Fridays For Future Aotearoa, Te Upoko Te Ika (Wellington, New Zealand)

Thousands of people are expected to be at the steps of Parliament on 19 November in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill. They’ll be coming to Wellington from both ends of the country; with city-bound events in Invercargill and Christchurch for those who cannot make to to Welly.

Here’s where you can order a placard.

Watch a explainer on Instagram on the three goals of the hikoi.

Visit the Toitū Tiriti website for the full itinerary and other details. The website’s also got merch to buy and wear, and contact details if you want to help out.

Fridays for Future Te Upoko o Te Ika will be there (in Welly). Look out for our flags!

The Treaty Principles Bill undermines the relationship that New Zealand was built upon. Te Tiriti is an agreement  between two sovereign nations which affirms the sovereignty of tangata whenua, provides a framework for tangata Tiriti to govern their own people, and creates a basis for kotahitanga (unity) between both parties. 

Email the Prime Minister and ask him to stop the Bill (from the Green Party website). (You can customise the email if you prefer.)

The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill introduces 12 new High Protection Areas, alongside 5 seafloor protection zones and 2 marine reserve expansions.

The Government is trying to sneak through a last-minute change to allow commercial fishing in the Gulf’s new High Protection Areas.

Sign Forest and Bird’s petition  to tell Luxon that High Protection Areas are for protecting our precious wildlife and ecosystems. Not for commercial fishing..

Our email address is back, replacing the gmail one we’d been using since the beginning of 2024.

If you’d like to tell us about a climate justice event that’s coming up, please do. But try to let us know a couple of weeks in advance, as we only check our emails weekly.

Fonterra is stuck in the past, while many dairy farmers and businesses here in Aotearoa have already ended their use of rainforest-destroying palm kernel. There’s no excuse for Fonterra’s continued contribution to rainforest destruction.

Sign the petition.

The Future Is Rail/Save Our Trains has started a petition asking that the government ensure replacement Cook Strait ferries are rail-enabled. 

The ageing Interislander ferries must be replaced. It’s crucial that new ferries are rail-enabled and publicly owned, letting rail freight and equipment move easily between the North and South Islands.

Without rail-enabled ferries, the two islands’ rail networks will be disconnected, restricting the movement of goods and putting the national rail network at risk. Current and future passenger rail services also rely on a viable national rail network. 

Less rail means more trucks on our roads, and that’s not good for people and our environment. 

The government said in its transport policy statement that it would prioritise making the best use of existing transport infrastructure. The only decision consistent with this policy is to ensure future ferries are rail-enabled.

Sign their petition now.

We all need electricity to stay safe and healthy through winter. Whether it’s cooking meals to fill our bellies, making a loved one a cup of tea or turning a heater on to warm our children’s bedrooms at night, these are the things that help us get through winter.  

However, people on low-incomes in Aotearoa can end up paying a premium to keep their electricity connected. 

Last year more than 6,540 households had their power disconnected because they did not (or could not) pay their bills. Companies were then allowed to charge them a disconnection fee and reconnection fee, which can total up to $300, adding to that household’s debt. 

Many customers with poor credit then end up with no alternatives but to use prepay electricity, which at times has cost up to 17% more than pay-monthly plans². Households then have no choice but to sit without power because they can’t afford to top up. Data on these prepay disconnections is not even recorded. 

And right now, despite knowing the outcomes, The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko – which writes rules for electricity companies – allows this to continue!

That is why we support Common Grace’s request to the Electricity Authority to protect people struggling with power prices by:

1. Banning disconnection and reconnection fees in case of unpaid bills.
2. Making prepay no more expensive than a retailer’s cheapest plan, and publish prepay disconnection data.
3. Introducing mandatory consumer protections. 

There is still time to sign the petition! It is being handed over at Parliament on Wednesday 24 July.

Fridays for Future Te Upoko o Te Ika supported the People over Profit march earlier this month.

Read Julian’s report on the day, on the EcoKiwi Magazine Pōneke on Substack. It’s got heaps of photos!

The government is proposing a suite of changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA), this time to repeal all regulations on mud farming and other essential freshwater protections.

The Bill risks facilitating the expansion of mud farming with fewer checks and balances – meaning we could see more animals living and giving birth in mud.

Removing these protections also threatens to exacerbate freshwater pollution, exposing more Kiwis to contaminated drinking water and endangering species that depend on freshwater habitats.

If you want to make a submission opposing this Bill, you must do it before 11:59PM on 30 June.

Greenpeace is running an online submission party.

Submission guides:

• Greenpeace
• SAFE
• Forest and Bird