Michael Laws: a sexist, eugenicist toad
The exchange revealed by this blog post encapsulates the sheer inhuman malice of the capitalist system. Michael Laws is calling another person ‘monstrous’ for giving kindness and love to a child with Down Syndrome. He talks about abortion law in terms of how great it is that we can weed out what he sees as […]
Wellington BDS campaign launch: Divest from G4S
In 2005, a coalition of more than 170 Palestinian organizations called for international supporters to initiate boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns–to boycott Israeli products and companies, divest from businesses that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and demand government sanctions for Israel’s violations of international law. The goal of the BDS campaign is to […]
Len Brown, Sex Scandals, Stereotypes, and Anti-Asian Racism
I am not interested in Bevan Chuang or Len Brown’s sex lives. As a socialist I think private conduct between consenting adults should be their concern and no one else’s. The only ‘betrayal’ from Auckland’s mayor that interests me is from last year is when he betrayed the wharfies. But media coverage of the last […]
Why fruit is picked by migrant workers
This article by Richard Seymour out of the UKraises issues of importance for the workers’ movement in Aotearoa, given seasonal labour’s role in fruit and horticulture, and recent debates – within the ruling class and media – on migration, exploitation and seasonal workers from the Pacific. The debate over the decision to scrap a seasonal […]
Free Teina Pora now!
When Pora was 17, in 1994, he was arrested by police in Otara and held in custody and questioned for over four days without a lawyer. The police got him to confess to a brutal rape and murder. He was charged and convicted despite the fact that he could not identify what the victim looked […]
Neoliberalism, resistance and the rise of the Far Right
Andrew Tait gave this talk to a forum on ‘Neoliberalism, Resistance and the Rise of the Far Right’ on behalf of the International Socialists in Christchurch on 3rd August. Ki te whare e tu nei, tena koeKi te marae e takoto nei, tena koeKi te takata whenua, Ngati Wheke, Koukourarata, Onuku, Wairewa, Taumutu, tena koutou, […]
Demand Justice for Trayvon Martin
“Open season […] after a verdict like this”: that’s how Gary Younge describes the situation. “Let it be noted that on this day, Saturday 13 July 2013, it was still deemed legal in the US to chase and then shoot dead an unarmed young black man on his way home from the store because you […]
‘Pakeha Party’ page: Racist backlash against the Mana movement
A Facebook page – The Pakeha Party – has been launched in response to the Mana Movement’s Maori housing policy announcement during the Ikaroa-Rawhiti by election. This is the second racist backlash in as many months, the first being the cartoon in the Marlborough Times attacking Mana’s ‘Feed the Kids’ campaign. The rhetoric of the ‘Pakeha Party’ contains the same […]
To Nelson Mandela
Dear Madiba, I know this letter will reach you too late. Even as I write you might be passing away from us – to Jesus or your Xhosa tupuna or simply back to the warm earth of Africa, from which we all came. In some ways, like saints in the old days, dying brings you […]
Auckland Palestine Conference a Success: BDS movement gathers momentum
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement took a step towards building a united, nationwide campaign last weekend when Palestine solidarity activists from around the country gathered in Auckland for a “Conference on Palestine”. BDS is a global movement started in 2005 by Palestinian civil society organisations that calls for “international civil society organizations and […]
