyment, and benefit in perpetuity to the inhabitants of New Zealand:' The act uses the word 'inhabitants' which is you and me. Yet Deaf and disabled groups still struggle to be fully included in commemoration events due to the lack of access (such as social NZSL interpreters - note that the formal proceedings (Dawn Service, Governor General and Prime Minister Powhiri have NZSL Interpreters that are already funded for)).

Sign our letter to the Prime Minister. Kia Ora Jacinda, Please help us stop exploitation. We help victims of exploitation and workplace bullying. When reluctant victims stand up, the lengthy delays and high legal costs prevent them getting justice. This allows abusers to pay a fraction of what they owe and get name suppression. They are then free to prey on new victims. This has caused an explosion of NZ workplace exploitation and bullying. These three law changes will stop it immediately. 1. Employers deliberately exploiting workers get sent to the criminal courts. If exploiters know they may go to prison, they will stop. 2. If a business is closed or sold to avoid justice, the individual exploiter must pay their victim any money owed. 3. Cases under $20,000 get decided in a month and compensation is paid within 14 days. More severe cases get decided within 3 months. Victims are currently waiting for over a year just to get a date for their case. With your help we will get real justice for victims. Sincerely yours, UTU for Workers Team.

Dear Prime Minister, I am writing to request ongoing financial support for individuals in the arts who have lost their income overnight due to the change in alert level. When Aotearoa went into a red-alert level over the weekend, we saw hundreds of incredible festivals, arts events, tours and concerts cancelled. They were cancelled to keep our community safe. Musicians and artists not only provide millions of dollars for New Zealand, they have provided relief to people during these times. Providing film, music and poetry that helps bring us joy and connection. Unlike previous restriction changes, when those affected were kept afloat with government wage subsidies and resurgence funds, there is no such support in the current Traffic Light System. This feels like a harsh oversight of already vulnerable musicians, actors and event workers. Morale amongst our artist community is low. Not only are we facing again the reality that the time and effort we have all put into bringing our community art is seemingly wasted. We are faced with limited financial support from our government.

Victoria University of Wellington should reimburse 30% of International Students' fees for Trimester 1 (and Trimester 2 if teaching is being delivered online), as long as International Students cannot physically utilise the University's facilities. Additionally, this must be done in a way to also minimise job losses within the University.

We call on the Minister for Children to NOT repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1998.

We are calling on the Government to work across the house to develop and implement Duty to Assist legislation. This would place responsibility on government agencies to prevent homelessness, provide support to those experiencing homelessness, and support people into secure and permanent housing. This legislation would also place responsibility on health professionals and other government agencies (such as schools, hospitals, organisations serving people who are at-risk of homelessness) to refer whānau who are at-risk of homelessness to the appropriate government agency.   Such legislation has been successful internationally and would be an important step towards addressing the structural challenges contributing to homelessness within Aotearoa.

We the undersigned demand the Ministry of Social Development adequately funds Shakti Wellington Refuge to support migrant and refugee women experiencing family violence in the greater Wellington region. Last year, Shakti was contracted by Ministry of Social Development to conduct a needs analysis and the resulting evidence pointed to a need for specialist refuge services for migrant and refugee women needing intervention and support from family violence. Furthermore, Shakti Wellington has been able to practically evidence the need by servicing over 350 women in 2016, with over 200 referrals coming in from the police. This year, funding for Shakti Wellington Refuge was categorically declined by the Ministry of Social Development despite this needs analysis. We see this as an ongoing issue of structural racism against migrant women preventing us from self-determining our own services and support our people. It is a denial of the right for Asian, Middle Eastern and African women to access culturally appropriate services in the Wellington region. Shakti has been at the forefront of striving for equality and equity for migrant and refugee women in New Zealand, the refusal to consider this specialist need by the government is going to put more migrant women’s lives at risk.

Don’t let the Make it 16 bill die! The Bill to lower the voting age is at a critical stage! We need everyone to help us ensure rangatahi get their right to vote and have a voice in our democracy. Earlier this year the Labour Government introduced a Bill to lower the voting age for Local Elections. This followed years of mahi from rangatahi across the motu, as well as tautoko from the Review into the Future of Local Government; the Justice Select Committee; the Independent Electoral Law Review; 72 individual Local Government Elected Members who signed an open letter; six of Aotearoa’s largest councils (including Christchurch, Wellington, and Dunedin), more than 7400 New Zealanders who signed our petition; and the Government’s basic human rights obligations, as declared by the Supreme Court. This Bill is crucial to ensure respect for the human rights of rangatahi. The Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament, but in order to ensure it is able to continue and eventually be made tūturu, we need to make sure it goes to second reading. This petition calls on the incoming National-led Government to return this Bill to Parliament for a second reading and vote in its favour. In other words, don’t drop the Bill and don’t vote against it.

