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Our collaborative work to end poverty and unlock dreams

In 2019 we delivered our 8,000 people strong petition calling on this government to urgently transform our welfare system so everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand can thrive.

It was a whirlwind of a day for our economic fairness campaigner Ruby, starting with a 6.00am interview on Breakfast TV, followed by a press conference and the delivery of our petition to the Prime Minister’s office.

Together, the power of our voices and the media stories we coordinated about our petition meant that Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters was forced to admit this government hasn’t done enough yet for those in our country doing it the hardest.

The press conference combined the release of a report by Child Poverty Action Group and powerful speeches from people who are currently living within the constraints of our broken welfare system.

A man talking about the petition to a crowd.

Here is a list of all the media coverage generated by our press conference and petition:

Along with the petition, we delivered a beautiful photo book made by Lincoln Heights School children, supporting our call to end poverty and help everyone in Aotearoa have what they need to follow their dreams.

Two young girls sitting on the classroom floor, holding their hands with writing on their palms toward the camera, that say “to be a better runner”, “to be a marine biologist” and “aroha”.

Throughout August and September we then worked with artist Dominic Hoey to train and support 80 ActionStation members to meet with their MPs and advocate for them to fix poverty so all children and their families have what they need to thrive.

Collage of workshop participants in the five different workshops

In December we worked with Auckland Action Against Poverty, Child Poverty Action Group, Disabled Persons Assembly NZ, Auckland Women’s Centre, Wellington Sexual Abuse Help and The Aunties to publish an open letter calling for an end to the law that can see people’s income support curbed if Work and Income NZ staff deem them to be in a relationship. This generated one last wave of media coverage for this important kaupapa before Christmas:

And finally, this astounding story was the result of a comment left on a Breakfast TV interview about our campaign. Your heart will thank you for reading to the end.

A quick note from our team: Around Aotearoa and the world there is a small but committed group of people who donate to ActionStation every month. They are some of the unseen heroes in these stories who nurture our campaigns from the moment they spark into existence to the moment they win.
 

If you feel moved after reading about what we achieved together, please consider setting up a regular contribution.