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Editor: David Parker, phone: +64 9 419 7018, Northcote, Auckland
email: cddm@ihug.co.nz
Provincial AGM: Looking Forward!
Attention all Green Party members living in the Northland, Whangarei and Rodney electorates
Convenor's spot
Provincial news
Parliamentary news
National news
Green action
Discussion
Contacts
Dates
Disclaimer & editorial information
Monday, 24 July, 7pm
26 Anzac Avenue, Auckland City
This is the monthly decision-making meeting in the Province. All members welcome and all can speak. Meetings run from 7–9pm.
Note: Change to Scheduling of Provincial Meetings
The schedule for the monthly Auckland provincial meeting is to change from July. As you will have noticed from the front page, the next meeting date is 24 July. This change will allow the province to discuss items on the agenda of the national executive conference call, which occurs on the 4th Tuesday of the month. Therefore, at the June meeting, the Province decided that monthly meetings should be held on the evening before that conference call.
This means that provincial meetings will usually occur on the 4th Monday of the month (and occasionally the 3rd Monday in the odd case where the month begins on a Tuesday!) But don't worry — Northern News will carry reminders as usual!
Members are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Province to be held on Saturday 15 July. In particular, the many new members who have joined the Greens in the last year are invited to the meeting to add their fresh ideas and energy to promoting the Green agenda in our region. There is much to do!
Date: Saturday 15 July
Time: 10am to 2pm
* PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE *
Place: Seminar Room One, Auckland College of Education, 78 Epsom Avenue, Epsom, Auckland
The AGM will be an important time for us to come together, so please bring a plate for a shared lunch. Bread, cheese, coffee, tea, and condiments will also be provided, so those travelling far to attend the meeting do not need to worry they will starve if they are unable to bring along a pot-luck offering!
Access information
As there is building work at the college where we will be meeting, please note the following information: Enter the college through Gate 2 and park on the top level, walking across the bridge to the main building. (This is the best option for wheelchair access, as the retail centre will be open at this time. You may want to let the Green Office know if you require help, so that it can be arranged).
Alternatively, park on the road and enter via Gate One, going down the steps and down the hill to the seminar rooms.
The draft agenda for the meeting (not in final order) is as follows:
1. Minutes of last year's AGM.
2. Remits — we are planning several remits, one on the name of our Province now that Northland, Whangarei and Rodney are moving to operate as a separate Province, and one proposing that Te Roopu Pounamu members in our Province be invited to have a representative on the Province Secretariat. (If you wish to contribute a remit from your electorate relating to the Province structure please contact the office.)
3. Election of officers.
4. Report from MPs present.
5. Campaign report — from the interest groups.
6. Guest speakers — at this stage we are hoping to have Ian Stephens, former National Co-Convenor, Margaret O'Brien, new National Co-Convenor, and Joel Cayford, Local Government Green, to speak on the 2001 local government elections.
7. Policy Report — from the Policy Networkers group.
8. General Business.
AGM facilitator will be Helen Yensen.
It's your chance to vote in some key people in the province. We are looking for the following roles to be filled. Nominations are welcome from now on for the following:
We hope some of the existing workers in these roles will stay on but please feel free to nominate others. Send any nominations to the Green Party office.
Invitation to a meeting on the proposed Northland province and, if approved, the inaugural meeting and election of officeholders.
Date: Saturday, 8 July, 2000, 1pm–5pm.
Location: The Pat Irving Lounge, St Johns Church Centre, 149 Kamo Road, Whangarei
(Yellow church complex almost opposite Northern Bakeries, adjacent to 155 Community House. Parking and Irving Lounge at rear of church.)
A pre-AGM meeting of the northern three electorates' members at the Kotare Education Centre in Wellsford on 27 May supported the proposed new province.
The AGM in Turangi in June approved the change provided that members agreed. If consensus is reached this meeting will become the inaugural meeting of the new province.
1. Welcome/introductions
2. Sue Bradford MP — Report on the Parliamentary experience and current caucus issues.
3. New Province: Explanation of what is proposed and the implications, including naming, relationship with Tai Tokerau electorate, and organisational issues.
If agreement is reached:
1. Nominations from the floor for officeholders, including:
2. Strategies for local government elections
3. Any other business
4. Date and venue for next meeting
5. Whangarei fundraiser function involving food and movie (billets available for the night).
Any person wanting input but unable to attend should contact:
Jon Field at Omapere, ph 405 8159, e-mail:allan&field@xtra.co.nz
Moea Armstrong, ph 430 3053, e-mail: suebradford.whangarei@xtra.co.nz
Janey Pares, ph 425 0024, e-mail: suebradford.warkworth@xtra.co.nz
Michael Cullen's anxiety to appease the business sector in the Budget is somewhat of a puzzle. Was he so captured by the media's longtime obsession with the new right that details of the Budget negated any real moves to overturn the injustices of the past decade?
