J is for Justice
According to states around the world, one of their central purposes is to maintain order and dispense justice among their populations. Socialists understand that the order they maintain is the capitalist order – an order that is anti-democratic, unequal and fundamentally unjust. This is clear in Aotearoa, where the state called New Zealand was built […]
Healthcare in Aotearoa
The Coalition government has been relentless in its cuts to public services across the board, all while pumping out policies that uphold the status quo and benefit the wealthy few. Health has been especially targeted, with funding cuts, moves towards privatisation, and deregulation of professions being three methods through which this government is prioritising profit […]
The Politics of Law and Order
The politics of “law and order” in New Zealand finds its natural home in the current pro-business coalition government. It is no accident that a central focus on accumulation is complemented by a “tough on crime” approach: there has to be some way of managing the fallout, the communities abandoned by austerity, those who don’t […]
“Share the Wealth, Protect Public Health!”: Notes from the Nurses’ Strike in Pōneke
Heralded by fire truck sirens and honks from passing cars, Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and kaimahi hauora from Hutt Hospital and Wellington Hospital walked off their shifts at 9am today, on 30 July. More than 200 boarded buses to Wellington Train Station where they were joined by striking healthcare workers from around […]
Global Economics
The following was presented as a talk at the 2025 International Socialist Organisation hui-ā-tau annual conference. A recorded version is available here: https://youtu.be/JQJFCpdEnW8 Global Overview The already meagre projections of recovery announced by major capitalist institutions last year fell even further after the rollouts of USA president Donald Trump’s tariffs regime. Throughout the period of […]
Nurses and Healthcare Workers: Right to Strike!
Nurses, midwives, and healthcare assistants have voted to go on a 24-hour strike at the end of July. When nurses and the health system are being attacked by a government ruling for the rich, it is right to strike! The Te Whatu Ora offer of 1 percent in April 2025 and 1 percent in April […]
Consent and Workplace Safety in Performing Arts
Work in the performing arts – including dance, theatre and film – raises unique issues at the intersection of consent and workplace safety. Workers in these industries are fighting to raise awareness of these issues, promote safer practices, and strengthen protections against harassment and abuse. Denise Roche is the director of Equity, the Aotearoa performers’ […]
Protest Report: David Seymour Coming to Town
On Wednesday 9 July the Far Right deputy prime minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour paid a visit to Dunedin. He was here for an ACT party public meeting to talk to his supporters (and his supporters only) about ACT’s principles and policy platform. We know what Seymour and his party have to say. […]
I is for Imperialism
War and profit go hand-in-hand. This relationship goes deeper than direct war profiteering, and deeper even than the scramble for resources like oil. Imperialism grows out of the workings of capitalism itself, and is an integral part of the capitalist system. Imperialism is driven by three key workings of capitalism: competition, monopoly, and the relationship […]
Aotearoa Politics and Protest: The State of the Nation
The following was presented as a talk at the 2025 International Socialist Organisation hui-ā-tau annual conference. A recorded version is available here: https://youtu.be/2J-5seh9FKU Tēnā kautau o te Hāporikawa Angapaetua, greetings and salutations to the ISO, with special thanks to our branch in Pōneke for hosting our illustrious hui a tau. Kia kautau ngā mana, ngā […]
