The Aunties
@aunties_the
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Taking care of the needs of a group of women with complex lifetime trauma, and extraordinary āhua.
Joined June 2013
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Pinned Tweet
We have a new website!
This incredible new look is thanks to artist Fern Grant and website creator Jason
@bluevibestudio
Check it out at and let us know what you think.
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Ardern is the best PM, arguably, that we have ever had. In my lifetime at least.
That she goes to a new role that’s unpaid speaks to her integrity.
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Those of you who follow the Aunties avidly know that I am paid $24,000 p.a from your subscriptions to our people account.
Today I met with a wonderful person who's matching that, so I don't have to live on savings anymore.
I thought you could all use a bit of light.
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Um.
The good and glorious Dame Susan called me last week to tell me she’d bumped into ppl from Cadbury’s and demanded they give us some stuff.
I thought a couple of boxes, perhaps. Sweet!
Truck turned up today with five pallets.
Happy Easter Aunties Whānau!
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A 37 year old man sent a lewd photo to a very young woman.
He says:
it wasn’t him.
it was acquaintances.
he was drunk
he was grieving.
Why is a young womans number on this man’s phone in the first place?
The power structure excuses, defends and protects white men.
Always.
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Please be a bit kinder about people rushing to buy at supermarkets today.
Many of them get their benefit late on a tues night and do their weekly shop on a weds.
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I want to say thank you to our PM for her stellar leadership.
In the last 10 yrs I’ve been doing this job, you have headed the only govt to have made any difference at all in the lives of the Aunties Whānau and women like them.
We are sad to see you go.
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My beloved is dying.
Days or weeks, we don't know, but it's the end of his life, now.
This beautiful community I started building 6 yrs ago is surrounding Ian and I with so much love.
I am filled with gratitude for my Queens, the Board, and the Aunties.
Love, Jackie.
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A young man who raped + terrorised young women was let off scot free bc there was no “evidence”. Is then given a platform.
A known rapist who terrorised and sexually harassed a woman in her place of work still gets a ruling that she has to compensate him.
NZ we have a problem.
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This govt is going to be so much worse than we feared.
I’m prepared for it. Our org is prepared for it.
But our nation is not.
It’s policies are racist, punitive and childishly in opposition to much of what most NZers have said they care about, and do not care about.
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Thank you everyone, so much, for your beautiful messages of love and support. I have been, and am, reading each one and so grateful for them.
He was mine.
I was his.
Our love was enormous, and spanned almost 3 decades. I will never know it's like again.
Jackie
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#ArmsDownNz
I live in South Auckland.
I’m an older white woman.
I have no reason to fear the police.
But the kids of the women I work with, my neighbours, the homeless in Manurewa, this entire community - they have every reason to fear.
No guns in the hands of police.
Ever.
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You know who DID used to knit in parliament?
Metiria.
She would knit baby beanies for us and other org's.
Because knitting is AWESOME.
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A gentle reminder as you declutter your homes.
Don’t give any charity anywhere your old tat.
Throw away your crap.
Hire a skip.
Sort and wash the clothes you don’t want.
Make a list, ring around charities to see what they need.
We don’t need your rubbish.
We need your love.
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This is Destini, she's 10, and for the first time in her life, she has her own room.
Today she got a desk so she can work in her room and not at the kitchen table.
If you have preloved furniture you want to rehome, email admin
@aunties
.co.nz
Photo used with permission.
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Fili got a job.
First time she’s ever had a full time job on a permanent contract. $23 an hour.
But she’s worked hard for years and years for minimum wage. So above the living wage is new to her.
She’s 36.
She’s super excited.
Fuck you Seymour.
Still on $500,000 are you?
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And another man, who rings to tell me he'd like to give us $2000 this yr.
Saw me on the telly, reckons I'm the real deal.
So he's going to buy us 20 $100 supermarket gift cards.
YES I CRIED.
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I just rang Nicole from
@yellownz
and promptly burst into tears. They've made it possible financially to buy 30 x $125 foodboxes. Every week for the next four weeks.
That's a lot of money.
The women are able to eat properly, and the shopping lists being sent have decreased.
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There will be tantrums.
Cries of “I was silenced”
#letwomenspeak
Guess what.
We spoke. The women at that protest spoke.
Loud and clear.
Now fuck off.
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Warning:
My husband's death has completely unfettered me.