While it is most heartening that attention will be paid to an awful lack of state houses, where is the commitment to cheap housing for the low-income group as a whole? And where is there any concrete evidence of beneficiaries getting opportunities to escape the poverty trap? Some people on the invalids' benefit got an increase of one dollar a week! Michael Cullen has never been regarded as a "lefty", so I guess it should come as no surprise that the thrust of Labour is very certainly economically cautious. The business sector's harping on about their being neglected in the Budget is surely lame. They've had a generation to prove their worth and what a toll this focus has taken on the less powerful.
Of course the Green Budget package was sweet. We are in an awesome position to attract this sort of attention and, as I have stated in previous reports, our independence gives us such leverage. I remember at an Alliance meeting in 1996 asking Jim Anderton if it would not be tactically wiser to not go into formal coalition with Labour, but rather vote with them on an issue-by-issue basis. Jim looked thunderstruck at that question and dismissed that suggestion out of hand. I wonder if his thinking has changed?
Is it a deliberate tactic for Labour to ignore the Alliance? The Paid Parental Leave Bill may not surface again during this parliamentary term. Sad. But Labour can afford to look the other way. The polling public also seems unimpressed by the Alliance.
The Green Party must learn lessons from this latest Budget. We must continue to retain our independence and not be lured into coalitions that could subject us to being the lesser partner. This will impact on our decisions at both the local body and national elections. Much care must be taken to choose our paths wisely. Future Budgets could make a difference to more people's lives only if we and other advocates for social justice call the shots. The media has had its say with this latest one. Janet McVeagh, Convenor
Electoral success = members × cash × commitment
At the last provincial meeting our Treasurer, David Clendon, highlighted the need to get our finances onto a sustainable basis. The Green Party in Auckland needs more regular money:
While our Auckland MPs have staff and an office to support their parliamentary responsibilities, the Green Party as an organisation is still dependent on the generosity of its members. Thus we need:
Members! Have you renewed your membership? If not, you are not alone — they were due back in May! Lost the form? Send your name, address and the membership fee of $5 plus a donation if possible to The Green Party, PO Box 11-652, Wellington.
Cash and Commitment! Our MPs have pledged 10% of their gross salaries to the party — what can you pledge? Pledges by automatic payments from your bank are a way of the party achieving both cash and commitment! To get a form sent to you call the office on 336 1455 or fax 377 6413. Thank you! Chris Patterson, Exec Networker.
Would all electorate contacts, and anyone else knowing of Green Party bank accounts, please email details outlined below to the Party treasurer, Jon Field, at allan&field@xtra.co.nz.
If not on email, please pass the details on to another person who is able to send them to Jon.
The details required are:
Thanks!
Dear Green Party members, I am writing to introduce myself as the volunteer co-ordinator for the Green Party.
I have previously worked as volunteer co-ordinator for Greenpeace, worked on Greenpeace ships, and was involved with the GE group RAGE, now called GE Free NZ. I was involved with the GE labelling action last May and am interested in the GE issue, as well as anything else Green.
There may be those of you who have some spare time and would like to become more involved with the Green Party. To this end it would be great if those interested people would email the appropriate information back to me at the Green Office. The information required is listed below.
The Green Office in Auckland needs lots of volunteer help. There are also various issues which need to be worked on and the issue groups would like to make use of the database being compiled. So you can do as much or as little as you like, working only on issues which you are interested in (in theory!)
Hope to hear from you soon! Kia Kaha. Claire Insley, Volunteer Co-ordinator
Volunteer information required:
Name:
Address:
Phone no:
Fax no:
Email:
Please indicate the issues you are interested in:
Genetic Engineering
Justice
Local Government
Public Transport
Toxics and Water
Youth
Other (please specify)
Please indicate your availability:
Weekdays
Weeknights
Weekends
Various -- just phone me
Other (please specify)
Please indicate what you are interested in doing:
Office work
Practical activities
Coming to meetings
Other (please specify)
Please try to answer the above as fully as possible as this will help us understand what you want to do and what you are available to do. Feel free to contact Claire at the Green Office if you wish to know more: phone (09) 336 1455.
Email the information for the attention of Claire Insley to keithandnandor@xtra.co.nz. Thank you!
