Please join our action for Earth Day! It would be awesome to see your placards!
Date: 22 April 2022
Time:12 noon
Place: Midland Park, Wellington
We will march and cycle (if you have a bike) towards Parliament, singing “Do it now” (listen to the song on YouTube).
Our special guest is Mike Joy, a New Zealand freshwater ecologist, science communicator and author of the book “Polluted Inheritance, New Zealand’s Freshwater Crisis”.
We will bring some protest signs to Midland Park in case you don’t already have one.
At 1.30pm we will meet with Jan Logie and hand over our demands for a future that does not rely on fossil fuels.
This will be followed by a chance for people from all the groups present to speak.
We want our government to take action, fast. Join us in calling for a just transition and investment in our planet.
Decarbonise now!
Planet and people – not profit!
We need nature needs us!
This event is a joint action with 350.org and Picnics in Parks.
If you are in Auckland, you won’t miss out! Fridays for Future Tamaki Makaurau is also doing an Earth Day action, along with Holding Space Aotearoa and Miro Hall-Jones.
We sent a second letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Climate Change, the Minster of Transport and the leader of the National Party.
We are still here outside your office Mr Robertson. 25 March 2022 is Fridays for Future’s World Action Day.
The catastrophic climate scenario we are now experiencing is the result of centuries of exploitation of people and planet, and a socio-economic model that is flawed and needs to be replaced. The everlasting-growth model based on cheap and dirty oil, primarily through corporations, governments, and the affluent from the global north and its colonies. It is destroying the Earth and many of its occupants (fauna, flora and people).
We need action now: political action to create a circular economy with zero waste, zero emissions and zero exploitation.
For 3 years, we as citizens who care about the climate and biodiversity emergency, have been standing vigil – first at Parliament, then for the last month outside your electorate office in Willis St.
We are protesting to demand a green budget that prioritises our environment and commits to an equitable system. A system that cares for the marginalised and where the corporations and those responsible for pollution pay for cleaning up and creating green options.
Put on your green Hat Mr Robertson and deliver a budget embedded in nature!
We want a redistribution (and in most cases, a collectivisation) of wealth and political power. This must be inclusive and acknowledge the wisdom of people’s assemblies, and fully include indigenous knowledge as part of Te Tiriti both at local and national levels.
We are the people; hear our voice. We are the people; hear our choice.
We choose for an economic model embedded in protecting nature. Invest in Papatuanuku. Care for planet and people.
#PLANET AND PEOPLE, NOTPROFIT
With the utmost sincerity, Fridays for Future Aotearoa (Wellington)
Because of Omicron we will not to do a special action for 25 March (the Fridays for Future Global Day of Action).
But we are connecting with climate groups in Auckland and Wellington to organise something for Earth Day 2022. The theme for this year is “Invest in our planet“.
Please come to thevirtual Climate Justice potluck on 31 March
The second climate justice potluck will be an online Zoom for everyone’s health, safety and wellbeing.
The aim is to get together, share our mahi and ideas, and organise an event for the upcoming Earth Day (April 22nd).
When: 5:30-6:30pm, 31st of March (Thursday) Where: Zoom link here (Meeting ID: 824 7291 4306 Passcode: 136950 ) Agenda: 5:30pm – Karakia and introductions/updates from individuals/orgs 5:50pm – Moving towards an Earth Day event and actions to get there 6:25pm – Closing
The climate justice potlucks are hosted by 350 Aotearoa, Generation Zero, Fossil Free State Sector and Sustainability Trust.
If you can’t make it to the climate justice potluck but want to do some action for Earth Day, get in touch with us!
the Leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon
Mr Robertson, have you noticed us standing outside your office every Friday of late?
WE WANT A GREEN BUDGET!
Since the petrol price is up, seize this moment to put in electric busses on priority lanes and subsidise e-bikes to go to work and get around our streets.
Act now to reduce the cost of living for struggling families and our emission levels from Transport in one go.
We have but a narrow gap from 2022-29 to reduce to net zero.
