Crafar Farm Sale: whose land is it anyway?
John Key’s phrase “tenants in our own land” has become a political cliche, picked up by almost all parties commenting on the Crafar farms sale. Echoing Key, on January 27th the Dominion Post quoted David Shearer describing the sale of the farms to Chinese business interests as ”open[ing] the way for more New Zealanders to […]
Meat Workers: Ready to Fight, Ready to Win
What an inspiration Ngaruawahia’s Whare family are to all unionists! Kerry Whare junior, 22, and Maraea, 21 are two of over one hundred Meat Workers’ Union members who have been locked out by their bosses in an attempt to force through dangerous and physically exhausting speed-ups (“increased productivity” in code). Their parents – Kerry senior and Rangi – are, with […]
Drop the charges, and free the Urewera Four!
The International Socialist Organisation offers its solidarity to Tame Iti, Emily Bailey, Te Rangikaiwhira Kemara and Urs Signer. We support Te Mana Motuhake o Tuhoe, and offer our solidarity to all the people of Tuhoe. This is just the latest in a series of raids, attacks and confiscations carried out by the state in Tuhoe […]
Te Reo Rangatira: The struggle for Maori language
Language is the lifeblood of culture. The struggle for Māori language is an essential part of the struggle for rangatiranga – Māori self determination – just as the struggle to suppress the language was an essential part of the colonisation of Aotearoa. Ko te reo te mauri o te Mana Māori! Nā Tā Hemi Henare […]
We support the Maritime Union: on the Ports of Auckland strikes.
Strike action continues at the Ports of Auckland, after moves by the Board of the Ports of Auckland to axe jobs, outsource work to contractors and turn permanent staff into casual staff. These strikes, organised by the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) are the first on the docks in four years and the largest […]
From Land Wars to Union Battles!
Ka whawhai tonu matou, Ake! Ake! Ake!: Rewi Maniapoto’s words from the Waikato Wars of the 1860s rang through the twentieth century and into our own. Maori resistance to colonisation and land theft has never ended and the Maori struggle for self-determination has continued across the generations. Importantly, this struggle has fed in to the […]
Racism and ‘Real New Zealanders’
In 2011 broadcaster Paul Henry resigned from his job as host of TVNZ’s “Breakfast” after his appallingly racist comments regarding Anand Satyanand. The comment was compared with statements made by Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, including from his 2009 email: “White motherfuckers have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries, and all […]
Mana and working class consciousness
On April 30 this year, a new political party was formed by former Maori Party MP Hone Harawira – Te Mana Party. It was formed from a left split, as Harawira was expelled for opposing his party’s support for the National Government. Mana immediately drew support from veteran activist and lawyer Annette Sykes and Unite […]
Socialists and Mana
The general situation was depressing. In the third year of John Key’s administration he and National were massively ahead of Phil Goff and Labour in the opinion polls. More dismally still, action by unionists was at rock bottom. The number of work stoppages for 2010 was the lowest since the Statistics New Zealand series begun […]
Prison Reveals Priorities of Sick System
The incredible cost of imprisonment, which has increased dramatically over the last two decades, reveals the sick priorities of the capitalist system. Unable to find the cash to pay for decent health and education and warm, dry housing for working class people, our rulers are happy to waste hundreds of thousands on imprisoning thousands. The […]
