Successful Campaigns

March 2020: This week we achieved abortion law reform, largely because of the support you and the rest of the country have shown toward reproductive rights through polls, demonstrations, lobbying efforts, and petitions like this one.

The petition was delivered to Parliament on 21 March 2019, five days after being launched - later the same day the Government announced all military style automatic weapons will be banned. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/ActionStationNZ/videos/337544046965351/ Report from the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee: https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/SCR_87811/e39e119082aad70fc8b775b2320ff7cbcae993ef

Amy started the Stand Together for Social Work - Change the Registration Bill! campaign when new laws were drafted that would redefine who is or isn’t a social worker. She helped bring the social work community leaders together to draft an alternative to the bill. Social workers nationally emailed, called and visited their MPs with clear talking points. “The petition was noted by Ministers even before being presented so it clearly got attention and helped us get cut through,” says Amy. She is now “very hopeful. The bill is being redrafted with our communities supplementary order paper informing this. We are on the way to a good result.”

This petition was delivered in July 2020: https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/122241314/30000strong-petition-to-make-matariki-a-public-holiday-moves-onto-next-stage. In September the Labour Party joined the Green and Māori parties in confirming they would make Matariki a public holiday if in government. Of course, it is not only this petition that led to Labour’s announcement. Many Māori over many years have been working for Matariki to be given the recognition it deserves. The first public holiday for Matariki will be 24 June 2022! https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/future-matariki-public-holiday-dates-revealed

We're elated that Wellington City Councillors passed a more ambitious Spatial Plan today that goes above and beyond the original Draft Spatial Plan. We credit the 1,300+ residents of Wellington who made their voices heard and signed our petition demanding action. A real win! https://twitter.com/CityforPeopleNZ/status/1407997850638684164

May 2021 After months of campaigning we welcome the news that New Zealand will support temporarily relaxing patents on COVID 19 vaccines. New Zealand joins the vast majority of member states at the World Trade Organisation as supporters of a proposal that seeks to ramp up the production of vaccines and ease distribution in the Global South.

1 Feb 2021: The Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced she will introduce new legislation that will remove the ability to petition and block Māori wards on Councils who wish to have them. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/changes-to-fundamentally-unfair-process-to-make-way-for-mori-wards The legislation will be retrospective to allow the councils which have voted for Māori wards in the last few months to not have to face referendums. It will give other councils around Aotearoa until May to decide whether to introduce a Māori ward in time for the council elections in 2022. From next year our councils will have better Māori representation, make better decisions with better outcomes, and stronger connections to local hapū. Our hearts are with each and every person who has pulled it into reality.

As you may have heard by now Massey University has cancelled the 'Feminism 2020' event! (Massey University cancels 'Feminism 2020' event, 16 Oct https://bit.ly/35Qqs6i) Last week we delievered our petition of 6,000 signatures to the Massey Senior Leadership Team. Being able to have a conversation with our community completely changed the way they were viewing the event and framing the discussion around this hate speech. If you want to write to Massey and thank them for eventually coming around and making the right descision (and to ask them to continue to actively show support for the trans community) you can write to acting VC Giselle Byrnes at: G.Byrnes@massey.ac.nz Thank you for signing the petition and standing with our trans community, when we stand together we can make change. 

15 May 2018: It's been announced this morning that funding has been restored for the 'Growing Up in NZ Study', the biggest longitudinal study about growing up in NZ. Katie Tuck is a parent of one of the children on the study who led a community campaign on OurActionStation to restore the funding. She says: "This is fantastic news as this means that all study families will have the chance to participate, we will get to hear the voices of all the study children and the cohort is maintained. Thank you all for your support." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103901353/budget-2018-2m-for-nzs-biggest-longtitudinal-study-about-growing-up-in-nz

The Government has announced Mates and Dates, a healthy relationships course for secondary school students, will be rolled out nationwide with funding of $18 million provided to make sure it expands to reach 180,000 students, up from 37,000 young people. Last year over 5,000 of us got behind Lauren and Ruby’s call for better sex education in schools, especially around consent. They asked that Mates and Dates be introduced into all high schools in New Zealand. The programme consists of five hour-long sessions on healthy relationships, consent, gender and identity, what to do when things go wrong, and how to keep safe. Read more https://bit.ly/2oq8Ppo