We hear about measures for Covid; measures to support Ukraine.
What we need most is fortnightly updates onwhat the government is putting in place to combat the climate crisis and create a fair, low energy, circular economy.
A number of us from FFF took part in the rolling action of dancing cows making their way around the capital in protest of industrial agriculture and its effects on the environment, animal welfare and human health.
After that we went to give moral support to fellow rebels who had glued themselves to steps at Parliament grounds all night as part of the Te Tiriti demands for declarative democracy. The protesters said to NZ Herald: “Our aim was to draw attention to Te Tiriti-based climate assemblies, which we believe is one of the only ways to genuinely address the climate crisis without further ignoring colonisation, capitalism, imperialism.” Read the full article here:
We started off with a fun event: disco dancing in front of the Railway station at 8.30 am to the commuter crowd’s attention and it was shown live on Breakfast TV with John Campbell.
From then on the focus was on the major culprits responsible for industrial agriculture in Aotearoa: MPI, Fonterra and Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Ltd).
At all three locations we requested that a representative come down to meet with us but no one came out. At MPI we were actually told someone would meet us but after half an hour we realised it would not happen. On leaving ,we ‘posted’ a ‘massage’ through the massive glass doors in an act of rebellion. ( Video by glass doors of MPI)
At Fronterra we entered the hall and despite being told there was no public access the cows went ahead with their dance to let it be known they are on strike and have had enough of being live milk machines for Fronterra.
( video of dancing cows in hall Fronterra on XR wellington facebook)
The Pamu event stays with me the most because it brought home to me the extent of industrial farming here in NZ. XR had invited environmentalist Angus Robson along and he provided the aerial photographs for a mud and cowshit display assembled at the doorstep of Pamu.
(Two photos from gallery)
Angus has been on a mission to expose the horrors of ‘winter grazing’ but really it is Mud Farming.
The worst thing is Pamu farms are government-owned assets. So while the government is making all sorts of regulations to reduce environmental harm and ultimately stock numbers, they do not lead by example on their own industrial farms.
While the Parliament Lawn indisposed, we are holding our Fridays For Future protests at a different site each week.
This Friday we are meeting outside the electorate office for the MP for Wellington Central (and Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson). The office is on the ground floor of 220 Willis Street (opposite Warehouse Stationery).
Let’s meet there at 12.30pm for our usual hour of protest.
We’ll have our flags and some signs, but bring your own sign if you like. Maybe on a theme most relevant to the Finance Minister. For example, about investing enough money into the Government’s climate policies.
350 Aotearoa, Generation Zero and the Fossil Free State Sector Coalition are collectively hosting a series of climate justice potluck events.
The idea is that we can get together, share our mahi, ideas and see if there are overlaps, room for collaboration, and just have a general catch up and eat some tasty kai!
The first potluck will be held at:
Aro Valley Community Hall in central Pōneke
6 pm – 8 pm
Friday 25th February
What to bring
Bring potluck if you feel comfortable doing so. If you would prefer not to share food, feel free to bring something along for yourself to snack on.
The venue is vaccine pass mandated so please bring this along with you, and remember general COVID-19 precautions under the traffic light system.
Agenda
6:30 pm
Karakia and karakia kai/ Welcome, grab some kai and discussion of general kaupapa of the group
6:45 pm
Check-in and share a bit about yourself and the organisation you are representing (if you are representing an org)
7:15 pm
Thoughts moving forward
7:30 pm onwards
Eat some more yum kai and meet fellow climate activists and organisers!
Because Parliament grounds were closed (and otherwise occupied), some of us regulars took our Fridays for Future protest online – from our workplace and from home. Nice selfies!
Marcia from Whanganui sent us a photo of their climate protest. It’s a pretty good turnout!
As for what’s going to happen next at Parliament, if the Lawn continues to unavailable, we have a few options. We could keep doing our protests online, decide on an alternative site for in-real-life protests, or maybe even pick a different site every week. What do you think?