The provincial secretariat recently met and brainstormed some possible training workshops to prepare us for the next elections (local and national) and for our ongoing tasks. Please contact the Green Office if you would like to participate in the following:
... and many more exciting topics!
Current policy discussions: We are still consulting on the Disability Policy — if you want to be involved please let me know. A new draft of the Health Policy has come through — it looks as if it still needs some work, and is about 12 pages long. If you want a copy I can email it or else please send 3 × 40¢ stamps and a stamped addressed envelope. I have had two responses on the tax partnership policy, opposing the policy. Is anyone else interested? No feedback has been received on the Water Policy, which I sent down to the national policy convenors — I will chase them up.
Policy groups: To improve the amount of policy discussion the national policy convenors are hoping to set up policy interest groups. A group for people interested in unions and the Employment Relations Bill has been convened by Jocelyn Bielski, ael@tasman.net or 161 Princes Drive, Nelson. Please contact her if you are interested.
Policy process: The national policy network is also discussing how to improve the caucus–policy network liaison, so that rapid response policy advice can reach the MPs in time, and so that the Party can be sure our MPs are working in line with our policy decisions. A process is to be set up to establish how much consultation a particular bill needs, or has time for, given parliamentary time frames. Wherever possible, bills relating to a particular locality will be sent to the local group for comment. A brief summary of positions taken on bills could be distributed each week, along with a list of new bills, on the parliamentary report. A copy could be kept at the office for people not on email.
So you want to be a policy networker... Coming up in July is the AGM, at which you get the chance to elect the policy networkers or be elected yourself. Policy networkers, according to the rules, have the final say on provincial policy decisions, so this gives them quite a bit of power, exercised with the responsibility of consultation and networking. If you want to know more about being a policy networker, I have a set of job descriptions and explanations of the policy process. It's only available by post so a stamped addressed envelope would be appreciated.
Change to policy meeting day: Since the provincial meeting is shifting to the fourth Monday of the month, the policy meeting will now be on the first Monday of the month. The next meeting will be on 7 August (we will skip July as it would be only two weeks after our last meeting).
At the next meeting we will discuss:
Karen Davis, Policy Networker
email: kdavis@ihug.co.nz, postal: 48 King Edward St, Sandringham, ph: 849 3342 (evenings).
See also the other policy networkers' contact details at the back of the newsletter.
Principles
There is a tension between certain aspects of the Green programme for change, whereby the fulfilment of ecological policies can, potentially, conflict with the desire for social justice. This particularly arises where the immediate fear of job losses turns workers against the longer-term gains of conservation or environmental protection. This fear is often exploited by business or other political interests.
The successful implementation of ecological policies in a manner which is not socially disruptive, particularly with regard to employment, can be achieved by consciously including the element of appropriate decision-making in developing individual projects.
Objectives
Greens and workers will co-operate to bring about just and equitable transitions from unsustainable to sustainable forms of employment.
Greens will develop links at all levels with the union movement so that regular dialogue will promote mutual understanding. In particular, dialogue will focus on the basic concepts of Just Transition.
Particular environmental and conservation projects, such as the ceasing/altering of environmentally untenable industries and practices, will be developed in consultation with those workers who will be negatively affected by the proposed changes.
Just transition includes:
Rachel Mackintosh and David Parker
Three Treaty video/discussion evenings (with refreshments), facilitated by Helen Yensen and Catherine Delahunty, will by held at monthly intervals at Helen's home, 3A Highwic Avenue, Epsom, on the following Wednesday evenings, from 7.00–9.30pm: 19 July; 23 August; 20 September. Enrolment is free but essential as numbers are limited. Phone Helen at 520 0179. Helen Yensen
Mid-Winter is a time to reflect and strategize about how to help Waiheke become GE Free, public transport friendly, organic and greener! The earth day stall was successful at already getting names of those interested in putting in submissions about GE for the Royal Commission. Thanks to all helpers on the day!
For those interested in coming to meetings, please keep an eye out in the Gulf News for notice of the monthly meeting. Cheers, Rebecca Potts
The next meeting of the Transport Group is at Green office at 7pm on Monday, 3 July.
We'll continue exploring and developing plans for a Transport "Greenprint" for Auckland. This is a popular and energetic issue group. The Greenprint will include short-term measures, plus a utopian view of how we'd really like to see Auckland in the long term — perhaps no cars at all, the roads dug up, a free, fast, clean and quiet public transportation system, cycleways everywhere. Come and contribute to the vision! If we can imagine it, and enthuse others with that vision ... it will happen! Chris Marshall
This small but active group is preparing to launch a short campaign against the Waikato pipeline. We only have until the end of August to call for a review of this absurd and expensive proposal which has the potential to pollute our drinking water. We will be calling on our Auckland members for some practical support with raising public concern. Contact Catherine at the Green Office for more details.
