ACT: a pre-emptive autopsy
Maori-bashing millionaire Louis Crimp is hammering the last nails into Act’s coffin; but his outburst will encourage Act’s heir apparent, the Conservative Party, as well as the growth of real fascist forces. In an extraordinary outburst, Crimp rehashed mainstream right wing views that blame Maori for being imprisoned and unemployed and lambasted funding of Maori […]
Free Taame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara!
Free Taame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara! Taame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara have been sentenced to 2 and a-half years jail for possession of unlicensed firearms and Molotov cocktails. Urs Signer and Emily Bailey’s adjurned sentencing – and the suggestion of home detention – suggests further injustice to come. This is a shameful end to […]
War to the knife: Meat workers fight back
Multi-millionaire Kiwi capitalists the Talley family have launched an attack on freezing workers they employ at AFFCO plants in the North Island. Talley’s control a huge chunk of New Zealand’s food production and make fat profits. The freezing workers they employ are willing to fight for the right to a union contract. And that’s why […]
“Aotearoa is not for sale” – Auckland protests privatisation
[Cory Anderson was one of the thousands who joined the hikoi in Auckland last Saturday. Here is his report. On Friday the hikoi gathers at Wellington, marching from Te Papa from 10am. Students in We Are the University will be marching from VUW at 11.30 to join the main rally]Last Saturday, the movement against asset […]
TV Review: Songs from the Inside
Songs from the Inside is a brilliant documentary series currently on Maori TV about four musicians coaching inmates at Arohata and Rimutaka to write their own songs. The documentary is a welcome antidote to “reality TV”. Both the producer Maramena Roderick and director Julian Arahanga are very aware that they do not want to create a […]
Justice for the Urewera Four!
The most expensive case in New Zealand history, and for what? Millions of dollars have been spent on a vindictive and farcical prosecution, at the cost of untold stress, emotional harm and upset for the people of Tuhoe. In February we called the treatment of the Urewera Four an “anti-democratic outrage”, and stand by that today. The police […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