We urge Horizons Regional Council to decline the discharge to air resource consent application lodged by Bio Plant Manawatū to build a waste-to-energy pyrolysis facility in Feilding, Aotearoa New Zealand. Failing that, we urge the Manawatū District Council to call an urgent public forum on the issue fully disclosing the environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts. We request that: 1. That the Horizons Regional Council publicly notify the discharge to air resource consent application lodged by Bio Plant Manawatū so that Feilding and the wider community have the opportunity for input. This is required under section 95A of the Resource Management Act 1991 as the adverse environmental effects are likely to be 'more than minor'. 2. Horizons Regional Council requires that the consenting process extends beyond emissions to air to also include discharge to land and water - because we know that toxicants will be produced in the processes being described by Bio Plant Manawatū and potentially released into our waterways and soils. 3. Horizons Regional Council identifies the lack of alignment of the resource consent application with their One plan policy, 3-8, 3-9 and 3-10 on waste management. 4. Manawatū District Council identifies the lack of alignment with their Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, and statutory responsibilities outlined in their Environmental Stocktake. 5. Horizons Regional Council and the Manawatū District Council obtain a public health expert assessment of the proposed pyrolysis plant before it is given consent to proceed.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered a series of provisional measures against Israel[1]. Some of these measures include ordering Israel to; 1. Take all possible measures to prevent genocidal acts. 2. Take effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. 3. Prevent the destruction of evidence related to allegations of acts. Israel has failed to comply with the ICJ's provisional measures and, in some areas, committed more violations after the ruling[2]. NZ must impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on Israel in response to the violations of the ICJ provisional measures, similar to those placed on Russia in the 2022 Russia Sanctions Act. NZ created the act three weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has since imposed sanctions on over 1,600 people and entities, including Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago till February 2024. Regarding Israel, NZ has only placed sanctions in the form of travel bans on individual extremist settlers in the West Bank. However, these sanctions have little to no effect as the number of settler attacks on Palestinians and their property has increased. Sanctioning a few settlers will not help, while NZ turns a blind eye to ministers who arm and incite settlers to carry out attacks, e.g. Minster Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotorich and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Russia Sanction Act is a framework that can be easily copied and was purposed for responding to wars, severe human rights abuses, and emergency situations. NZ can sanction Israel by creating an "Israel Sanction Act". NZ's inability to do so thus far has highlighted its double standards when responding to war crimes and violations of international law. The Israel Sanction Act could be tied to Israel's ability to meet its obligated provisional measures and prevent further Israeli impunity. For example, sanctions could be lifted if Israel meets the following: 1. Open all available land crossings to humanitarian aid trucks.  - The only two available crossings are the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings[4]. Israel must open the Erez crossing to Palestinians in the north who are currently facing Israel-induced famine. 2. Guarantee the safety of all civilians, aid seekers, and coordinators of humanitarian aid. - Israel requires the coordination of all movements of UN and aid agency personnel within Gaza. Despite coordination of aid, according to Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli military has killed at least 560 and injured 1,523 other Palestinians in incidents involving aid trucks amid it's war on Gaza from October 7 - to March 23[5]. The casualty tolls comprise Palestinian aid seekers, aid workers, and coordinators and distributors.  3. To not deliberately obstruct lifesaving humanitarian assistance during a man-made famine. - As of the 25th of March, Israel has intentionally blocked all UNRWA aid deliveries to northern Gaza, which, as mentioned earlier, 70% of the northern population is in a state of man-made famine[6]. UNRWA is the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, serving at least 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza[7]. Intentionally blocking aid from a UN organisation that has a legal right to provide aid in Gaza, particularly during a famine, is a clear war crime[8].  4. To remove the repetitive bureaucratic procedures designed to slow aid delivery.  - There was a 44% reduction in aid delivery during February compared to January[4]. The main blockers of aid entry are arbitrary denials by Israel and lengthy clearance procedures, which include repetitive screenings during narrow operating hours. Aid trucks, on average, wait 20 days during the screening process to be cleared to enter Gaza[4]. Trucks yet to be screened end up stranded in extensive queues[9]. -The screening process is also inconsistent, as trucks can pass one inspection only to be rejected in the second inspection despite having no change. Entire caravans are either arbitrarily rejected or due to items considered of "dual use"[10]. The dual-use list has arbitrary inclusions such as anesthetics, crutches, dates, fuel generators and oxygen tanks[11].  5. To not pursue ground and ariel operations in Rafah - Rafah is the last “safe zone” for more than 1.5 million Palestinians. Palestinians have been repeatedly displaced in Gaza because Israel's actions contradict their statements[12]. Areas previously declared as "safe zones" are not safe at all. There is nowhere else for the Palestinians to go[13].  6. To not build illegal settlements and confiscate Palestinian land in the West Bank  - On the 23rd of March, Israel announced their illegal seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank (Palestinian territory)[14]. This is also the largest land appropriation in over 30 years. Israel also plans to build 3500 illegal settlements in the West Bank[15]. Settlements, which involve the forced transfer of the local/indigenous population, are illegal in international law[16].