Hone Harawira, an elected member of New Zealand parliament for the newly formed Mana Party, caused a stir on July 14 when he refused to swear allegiance to the English queen in order to take his seat.
Instead, Harawiri swore allegiance, in Maori, to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the 1840 treaty between Maori tribes and Britain that recognised Maori ownership of their lands.)
Stuff.co.nz said that day that parliamentary speaker Lockwood Smith refused to swear Harawira in as an MP on the grounds his affirmation was not legal.
Aotearoa New Zealand
The path for Maori liberation, debates on left perspectives and the 30th anniversary since the 1981 Springbok tour were some of the discussions at 鈥淲orkers Power鈥, the national conference of the Workers Party held in Hamilton over June 3 to 5.
The recent formation of the Mana Party was a focus of the discussions.
Prominent Maori leader and MP Hone Harawira initiated Mana after leaving the Maori Party, frustrated over its deals while in coalition with the right-wing National Party.
Harawira resigned his seat to force a by-election and stand again as a Mana candidate.
The formation of the Mana Party in April marked a 鈥渕ajor step forward for a genuine working-class political voice鈥 in New Zealand, the national director of the Unite Union and Mana party member Mike Treen told Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
The Mana Party was formed at a 500-strong conference on April 30. It was called by Hone Harawira, MP for the Maori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau.
At the conference, Harawira announced his resignation from the Maori Party and his re-election campaign as a member of the Mana Party in a by-election.
New Zealand鈥檚 Unite union has made great progress in recent years in organising previously unorganised sectors of workers 鈥 often young workers in fast food, hospitality and retail. Through organising workers, Unite has forced fast food giants, such as McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut, to eradicate 鈥測outh wages鈥, which pay young workers less for the same work.
Matt McCarten is the secretary of New Zealand鈥檚 fastest growing union, Unite. The union organises fast-food workers, cleaners, hotel, casino, security and part-time staff. It has a financial membership of 8000 members.
The transient nature of these industries means Unite has an annual membership turnover of 66%. It recruits about 600 new members every month.
鈥淚n a daring and audacious move, Matt McCarten, general secretary of the Unite union, announced his candidacy in the November 20, Mana by-election in Wellington鈥, Unite campaigns organiser Joe Carolan said in an October 26 Socialist Aotearoa article.
Carolan said McCarten 鈥渉as had a quarter of century experience fighting for New Zealand鈥檚 poorest workers 鈥 standing as a member of the independent left, he would make an excellent champion for the thousands of low-paid and unemployed workers in Mana鈥.
In a daring and audacious move, Matt McCarten, General Secretary of the Unite Union, announced his candidacy in the Mana By Election in Wellington earlier today.
鈥淗istory was made early today on the other side of the world鈥, said Grant Morgan, an Auckland-based organiser of the Kia Ora Gaza convoy bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel鈥檚 siege. Kia Ora is a six-person New Zealand team that has joined the Viva Palestina covoy.
鈥淭he vicious Israeli siege of Gaza has been broken by an international aid convoy of 400 volunteers from 30 countries driving 150 vehicles carrying vital medical supplies worth NZ$7 million.鈥
About 15,000 New Zealand workers joined the 鈥淔airness at Work鈥 National Day of Action on October 20, highlighting growing opposition to the government's proposed employment law changes, said the country鈥檚 largest private sector union, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).
During UN Disarmament Week (October 24-31), a bill to enact the UN Convention banning Cluster Munitions is to be tabled in the House of Representatives. However, it is unlikely to contain a provision prohibiting financial institutions from funding manufacturers of cluster bombs.
It has been found that the ANZ bank has provided loans of $136.5 million to producers of cluster bombs.
Comparisons must be made between the impact of the September 5 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the quake that hit Haiti in January.
In Haiti 鈥 with a population of about 9 million 鈥 about 250,000 people died in the earthquake. According to government figures, 200,000 were injured and 1 million were made homeless.
Eight months later, disaster still grips people鈥檚 lives.
Fortunately, but in staggering contrast, no lives were lost in New Zealand, although the earthquake was of a similar 鈥 but slightly more powerful 鈥 magnitude (7 on the Richter scale).
The call for action against New Zealand-owned Burger Fuel chain for anti-worker practices below is reprinted from . Campaigners have called for international action targetting Burger Fuel, which has two Sydney stores in Newtown and Kings Cross. Campaigners have called for coordinated pickets of Burger Fuel stores on Saturday, September 4.
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