Free West Papua!

New Zealand is often presented in our media as a country that prides itself as a strong advocate for democratic and human rights. But there is little coverage of the atrocities which occur in West Papua, so close to home. For over 50 years, our Melanesian neighbours have endured and survived some of the most […]

Should NZ recognise Palestine?

Should New Zealand recognise Palestine as a separate state? This is what the Green Party hope to see happen. In December last year Kennedy Graham MP tried to put a motion to Parliament that “this House call upon the government to [recognise] Palestine as a sovereign State, and looks forward to the day when it is accepted as a member of the United […]

Mana College Under Attack

Government moves to put Mana College into statutory management smacks of the racism and contempt for workers and the poor that is prevalent throughout the government’s approach to public education. All working people should take an interest in these developments. Mana College, Porirua, had of last year a student composition that was 65% Māori , 18% […]

The link between capitalism and racism

We live in an age of racism. In Australia, the federal and Western Australian governments’ attempt to drive Aboriginal people in remote communities from their land is only the latest episode in the war on Indigenous people. In the United States, there is an epidemic of police slayings of predominantly Black young men. In Europe, […]

Capitalism, land rights, and Aboriginal resistance

Aboriginal land rights have been articulated and fought for by generations of Aboriginal freedom fighters, activists, unionists, campaigners, community groups and their supporters for more than 200 years. Why did land become a central battleground? Why is the suppression of Aboriginal resistance still a priority for government and industry? How can the struggle win? A […]

We have a right to be in the streets for Freddie

PROTESTERS IN Baltimore erupted in fury over the murder of Freddie Gray, who died in the hospital on April 19, days after his voice box was crushed and spine nearly severed while in police custody. Throughout the week that followed, protesters filled the streets demanding accountability and expressing anger at the killing of another unarmed […]

Northland: No Win for Workers

The preliminary election result excluding special votes yet to be counted give Winston Peters a commanding win: 15, 359 votes (54% of the vote) over National’s Mark Osborne’s 11, 347 (39.9%). Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime received 1, 315 votes (just 4.6% of the vote), and no other candidate scored more than 107 votes. Northland and its […]

A Letter from the Inside (I)

We received this submission from Socialist Review reader RWK, currently a prisoner in the Otago Correctional Facility. We’re proud to print it here. Socialist Review subscriptions are available free to all prisoners on request. Back in ’95, when I started coming to jail, prison officers were more confident in their role as wardens. Nearly all […]

Call Mr Robeson

Call Mr Robeson The Moorings, 31 Glenbervie Terrace, Wellington Until 1st March. Tickets $18/$14 0800 BUY TIX www.fringe.co.nz Call Mr. Robeson is written and performed by Tayo Aluko. Through monologue and song, he brings to life the memory of a man who the American ruling class would rather we forgot. Paul Robeson, born in New […]

Islamophobia and scaremongering to attack our civil rights

There is a history of political terror in this country, one we should never forget. In the 1990s farmer Allan Titford set fire to his own homestead, hoping to blame the arson on local iwi Te Roroa. He later led tense anti-Treaty protests and provocations. In the South Island fascist Kyle Chapman has convictions for fire-bombing a marae, and has thrown Molotov cocktails at Ngai […]