The latest proposed cuts at TPK would mean the loss of more than 20% of the agency's workforce in just two years. This Government's agenda to hollow out Māori capability in the public service is severely undermining the ability of the state to improve outcomes for Māori communities.
Posts by Jack McDonald
but importantly there is no party in NZ in 2025 that truly represents the working class. they are run by the professional middle classes for the professional middle classes.
my Nana told me this in so many words when the Māori Party formed in 2004..
Whānau supporting a new MP with haka is entirely appropriate and in line with parliamentary precedent. The Speaker may not like TPM but that's not a reason to insult a new MP and her supporters who are engaging in standard culture practice.
My latest column on how the decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood is one of the most disgraceful foreign policy decisions in New Zealand history. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3608...
“JC Sturm’s legacy links back to 1948 when … she first began to find (to quote her own poem) her place and aim in life. From the time she wrote ‘Brown Optimism’ she was committed for the rest of her life to working for full equality and self-determination for Māori.“
Proud of this kaupapa. Iwi and unions uniting for the first time is a historic moment and gives me hope for the future.
Thank you Jack. It's moments like this where we see the mahi and legacy of groups like @asians4tino.bsky.social become so meaningful.
My piece on how this moment calls for a broad-based movement for Māori liberation, based on solidarity with other indigenous peoples, oppressed minorities, and the working class.
#BREAKING We are calling on political parties to adopt our new policy to establish a Workplace Education Agency. The agency would provide support for unions to build their capacity and better engage with employers. 1/6
#BREAKING: We are calling on the Prime Minister to show leadership by removing Brooke van Velden as Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, following her recent comments that politicise the Employment Relations Authority and breach the Cabinet Manual. 1/6
Melissa Ansell-Bridges has published a useful piece examining the pay equity changes in detail and explaining how they are not small policy changes but rather a structural demolition of pay equity law that will lock in pay discrimination for years to come. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3606...
We're nearly at 55,000 signatures already! Sign on now and stand with us to oppose Christopher Luxon's gutting of the Equal Pay Act. #FightBackForPayEquity www.together.org.nz/fbt_for_pay_...
We've launched a petition calling on MPs to reverse all pay equity claim cancellations, undo the Equal Pay Act changes, and deliver pay equity settlements to every worker waiting for their claim. Sign today and fight back against these attacks on women. www.together.org.nz/fbt_for_pay_...
Today we launched a campaign to ban the import, supply and use of engineered stone. Engineered stone is an unnecessary product that causes the fatal lung disease silicosis. We're petitioning the Govt to do the right thing and save workers' lives. Sign here: www.together.org.nz/ban_engineered_stone
"Employers will use this opportunity to encourage people to get into individual agreements away from union protection. The new arrangements are a definite effort by the minister to undermine people’s basic rights and undermine unions." Richard Wagstaff newsroom.co.nz/2025/04/10/v...
My piece on why Tamatha Paul is right to stand by her comments and the considerable amount of historical and contemporary evidence that highlights why Māori and other marginalised groups have good reason to not feel safe around the police.
When we fight back, we win.
#FightBackTogether #MarangaAke
The chorus of outrage at Tamatha Paul's comments from across the political establishment is just the latest example of how they are totally out of touch with the lived realities of Māori and how much they relish the opportunity to vilify working class Māori women.
The state should have responded to Dean Wickliffe with care and compassion. Instead it responded with punishment, hostility, and violence. No one should be sent to prison for being homeless. It is morally unjustifiable. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3606...
"The Living Wage basically allows me to survive. Before the Living Wage came in I was really struggling to afford groceries, especially considering how high my rent was, and the Living Wage has allowed me to thrive in what would be seen as a very basic sense." Liam Shaw.
Nicola Willis has proposed that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in cleaning, catering, and security services that are procured by government. Thousands of low-paid workers now face the potential pay cuts. We strongly condemn these changes.
My piece on how the billionaire class and their control of the global means of information and communication is the greatest crisis facing humanity, and how NZ needs to rethink its relationship with the US as it embraces oligarchy and white nationalism. www.thepost.co.nz/world-news/3...
Today we lodged our submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill, which is direct attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori rights. Government must abandon this Bill and make no further attempts to distort the genuine principles of Te Tiriti.
Another day, another attack on workers. Today the Govt kicked the can on Holiday Act reform even further down the road, meaning an even longer delay for workers trying to get their basic rights to leave recognised. union.org.nz/six-years-of...
My piece on how Nicola Willis not even having a semblance of a plan to replace the Cook Strait ferries after a year of work is a catastrophic failure of leadership.
www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3605...
We are calling on political parties to vote down Brooke van Velden’s Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes Bill, as it will escalate industrial disputes and may even lead to workers losing pay for simply doing the job they were employed to do.