Something to go to in Auckland

System Change Aotearoa is holding a "tax the rich" rally in Auckland on 19 August.

When: 19 August 2023, 14:00
Where: Britomart Square

Something to go to in Wellington

Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here.

Something to go to in Wellington

Tomorrow is Right to Know Day, and the Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner are celebrating it with a livestreamed discussion of transparency and privacy rights:

Ombudsman Leo Donnelly, former Assistant Privacy Commissioner Katrine Evans, and Bryce Edwards from Transparency International will discuss the importance of the right to access information. The forum will be chaired by Radio New Zealand News Director and former political editor Brent Edwards.

‘The Privacy Act and the Official Information Act are among New Zealand’s most important pieces of legislation’, Leo Donnelly said, ‘giving New Zealanders the right to request personal information that organisations hold about them or that affects them, and to complain if the information is withheld’.

The discussion will be held from 12:00 - 13:00 in the Mokopuna Room, Te Wharewaka o Poneke Function Centre, Wellington Waterfront. If you want to attend in person, register here. Otherwise, it'll be livestreamed on Periscope and you'll be able to watch it on YouTube.

Open Government: Something to go to

The State Services Commission and Engage2 are currently running a public engagement process on the development of New Zealand's second Open Government partnership National Action Plan. So far, we've been asked to provide input on the draft background for the action plan. But from next week, the engagement will be moving into phase three, and we'll be asked to suggest, share and respond to actions for possible inclusion in the plan. As part of this, Engage2 will be hosting two public meetings and an online webinar to introduce people to the OGP and allow them to develop potential actions for the action plan:

• In Auckland on 17 August from 13:30 pm to 15:30 at Victoria University of Wellington Business School, Level 4, 50 Kitchener Street, Auckland CBD. Register here;
  
• In Christchurch on 23 August from 9:00 to 11:00 at EPIC (Enterprise Precinct Innovation Centre), 76/106 Manchester St, Christchurch Central. Register here; and
  
• Online on 15 August 2016 from 19:00 to 20:00. Details here
  

(If you're in Wellington, there's apparently something on the 26th. Details to come when I hear about them).

If you're interested in the Open Government Partnership, I recommend attending one of these events. Open government is too important to be left to SSC and Paula Bennett.

Finally: oddly, none of this information is online. I had to join their mailing list to receive it. Which isn't the best way of running an engagement process...

Something to go to in Auckland

Rod Oram will be delivering the annual Bruce Jesson lecture this year, on the topic of '"Follow the money" – the future of business journalism':

The feeble state of business journalism in New Zealand and around the world is but a subset of journalism’s general decline. To try to survive financially, many media organisations are increasingly blurring the distinction between journalism and advertising, devaluing both in the process. Yet, there has never been a more important time for business journalism.

Profound change is sweeping through business and economics and the societies they help shape. Journalists should be trying to explain what’s happening – the good and the ill – for the benefit of participants and public alike.

When: 18:00, Wednesday 14 October.
Where: Maidment Theatre, University of Auckland, 8 Alfred Street.

Something to go to in Wellington

Interested in the Open Government Partnership and New Zealand's (lack of) commitment to it? Steven Price, the OGP Independent Reporting Mechanism researcher for New Zealand (and thus the effective watchdog on whether we're fulfilling our obligations) is hosting a public consultation meeting in two weeks time:

VUW law lecturer Steven Price is the New Zealand researcher for the IRM, the agency responsible for assessing New Zealand’s performance under the OGP. He is convening a meeting at lunchtime on 14 September 2015 to provide an opportunity for those interested in the OGP to comment on New Zealand’s Action Plan. Do you support it? Could it be improved? Has there been proper consultation? Has the plan been put into action in the past year? What has been achieved? Is it making a difference? Might it be done better next time? How?

The meeting will be held in the Moot room on the 3rd floor of VUW Law School in the old Government Building. Please RSVP to steven.price@vuw.ac.nz.

Steven has some great documentation on the OGP and NZ's action plan here.

Something to go to in Wellington

Jane Kelsey will be speaking about her new book, The FIRE Economy, in Wellington tomorrow night:

The FIRE economy – finance, insurance and real estate – is now the world’s principal source of wealth creation. Its rise has transformed our political, economic and social landscapes. From rising inequality and ballooning household debt to a global financial crisis and fiscal austerity, instability has accompanied this new orthodoxy. Yet it has proven remarkably resilient, even resurgent, in New Zealand and abroad.

The continuing narrative of neoliberalism in New Zealand reveals financial crises to be inherent to the very structure of the FIRE economy. How we respond to New Zealand’s future crises, however, means questioning what responses the failing neoliberal orthodoxy will actually permit. In detailing the barriers the FIRE economy presents to change in New Zealand, Kelsey points towards socially progressive, post-neoliberal futures.

All welcome. If you would llike to attend, please register here. If you know of anyone else who may be interested, please pass this invitation on to them.

when: 17:30, Wednesday 5 August
Where: Lecture Theatre 1, Old Government Buildings, Stout Street, Wellington

Something to go to in Christchurch

[Via NZ Council for Civil Liberties]

Something to go to in Auckland

The annual Bruce Jesson lecture is this Wednesday, and this year its ecologist Mike Joy on the topic of "Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping":

New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.

The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.

The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.

When: 18:30 Wednesday 15 October

Where: Maidment Theatre, Alfred Street, University of Auckland

And for an example of the problem, here he is on Nine To Noon this morning talking about how the Ministry for the Environment is misleading the public about water quality in our lakes and streams - another example of policy capture by the farming industry.

