We want the Waikato Regional Council to decline a resource consent application by Buchanan Ellis Ltd to build an industrial meat chicken farm at 69 Kelly Road, Waerenga.

We call on the Government to proceed with building the desperately needed 373 Kāinga Ora homes in Ōtautahi that have been cancelled by the National-led Government, and stop selling state houses to the open market.

We demand that Massey University takes the following principled actions: 1. Divest immediately from all investment in Israeli Government Bonds, and commit to the creation of a policy to avoid such investment in the future. 2. Fully disclose the nature and value of any and all other investments in the Israeli Government, Israeli companies, companies identified by the BDS movement, and/or weapons and other military equipment manufacturers and suppliers. 3. Fully disclose all research collaborations with Israeli universities, institutions and companies, with weapons and other military equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and with companies identified by the BDS movement. 4. Encourage all academics to observe the guidelines of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and coordinate academic aid efforts directly with Gazan universities to ensure the long-term resilience and sustainability of Gaza’s higher education system, as requested by Gazan academics. 5. Take seriously your obligations to Indigenous students as a supposedly Te Tiriti led university. This means fortifying pathways that engender Māori student excellence and further increasing opportunities and resources that engender all Indigenous student excellence, particularly facilitating scholarships and study opportunities for Palestinian students. 6. Heed the following demands already made by student protesters across Aotearoa to: 1. Declare and recognise Palestine as an independent and sovereign state; 2. Denounce anti-Semitisim, Islamophobia, and all forms of discrimination; 3. Engage in good faith with student protesters and refrain from calling the police on student protests 4. Release a statement in solidarity with Palestine condemning Israel’s genocidal actions against Palestinians, acknowledging Israel’s war crimes over 76 years of occupation, and calling for an immediate ceasefire and end to illegal occupation. It is in Massey's strategic plan that global social and economic divides, fractured interstate relationships, ongoing economic and humanitarian crises, strained health systems, and security threats as issues experienced globally are listed as requiring “universities such as Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University [to] step forward and address the complexities those issues present.” We are demanding that you follow through on your words and align Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s practices with these principles. We are demanding that you put your money where your mouth is. 

To the Members of the New Zealand Parliament, We begin this letter by acknowledging the whānau and communities who’ve lost loved ones, and had their lives turned upside down at the hand of climate change; in the form of the intensity of Cyclone Gabrielle. Right across Aotearoa, we’ve seen people mobilising in support of those in need in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti Gisborne and Te Tai Tokerau Northland - and what a heartwarming thing that is. We’ve been presented with the reality of having to rebuild entire communities, which comes with the opportunity to right wrongs, do things differently and catalyse climate solutions and resilience. It would be a mistake to emerge from this Cyclone still clinging to the past. Unless we want to hand over a world with an unstable climate, rising temperatures and a polarity of extreme weather events, business as usual is no longer an option. Future generations are relying on us to act, urgently and transformationally. We hope you feel the need to be a good ancestor and guardians for future generations, and thus act with this in mind. We hope you see and feel the momentum across Aotearoa for bold, ambitious climate action. We hope you know many people will be basing their vote in this year’s general Election on just that. This will be the Climate Election. So we urge you to invest in a better future, not a bigger failure. Investing in a better future would see you prioritising: Climate-resilient development. Climate-resilient development integrates smart adaptation measures with mitigation to advance sustainable development for all. The 2022 IPCC report noted the urgent need for climate resilient development and that climate resilience is possible when governments make decisions in equitable and inclusive ways and work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, the private sector, science bodies and traditionally marginalised groups, including women, youth, disabled communities and ethnic minorities The baking in of mitigation, and accountability to reduce emissions, into all infrastructure projects. Cutting emissions is the most effective mechanism to address the potential for more frequent and ever-intensifying events of this nature. Participatory democracy. The awareness and popularity of Citizens Assemblies is growing globally. Citizen assemblies typically involve a process of education and deliberation, which allows participants to learn about the issue at hand and engage in constructive dialogue with others who may hold different perspectives. This process can lead to more thoughtful and nuanced decision-making, as well as greater public understanding and education of complex issues. The Climate Change Commission stated in its advice on emissions reduction; We recommend that the Government commit to evolving more effective mechanisms to incorporate the views of the public when determining how to prioritise climate actions and policies to meet emissions budgets, to create more inclusive policy development. Listening to the indigenous voices that are too often excluded from the conversation. Colonial systems and values are at the root of the climate crisis so Mātauranga Māori and indigenous knowledge need to be at the forefront of our response to climate change. For millennia, Indigenous communities have lived in harmony with Papatūānuku. The Māori value of kaitiakitanga must guide our actions going forward. We need to be working with the planet, not against it. It is crucial that we collaborate with iwi, hapū and our Pacific neighbours to create a ‘new normal’ that benefits all people and the planet. Land use planning as a tool to both mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. By carefully planning land use including infrastructure, we can reduce emissions eg. reducing the need for long commutes, thus reducing our faster rising sector of emissions; transport. It is vital that we commit to expanding and enhancing low-carbon transport networks, such as active and public modes, and their accessibility both physically and price-wise to catalyse a mode-shift. Additionally, it can facilitate the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, while also allowing space for and valuing wetlands and other nature based solutions. Identifying land which is prone to flooding, slipping and coastal erosion and inundation must also inform decisions on how such land is used. The building of resilience. Community resilience is not just about responding to disasters, but also about building sustainable communities that can thrive in the face of the climate crisis. This involves reducing our carbon footprint, enabling sustainable practices, and creating more resilient infrastructure - including social infrastructure.

