NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST ASSET SALES, JULY 14 2012

Aotearoa NZ Is Still Not For Sale. National Day of Action against Asset Sales, Saturday July 14 2012.

Aotearoa New Zealand is STILL not for sale! A NATION-WIDE action is happening on Saturday July 14th, with marches and festivals occurring all around the country to demonstrate the widespread and coordinated public opposition against the sale of our state assets.

The bill has passed its second reading in the House this week, yet the majority of New Zealanders oppose the Government’s plan to sell our SOEs. We will make it clear to potential buyers that if they purchase shares, they do so against the wishes of most of the population.

This is the winter of our dissent. The movement continues after the hikoi and protest actions of April and May. We have been talking to the people on the streets, listening to what they have to say about the National-led Government selling our assets under the mixed ownership model. Their concern is real, and will be voiced on Saturday July 14 around the country. What Parliament does, the streets can undo.

The people DO have the power! The teachers, students and parents around the country have recently won a great success when their loudly expressed concern made the Education Minister Hekia Parata back down on the regressive proposals to increase class sizes. We can learn from and be inspired by this!

We will be coming together again, a diverse range of people, groups, unions and movements to break down the walls between us, just as the prisoners of the Bastille broke down the walls of their jail on July 14 over 200 years ago, beginning the French Revolution against the opulence of their monarchs. “Now we will be joining in unity to once again do more than just “like” a status on facebook. While social media activism is important and spreads the message, this is an opportunity to really make a tangible difference by building on the viral messages and using our voices and feet to march on the streets,” says spokesperson for ANFS Miriam Pierard. “We all have one message that binds us: Aotearoa New Zealand is STILL not for sale!” Across the country, we will see people putting aside all differences and showing the strength of us as one on July 14, 2012.

Saturday July 14 will see a march and people’s festival with stalls and music happening in Auckland from 2pm, meeting at Britomart and marching with defiance up Queen Street to reclaim our streets once more. We will bring the march to Myers Park to enjoy festivities into the late afternoon. We warmly call upon all other areas of Aotearoa New Zealand to organise actions on this day as well, and coordinate with the Auckland group to gain support, inspiration and information. Artists and musicians, please get in contact with us.

The following weekend, July 20-22, is the National Party conference in Auckland, which will be met with protest by a range of groups that are angered by the many regressive policies that the Party has been proposing and pushing through Parliament.

Keep informed, lend a hand and begin a dialogue. Visit www.aotearoaisnotforsale.com to find out what’s happening, join groups, talk to people around the country and get some support in setting up your own action for July 14. If they take our assets, we will reclaim our streets.

We will not be divided like our assets. We will be united, we will not be silenced, we will resist this together.

WHAT’S ON

Friday, May 22, 7pm, Unite Office, 6a Western Springs Rd, Morningside, Auckland
Greece After the Elections: Greece’s electoral result has resulted in a narrow win for pro-austerity New Democracy. However the real victory is for radical left coalition SYRIZA recieved a staggering 27% of the vote. What next for Greece and by extension the planet? Will the EU abandon Greek workers to decades of economic misery? Even the Economist admits that Greece can’t afford to pay its debts, so what will happen now? The European bankers face a tough choice. More attacks on public services and workers will further radicalise the resistance but allowing a partial easing of the bailout conditions will encourage the emerging Europe-wide anti-austerity movements particularly in Spain and Ireland. Join us for a discussion on the state of the struggle after Greece’s election. Afterwards we’ll have a few drinks to celebrate Matariki and plan for the new year ahead.

Friday, June 22, 6.30pm, Fickling Centre, Three kings, Auckland
WORLD REFUGEE DAY: Auckland Refugee community Coalition Celebrations. Food and performances

Friday, June 22, 5.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland.
The Red Flag Social Club Cordially invites you to share some mid – winter fare with us and celebrate the launch of our new booklet “Harassment and Discrimination, a Guide to Your Rights”. Funding for this project was provided by The New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board. There will be Christmas ham, mulled wine, good company and a raffle for a Christmas hamper. Where would you rather be? Entrance by generous donation. EVERYONE WELCOME. The Red Flag Social Club is brought to you by the Working Women’s Resource Centre. For further information contact Ros Hiini, Organiser, WWRC Phone 09 379 7906 or email wwrc

Sunday, June 24, 8.30pm, TV1
What Really Happened – Votes for Women. http://auckland.scoop.co.nz/2012/06/historic-buildings-star-in-tv-programme/

