Successful Campaigns

Today (2 July 2018) the Minister of Education Chris Hipkins has announced the limit on student-loan borrowing will be lifted to 10EFTS!

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.

June 2020 To all supporters of the Save Playcentre petition Hopefully those of you who backed the Playcentre petition will have seen the Government announcement today of an urgent funding boost. Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin is making $3.7 million available for Playcentre Aotearoa as well as a further $500,000 to deal with our property issues. This will allow us to offset our deficit, save a lot of Playcentres from closing and means we have some certainty to plan for our future. More than 16,000 people signed the petition and I and all our Playcentre whānau are most appreciative of that support. It was really special to read all the many thoughtful comments a lot of you the took time to make. It was a great insight into why you were signing the petition and to see what Playcentre means and has meant to so many New Zealand families over the past 79 years. The overwhelming message was that Playcentre is valued and must not be lost. In my meeting with Minister Martin I was able to present many of those comments to her. Thank you again for all your support. Sean McKinley General Manager Playcentre Aotearoa

October 2019 A container deposit scheme trial has been announced! https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/returning-empty-bottles-refund-could-revived-v1 The Kiwi Bottle Drive team delivered our petition to Parliament on December 2nd, 2018. We handed over our petition, signed by 15,450 Kiwis (including offline signatures), to Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick with the support of her Parliamentary colleagues MP Gareth Hughes and Minister Eugenie Sage.

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

Thank you for helping to make a difference. On the 25th of May I flew down to Wellington to deliver our petition to the Minister. It was because of your support, and the support of more than 9000 others, that Minister Anne Tolley agreed to meet with me. Together we showed her this issue cannot be ignored. When I asked her what could be done to help people and families facing the impossible choice between homelessness or unmanageable debt over the coming winter months, the Minister acknowledged the urgency of the situation and told us she would look into possible solutions. Just a few hours after our meeting, the Minister’s office called to tell us that changes to the policy will be brought forward from September to 1 July. These changes will mean that the first week of emergency housing would be covered by a special needs grant rather than a loan. A week is not going to be long enough if there is nowhere to go once that week is up, so the Government still has a lot of work to be done to make sure there are enough houses for people to move into.

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 new Labour-led Government have announced a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State care. The Inquiry will have wide scope to investigate all types of abuse and neglect and the places it occurred. Thank you for adding your voice to the chorus of support for the brave survivors, Ngā Mōrehu. It mattered. May this Inquiry be a another powerful step in the reconciliation and healing process. When we stand together for what is right change happens. Thank you. Anneleise 4 Feb 2018

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.