Join us on Monday 21 March for a non-violent peaceful act of civil disobedience at SkyCity Convention Centre, co-ordinated by Greenpeace in the tradition of Te Whiti and ...

Chaos reigned today in the Auckland Council meeting when deep sea oil drilling hit the agenda and we’re all a little stunned by what we witnessed.

Here’s what happened.

Hot on the heels of Christchurch Council making a strong submission essentially opposing new oil drilling off their coast, it was Auckland’s turn.

After people from all over New Zealand flooded the councillors with email, text messages and phone calls calling on them to say NO to deep sea drilling, a big crowd turned up to the first council meeting of 2015. It was standing room only and the councillors were in no doubt that this is an issue of great concern.

Greenpeace was granted speaking rights so I took the opportunity to present oil spill modelling demonstrating the potentially devastating impacts on West Coast beaches... Read more >

The Berlin wall was a symbol of the Soviet era like no other.  When it was finally dismantled in 1989 it signalled the end of a system that had stood for nearly 70 years.  A system that shaped the political landscape of the 20th century symbolising a lack of freedom and a source of fear.    

It is now 25 years since the Berlin Wall came down. As the bricks were shattered and families were reunited, the world rejoiced the end of the Cold War and looked forward to a better existence. It was a turning point in modern history.  

Now another system is showing signs of falling.

A couple of weeks ago an iconic name (if not the iconic name) for the oil industry’s wealth and power over the past century, announced they were divesting from fossil fuels. The Rockefeller’s said, oil no more.    Read more >

“What matters most is not who is sitting in the White House, but "who is sitting in" -- and who is marching outside the White House, pushing for change.” – Howard Zinn.

The opportunity to create genuine transformation in society often occurs through the process of public resistance to retrograde governments and policies.

We as a movement for climate and environmental action need not see the re-election of the mine, drill, frack, cut and sell John Key government as a disaster but as an opportunity through which our movement can bring a broader population on board for change towards a genuinely clean green New Zealand.

It would also be a mistake to simply interpret John Key’s victory as a tick for deep sea oil drilling, climate inaction and a failure to back clean energy innovation. When w... Read more >

Tributes to Nelson Mandela mingled with recollections of Eva Ricard (mother of our host Angeline Greensill) - the late great matriarch of Whaingaroa - and her succesful struggle to have land returned to the iwi, mingled with the latest outrage at, and struggle against the seabed mining and deep sea drilling being forced on the peoples of the Raglan coast.

A familiar green, black and yellow ANC banner with the smiling face of Mandela repeated three times hung as the backdrop to dozens of speakers who each gave heartfelt and eloquent korero at the “have your say” gathering this Sunday past at the Whaingaroa land.

The relationship between Mandela, the loved freedom leader who symbolised the end of apartheid in South Africa, and deep sea drilling seemed fluid.  New Zealand’s part in that st...