of angels that make so bold

grassangel:

foxpee:

Right now,

you could just get up,

walk out your front door,

and just keep walking?

And then walked

and walked

and walked…?

To somewhere you don’t know the name of

miles and miles away?

It freaks me out.

I live in New Zealand. Within five hours up to a day you would hit a coastline unless you specifically went inland. At the most you’d end up on a stretch of road with a cafe and the entry roads to six farms that’s called Waikikamukau.

flipphones:

New Zealand’s Air Force logo is a flightless bird and if that isn’t a statement about my country I don’t know what is

karenhealey:

Keith Ng of Public Address revealed late Sunday night that New Zealand’s Ministry of Social Development had catastrophically failed to protect the privacy of many of its clients, contractors, and debtors.

Among other pieces of information that should never have been publicly accessible, the first names, date of care, and costs of New Zealand’s most vulnerable children in Care and Protection Homes were available to anyone who walked into a space open to the public and used a publicly available computer kiosk.

Last week, I got tipped-off that the parts of the MSD network were completely exposed to the public. You could go into any WINZ [Work and Income New Zealand] office and use their self-service kiosks to access their corporate network. This basically means you can grab any file that wasn’t bolted down on the network, while standing in the middle of a WINZ office. And that’s what I did.

Ng found, among other things:

“[F]ull names, hours worked, pay rates and pay details for all of MSD’s contract workers”

“All of MSD’s legal bills”

“Full names of candidates for adoptions, foster parents and Limited Services Volunteers (they have to get medical reports first). Others were for children in CYFS [Child, Youth and Family Services] care, with their full names and their chief complaint; some of these were for x-rays after injuries.”

I sorted through 3500 invoices. This was about half of what I obtained, and what I obtained was about a quarter of what was accessible. There are probably more outrageous things still on that server, and there probably other servers that I’ve completely missed. But I’m done for now.

This stuff was all a few clicks away at any WINZ kiosk, anywhere in the country. The privacy breach is massive, and the safety of vulnerable children was put at risk.

Ng notified the Acting Privacy Comissioner and MSD several hours before breaking the story - deliberately on a Sunday - so that no one could make use of this information for their own purposes before the relevant authorities could shut down the kiosks. (Which he was informed has happened.)

I’m totally appalled by MSD’s negligence. I expect heads are going to roll.

wellingtonyoungfeminists:

A post from Family Planning. 

Abortion in New Zealand should be managed like any other health service and not managed as a crime, says a coalition of organisations who are calling for abortion to be removed from the Crimes Act.  

The International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion (28 September) is an opportunity to highlight that abortion is a crime in New Zealand - unless two doctors sign off that a woman has met a series of criteria as set out in a number of laws.  

Family Planning, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ), and Women’s Health Action say that the majority of women in New Zealand have access to high-quality and safe abortion services.  

“However, abortion remains stigmatised. On the International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion, we must ask if we are prepared to accept an essential women’s health service continuing to be managed as a crime. Abortion in New Zealand should be managed like any other health service.”  

The three groups says that International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion is a timely opportunity to call for three changes to be made to New Zealand’s abortion laws:

• The removal of abortion from the Crimes Act 1961 (decriminalisation)
• A review of the services and processes for accessing abortion to ensure they meet the standards of access, acceptability and affordability for New Zealand women
• And, that the services and processes should be managed under the Minister of Health and removed from any association with the Minister of Justice.

International precedents have been set with the decriminalisation of abortion in several Australian states as well as the recent observations by the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on New Zealand’s latest report. “The Committee notes with concern, however, the convoluted abortion laws which require women to get certificates from two certified consultants before an abortion can be performed, thus making women dependent on the benevolent interpretation of a rule which nullifies their autonomy.”

Committee member Patricia Schulz of Switzerland noted that the “male-dominated language of the law, which used “he” to describe doctors, was telling. If women could reach the highest levels of office, should they not be able to decide for themselves whether to have an abortion?”

The Committee urged the Government to review the abortion law and practice with a view to simplifying it and to ensure women’s autonomy to choose.

For more information on abortion law in New Zealand

http://www.familyplanning.org.nz/news/hot_topics/decriminalisation_of_abortion

Or

www.abortion.gen.nz

More information on the International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion can be found at: http://www.wgnrr.org/news/september-28-global-campaign-decriminalisation-abortion

johnnysnotmyname replied to your audio post: My New Zealand accent at its best. Say These…

YOU’RE SO KIWI

I’m adorable.

wellingtonyoungfeminists:

On this day 119 years ago New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote in parliamentary elections after two decades of campaigning by women such as Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Müller, and organisations such as the New Zealand branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union led by Anne Ward.

