activism

Categories under activism

Open government – Open Labour

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, April 30th, 2010 - 25 comments

It’s fantastic to see Labour working on an Open Government policy as a major plank for the next election. And taking an open approach to the policy development is a stroke of genius. Politically, Labour has an incredible opportunity to position itself in contrast to the secretive and undemocratic National party. More than that, this stuff matters.

NZ hero still prisoner of the Japanese State

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, April 18th, 2010 - 100 comments

Pete Bethune is one of New Zealand’s heroes. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and gone on to use his wealth to fight the big guys on the grounds of principle. As skipper of the New Zealand flagged hi-tech boat Earthrace, his circumnavigation attempts showcased kiwi ingenuity to the world and demonstrated the value of bio-fuels to […]

Don’t undermine New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, April 14th, 2010 - 35 comments

The Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ, Greenpeace, Forest and Bird, Coromandel Watchdog, and the Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand have come together to organise the ‘Don’t Undermine New Zealand’ march on May 1st in Auckland. It should be a great event. Get out there and tell this government that some parts of our country are too precious to mine.

John Carter: sleeper-agent for the Left?

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 pm, April 12th, 2010 - 20 comments

How dumb was John Carter to use his speech at the Grey Power National Conference to have a cry because Grey Power’s participating in an inquiry into aged care by Labour, the Greens, and the Progressives? You don’t try to bully Grey Power with its 100,000 members. The grey voters will be leaving National in droves.

Take it out of my ‘tax cut’

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, April 9th, 2010 - 30 comments

So the govt wants to sue the Waihopai 3 for $1.1 mil. No pesky jury this time. The dudes only have a grand between them. Spending a couple of hundred thousand on lawyers’ fees to bankrupt some hippies. Doesn’t seem like the best use of taxpayer cash. Tell you what. If the govt really wants its $1.1 million they can take it out of our tax ‘cuts’. 25 cents each. That’ll be my tax cut pretty much gone.

The Waihopai spy base

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, April 9th, 2010 - 31 comments

The Waihopai spy base is very much in the news. Last month the Waihopai Three were acquitted of charges, provoking a storm of controversy (and congratulations). Yesterday came the news that the Government is considering further action against the three. There was also a “very unusual” statement about the role of Waihopai from the GCSB. Who to believe?

Earth hour tonight

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 27th, 2010 - 17 comments

Tonight, 8:30 – 9:30pm is Earth Hour 2010. New Zealand is among the first in the world, kicking off the event. Turn off, tune out, drop in.

The PM’s private spy agency

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 5 comments

While the public has been focusing on the acquittal of the Waihopai Three, there’s been a quiet revolution in our intelligence community. The Prime Minister has got himself a private spy agency.

As well as looking at foreigners, it will also be “assessing”, and advising the government on, the beliefs, actions, and plans of New Zealanders.

The problem is compounded by the lack of oversight.

Nat kneejerk over Waihopai 3

Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 17 comments

Key is talking ‘toughening’ the law in the wake of the Waihopai 3 acquittals. He clearly doesn’t understand that a jury decision, let alone one in a district court, has no precedent effect. Others Nats are muttering about canning jury trials. It’s scary the way the Nats resort to heavyhanded tactics so quickly. They never work either, just ask the boyracers in their uncrushed cars.

Fabian seminar gets big tick

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 19 comments

The first Fabian Society seminar in Auckland last weekend attracted a good crowd watch an participate as some of New Zealand’s top economic thinkers debated how to get the economy working for us. It has been judged a huge success. The next seminars will be in Wellington on Sunday 28 March and in Christchurch on 18 April.

Waihopai victory

Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 99 comments

The not guilty verdicts in the Waihopai spy base case is a victory for the peace movement and proof of the value of the jury system. A jury of the activists peers were able to decide that it would not be just to convict them. Strict legalism could not beat society’s innate sense of justice. Unfortunately, National is moving to restrict our right to trial by jury.

Save Radio NZ dethrones Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, March 12th, 2010 - 14 comments

Who would have thought that a Facebook group advocating to keep Radio NZ funded and commercial-free would overtake Prime Minister John Key’s fan group for number of members? Well, yesterday at 9.30, just over three weeks since it was founded, the Save Radio New Zealand group reached 18,973 members, passing Key’s 18,972. That gives a […]

Alternate forms of protest

Written By: - Date published: 5:41 pm, March 4th, 2010 - 27 comments

Now this is pretty damn funny and just adds to todays absurdities over the waste of money on rugby world cup TV in 2011. Veteran Springbok Tour protester John Minto has found himself at the centre of a new Eden Park storm, with a controversial plan to name a nearby $3 million road after him.

Will the supercity transition authority now want to stop community boards from naming streets?

Save Radio NZ protest today

Written By: - Date published: 3:02 pm, February 24th, 2010 - 19 comments

The Save Radio New Zealand group on Facebook now has 13,600 members and today (the 25th) there will be an event at Parliament between 1 and 2. It won’t be your typical rowdy protest, instead the idea is to bring along your radio and something to eat and drink, and have a mass picnic on the lawn.

Stalk your MP with new iPhone app

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, February 22nd, 2010 - 5 comments

A group called PublicZone have just released an iPhone app aimed at staying in contact with (UK) MPs a little easier. The app uses the GPS, email and web capabilites of the iPhone to allow constituents to track, contact and discuss issues with their local MP. Click the thumbnails below for larger images.