We have also been working with Sue Kedgley and staff on the issue of the Chemcolour factory in Glenfield, which has been discharging to the air in a residential area, without a consent, for 40 years. This factory manufactures herbicides, solvents and shampoo. We are supporting local residents trying to get full information and to find out what else is contributing to the vile smell of air pollution in that neighbourhood. Catherine Delahunty
Kia ora to all Northern Greens. As usual, all of us have been really busy down here in Wellington, and elsewhere. It was good to catch up with quite a few of you at the Turangi Conference on Queen's Birthday weekend, and it was a real boost to see the increasing strength and confidence of our ever-growing Party down there in the cold and the mud.
As most people will realise, I am still heavily involved in the Employment Relations Bill work — the whole process has been held up for a month or more as the Government seems to be struggling with its reaction to enormous pressure from Big Business — so now the bill won't be finished in Parliament until early August at the earliest. This is a real päin for me as there are many other things I would like to be doing, including spending more time in the North. However, I think it is more important than ever for us in the Green Party to do everything we can to help fix up the ER Bill, and to keep the Government as staunch as possible on its fundamental purpose of redressing the imbalance caused by the effects of the Employment Contracts Act.
I'm also going to be heavily involved over the next month or two with work on the Income Related Rentals Bill which will open the way to state house tenants on low incomes being charged a maximum of 25% of their income for rent from December this year. If any of you would like to make comments or suggestions to me about aspects of the Bill, please feel free to contact me at Parliament.
One of the issues I have been most passionate about in recent years, and which is a core part of Green Party policy, has been to support the development of widespread community-owned banking in Aotearoa/NZ. I know some people in the Green Party are excited by "Jimmy's Bank" but Rod Donald and I, and others in the community networks working on the issue, see Jim Anderton's proposal as pretty negative. I've recently begun to realise that some people in the Green Party don't understand our reasons for thinking this, and I would welcome any opportunity, whether through being granted space for an article in Northern News and/or having a chance to meet with interested Party members in the North, to explain our position and discuss it with you.
A couple of weeks ago I was also fortunate enough to have been part of the Social Services Select Committee which was invited by the Australian Government to visit Canberra and Melbourne and share information with our counterparts there on issues like public housing, child and family welfare, employment and income support issues, and the latest developments in how their Government is (or isn't) dealing with indigenous people's issues. It was a fascinating if exhausting trip: probably the highlight was seeing a public housing project in Canberra which not only provided great low rent (25% of income) flats but also incorporated energy efficiency features, a grey water system and a worm farm. Fantastic, and most inspiring. I also met up with a couple of Green Party MPs in Canberra (Bob Brown and Kerri Tucker) and went on a demonstration with them in support of the people of Southern Sudan.
Ka kite ano, Sue Bradford.
Fiji and the Solomons are dominating my Foreign Affairs agenda at the moment. I gave the Green Party response to the Solomons crisis in the House last week.
To me the Solomons illustrates two things. Firstly, the importance of assisting the development of Pacific Island nations. The Solomons is one of the poorest nations in the world, and a lot of the "development" has actually been despoilation, notably the destruction of their rainforests by mainly Malaysian loggers. In that context, any local grievances become magnified. Our international aid programme needs to be increased (it only went up about 3% in the Budget) and redirected to things like basic education (only 14% of Solomon Islanders go on to secondary school).
Secondly, I have also argued that Fiji and the Solomons show how irrevelant the Skyhawks and frigates are to our real defence needs, compared with peacekeepers and air and naval transport capacity. The frigate Te Mana did go to the Solomons, but it is not configured to take freight and people. Mediation and peacemaking is what the Solomons and countries in similar circumstances need.
We have also welcomed the government's strong response for a return to democracy in Fiji: I have spoken at another Auckland pro-democracy rally since the last newsletter (several hundred people turned out). And yesterday in Parliament I called for the government to support the CTU's week-long ban on handling goods to Fiji. Long-term sanctions can have bad affects on the local population. But this is a short-term ban, called for by the local people (particularly the Fiji Trade Union Congress) to help bring sense to those in charge at a critical moment. What the CTU has done reinforces the Green call for the right to strike on social, human rights and environmental matters to be allowed for under the Employment Relations Bill.