I am afraid of very little anymore.
The thing I most feared, well it happened.
You make false claims or try to damage my work? I will absolutely stand up and say NO.
I am fearless.
Hear me roar etc.
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I pick her up from the refuge, she has so much to pour out, it all comes in a jumble.
Lots of big emotion.
As we wander into the shops, we laugh and chat. Her spirit lifts.
And then we find these.
They are freedom.
They are light.
For 19 yrs he told her what to wear.
No more.
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Now look here.
Witches don’t have to hunt anyone.
We have spells.
I mean they.
They have spells.
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Went to see a new woman today.
Asked her what she needed.
”Someone to walk alongside me so I don't go back to him”
she said.
After we’d been talking a while, she said
” I guess I rang the right person”
I'll take that as a professional endorsement, then.
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One of the women just handed in her final assignment for her course at MIT
-works part time
-parents 3 sons and cares for her mum
-recovering addict.
- Survivor of DV and CSA.
She thought she wasn't smart enough to study.
Now she believes in herself.
I am so proud of her.
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Today’s a huge day for Laurel Hubbard and we wish her all the best.
At The Aunties, we don’t talk about being strong or brave.
We talk about remembering how powerful you are.
May she always remember she stands in her power as a woman, as a weightlifter, as a beacon of hope.
🌟
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I’m listening to the valedictory statement.
And I wish we would see her like again, in our parliament.
And I hope that somewhere in their dark vapid little souls, David Seymour and his ilk reflect, just for a tenth of a second, what it looks like to be a real leader.
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Muller voted against abortion reform, and I’m never going to vote National in a million years and tbh all those white dudes look the same to me, sound the same to me, and the good old kiwi bloke brand is harmful and that’s all I’ll say about that.
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(I'm a KiwiBank Local Hero Of The Year medallist. That's MY announcement.)
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The Chemist Warehouse does free scripts but not everyone lives near one, so the free prescriptions are huge.
Most of the women won’t take their drugs - anxiety meds etc bc they can’t always afford the prescription charges.
This is life changing.
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He wasn’t going to wish her luck. He could have done that at the public meeting.
He entered her home. He did not knock, nor enquire if she was there. According to Tamihere, he walked straight in. Entirely uninvited.
This act was one of racism and misogyny.
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In the last 12 hours I’ve blocked hundreds of people.
I’ve been sent threatening emails.
I’ve been called a racist cunt.
Own your shit, NZ men.
Own it, and open your eyes. Open your mouths.
Not everyone you know is a nice guy.
Own your shit.
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I understand some ppl are going on about disposable nappies.
I could tell you why cloth nappies aren’t practical for some ppl.
But instead I would suggest you stay firmly in your lane.
Firmly.
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This is Livvy.
She's 15 months old.
She wants to say:
Thank you for her first ever pair of pyjamas.
They are very warm.
If you'd like to send us jammies, DM for address.
Photo used with permission.
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Vivo hair salons have come onboard with us.
Free haircuts etc ongoing for the whãnau women.
Toni says:
I wanna thank the aunties for my new hair, felt like a million bucks and I absolutely am in love - had a cut and colour and yes this is the first time getting my hair did!
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Here’s the kiwi way of life in my neighbourhood,
@simonjbridges
- lack of decent affordable housing
- homelessness
- food poverty
- low wages
- meth use
So don’t talk abt baches as if anyone but largely white upper middle class NZers have any idea what that is.
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I wanted to again give heartfelt thanks to
@FoxyLustyGrover
+ all who donated to buy Dr Bloomfield 🌸🌸.
DB said he’d rather it went to charity instead, so we received $1284.
And here’s what your $$$ went to.
4 personal safety alarms.
Ty so much.
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I've been invited to Govt House late Oct, for a 125 Suffrage thing.
Royalty will be there.
When I recieved the email I didn't want to go, but D said to me: who will tell them our stories?
I'm going.
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The video of Scott Morrison’s interaction with that woman tell a grim story of cis man violence.
1. He forcefully takes her hand.
2. Another cis man tries to shush her.
And if that isn’t the fuckery of gender power imbalance I don’t know what is.
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Today, btw, is the first time Joyce has celebrated her birthday. Ever.
Nobody in her life - not her late husband, not her children - have ever made a fuss of her on, or celebrated her on, her birthday.
She’s 59.
