Successful Campaigns

Wellington City Council declares climate emergency, Stuff, 20 June 2019 https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/113633374/wellington-city-council-declares-climate-emergency-but-councillors-remain-divided

19 September: The annual refugee quota will lift from 1000 to 1500 by 2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced! https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107203279/Refugee-quota-lifting-to-1500-by-2020

Porirua city council has officially declared a climate emergency!! We would like to say a big thank you to Ana Coffey and Josh Trlin for their mahi to get our petition into council, the Extinction Rebellion team and other signatories who attended the petition reading last night but most importantly... you!! Without you signing the petition Porirua City Council would have never declared a climate emergency and for that we are thankful. However this is only the start, we need to make sure we hold Porirua City Council accountable and to let them know we will not settle until there are ambitious policies, initiatives and deadlines so we can create real climate action in our city. Thank you to every single person who signed the petition, your voices were all heard by the council, tēnā koutou katoa. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1906/S00705/porirua-moves-with-the-changing-world.htm

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!

We did it! We had a full gallery of supporters and read out all your excellent comments, and they ALL voted in favour of the trial. We swayed even the most resolute, it would have been pretty hard to vote against in that room I can tell you now! Wonderful work everyone, and a special huge shoutout to all those who came in person, payback will be a leisurely, hassle free ride on a cycleway near you soon. Bike Mount Team

The petition got nearly 1000 signatures in a short time, and while that doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s now clear that along with all the other people, around the world, your voice was heard! As of the 1st of March Facebook has “add[ed] suicide-prevention tools directly into Facebook Live that will give users watching a live video the option to reach out to the person directly as well as report the video to Facebook. In addition, Facebook will provide resources to the person reporting the live video including the ability to contact a help line immediately.”

As a result of the public pressure on the Council there will now be an amendment proposed that the CAB receive a 3 year funding contract. So we are pleased that we have achieved our aim. Thanks so much for your support!

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

Thank you so much for signing the petition 'Include churches in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historical abuse'. As you are probably aware by now, our petition was influential, alongside the efforts of many other people, in getting the government to include faith-based institutions in the Inquiry.

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.