Successful Campaigns

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.

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.

We are excited to inform you that the Healthy Homes Guaruntee Bill has recently been passed in government. This is a positive step in the right direction, and was made possible because of the public support and attention this issue has recieved. By signing our petition, you have shown parliament that this is an important issue that requires attention. We hope to continue advocating for this incredibly important topic in the future, and are excited of the prospects that we can achieve when we unite and advocate for the important issues. Thank you so much for the support, Kind regards, The MSGA team 2017

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

This petition has been delivered to Parliament. Fingers crossed!! We'll keep you updated.

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.

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

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.”

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.

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