Monday, June 25, 7pm, The Victoria Theatre, Devonport, Auckland
Screening of ‘Lines in the Sand’ (directed by Carol Archie, produced and presented by Hinewehi Mohi) and panel discussion in Auckland, organised by the Michael King Writers Centre. A poster for this event is available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/mkwc0612.pdf The screening will be followed by a panel discussion about ‘lines in the sand’, addressing the question of how far New Zealand has come since 1999 and whether there are the new cultural lines in the sand that we don’t like to talk about. Panelists include: Hinewehi Mohi – singer and broadcaster, Carol Archie – broadcaster and author of ‘Skin to Skin’, Te Awhina Arahanga – MKWC writer in residence, social historian and museum intepreter; and Rau Hoskins – cultural landscape consultant and lecturer. This free event is organised by the Michael King Writers’ Centre to mark Matariki and has been funded by the Auckland Council’s Creative Communities Scheme. Admission: Free. Tickets available from The Victoria Theatre or the Michael King Writers’ Centre – http://www.writerscentre.org.nz

Wednesday, June 27, 5pm, NZCTU Level 7, Education House, 178 Willis Street, Wellington
Join Us To Welcome Our Young Community Leaders From Burma 2012. This is the fourth group of six Burmese students to attend a six month programme at Victoria University, funded through MFAT, in English language, development studies, international relations and to experience democracy in action. Ah Li (Nan San Hom); Phoe Kyi (Kyi Win Htun); Htwe (Ah Ngae Htwe); Sai Sai (Sao Sai Sai Nanda Maung); Hinnthar Mon; Victor (Thuan Lian Bil).

Wednesday, July 4, 11am-1pm, Gelnn Innes Primary School, Eastview Rd, Glenn Innes, Auckland
Community Meeting: Defend our communities from Government attacks.

Thursday, July 5, 12-4pm, St Stephen’s Church Hall, 65 Jervois Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
LIVING WAGE AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND: Please join community and faith-based organisations and unions at a meeting to establish the Auckland Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand coalition. For more information contact: Fala Haulangi: fala.haulangi or call 027 204 6332 www.livingwagenz.org

Friday & Saturday, July 6-8, Wellington.
ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION ORGANISATIONS OF NEW ZEALAND INC. ANNUAL CONFERENCE 6-8 July 2012. Environmental Responsibility: Leadership, Inclusion and Good Governance. Friday 6 July – Saturday 7 July | Salvation Army Citadel, 8 Jessie Street, Wellington Sunday 8 July | Turnbull House, 11 Bowen St, Wellington. Full draft programme and online registration can be found here: eco

September 27 to October 8, NZ-Venezuela
SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA: HALF-PRICE FLIGHTS AVAILABLE FROM AUCKLAND: Join the 2012 Presidential elections brigade to Venezuela. Register now to witness the final election campaign for President Hugo Chavez and observe first-hand a living people’s power revolution. Brigade dates: September 27th – October 8th, 2012. Half-price flights Sydney-Auckland-Venezuela return are currently available through Aerolineas Argentina. The 2012 brigade is the 13th study tour organised by the AVSN. Reports from previous brigades are posted at: brigades or phone Jim McIlroy 0423 741 734, Roberto Jorquera 0425 182 994 or Lisa Macdonald 0413 031 108.

November 9-11. Waihi
REMEMBER WAIHI 9-11 NOV 2012. It will be the 1912 Waihi Gold Miners’ Strike Centenary and Commemoration of the death of Fred Evans. Further details will be coming. Please some of the events for this weekend in this brochure: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18076151/Remember_Waihi.pdf

December 27 to January 18, NZ-Cuba
XXX SOUTHERN CROSS BRIGADE TO CUBA: Receive warm greetings from Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), that every year receives, with great satisfaction, all friends that spontaneously decide to join us in the Southern Cross Brigade of voluntary work and solidarity with Cuba. Main objectives of the brigade are to provide a great deal of knowledge about Cuban reality so that the visitors could understand it as well as to work voluntarily in the agricultural fields in order to help in the development and productivity of the country. The program of the brigade includes visits to historical, cultural and social places. Participants will receive lectures on national and international topics and will also interact with representatives of Cuban organizations and people in general. Each brigade member, at the moment of the arrival, is committed to follow the program and schedule, and also to have a proper behaviour, discipline and social interaction not only in CIJAM but also all over the country. For further communication: Phone numbers (53 7) 838-24 30 / 8335372 / 830-1220 / 834-4544 ext. 15 and Emails: asia.norte , director.dao and amiventas We would be pleased to have you in the XXX Southern Cross Brigade, a beautiful project that ICAP and Australia/New Zealand – Cuba Friendship Societies have proudly maintained since 1983, which has allow to show Cuban reality to more than one thousand people who have taken part in previous brigades as well as to receive their support and deep solidarity. This year program and brigade has a special aim and it is to commemorate 55 anniversary of the triumph of Cuban revolution on January 1st, 2013 and also to celebrate with every participant coming the 30 anniversary of the Southern Cross Brigade visit to Cuba. This is a formal invitation to join the brigade in order to strengthen brotherhood between our peoples. Sincerely yours, Asia and Pacific Division, Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples NZ Participants: Email Ina Lawrence inashina for the full programme and any other questions.