I have been involved in other human rights action, such as through the cross-parliament Tibet support group, which met recently. I have also spoken on the International Criminal Court Bill which is a good step forward bringing those involved in crimes against humanity to justice: for example, George Speight could be caught, under several of the offences listed in the bill, for taking hostages, murder, using civilians as a human shield, and, potentially, apartheid and genocide (in terms of what his stated aim is).
I have also supported a clause in the just-released Defence Policy Framework, which says "New Zealand will not engage in military co-operation or exercises with the armed forces of states which sanction the use of their armed forces to suppress human rights".
Apart from that, the Defence Policy Framework is pretty much status quo, which is a disappointment when we had hoped the government might, for example, move to get rid of the Skyhawks, which cost $234 million a year, as listed in this year's Budget. I had an opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald of 20 June running over our critique of the Framework.
Regards, Keith Locke.
The Green Budget package announced on 15 June comes to a total of $15 million, made up as follows:
Green MP and organic farmer Ian Ewen-Street said he was delighted with the results of a survey showing over 70% of New Zealanders believe the future of agriculture lies in organics.
The survey by UMR Insight on behalf of AFFCO found that 70% of farmers, 78% of urban dwellers and 71% of rural dwellers believe the future of New Zealand agriculture lies in organics. Around 70% of these groups said they were very or fairly concerned about GE foods and a similar number of all New Zealanders said they would choose not to eat GE food.
The Primary Production Select Committee, of which Ian is a member, is currently receiving submissions on the future of organic agriculture, and Ian said the voice of the majority needed to be heard in this process.
Anyone interested in making a submission can obtain details from the Green Office, ph 336 1455.
West Coast/Tasman Green Party candidate Richard Davies and Marlborough organic farmer Dr Marg O'Brien were elected as national co-convenors of the Green Party at the AGM at Turangi over Queen's Birthday weekend.
Richard Davies, who was number 10 on the Green Party's list at the last election, has stood in the West Coast/Tasman electorate in the last two elections, securing eight per cent of the party vote in 1999. Richard has lived in Golden Bay and Nelson for 30 years and has taken a prominent part in politics in the area.
Dr O'Brien has a PhD in psychology. She works as a research psychologist on community and environmental issues, as well as managing an organic sheep and beef farm with her husband, Green MP Ian Ewen-Street.
At its 1 May meeting, the Northern Province passed the following remit written by Jenny Lloyd and presented by TRP as a koha to the Party, to take to the AGM:
'We propose that the following passage be adopted in the preamble to the Green Party Charter.
"Ko Te Roopu Pounamu ka tu hei kotahitanga mo taua ko te tangata whenua me ona wairua me ona tikanga Maori hoki. Kia whakaihingia, kia whakamauringia nga take Maori e Te Roopu Pounamu, mana e tautoko nga tini take e pa ana ki te Maori ki einei wahanga: Nga matauranga no Rangi me Papa; He ngawaritanga o te tangata; He pono he tika mo te tangata; He whakaritenga tika.
Te Roopu Pounamu signifies the wairua for the mana of the Tangata Whenua to work in partnership alongside the Green Party to uphold Maori values. In doing so, we ask the Green Party to tautoko any issues pertaining to Maori and give ihi for mauri, as Te Roopu Pounamu will for the following [principles of the Party]."
(Glossary: wairua — spirit; mana — respect; tangata whenua — people of the land; tautoko — support; ihi/mauri — wisom of life force to the charter.)'
I was deeply moved at the time and still am by the generosity of this koha to the Party by TRP. It is a statement about relationship, an invitation to sit down together to hear each other, to discuss concerns and support each other. What a wonderful basis for a good and lasting relationship!
As the time for consideration of remits arrived at the AGM, it was moved and the meeting accepted that this Remit be shifted from number 4 to number 2 (out of 5), because of the importance of the subject and the need to avoid having to curtail discussion towards the end for lack of time.
Some concern about misunderstandings which could arise from the wording had already been expressed by Executive before the meeting. In response, TRP presented a tightened version to the AGM, cutting out "for the mana"; and changing "alongside" to "within", as well as "uphold" to "respect". Also, translations of Maori concepts were added in the main body of the Remit.
Jenny Lloyd presented the amended remit as a koha which had been blessed at a spiritual location within Aotearoa; Metiria Turei explained its intent; and they, with Tremane Barr, Kei Munro, and Jenny K Potaka, responded to a number of concerns expressed from the floor about the exact meaning of the Maori concepts and what it would lead to in terms of the future relationship of TRP with the Green Party as a whole. Some fear was expressed that it might lead to confrontation and strife.
