New Zealand: Highest Per Capita Homeless Rate in OECD

New Zealand: A Place to Call Home

Al Jazeera (2020)

Film Review

This is a documentary about homelessness in New Zealand, which (as of 2017) has the highest per capita homeless rate in the OECD. The film mainly focuses on Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, and the work of Auckland Action Against Poverty. AAAP has a primary focus of finding emergency housing for homeless Aucklanders. At present a minimum wage family Auckland family spends 70% of their income on rent. This usually leaves them two paychecks away from homelessness.

Although there are currently 14,000 Aucklanders on the waiting list for low income housing, our current government only plans to build 6,000 state houses over the next four years. This despite Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s campaign promise to build 100,000 state houses over 10 years.

Last year despite expert advice to increase benefit levels (for single parents, the unemployed, disabled, and retired) by 50%, our coalition government spent millions of dollars on emergency motel accommodation for homeless families.

In Auckland, filmmakers interview a number of Auckland’s “invisible” homeless residents. Rather than sleeping rough, they are camped out in cars, garages, and the living rooms of friends and extended family.

Filmmakers also visit Northland, a rural area absorbing growing numbers of Auckland’s homeless. Owing to the scarcity of rental accommodation, many of Northland’s homeless families live in buses, sheds, lean-tos, and tents.

A Northland Maori leader talks about mortgage his to purchase for abandoned state houses he has relocated from Auckland. After rehabilitating them, he charges homeless families $275 a week to buy them. He has asked the Prime Minister to declare a Northland housing emergency to help his trust qualify for $11 million in funding. This cover land and rehabilitation costs for an additional 500 abandoned state houses.

Thus far she has declined.

Prime Minister Ardern and Housing Minister Megan Woods also declined to be interviewed for this documentary.

 

New Zealand Wars: The Failed British Effort to Destroy the Maori King Movement

The New Zealand Wars Part 3: The Invasion of Waikato

Directed by Tainui Stephens (2017)

Film Review

Part 3 begins by describing an 1863 audience between 16 Mäori entertainers and Queen Victoria – in which she promises to let them keep their land. This meeting occurs, ironically, just 12 days after British soldiers invade Waikato.

By now Governor Grey’s main objective is to kill the Mäori king and destroy the King movement. Although iwi continue to be divided whether to fight or trade with the British, there is now sufficient unity under the King movement to assemble a force of 4,000 warriors.

By lying to British authorities about a fictitious Mäori plot to invade Auckland, Grey requests and receives several armored battleships with canon and thousands of additional troops.

Again vastly outnumbered (by 18,000 British troops), Mäori lose the Waikato War due to a strategic blunder – failing to allow for an escape route from Ōrākau pā. Although they successfully repulse all British attacks, they eventually run out of water and ammunition and leave the pā, facing overwhelming British fire power.

Following their victory at Ōrākau, British troops proceed to occupy one million acres of Mäori land in the Waikato. Over several decades, settlers convert it to dairy farms.

The British were unsuccessful in their goal of destroying the Māori King movement, which persists to the present day.

 

 

 

Anti-TPPA Protestors Shut Down Central Auckland

I and eleven other New Plymouth protesters have just returned from shutting down central Auckland during the TPPA signing yesterday.

While 15,000+ protesters marched down Queens Street, 1500 of us engaged in roving blockades shutting down all the streets leading into Central Auckland for four hours. The streets were deserted as we occupied key intersections and boogied to reggae music. It was surreal – reclaiming the streets for a giant street party. Several hundred blockaders briefly shut down the freeway and the Harbour Bridge.

The public response has been phenomenal with hundreds of new activists joining our movement to block TPPA ratification.

 

 

Here’s the coverage from RT:

 

Jane Kelsey – full TPPA Speech Jan 26

New Zealand trade lawyer and activist Jane Kelsey explains what the TPPA text means for New Zealand when it is signed on Thursday the 4th of February next week, and what activists can do.

Last nights TPPA meeting « The Daily Blog

Report from first nationwide Townhall meeting in Auckland last night – in advance of TPPA signing ceremony in Auckland on February 4th. It excoriates our prime minister John Key for trying to turn New Zealand into a US colony.

 

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There’s nothing in this deal that benefits anyone other than the already wealthy. It locks NZ into being a garden for America’s food chain, which is fine for Farmers and the National Party, but kinda screws the rest of us.

Last nights TPPA meeting was incredible and sobering.

The level of bullshit the Government have used to cover over what the TPPA is really about and the ludicrous ways they’ve measured the economic impacts for NZ have never been so vigorously argued than last night.

The page views for the live stream were in the tens of thousands.

If you had viewed the discussion, you would have heard things never discussed by the mainstream media.

Like the GCSB mass surveillance, the issue of the TPPA isn’t left or right. No one wins by allowing the Government to sign us up to a deal that creates a de facto upper chamber to our Parliament which is controlled by American Corporations.

The economic gains are an illusion. The protections to our environment are a lie. The ability for Maori to uphold the Treaty has been terminally weakened. We will have to pay more for our medicines. We open ourselves up to be manipulated by American Corporations.

There’s nothing in this deal that benefits anyone other than the already wealthy. It locks NZ into being a garden for America’s food chain, which is fine for Farmers and the National Party, but kinda screws the rest of us.

The talking schedule continues around the country, if you have the opportunity to go and hear, you simply must.

The next protest action is 4th February.

Source: Last nights TPPA meeting « The Daily Blog

TPP: Police undertake riot training

New Zealand’s propaganda machine is in full swing.

by Morgan Tait

From New Zealand Herald

New Zealand Police have been undertaking mass riot training ahead of the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Auckland next month.

The trade agreement, that has sparked widespread controversy due to its closed-door negotiations, will be signed by international diplomats on February 4.

Dozens of large-scale protests have been held across the country as the five years of negotiations for the deal came to a close in the US last year.

The Herald understands that increased riot training – officially known as public order training – has been taking place ahead of the signing, as police prepare for more possible civil unrest.

Police Association vice-president Senior Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said that the TPP signing was the focus of annual public order training.

The Herald understands that the training goes over and above previous annual training, and involved more staff on a “mass” scale.

Police National Manager of Response and Operations, Chris Scahill, said police were responsible for all security aspects of the event.

He would not be drawn on any operational details for the event – including staff numbers.

“We can however say that we plan for every eventuality which can be anticipated, and the measures we take will be appropriate and thorough.”

The police operation will be overseen by Police National Headquarters, and will involve staff from a number of police districts.

Read more here