Petition delivered: Now it’s time for KiwiSaver to get back to saving

Hopeful Kiwi savers happily waved off their funds into their KiwiSaver accounts, innocent as to the destination of their savings. They were shocked, therefore, to discover that this money came back covered in blood.

This is the scene we acted out on Parliament lawn yesterday, to demonstrate the shock and disgust New Zealander’s felt when they realised that many of their KiwiSaver providers had been investing in weapons, leaving them with blood on their hands without their knowledge or consent.

These Kiwis were shocked to realise that without their knowledge, their money was being invested in weapons.

This piece of theatre was an accompaniment to the delivery of the ActionStation petition for a law change to prevent KiwiSaver providers from investing in weapons ever again. Journalist and documentary maker Bryan Bruce delivered the ActionStation community’s 16,000 strong petition to James Shaw, co-leader of the Green Party, who will carry the message to the Government.

Shaw said — “There’s a simple action the Government can take to ensure our money is not being invested in companies that make cluster bombs, nuclear weapons, or land mines — make it clearly illegal to do so.

“New Zealanders have strong values, and it’s the Government’s responsibility to uphold those shared values in law and policy.”

Campaign leader Bryan Bruce summed it up — “What has been revealed is that we need a new law — a stand alone ethical investment law — that would put it beyond question that investing in munitions manufacture is illegal.”

Green Party co-leader James Shaw received the 16,000-strong petition

Thousands of ActionStation members signed the petition, called and emailed their Kiwisaver providers, pulled their savings out of funds that had invested in bombs and landmines, and encouraged their friends and families to do the same.

As a result, some Kiwisaver providers have taken action, divesting $109m from companies that make cluster bombs and other munitions.Some however, lag behind. Now, we’ve sent a strong message to Government that New Zealanders do not want their hard-earned savings going to manufacture such things as nuclear warheads , cluster bombs or land mines.

We’ll keep you updated on the response from Government — in the meantime, we hope you’ll continue to talk to your KiwiSaver provider and move your funds from those providers who have yet to move their money.