In case anyone had forgotten

The moment of truth is nearly here:

Dirty Politics symposium on Friday

Otago University will be holding an online symposium this Friday on "Debating 'Dirty Politics': Media, Politics and Law". Andrew Geddis has more details on the agenda:

• 1:00-1:15: Opening interview with Mr Nicky Hager
  
• 1:15-2:05: Media panel with Dr Rosemary Overell; Dr Holly Randell Moon; Dr Brett Nicholls and Dr John Farnsworth.
  
• 2:05-2:55: Politics panel with Dr Bryce Edwards and Professor Richard Jackson.
  
• 2:55-3:45: Law panel with Professor Paul Roth and Professor Ursula Cheer
  
• 3:45-4:00: Closing remarks from Mr Nicky Hager
  

You'll be able to watch it all livestreamed here (http://bit.ly/HagerDebate) ... as well as participate in debating the issues (and ask the panelists questions) via twitter at @HagerDebate and #HagerDebate.

This is a great example of a university performing its role as a conscience and critic of society; I'll be tuning in on Friday, and so should you.

Something to go to in Auckland

The Bruce Jesson Foundation is hosting a public meeting with Nicky Hager this Wednesday.

When: 19:30, Wednesday 27th August
Where: Mt Eden War Memorial Hall (Cnr Dominion Rd & Balmoral Rd)

And from their press release, they can't spell his name either.

The 2014 Treaty debate

For the past nine years, Te Papa and the New Zealand Centre for Public Law have held an annual "Treaty debate" on some aspect of the Treaty of Waitangi. This year's one take place next week, and is on the subject of water:

This year’s Treaty Debate at Te Papa is a lively discussion of water rights in Aotearoa New Zealand. Who ‘owns’ the water? Māori or the Crown?

The panel features Jacinta Ruru (University of Otago, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Maniapoto), Donald Couch (Environment Canterbury), Clive Howard-Williams (NIWA), and Ian McKenzie (Federated Farmers).

The event is introduced by Te Papa’s Treaty of Waitangi scholar, Claudia Orange, and is chaired by Radio New Zealand’s Susie Ferguson.

When: 18:30 - 20:00, Thursday 30 January 2014
Where: Soundings Theatre, Te Papa, Wellington
How much: Free!

if you can't make it, you'll be able to listen online via Radio New Zealand. Past debates are available here.

(This BTW is a perfect example of Radio New Zealand's role as a public broadcaster. Can you imagine any commercial broadcaster giving time for this? No, neither can I)

Something to go to in Auckland

There will be a public lecture at Auckland university tonight from climate scientist Jim Salinger and two contributers to his new book, Living in a warmer world: How changing climate will affect our lives:

When: 18:00, Tuesday 22 October 2013
Where: Owen Glenn Building, OGGB3, University of Auckland

[Hat-tip: @Samrdyson]

Something to go to in Palmerston North

Margaret Sparrow and Dr Alison McCulloch will be launching their books, Abortion Then and Now: New Zealand Abortion Stories from 1940 to 1980, and Fighting to Choose: The Abortion Rights Struggle in Aotearoa New Zealand, in Palmerston North this Friday:

When: 17:30 - 19:00, Friday 18 October
Where: Palmerston North Central Library, The Square

There will be a short presentation by both authors and a Q&A session.

Something to go to in Auckland

Former Court of Appeal judge Edmund Thomas will be giving this year's annual Bruce Jesson lecture at the end of the month. His topic is "Reducing Inequality - A Strategy for a Cause":

The speaker, a Distinguished Fellow at the Law School at the University of Auckland, argues that the gross inequality in income and wealth which besets New Zealand is the outcome of the neo-liberal economic measures of the mid-1980s and early 1990s and the culture of liberal individualism and unfettered free market ideology which it spawned. A breakdown in social cohesion and a sense of community is the result. Reforms to counter this inequality are widely mooted. But increasing focus and discussion on the topic is confronted by a plethora of mantras and myths purveyed by the rich and powerful. The stimulus for change is deadened. The speaker advances a strategy designed to provide a coherent impetus to reduce the rank inequality that now prevails.

When: 18:30, Wednesday 30 October 2013
Where: Maidment Theatre, Alfred Street, the University of Auckland

Something to go to in Wellington

OASIS - Organising Against state intelligence and surveillance - is holding a public meeting in Wellington tonight about John Key's spy bill:

When: 18:00, Monday 5 august
Where: St John's Hall, cnr Willis and Dixon Streets, Wellington
Who: Helen Kelly (CTU), Thomas beagle (TechLiberty), Kate Dewes (Peace campaigner and surveillance victim)

Something to go to in Wellington

Want to know more about illegal GCSB spying and the new powers it is trying to grab? Journalist Nicky Hager, former MP Keith Locke and lawyer Michael Bott will be discussing these problems at a public meeting in Wellington next week:

When: 18:00, Monday 27 May
Where: Mezzanine Room, Wellington Central Library

Something to go to in Wellington

Nicky Hager and Steven Price will be giving a talk in Wellington on Monday on "The Official Information Act 30 years on", looking at both the practical experience of the Act, and the Law Commisison's proposals for "reform":

When: 17:30 - 19:00, Monday 26 November
Where: Guildford Terrace, Connolly Hall, Thorndon, Wellington

You can register for it here.

Something to go to in Wellington

Former salient editor Max Rashbrooke has organised a forum on inequality in Wellington next month. Speakers include Stephanie McIntyre, on how inequality affects people's lives; Philippa Howden-Chapman on the links between inequality and poor health; and Colin James on "how to think differently about inequalities and their place in society and the economy".

When: 18:30 - 20:00, Thursday 13 September
Where: Soundings Theatre, Te Papa, Wellington

There will apparently be a further forum in October on what we can do about inequality.