ACC demo today

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, February 16th, 2010 - 5 comments

There’s a demo at Parliament today to protest against the Government’s ACC bill, which raises levies, cuts Kiwis’ entitlements and paves the way for privatisation. If you’re in the CBD make sure you head down in your lunch break.

MARCH AND RALLY FOR ACC
TODAY 16TH February
12.30pm – Parliament

Woman’s Day pays creep to stalk Mau

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, February 16th, 2010 - 58 comments

Tabloid trash mag Woman’s Day has being paying someone to follow Alison Mau and her family to take pictures to fuel their prurient interest in her personal life, according to a statement by Mau on TVNZ’s Breakfast. In her statement Mau pleaded for Woman’s Day Editor Sarah Henry to “call off the dogs” and the “creepy guy in […]

No love for workers, no quarter from National

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, February 13th, 2010 - 13 comments

Protests are taking place around the country today against the National Government’s miserable 25 cent increase to the minimum wage.

Warning: Beware what you say on the net. Humourless bastards are after you.

Written By: - Date published: 1:42 pm, January 21st, 2010 - 23 comments

No Right Turn has a post about the weirdness of the police forces in Britain at present. Elements of our own police force have been acting just as weirdly about ‘terrorism’ over the past years bringing a new era of police stupidity and police doing actions that are subsequently found to be illegal1. Joking about […]

Coddington: exposing secret agendas = bad, attacking sex victims = meh

Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, January 17th, 2010 - 29 comments

Deborah Coddington, former ACT MP and author of the filthy racist article “Asian Angst: Is it time to send some back?” that killed North & South’s reputation, waffles on about ‘snitches’ in her Herald on Sunday article. Coddington says snitching – informing the public or the authorities when someone is doing something bad or illegal in secret […]

Summary of Facts – as requested

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 pm, January 12th, 2010 - 96 comments

UPDATE 14/01 – my Summary of Facts My only charge is still obstructs police – seemingly because I refused to comply with an unlawful request. Note the fact that they haven’t charged me with disorderly behaviour must mean they realise my use of a megaphone was not unlawful. I have no doubt at all that […]

3rd time today – when will they learn?

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 pm, January 8th, 2010 - 98 comments

As lprent has already posted: I was arrested today for chanting on a megaphone. This is the third time I have been arrested for the same thing. As I mentioned yesterday, there was the broiler conference protests in 2005 which led to a precedent being set in the High Court that it is valid to […]

Good photo….

Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, January 8th, 2010 - 42 comments

Granny reports that there have been more arrests. Damn, we’re due to head off to Young Labours summer school in Otaki shortly. Be interesting to see if she will accept the restricted bail conditions preventing her from going within 500 metres of the tennis court. Especially as I’m not sure if that would cover the […]

Nats: anti-whalers’ lives forfeit on the altar of trade

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, January 8th, 2010 - 131 comments

On Wednesday, Japanese whalers tried to murder five New Zealanders. There is no other way to put it. They ran down a ship many times smaller than theirs in the high seas. It is only luck that the ramming did not sink the Ady Gil. The lives of the crew of the Ady Gil were […]

Five more unlawful arrests of protesters today

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 pm, January 7th, 2010 - 122 comments

John Darroch called today to inform me that the police were starting to round up and arrest protesters, and that they had three paddywagons ready. I turned up at the protest 10 minutes later and it was pretty much all over. John D, John Minto, and three others had been arrested, and everyone else seemed […]

The police ignore Brooker

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, January 7th, 2010 - 79 comments

Idiot Savant at No Right Turn points out that the police (once again1) are violating the law surrounding protest and dissent. The post is reproduced with permission. Two years ago, we saw a significant victory for the right to protest in New Zealand, with the Supreme Court ruling in Brooker v. Police. The court reinterpreted […]

Time for a Just Transition?

Written By: - Date published: 4:28 pm, December 30th, 2009 - 15 comments

With so much attention on climate change, and such a lack of concern, urgency and commitment to action from the current Tory government you would think it would be something labour would be working hard on, and be busy drafting detailed policy and vocally demanding action be taken. The Copenhagen climate summit was a cop […]

Today’s climate protest in Wgtn

Written By: - Date published: 6:09 pm, December 21st, 2009 - 26 comments

Two protests today successfully highlighted the role of New Zealand’s agricutural industry and business community in contributing to climate change. The first protest involved a blockade of the NZ Stock Exchange entrance and resulted in nine arrests. In the second action two activists scaled the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for […]

Climate Direct Action

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, December 21st, 2009 - 90 comments

Text from John Darroch a couple of minutes ago: hey just hanging ten stories up the mfat building in welly protesting against fonterror 🙂 regarding climate change Nice one John – according to NZPA you’re only four stories up. Hope you get your point across and make it down safely! Great to see some action […]

Sustainable living resources

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, December 21st, 2009 - 33 comments

I’m trying not to get too depressed about the lack of an outcome at Copenhagen. As one analyst put it – “Leaders came to Copenhagen to rewrite history and left having made a few notes in the margin”. Not good enough. However, with or without a formal agreement, it was always going to come down […]

Copenhagen violence

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, December 18th, 2009 - 67 comments

Photograph: Christian Charisius/Reuters Earlier in the year there was a lot of media attention on the police tactics at the G20 Summit in London. How depressing to see the same heavy handed approach being deployed in Copenhagen. A reported 100,000 protesters marched in a mostly peaceful event last Saturday, and further marches and events followed […]

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