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One of the women is an incredibly talented artist.
I know she would appreciate your positive feedback.
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She’s like a blimmin PANTENE AD AND THIS IS OUR PRIME MINISTER
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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She forgot to add what else you need to feed a family of four on $100 a week.
Time
Hope
Probs a vehicle
Energy
Self belief
A clear mind not clouded by anxiety
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Dearest
@SiouxsieW
congratulations my darling for winning NZer of the year, because you really really are.
It cannot be said enough.
You saved a lot of peoples lives this year. Simple as that.
Love you loads and enjoy this moment xxxxx super proud of you
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The Aunties are very happy with the Nats plummeting.
The Aunties would remind you, however, that a Greens/Labour coalition is essential for the wellbeing of our Aunties Whānau and our most marginalised citizens.
Thank you.
This has been an unpaid political broadcast.
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And still I think of what they did to Metiria and Clare.
Drove them out.
I remember ppl baying for their blood on Twitter.
Jamie Lee Ross?
Andrew Falloon?
Try to sweep it under the carpet.
Pernicious fuckers.
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If
@SiouxsieW
isn’t accorded some national honour or some such after all this, I will be very MIFFED
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And all I have to say about that case is this is going in in family courts all around NZ.
Judges understand so little about DV and the nuances of it that it’s always “a one off”
It’s never a one-off.
It’s patterned violence and Fergus Cleaver is a fucker.
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I woke early this morning to a lot of reaction to my tweet about her.
It brought out the mad “she was a monster” cis men, and the weeping “she was divisive” cis women.
She wasn’t either of those things.
She was human.
Despite all the challenges of her time in office, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says her memory of the job will be about the kindness she was shown by New Zealanders.
👉
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I say to people all the time
If you have privilege, you better use it.
@jacindaardern
you have an unprecedented mandate.
If you're really serious about lifting chn out of poverty then you must make sure benefits are raised to a liveable level.
Or it's just empty rhetoric.
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I have no words for these policies.
They don’t care.
Like all abusers, this is about power.
What will make them care is if you vote.
Vote for compassion and what actually works.
Vote against cruelty and hate.
This is not love.
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So when are we getting to know who the former senior political figure who was convicted of historical sexual abuse is?
They said after the election.
It’s after the election.
We’re waiting.
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Tamaki is a toxic hateful little man.
His little church is down the road from where I live.
He bloats himself on the hard work of the communities I work in.
I hate him.
That is all.
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Oh look it’s people doing what they’re ENTITLED TO DO… fancy that.
This thrills me.
They’re voting.
That’s huge.
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Artwork by Paul X Walsh.
It can be found at 1925 Great North Rd
The Avondale Art Park
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Kia Ora
@NewshubNZ
For the sake of humanity I would like you to take down your poll around trans ppl in sport.
This causes unnecessary hurt and harm to already marginalised people, and I think you’ll agree it’s not something that should be open to polling, let alone online.
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If you think having universal access to free prescriptions isn’t a big deal, then I would ask you to check your privilege.
Not interested in theoretical political arguments about where money could’ve been better spent.
This will be a big deal for a lot of people.
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Repeat after me.
What works for and is good for Māori, as determined by them, is good for everyone.
Sing it now.
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The most endemic violence in this country is sexual. If national want to get tough on crime, they might want to start with that, don’t you think?
No?
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I am so offended women have to pay $850 to apply for a protection order. That they can get legal aid if they’re not working but that they have to pay for it when they are working.
I can’t even with how bloody harmful this is.
It’s too expensive to even leave safely.
WTF.
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Unbelievable to hear the news of Efeso Collins' passing. Our condolences to his family and loved ones. He was a great and humble man whose compassion will be greatly missed.
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What makes me most angry is that we know, each time there is a lockdown, that wealthy AKLers flee to their holiday homes.
Punish THEM.
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The Aunties would like to give a huge shout out to
@FreedomFarmsNZ
who are giving whole hams to all the women I work with.
This is extraordinarily generous and we are incredibly grateful.
Thank you so so much you lovely free range people.
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Where are all their families?
We’re a tiny country.
Two ppl died.
If more had, you would have heard about it.
Where are all their bodies? The mass graves? The refrigerated trucks they would had to have.
20% is 1 million ppl.
You think that wouldn’t have been noticed?
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I would just say in regards to men not being sexist bc they’re married to women…
Hello.
