What’s next for the ActionStation community
Kia ora beautiful people,
One of the things I love most about Aotearoa, is how connected we are. We only need one degree of separation before we work out that our parents went to school together, or that we are newfound cousins thanks to a whānau connection.
Our connection makes us powerful. Our whakapapa is an endless galaxy of constellations that remind us who we are, where we come from and how we align with others. Our neighbourhoods, workplaces and communities are hubs where our lives overlap and intertwine.
I’ve always thought of ActionStation as one such hub of connection. Since 2014, over 900,000 people have connected with a cause, kaupapa, or each other via our platform. Someone, somewhere in our stunning country decided that an issue mattered, and invited you to be a part of the change too. You are here because you followed that connection. Thank you.
I’m writing for two reasons; to update you on what’s happening across our ActionStation digital communities, and to invite you to connect on in.
We’ve been charting our course for the future by looking to our past
Earlier this year, we came together to reflect on how we can supercharge our movement for a fairer, more flourishing future for all Aotearoa. We drew on what we’ve learnt from our campaigns to date, and what you have told us you cared about most. We heard from over 2700 voices in our communities in our 2022 Annual Survey, as well as the dreams of 400 young people in late 2021.
The result was a decision to keep working with communities to lead their own powerful campaigns through our movement-building platform, OurActionStation. We provide the tech and campaigning support to help you to make change on issues that matter. Alongside OurActionStation, our staff’s time is focused on three hearty issues:
✊🏽 Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi ✊🏽
We want an Aotearoa where the worldview, values, and practices of te ao Māori are restored and respected. Where we can live into the dreams of our ancestors. We know that a fairer, brighter Aotearoa is possible if we draw on the tikanga (guiding values, principles) that come from this land and the people closest to it. If you are part of a Māori iwi, hapū, hāpori, or organisation and would like us to tautoko your mahi with a digital campaign, kōrero mai.
🌱 Climate Justice 🌱
We want to live in balance with the environment so that together, we flourish. Our wellbeing rests on the health of Papatūānuku and the many beings of our world. We can bring this health back through climate justice, which recognises that climate change is a result of our human history, and affects different communities in unequal ways. Climate justice heals the harms of history and leaves no one behind. In the face of climate despair, action is the quickest pathway to hope because it will bring a safe and resilient climate future into the present.
So what’s next? We are bringing together Te Tiriti justice + climate justice in an upcoming local campaign on Porirua wastewater treatment.
💛 Whānau Wellbeing 💛
We all should have the resources that enable us to build the lives and futures we want for ourselves and our whānau. But right now, our economy is out of balance and it’s hurting low income families the most. Wealth inequality is not new, but it has skyrocketed during covid, along with rising costs at the supermarket and petrol pump. By changing how we manage and redistribute resources, we can build a healthy future where everyone in Aotearoa has what they need to thrive. Together with our Fairer Future collaboration partners, we’ve spent three years focusing on whānau wellbeing, and there is more action brewing as you read this.
Why we believe in the power of the wider ActionStation community
We have a track record of making concrete change together on a huge number of issues.
Some of our shared successes include securing more funding for areas that have been neglected such as a $1.9 billion dollar boost in government mental health funding, a $320 million boost in sexual health funding and ‘the biggest welfare boost in a generation’ in the 2021 Budget.
We’ve also had an active role in campaigns such as:
⭐️ Recognising Matariki as an official public holiday
⭐️ Successful gun law reform in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks
⭐️ Supporting mana whenua to Protect Ihumātao, raising more than $100,000 towards protecting a significant, sacred part of Tāmaki Makaurau
We are undeniably powerful when we act together, and the following years will need us to take action again.
Regular donations make a difference
ActionStation is only able to work on campaigns because of small donations and supportive funders. Our group of regular donors help us keep our campaigning platform free and available for communities, and take progressive, people-power into the future.
Will you become a regular donor with us so we can keep creating a fair and flourishing Aotearoa together?
Our donation page is temporarily unavailable, but you can set up an AP to ActionStation Aotearoa Kiwibank: 38–9012–0571645–00
(Please email donations@actionstation.org.nz to let us know so we can keep an eye out for it! Or if you have any other donation related queries)
How can we stay connected?
ActionStation is nothing without the people who connect with us, and the issues you care about. Do you have any other ideas to stay connected? Let us know here.
I love hearing from you personally too, so don’t be a stranger, and drop me a line at info@actionstation.org.nz.
With love from one galaxy to another,
Kassie for the team at ActionStation