We, Uri o Ngāti Pāoa, are currently occupying the beach at Pūtiki Bay (Kennedy Point), Waiheke Island. We are occupying to protect our ancestral moana, Tikapa Moana, by stopping the proposed ‘Kennedy Point Marina’. Many Uri o Ngāti Pāoa (descendants of our iwi) have returned to Waiheke to occupy and have been here since March the 9th, 2021. We are committed to staying indefinitely. We, the undersigned, support the three asks of Uri o Ngāti Pāoa: ✪ We call on Auckland Council to instigate a review of the resource consent given by Auckland Council for the marina at Kennedy Point/Pūtiki Bay (under s128(1)(c) RMA). ✪ We call on Auckland council, the Minister for the Environment; and Minister for Conservation/Acting Minister of Conservation to mandate a process that will enable all affected parties to come up with an outcome everyone can live with. ✪ We call on the Minister for Conservation/Acting Minister of Conservation; to amend the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 to prohibit any future marinas on Waiheke Island. ⭑⭑⭑ Ko Tikapa te moana. Tikapa is the moana we whakapapa to. We are occupying to protect our whakapapa connections. We are occupying to protect our ancestral moana from a mega-sized marina with unprecedented features, such as New Zealand's first floating car park. We are occupying to further express the battle of the Ngāti Pāoa Trust Board, the Waiheke community and SKP (Save Kennedy Point) who have pursued legal avenues to oppose the marina and protect the environment for 4.5+ years. We are all people living in the environment here in Aotearoa/ New Zealand, and we stand in solidarity under the kaupapa of protecting the moana that nourishes and connects us all. As Uri/descendants of Paoa, we are whānau and hapū reconnecting with Waiheke Island (Te Motu Arai Roa), with our ancestral stories, with our mātauranga. We are whānau and hapū growing relationships with the Waiheke Community whose ongoing fight for environmental advocacy and protection we admire. We will continue insisting on the protection of the environment we all share. We unanimously ask that these connections and mātauranga are acknowledged and respected through being given the chance to come to light at an environment court. The RMA (resource management act) provides an opportunity for all Māori to have a voice. The developer says we have had this opportunity. We say that is wrong. If more Uri o Ngāti Pāoa had been allowed a voice in the consideration of this consent, then a fuller picture would have been demonstrated. We ask that an opportunity is granted for this full picture of our mātauranga to be heard. In 70 days of occupation, a significant amount of Ngāti Pāoa people and their stories have come back to Waiheke. Some have never been here on their ancestral land. Some have been here a few times. Some grew up here. In all cases, we share the desire to reconnect to the places we have been displaced from. The reality of the impacts of colonisation and displacement of our whānau, hapū and iwi has meant that our people, their mātauranga and stories connecting us all to place have become scattered and fragmented. However, the mātauranga still exists and has been resurfacing and regathering during the occupation. Many people of Ngāti Pāoa are adamant that the proposed marina is a threat to our ancestral moana, a threat to our whakapapa. It is this threat that unifies us with urgency. The return of our people to our ancestral homeland has brought a deeper, richer level of our mātauranga to light. The mauri and mana of our mātauranga which is yet to be heard by the Court has been reinvigorated through the occupation at Pūtiki. There are now many more Uri o Ngāti Pāoa ready to advocate for our rights armed with the ancestral knowledge to advocate for our taiao/ environment. This expression of mātauranga has become possible in our context by having the time to reconnect and regather through the continuing occupation. We are asking that Auckland Council and the Minister respect the realities of colonisation on our people by providing an opportunity for our mātauranga that is now being called back to Pūtiki to be heard.

