Month: July 2020

The last few weeks have been extraordinary. David Goldsmith is in the final week of his hunger strike. Robin Treadwell will be picking up in his place. There’s been media and video, and many, many conversations.

MPs Chloe Swarbrick, James Shaw, Marja Lubeck, and Jan Logie came to visit. Prof James Renwick joined us for a long talk about climate science and activism. Tim and David even joined the Alternative Aotearoa for a quick cameo.

You can catch up with E Tu 4 Future progress on their website. Lorraine recorded a bunch of discussions on the lawn, with David, Molly, Tim, and others. These will be showing up on the Imagine My Relief podcast.

This Friday:

Parliamentary Services got in touch and asked that we vacate the space around Dick Seddon for an hour while another protest action uses the space. We’re grateful to them for bending the rules to keep David comfortable thus far, and allowing us to de-colonise the statue for the last month.

So we’ll see you on the North end of the lawn (uphill side, near the church). Just look out for the flags.

This Sunday:

Picnic for Our Planet is a gathering on lawn to celebrate David’s last day without food. He’ll be around for another week, Robin will strike for a time in his place, and we’ll find a way to continue. It would be great to keep a presence there up to the election, but that will depend on who shows up to join in.

There’s so much to do!

You can drop by at parliament any time now to bring your support. If you’re from out of town, please get in touch. We’d love to join forces with you and share our mahi. We could even stream our events if we’re around at the same time.

All around us people are coming up with ideas and working on building a movement. Of course everything around us is uncertain and of course the odds seem impossible. But we are gathering, listening, learning, and sharing.

David’s presence has been a real source of inspiration to many of us. I can’t wait to share the conversations that have been recorded with him and other activists, especially the mighty Molly Meluish.

KeaForum is now up and running: this will be a shared placed for activists to work online; it also contains a syndicated feed of climate related organisations around the country.

Thanks to all the hardworking E Tu support people. I hope you can make it by to meet them.

See you on the lawn.

Kieran

The numbers are steadily growing again, back on the lawn. This is of course aided by the presence of E Tū for Future, the hunger strikers who are now well into their first week of fasting.

Supporting the E Tū strikers:

They have been fasting since Monday morning. As time goes on they will need more and more help with some of the physical bits and pieces: carrying gear, watching over and talking with the public, keeping spirits up, and recording stuff for social media.

Please think about volunteering to go on the E Tū WhatsApp group. This will enable the holder of the E Tū phone to send quick messages to you all to call out for assistance. It’s also an easy way for you to let them know when you’ll be around.

This would be a huge help. You can install WhatsApp on your phone or use it on the web. Please contact mailto:admin@etu4future.nz or reply to this email.

Getting involved when you’re out of town:

If you can’t make it to parliament but want to get involved we want to hear from you! There are loads of things we can do together to push for change:

• you could have an event nearer to your home, on the days that suit you
• you could attend at parliament by streaming
• you could get an account on this site and add content, or contribute to the social media accounts
• you could participate in international online events

Get in touch and tell us your ideas! mailto:admin@fridaysforfuture.nz

Once again, we have a daily presence on the lawn. Please share the word far and wide. You can follow the action on FaceBook, MeetUp, Twitter, Instagram, or the website.

Here’s the media release. Please come and join in.

(Pōneke/Wellington, NZ, July 6th, 2020) A vigil will commence on Parliament lawn Monday, July 6th at 8am and continue indefinitely, led by father of three and environmental activist David Goldsmith. A fasting strike, led by David and several others will commence the following week on Monday, July 13th and continue for the remainder of the vigil.

The vigil is a direct response to the failure of our leaders to adequately address the climate emergency, and is a call to action for all citizens and organizations of Aoteoroa who will no longer stand for government inaction or tepid promises. Everyone is invited to join the vigil in solidarity on Parliament lawn to show our leaders that the time for meaningful change is now. Participation in the fasting component is not required.

For David Goldsmith, a 52 year old father of three, the climate crisis is deeply personal. “The fire that burst within me to do this is simply that our situation is desperate… I’m particularly close to, indeed deeply in love with, my delightful 4 year old daughter Hana. When I think of her and her brothers’ (Dylan 22 and Rowan 20) future, then this gets real for me. I’m not saying that this is only about me and my children, of course it is about all of us. But mostly I’m just in my head about the horror of all this, not really feeling it: it’s just too big, too overwhelming. But when I think of Hana my love can’t be held back, my love just floods forward and then I start feeling it. And in feeling it for Hana, I’m feeling it for everyone else as well, including those starving right now, and those suffering and dying in climate wars right now; already facing what we all will be facing soon enough.”

Current solutions offered by the government fall drastically short of what is required to address this crisis. The core demand of the vigil/strike is that our leaders immediately act on solutions aligned with the scientific consensus, which calls for complete societal transformation within the next ten years to avoid the worst impacts of the climate emergency, and do so in a way that is fair and kind to all.

All are welcome to join in whenever possible. Participants are advised to dress for the weather as this is an outdoor event. Activities during the action are currently being organised and will be announced on an ongoing basis.

We recognize that Te Ātiawa/Taranaki ki Te Upoko o Te Ika has mana whenua over the location in which this action takes place, and participants hope to honour them with our commitment to restoring and preserving the land for a safe and healthy future.

Media contact:
David Goldsmith 022-623-5345 admin@etu4future.nz