What I understood TRP saying is that they expect to become part of a consultative process, but that the form of the relationship will be both an evolving and a negotiated one. A straw vote indicated overwhelming support for the principle and spirit of the remit. Some concerns about how and where it would fit in remained, at which point it was suggested and accepted by TRP and the meeting that Executive and TRP consult further about those aspects. Later, at the Executive Meeting on the Monday of the AGM, TRP requested and was given a speaking, but non-voting "seat" on the Executive.
Both at the Northern Province meeting of 1 May, as well as at the AGM, it became clear that most of us Pakeha/Tauiwi have difficulty understanding certain Maori concepts which cannot be easily translated by a word or two into English. An example at the AGM was the word "tautoko" translated by "support". Some feared that this meant that the Party would have to uncritically accept any proposals put forward by TRP. Not so for TRP, for whom "tautoko" means "support" in terms of hearing, understanding where it comes from, and then critically discussing it with each other in the light of both Maori values and Green Party principles.
What it brought home to me once again is that we Pakeha/Tauiwi have a lot of work to do to understand not only key Maori cultural concepts, but also the basis of Maori claims to sovereignty/self-determination, and those aspects of our colonial history which have been very destructive of Maori cultural, political, economic, and social life. So, do come and join proposed workshops where we can build the knowledge needed for informed debate on issues relating to Maori–Pakeha/Tauiwi relationship, past, present, and future. A knowledge of the past may help us find a better way in the future.
In her main speech, Jeanette Fitzsimons spoke of her commitment to setting a new standard for parliamentary co-operation. I like to think that as a Party we can also commit ourselves to modelling a Treaty-based relationship with Maori within the Green Party as well as in the political and social arenas of our national life. Certainly, with their generous koha to the Party TRP have laid down a challenge!
It was appropriate that the weekend was "embraced" by karakia and waiata at the opening and closing ceremonies, with Nandor asked by TRP to give the closing karakia. Helen Yensen
Thinking about making a submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Genetic Engineering, but not sure where to begin? "Amp" is here to help!
Amp is an independent, non-profit project run by volunteers who are committed to encouraging effective participation in democratic processes (with nothing to do with insurance!). Amp does not want to tell you what to write but how to write it! The project is designed to support organisations and individuals in making effective, powerful, influential submissions.
Amp is working with organisations and experts to co-ordinate substantive (research-based) submissions. Amp also offers a range of support for individuals who want to make a simple submission to the Royal Commission.
A simple submission is most powerful when you speak from the heart or personal experience. You do not need to use jargon or scientific research; you can just say what you feel. If you feel strongly about the issue, let the submission show your passion!
The most important thing to do when writing a simple submission is to begin with a statement that summarises your key message. In one sentence, sum up what you want the Royal Commission to decide.
The rest of your submission can justify, explain or clarify your message.
Find out more about how to make a submission, or about how Amp can support your group's effectiveness in encouraging or preparing submissions. Contact Amp: email: amp@mailroom.com; postal: PO Box 11 652, Wellington; fax: 04 801 5104.
The Amp website also carries lots of helpful information.
With a million people in Auckland, we in this Province have the enormous task of encouraging all those who have concerns about Genetic Engineering to put a submission in to the Royal Commission. This is a NOW or NEVER issue. And this is OUR chance to have a say ... We know what we are up against, with the so-called "life sciences" (Monsanto and co) mounting their big PR campaign and submissions. But globally the biotech industry is on the back foot, and New Zealand does have a real alternative in going organic.
For those with expertise or lots of knowledge in any of the areas of GE/ethics/environment, a full "substantive" submission is worthwhile. But for everyone else its a matter of acting together to create the collective power a large number of individual submissions will generate.
So we need thousands of Aucklanders to put in personal submissions. And numbers will make a difference.
This means not only every Green but all of our friends and families making submissions. It means networking with other groups and holding "submission writing" workshops for our local communities. It means creatively using the media to help people to get inspired and submit their thoughts to the Royal Commission. And it also means having clear information sheets so that if people want backup facts they are easily available.
This is a big task for us all!
But we have plenty of time — when was the last time someone asked you to do a submission and said you have at least three months and probably more?
So instead of panicking and deciding its not possible — lets get organised! Here's the plan:
If you'd like to be more active and actually help run a workshop on submission writing, give Jon or Rebecca your name, or come to the next GE meeting.
Meanwhile, it would be great if all Greens could encourage people to participate in democracy and have their say...
