Successful Campaigns

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

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

December 17, 2020 was a very significant day for our tūpuna and whānau of Makaurau Marae, for the Ihumātao papakāinga and for the iwi and hapū who whakapapa to this whenua. The Crown announced it will acquire the contested land from Fletcher and activate a process to determine its future.

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.

11 April 2018 - Inquiry announced! The volunteer Hit & Run Inquiry campaign team with the support of the ActionStation community ran a year-long campaign to give justice a chance. Read more: https://bit.ly/2HrYIZU

June 2019 - We’ve just heard that the plan by a company to build a water pipeline from Mt Aspiring National Park through a Kiwi sanctuary has stalled - the sanctuary is safe! You were one of many thousands of people who came together to preserve the home of the Haast Tokeka Kiwi. Together we protected their home and stopped a new bottled water business selling precious spring water overseas. The company, Okuru Enterprises Ltd, had permission (first given 25 years ago) to take and export 800 million litres of spring water each month from a catchment high in the mountains - right through a sanctuary for the Haast Tokoeka Kiwi. However the company's permission ran out last week and the Department of Conservation stopped considering their new application because of insufficient information. As a result of our combined people power there was constant pressure on the project, and on the politicians with the power to make decisions on the project. Okuru Enterprises still have permits from the District and Regional Councils for the water take, land use and coastal use. While there is nothing stopping the company trying to restart the project they will need to reapply for permission from the Department of Conservation all over again, and face public scrutiny each step of the way. For now the kiwi sanctuary and surrounding forest is saved! Here’s how our community made it happen it happen: 🌏 When news first broke in April 2017 we launched into action, launching a petition calling for the end of the project and save the Haast Tokoeka. 🌏 18,534 of us came together to support the call. 🌏 The petition showed public support which helped power media stories keeping attention focused on the issue. 🌏 We consulted with allies and conservation experts. 🌏 We targeted Maggie Barry, the then-Minister of Conservation to put pressure on her decisions on the project. 🌏 In August we went to Parliament to deliver it to MP Eugenie Sage - who a couple of months later became the new Minister for Conservation. ActionStation members chipped in to make it a positive, visual event. Volunteers dressed as kiwis and students from Tuia te Matangi, a bilingual Maori-English school from Nelson, stepped up to give the kaupapa awesome support. 🌏 We presented our crowdsourced submission to the politicians considering the issue sharing personal stories on why we need to save the Haast Kiwi. It included expert opinion from conservationists to the Environment Select Committee.[2] After our coordinated collective actions, it’s a win for the Haast Tokoeka Kiwi!

Thank you for helping to make a difference. You were amongst the 32,337 who demanded the unfreezing of Radio New Zealand’s funding, and on 25 May the ice thawed. A month after we delivered our petition to Parliament (together with Jo Bond's Fund RNZ petition - see https://medium.com/actionstation/32-337-demand-government-unfreeze-radio-new-zealand-funding-2b310ed3271d), the Government responded with a $2.85m funding boost in the Budget 2017. People power has prevailed in this case. The quality independent journalism that RNZ delivers is crucial to maintain our democracy. The Government has finally done something to recognise this. But, it doesn’t go as far as we’d hoped. Dr Peter Thompson (Coalition for Better Broadcasting Chair) recently calculated that RNZ is now underfunded by $14m a year. When you compare this boost to the $60 million per year the Government has committed to attracting Hollywood Producers, it does make you wonder about priorities. While we celebrate the $2.85m boost there’s still work to do to ensure RNZ thrives beyond the next four years.

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

August 2020: Hamilton City Council to use new voting system https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422927/hamilton-city-council-to-use-new-voting-system

July 2020: After more than 5000 people signed the petition in less than a week, Evolve backed down and withdrew unfair and unlawful contracts that would have halved ECE teachers’ pay. What’s more, the company pledged to actually pass on a 2.3% funding increase from the Government to improve teacher pay to the teachers! We will need to monitor this closely to make sure it happens... but I’m so proud of the brave teachers at Evolve who had the courage to stand up collectively with their union and win this fight — with your support. If you’d like to get updates on the campaign for fair pay for ECE teachers, join the campaign at www.ecevoice.org. Thanks! Ngā mihi Virginia Oakly ECE representative on NZEI Te Riu National Executive