Dire Emergency: Solidarity with the Firefighters! Shame on FENZ!
The following article was written after the 9 January Firefighters’ strike. The Ōtepoti Dunedin strike was attended by ISO members, including ISO editor Oscar Bartle, who conducted an interview with the local NZPFU branch secretary, Mike Taylor. Firefighters with the New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union (NZPFU) have, as part of their “Dire Emergency” campaign, been […]
Extended Interview: Alma de Anda on Crisis Pregnancy Centres
The following is the minimally edited transcript of an interview conducted in October/November 2025. A short commentary article based on this interview was previously published on this website and in Issue 17 of The Socialist. Welcome, Alma. First off, could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about ALRANZ and the work you do? […]
Strike Wave 2025: Reflections From a Unionist
The 23 October public sector strike was the largest industrial action taken in Aotearoa since the one-day General strike in 1979. On 28 October Te Whanganui-a-Tara branch of the International Socialist Organisation hosted a panel discussion on this historic action. Nurse and unionist Grant Brookes was among the speakers, giving his perspective on the struggle. […]
Protesting the Ōtautahi Aerospace Conference
To quote from the 2025 Aerospace Summit website, New Zealand is a “global space leader”. Our low population density and open skies make us the perfect arena, in logistical terms, for testing and launching aerospace technology into the world’s shared skies. Rocket Lab, a New Zealand-based company, has been receiving USA military contracts since 2009, […]
Anti-Māori Attacks on Education: Tracing the History
Papers released earlier this year have revealed the government’s plan to cut words in te Reo Māori from primary school curricula. According to a Ministry of Education report in August, te Reo Māori will now be effectively banned from any new books in the Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series for five-year-olds. This is […]
What’s the deal with “Crisis Pregnancy Centres”?
ISO writer Romany Tasker-Poland talks to ALRANZ co-President Alma de Anda about the misleading anti-abortion organisations springing up around the country. Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand was founded in 1973 to advocate for the decriminalisation of abortion. Since this goal was achieved in 2020, ALRANZ has continued to act as a watch-dog, advocating […]
Protect the Right to Protest
The demonstration is one of the most tried-and-true tools in the collective political toolbox. A well-placed, well-timed protest can do anything from disrupting industry, to undermining a country’s political leader, to shifting entire political landscapes. Even if those political goals aren’t met, the collective demonstration has a more immediate purpose: turning political subjects into political […]
Public Sector Strikes: Fighting Against Privatisation
Primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, nurses, and firefighters are all fighting for livable employment conditions and sufficient resources to do their work effectively. These are all workers employed in the “public sector”, providing services to the general public. This article will consider the value of this “sector” of New Zealand society, put forward an […]
Open Letter to the Working People of Aotearoa
To the patients, students and whānau of those affected by the government’s dismantling of public services, We condemn the suffering that has been inflicted on you by systematic neglect of the public services that you need. From patients dying in waiting rooms, to fire trucks breaking down on the way to emergencies, to children left […]
Gaslighting and Grinding Down: the Government’s Strategy Against Striking Workers
Nurses supporting teachers out on strike. Photo credit: kaitiaki.org.nz The coalition of chaos has, under urgency, passed legislation and prescribed policy that has brutalised the public service. There have been outright lies from government ministers intervening into the negotiations by releasing public statements, and within the negotiations, we have a government that refuses to talk […]