Please let either of us know if you have any questions, ideas or want to help out! Jon Carapiet (ph: 815 3370) and Rebecca Potts (ph: 372 6579).
Twenty months after the previous Government agreeing to label GE foods there is still no labelling. Australia's John Howard wants to cancel labelling as too hard for industry.
Before the next Ministerial meeting on 28 July, people must let the Government know that full labelling by October is the only acceptable option short of a complete ban on GE foods:
Please write to Annette King, Minister of Health, Freepost, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
Copy letters to: Helen Clark, Prime Minister; Phillida Bunkle, Minister of Consumer Affairs; and Marion Hobbs, Minister of Bio-security.
A few facts worth mentioning:
Wednesday 28 June, 7pm — venue to be decided.
Monday 10 July, Tuesday 11 July, 8am–10am
Biotechnology Conference
Sheraton Hotel, Symonds St, Auckland
We will be calling for:
ANZFA meeting, Monday 28 July, Wellington.
For further details of these events, contact Jon Carapiet, ph: 815 3370.
Predictions of our future in recent decades were orders-of-magnitude too simple.
I have moved away from a view of the future of "everyone fairly sharing what little is left" to a picture in which, around the world, there's complexity in both time and space. Where, at different times, different places around the world slide into catastrophe and chaos; while others (hopefully the majority) struggle on for 5 or 10 years longer, learning from the earlier crashes so most manage with great effort and sacrifice to slide past their own demise. And still others, predictably the richer nations, put resources into keeping out refugees.
So amelioration rather than putting-right will be the goal for most of these crashes. With distinctions made by the rich nations between "those like us, in our own back yard" (Kosovo) and "those in the Third World, whose deaths won't affect us and may even benefit us" (Rwanda/ Burundi, the Congo region and Sierra Leone; like the US attitude to the Vietnamese and Cubans used to be).
And behind it all, and in many cases driving destruction, is the power and money of the rich making themselves richer. From pushing roads and clearances through the Amazon jungle, to the chemical and pharmaceutical companies' almost-control of the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration in the USA. The same in Britain, under Thatcher, Major and Blair.
Uncertainty, change and variation
One of the problems with democracy, whether of village, district, city or nation, is that those living in those places went there because there was (or they worked to create) an environment that suited them. Certainly, strange people and, in many cases, strange ideas are definitely not welcome since they presage change and there's too much change during times of transition.
Even in New Zealand most people in most places will not "go Green"; certainly most of the rest of the world will not. There will be individuals, towns and nations which will march to a different drummer, so Greens had better be prepared to deal with a fairly wide range of other ideologies and degrees of social breakdown.
Hopefully, few will be fascist; there will be other types of totalitarian regime (like Albania, or under military/gang oppression) but, if we're lucky, quite a few nationalities will consciously design their ethos around something between money-focussed American capitalism and social-focussed egalitarianism of the 1980s, Scandinavian-style. It's obvious from the last 10 years in China, and the all-pervasiveness of gaming in New Zealand, that "getting rich" is a very powerful human drive, so some form of capitalism will be very common where there's sufficient order to support it, whether it's consensus-based or force-based order.
The non-human world
I've said little about the natural world. Mainly because I'm pessimistic: the nature I knew so well as I grew up is gone forever — there's not a chance that there will ever again be only 1 to 2.5 billion people in the world, with their corresponding relatively light footprint. But also because governments never will, and very few people will, put a high enough value on the whole ecology (of the nation, the region or the world). The most that all governments and most people will do is to have varying degrees of awareness of the need to protect their environment; a human-centred view, largely economic.
Consequently, the dynamic, healthy ecology of most places and regions will be degraded, often to and beyond the state where recovery is still possible. The two biggest threats to the ecology of most places are: human-caused loss of biodiversity, and human-caused climate change. This is one place where New Zealand can have (and already does have, to some extent) a world-wide value. It can contribute as many as 3 of the 20 places world-wide where, in 30 or more years, visitors will be still able to experience wildness and something like the original richness of nature. A model of what it could have been like if over-production and consumerism hadn't pushed us over the edge, during the last half of the twentieth century. There was a news item in mid-June about antibiotic-resistant strains of disease: more evidence of excess during the last 50–60 years. I remember the time before man-made antibiotics were generally available; we just sweated-it-out (or died if we weren't cared-for or were unlucky). The hallucinations when you were at the height of your fever were "old friends" for me!
At the end of my personal website piece (at http://davd.tripod.com/Me.html ), I say: "I happen to have lived a good life, at the peak of human civilisation; I don't need more."