To effectively tackle crime in Aotearoa, it is crucial to address its key drivers. This includes poverty and inequality, inadequate mental health support, poor educational outcomes, and other social issues. By doing so, we can ensure that everyone has access to the resources and services they need to thrive. However, for many years, politicians have upheld a criminal justice system that primarily focuses on imprisoning people, disproportionately affecting working-class, Māori, and ethnic minority communities. Turuki! Turuki!, the final report by Te Uepū Hāpai I te Ora - The Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group, makes 12 recommendations to transform Aotearoa’s justice system. It envisions a community-led system that addresses the social causes of harm, helps to heal people who have been harmed, is grounded in principles of restorative and transformative justice, and honours Te Tiriti O Waitangi. We are calling on the Government to implement all 12 recommendations of the Turuki! Turuki! report. The recommendations are: 1. Establish a cross-party parliamentary accord for transformative justice that ensures a long-term commitment to change, monitoring mechanisms, and a clear plan forward for incoming governments. 2. Establish a Mana Ōrite (equal power) governance model under which Māori and Crown agencies share in justice sector decision-making power and authority. Ensure that tikanga Māori and te ao Māori values are at the heart of the justice system. 3. Prioritise investment in community-led transformative justice. Transfer investment towards social spending to help communities respond to social issues. 4. Adopt a whole-of-government approach to justice, creating a common vision, values and coordination across agencies to meaningfully address the social drivers of crime. 5. Ensure victims have access to an independent advocate, therapeutic and financial support, and that their rights in criminal justice decision-making processes are strengthened. 6. Give communities greater resources and power to meet the needs of all those impacted by the justice system. Direct resources towards iwi, hapū, community-led, whānau and children-centred organisations to adequately provide all that is needed to restore the wellbeing of people in contact with the justice system. 7. Address poverty and social deprivation. Increase support for parents and whānau and challenge attitudes and behaviour around family violence. 8. Challenge racism in the justice system and society with diverse recruitment, effective training, school programmes, media campaigns and law reforms. 9. Address access to culturally informed trauma recovery and mental health services. Ensure mental health and drug use services and systems are equipped to assist people with trauma or other underlying factors impacting people’s mental health and quality of life. 10. Strengthen regulation of alcohol. Legalise and regulate personal use of cannabis and consider this for all drugs. Provide more funding for drug harm prevention, education and treatment. Change drug legislation to a health-based approach and build up resources and services for drug harm prevention. 11. Significantly increase investment in rehabilitation. Expand rehabilitation access for all prisoners, including those on remand and serving short sentences. Gradually replace most prisons with community-based habilitation centres. Strengthen wrap-around reintegration services. Provide people with the support they need when coming out of prison. 12. Redesign criminal investigations and court procedures to be consistent with transformative justice values and principles. This means ensuring everyone is treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Introduce interim reforms, including reviewing youth, specialist and therapeutic courts and apply improvements across the court system. You can read the full Turuki! Turuki! report here: https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/turuki-turuki.pdf

We call on the House of Representatives to request the Minister of Housing resume state housing projects that have been paused or abandoned, retain public housing sites, and build enough state housing in Wellington so that all of our community is housed. There is an increasing number of unhoused people in Pōneke Wellington while at the same time the Government has paused or cancelled many state housing projects. The Government has an obligation under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and a duty to ensure people are adequately housed.

We petition you to build enough state housing to end the waitlist in the Eastern Bay of Plenty!

We ask for the government to implement compulsory sexual consent education for first-year students at tertiary instutions.

We ask you, the members of the Justice Select Committee to oppose the Protection for First Responders and Correction Officers Bill and work to provide solutions that prevent first responders from being harmed in the first place. Many of the people this Bill will affect will be people suffering from extreme trauma, addiction, mental illness and mental distress. Punitive, revenge based policies do not help to address violent crime. Many people who commit these crimes are not safe, stable, or in a sound mind at the time that the crime occurs. The Protection for First Responders and Police officers Bill will not succeed in keeping our brave frontline staff safe, and instead will only punish vulnerable people who need help, increasing our prison population in the process. Our hope is that parliament will not proceed with this bill, but rather will redirect its energy into providing solutions that will mitigate the risk that our First Responders and Prison Officers face, with the goal of focusing on prevention, rather than punishment. Your signature will be delivered together with others as a joint submission to the Justice Select Committee.