This year has been a paradox.
On the one hand, we’ve had a Coalition Government blasting through the most harmful political platform we have seen in modern history. Throwing any ounce of evidence out of the window, we’ve seen a slash-and-burn approach to policies that were originally put in place to look after people and Papatūānuku.
The chopping block has been busy: the Dunedin hospital upgrade, Cook Strait ferries, promises to cancer patients, smokefree laws, fair pay agreements, Te Aka Whaiora (the Māori Health Authority), Te Reo names in public services, Māori ward legislation, our entire Te Tiriti relationship and constitutional agreements.
Meanwhile, what’s back on the agenda includes: ongoing job losses, no-cause evictions for renters, $2.9 billion towards our wealthiest landlords, more roads, higher speed limits, offshore gas and oil exploration, tax breaks for tobacco companies, and opening up publicly-held assets and services for private companies to swoop in and make a profit.
Just one year into a new government, and we’re on a fast-track to an economic recession, a faster-burning planet, increased poverty, a trampled Treaty, an underfunded public service, and social division. None of this is fanciful exaggeration. It is the determined agenda of three political parties running a smash-and-grab on our people and public resources - specifically to serve the country’s wealthiest few.
Many of us have been touched by this legislative carnage. Whether it’s job and housing insecurity, the skyrocketing cost of living, punitive Work and Income sanctions, poverty on top of poverty, spiraling debt, cancelled projects, increased racism, loss of research opportunities, limits on disability support - the cuts are unending.
This is the most overt, austerity agenda this country has seen in decades, and it is hurting people, our public goods and the places we love.
I cannot gloss over the harm that’s being caused by this government, because I deeply know the impacts this will have down the line. Like many of you, I’m watching my own family and communities suffer, while we’re forced to swallow sales spin and calculated blame games.
And yet, at the same time, it’s also no fanciful exaggeration that this year has seen some of the most shining, powerful moments our country can imagine.
The hīkoi that swept a nation, spreading Māori magic to every corner of the country. The commitment to Toitū Te Tiriti beamed out to the world like a lighthouse, showing everyone what matters to us. Respect, integrity, unity.
The kotahitanga was contagious. The conversations over front fences, the submission parties between strangers and the refusal to be divided, or tricked into a future that our ancestors never imagined for us. Every cut, a chance to heal.
The solidarity was breathtaking. We watched people of all backgrounds stand by Te Tiriti in response to unprovoked attacks. We listened to the Palestinians facing genocide brought to tears by the support of Māori in this country. We heard those same Māori say that it was the struggle in Palestine that prepared them for the hīkoi. We saw church leaders lift their voices in clarity, temples prepare meals with love, and everyone held their heads a little higher as they stood on the right side of history.
And of course, our dear ActionStation community made contributions at every single point. If you’re reading this now, you took action to change the path of this country.
Before you signed, started or shared a petition, submitted, donated, marched, painted a placard or raised a flag - you made a conscious decision about the world you want to see. You may have faced your own fear - of judgement, uncertainty, or cynicism that nothing will really work.
But that’s exactly what new worlds are made of.
Thoughtful, compassionate and brave decisions that feel small, but together, are monumental.
Over the next two years (and beyond!) we will need to keep holding strong. You may often want to give up hope - and I wouldn’t blame you.
But every war criminal or political profiteer wants nothing more than your belief that their power is unstoppable. Our job is to remember that people-power has always changed the world. A just, fair, peaceful future is inevitable - should we make it so.
We hope you enjoy this annual report as an account of what we achieved together in 2024. Sharing stories from behind the scenes shows the full picture of social change, and every win and loss is a lesson to learn from.
And as this year wraps up, we wish you sun-kissed naps, laughter with your loved ones and all the delicious gifts that Hine Raumati has to offer.
As some wise young ones said to me - the future is hope, the future is change, the future is us. Toitū Te Tiriti! Toitū He Whakaputanga! Let’s be inevitable.
I roto i te kotahitanga,
Kassie Hartendorp
Director