So we should all get used to uncertainty, complexity, rapid and chaotic change; the world will generally be very different from the one I grew up in and that most of us function well in. A few bright points and pleasant places (like New Zealand), but generally worse.
I finish on a personal note: I hate buying, using-up, and throwing away! David MacClement
Part one of this article, "Removing the Blinkers — a Traveller, not a Tourist", appeared last month.
David MacClement can be emailed on d1v9d@bigfoot.com.
| From the UNDP's Human Development Report 1999 page 22: |
GLOBAL PROGRESS | GLOBAL DEPRIVATION |
| In 1997, 84 countries enjoyed a life expectancy at birth of more than 70 years, up from 55 countries in 1990. The number of developing countries in the group has more than doubled, from 22 to 49. Between 1990 and 1997 the share of the population with access to safe water nearly doubled, from 40% to 72%. | During 1990–97 the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS more than doubled, from less than 15 million to more than 33 million. Around 1.5 billion people are not expected to survive to age 60. More than 880 million people lack access to health services, and 2.6 billion access to basic sanitation. | |
|
Between 1990 and 1997 the adult literacy rate rose from 64% to 76%. During 1990–97 the gross primary and secondary enrolment ratio increased from 74% to 81%. |
In 1997 more than 850 million adults were illiterate. In industrial countries more than 100 million people were functionally illiterate. More than 260 million children are out of school at the primary and secondary levels. | |
|
Despite rapid population growth, food production per capita increased
by nearly 25% during 1990–97. The per capita daily supply of calories rose from less than 2,500 to 2,750, and that of protein from 71 grams to 76. |
About 840 million people are malnourished. The overall consumption of the richest fifth of the world's people is 16 times that of the poorest fifth. |
|
|
During 1990–97 real per capita GDP increased at an average annual
rate of more than 1%. Real per capita consumption increased at an average annual rate of 2.4% during the same period. |
Nearly 1.3 billion people live on less than a dollar a day, and close to 1 billion cannot meet their basic consumption requirements. The share in global income of the richest fifth of the world's people is 74 times that of the poorest fifth. | |
|
During 1990–97 the net secondary enrolment ratio for girls increased
from 36% to 61%. Between 1990 and 1997 women's economic activity rate rose from 34% to nearly 40%. |
Nearly 340 million women are not expected to survive to age 40. A quarter to a half of all women have suffered physical abuse by an intimate partner. | |
|
Between 1990 and 1997 the infant mortality rate was reduced from
76 per 1,000 live births to 58. The proportion of one-year-olds immunized increased from 70% to 89% during 1990–97. |
Nearly 160 million children are malnourished. More than 250 million children are working as child labourers. | |
|
Between 1990 and 1997 the share of heavily polluting traditional
fuels in the energy used was reduced by more than two-fifths. |
Every year nearly 3 million people die from air pollution—more than 80% of them from indoor air pollution—and more than 5 million die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by water contamination. | |
| Between two-thirds and three-quarters of the people in developing countries live under relatively pluralist and democratic regimes. | At the end of 1997 there were nearly 12 million refugees. | |
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June
28 GE group meeting
July
3 Transport group meeting
8 Northland Province inaugural meeting
10-11 GE public vigil
14-16 Treaty workshop
15 Auckland Province AGM
19 Treaty discussion evening #1
24 Auckland Province monthly meeting
28 ANZFA protest, Wellington
August
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8 Deadline for copy for next newsletter
23 Treaty discussion evening #2
Northern News is the newsletter of the Northern Province of the Green Party but doesn't purport to represent the Green Party.
Contributions are welcomed from all members of the Green Party. Local news, meeting reports, discussion of issues — this is your forum for communicating with your fellow Party members, or telling us about your events. It's easiest if you email your contribution, but if you don't have email just post it to the editor at the address below.
Editor: David Parker
post: 13 Sylvia Rd Northcote, Auckland
email: cddm@ihug.co.nz
Proofreading by Rachel Mackintosh
Deadline for next issue: Tuesday 8 August 2000
As notified in this issue, the Northland, Whangarei and Rodney electorates are moving to organise as a separate Province. If all goes ahead, for the time being the intention is to continue with a single newsletter covering the two provinces (the offical names of the Provinces are still to be confirmed). As ever, all contributions from members in both provinces will be gratefully received. Also, with the change in the timing of the Auckland provincial meeting, as explained above, the schedule for the newsletter will also change. This is so that members will continue to receive the newsletter just prior to the provincial meeting. David
This is: http://davd.tripod.com/NthnNews00-07.html
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