Much of the praise for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic聽is justified, writes Bronwen Beechey. However,聽New Zealand's existing inequalities remain, and have potentially聽deepened聽during the pandemic.
Aotearoa New Zealand
Unite Union, which represents fast food workers in New Zealand, on November 18 it had reached an agreement with fast food聽giant McDonald's, which will see tens of thousands of its current and former staff receive payment for miscalculated holiday pay.
SkyCity Casino workers in Auckland have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action on August 31, to force the company to compensate employees for working unsociable hours 鈥 which allows the casino to rake in profits at night and on weekends.
Teachers around Aotearoa New Zealand held a historic one-day strike on May 29 with both primary and secondary teachers joining together in a 鈥渕ega-strike鈥 to demand pay rises, parity between primary and secondary teachers, staffing increases and more time for preparation and out-of-classroom activities.
Islamophobia is a weapon to serve the needs of a war-mongering profit-seeking system and a way of keeping the oppressed and exploited people of the world fighting among ourselves instead of against our common enemy.
A week after the Christchurch mosque attacks, thousands of people mobilised in Auckland for the 鈥淟ove Aotearoa, hate racism鈥 rally on March 24.
Racists and bigots believe that diverse societies don鈥檛 work. Frustrated that their howling at the moon wasn鈥檛 enough, they鈥檙e now picking up weapons in an attempt to prove themselves right.
New Zealand solidarity activist Maire Leadbeater鈥檚 new book, See No Evil: New Zealand鈥檚 betrayal of the people of West Papua, features a theme also relevant for Australia.聽Both countries were involved in the tragic betrayal of West Papua.
The filmmaker Taika Waititi聽said racism is very pronounced in New Zealand, explaining he faced blatant discrimination as a Te Wh膩nau-膩-Apanui youth.
In a recent interview,聽"Thor: Ragnarok"聽director and sometimes actor聽says his native聽New Zealand聽is聽鈥渞acist as fuck.鈥
"People just flat-out聽refuse to pronounce Maori names properly. There鈥檚 still聽profiling聽when it comes to Polynesians. It鈥檚 not even a colour thing 鈥 like, 鈥極h, there鈥檚 a black person.鈥 It鈥檚, 鈥業f you鈥檙e Poly then you鈥檙e getting profiled.鈥欌
With the release of the full text of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on February 21, activists in the 11 signatory countries finally got to see if their worst fears of a corporate power grab would be confirmed.
Unfortunately, they mostly were.
In the face of a campaign by supports of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel in protest against its apartheid policies, New Zealand superstar singer Lorde cancelled a planned Tel Aviv concert in December.聽
The Labour-led coalition government in New Zealand was formed in October after the welcome usurping of nine years of rule by the neoliberal National Party.
However, Labour was only able to form government with the help of two minor players 鈥 the populist, anti-immigration New Zealand First and the Greens. 聽
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