While we take the opportunity to recognise the efforts of these women annually, we rarely talk about the huge contribution of Māori women to ‘post’-colonial democracy in this country.

We would like to acknowledge that this post is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the work of Māori women, and there is much more to be said - including information that was never deemed important enough to be recorded.

Māori women in decision making prior to 1893

Thirteen Māori women have so far been identified as having signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Women such as Takurua, Te Marama, Ana Hamu, Marama, Ereonora, Rangi Topeora, Kahe Te Rau o to Rangi, Pari, Te Kehu, Ngaraurekau, Te Rere o Maki, Hoana Riutoto, and Te Wairakau signed on behalf of themselves and their iwi(*).

Only twenty years later the Pākehā(*) population outnumbered Māori and in the 1860s war broke out over land. During these Land Wars, British troops assisted European settlers to take control of Māori lands. Māori women leaders are known to have used the authority vested in them by their people to defend tribal lands. One of these women was Heni Pore of Te Arawa, who fought against the British troops in support of the Māori King and his followers. She also fought in the Battle of Gate Pa in 1864.

From 1865 with the passing of the Native Land Act, Māori women attempted to use legal remedies to retain or confirm their interest in tribal lands. As the century progressed, growing numbers of women took cases to the Native Land Court as individuals and on behalf of their iwi. Maata Te Taiawatea, a Ngāti Awa rangatira from the Bay of Plenty, devoted herself to the task of seeking the return of confiscated tribal land. She, like many other women of her time, spent long hours in the Native Land Court and her letters to government span more than forty years.

These women made approaches to government over land legislation and by the 1880s were organising with Māori men to make direct petitions to the Crown urging fulfilment of its obligations as a Treaty partner. Māori frustrations with Pākehā systems of land tenure and government increased during this decade, and the idea of an alternative Māori institution of government was under discussion in Māori communities throughout the country. Māori women supported the idea of a separate Māori system of government - a Māori parliament. In comparison with the existing system, it promised more opportunities for representation.

Te Kotahitanga - Māori Parliament

From its inception in 1892, women played an active role in the work of Te Kotahitanga. Those given authority by their iwi could speak in the Māori Parliament but could not vote and stand as members. This was in stark contrast to the New Zealand Parliament, where no women could speak.

Meri Mangakahia

In May 1893 a motion was put before the Māori Parliament by Meri Mangakahia of Te Rarawa, on behalf of the women, seeking the right to vote and to stand as members of Te Kotahitanga. The motion failed, but women continued to organise themselves to tackle problems such as land, health, and education through the formation of Ngā Komiti Wāhine, a national network of tribally based Māori women’s committees. Their efforts were reported and discussed at the national meetings of Te Kotahitanga until its closure in 1902.

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union

The WCTU formed out of wanting to control the use of alcohol, which it believed was the cause of many social and economic problems for women and children.

Branches of WCTU were set up from 1884, and from 1886 the organisation lobbied for the parliamentary franchise. By 1890 many members of the WCTU had widened their goals and saw achieving a vote for women as an issue of justice. It is not known exactly when Māori women first became involved with the WCTU, but those concerned about alcohol abuse had been joining the temperance movement from the 1870s.

Māori women’s signatures have been found on the national franchise petitions of 1892 and 1893, which were initiated by the WCTU to demonstrate to the Government that significant numbers of women wanted the vote.

Heni Pore

In 1896 Heni Pore was elected secretary of the Ohinemutu branch of the WCTU, which had a membership of 52 women and an associated committee of 13 men. Heni held her position for nearly two years and in 1898 she assisted the Māori organiser, Mrs Hewett, in overseeing the work of branches in the Rotorua district. As a prominent organiser of the WCTU she helped set up nine Māori branches in the Bay of Plenty.

Māori Women in the House

Although women were granted the vote in 1893, it wasn’t until the 1919 Women’s Parliamentary Rights Act that women had the right to stand for Parliament. The first Māori woman stood as a candidate in 1935.

In this year Rehutai Maihi contested the Northern Māori seat. Although she announced during her campaign that she was a Labour supporter, she was listed as an Independent when the results were posted. Older Māori, who did not believe women should enter politics, criticised her and she polled only 162 votes.

Iriaka Ratana

In 1949 Iriaka Ratana became the first Māori woman to win a seat in the New Zealand Parliament when she successfully contested Western Māori. Her husband, the previous member for this seat, had died in office earlier in the year. She retained the seat until her retirement in 1969. As a Ratana she was allied with the Labour Party, which initially showed some hesitation in endorsing a woman candidate in a Māori electorate. Iriaka Ratana defeated her nearest rival by 5871 votes. In spite of her Ratana support, she faced opposition from some Māori who claimed that as a woman she could not adequately represent them. They also criticised her for taking on a political role when she was the mother of a large family. Her years of committed work for Māori won over her critics.

Iriaka Ratana was not the only Māori woman contestant in the 1949 election. Katarina Nutana also stood for the Western Māori seat as an Independent and faced criticism from some sections of the electorate.

Other women known to have contested Māori seats include Hinerapa Ropiha, who stood for Southern Māori in 1957, and Whina Cooper, who stood for Northern Māori in 1963.

In 1967 Whetu Tirikatene was elected Member of Parliament for Southern Māori and retained the seat for twenty-six years. Like Iriaka Ratana, she followed a family member into the House, after the death of her father. She was appointed Minister of Tourism in 1972, becoming the first Māori woman to hold a Cabinet portfolio.

Last century, women such as Niniwa i te Rangi, Meri Mangakahia, and Pani Te Tau took on the initiative of encouraging Māori women to communicate with each other through Māori newspapers. It was an educative process that inspired many women to discuss political issues of the day and also to question their relative status with others in their communities. The medium enhanced Māori women’s abilities to collectively organise and to speak with a unified voice.

Sources: Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Māori Women and The Vote by Tania Rei (now Tania Rangiheuea)

seemsforever:

… and share part of my Marriage Equality submission to Select Committee.

…

..

.

I tried to end my life when I was 15.

and 16.

and 17.

I first held a blade to my skin at age 11. Eleven. By the time I was 22 I’d been waging a war against myself for half my life. I can’t imagine how many hundreds of scars I have; I’ve never wanted to count. Stitches and bandages and hard plastic chairs in hospital waiting rooms. Weeks in hospital and months in rehab and prayers spoken over me to break curses that weren’t really there. I was different, and that was not okay.

I’ve been different for as long as I can remember. As a little kid I didn’t think too much about it, but as soon as the girls started talking about going out with boys I knew that this thing in me was not the same and it was not okay. No one taunted me, nobody bullied me, I wasn’t teased. I was a cute, intelligent kid with a bunch of friends. Everybody liked me. Nobody knew. 

I won’t say that this war I waged was brought on solely by internalised homophobia, because a lot else happened in those fragile years, but it certainly underpinned everything I knew about myself and drove me to behave in a way that began a long, steep downward spiral. I knew, I knew. I wouldn’t be bringing a boyfriend home to meet the parents. I would never get married or make a family. I couldn’t even look anyone in the eye. I was terrified of myself.

This is the environment in which I grew up. Everybody liked me, but there were boundaries that weren’t to be crossed and topics that weren’t to be discussed. The thing with boundaries, though, is they’re sometimes so arbitrary, but to those they’re fencing out they can mean life or death. 

In this country the laws we pass go on to set the tone for our society. In 1986 homosexuality was decriminalised and in 1993 the Human Rights Act outlawed discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. Equality ventured a few steps forward; communities didn’t collapse; nothing imploded. 

In 2004 the Civil Union Bill was passed. I was in year 13 and a prefect at my conservative christian high school, having hidden any trace of difference under so many layers of pain. A petition was handed around opposing the Bill. I signed it. I was so scared that if I didn’t, one of my layers might peel off and everyone would see I was not the same as them.

And then one day, several miserable years later, I fell in love with a girl. I wasn’t looking; in fact, I spent a lot of time trying not to look. You’ll laugh. I met her in church. I … just wanted to hold her hands all the time. She was not that into it. At first. (I’m a sweet talker.)

And I thought, is this what I’ve been so afraid of? Because, this? This is the happiest I’ve ever been.

But of course I was afraid of my difference. See, the society in which I live currently tells me I am different on a tangible level. It’s not just in my imagination. There are laws for the general population and then there are laws for … the gay population. 

Over 550 young people killed themselves in New Zealand last year. LGBT young people are nearly four times more likely to attempt suicide. I was that four-times-more-likely. I don’t want to live in a society where cute, intelligent kids waste half their lives in utter torment because they don’t feel they are as valuable as everyone else. I don’t want to live in a society that tells them that being different is not okay.

So I’ll support the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, as will I support any movement that aims to uproot arbitrary boundaries and spread out equality instead. I’m not afraid of myself anymore. Turns out I actually do just want to love someone and marry them and make a family someday. Fingers crossed.