Have you seen our DV stats?
Ridiculous argument.
That’s all.
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Fuck every Nat voter who explains away poverty in NZ as shit parenting.
Yr parents did a shit job for you to have so little compassion.
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When I think of Georgina Beyer, a transgender woman of her generation and of hateful terfs and their sick obsession
My first thought
She was more woman than you could ever hope to be.
More power, more grace, more mana.
She was an extraordinary Human Being.
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Hmm, let me think.
Why would kids need sex Ed at school?
Not every child is from a home where it’s safe to talk abt this stuff.
Not every adult has healthy attitudes to rships and sex.
Not every adult has the knowledge needed.
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I'm going to be working with a young man.
Just had a phone conversation with him, and he said "I could start the Uncles eh?"
Yes, young man.
Yes you could.
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If you think it’s a sad indictment on society that ppl queued for McDs, I’m afraid your world is a very fucking small and sad one.
It’s food.
Ppl like it.
Get the fuck over it.
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Thank you
@swintersections
And thank you
@MaramaDavidson
You’ve forced some uncomfortable discussions this week.
When more light is shed, it’s never a bad thing.
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What’s done is done.
Let’s just get on with it.
And always remember, if you’re tempted to sound off online about this young man etc maybe don’t.
Maybe just say it to a person in your home. Keep it between you.
There’s a love.
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Colonisation never did anybody any good.
Except the coloniser.
The end.
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The number of times over the years ppl have tried to say to me
But the Dunedin Longitudinal Study said…
No.
The question was
Have you ever hit ur partner?
It came out 50/50 men/women.
No context around severity of hit, the power dynamic in the rship. How many times.
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If you haven't heard my rant abt fast food and why its so great, here it is in a nutshell.
When someone:
- hasn't eaten for 3 days
- is traumatised and exhausted
- is living in a toxic space
- is in need of comfort for any reason
McDonald's is the BEST.
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Are we going to be told who the high profile senior member of a party is now? The one who’s a convicted sexual predator?
Are we?
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Reasons
@SiouxsieW
deserves Marsden Fund grant/damehood/gongy things
- OG member of the Aunties
- Good Bitch Baker
- incredibly impt & groundbreaking scientist
- oh, and she’s done the most extraordinary job at communicating clearly so we know what to do
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Here is The Aunties Official View On Odious Racists Who Make Money From Stirring Up Hate, And Pretend They’re Exercising Their Right To Free Speech.
They can fuck right off.
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This is
@falconfarming
and he’s provided the Aunties Whānau with meat from his farm several times. He bought this freezer for us, and twice a year is going to fill it with meat for the girls.
It’s in my garage.
He’s a hero in my eyes ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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In other extraordinary good news, if you need it, we’re getting
1000 prs of women’s undies from an Australian co who distribute to retailers in NZ.
AND
hundreds of beauty products from Trilogy next week.
My garage will be v full.
Haven’t told the women yet 😬
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It's with heavy heart that we need to tell you Jackie’s beloved husband Ian passed away this morning.
Jackie is going to need our help and support to get through all this.She has a close group of supporters who will be making sure she gets what she needs. 1/ ^PB
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Moeroa has finished her masters, submitted her thesis. And has recieved an A+.
She has three degrees.
She intends to go back to get her doctorate.
Indigenous excellence.
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Been trying to formulate thoughts around Grace Millane case, and the defendant's stance.
I have none.
Just loving thoughts for her family in their pain and sorrow and rage.
Suffice to say:
Burn the patriarchy.
Burn it to the ground.
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I may have just bought:
- a small dog soft crate
- a wee dog bed
- a wee dog blanket
- a wee dog pet booster seat for the car.
It seems I've made the decision.
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In case, you hadn’t quite twigged, it’s important to bring the ethnicity of abusers into it, because the largest group of abusers are very much invisible in our narratives around violence. Little to no jail time, and very few are ever convicted. That my friends is racism.
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I shared a post from Kris on Aunties FB abt a recent refugee woman who does fine embroidery and needed fabrics and sewing materials, and now Liz Mitchell is going to commission her to do pieces for her bespoke clients and I am ded.
^JC
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Re Owairaka.
I'm just astounded that 350 trees are getting cut down, and in their place is being planted 13,000 natives which means BEAUTIFUL BUSH, and NATIVE BIRD WITH THEIR LOVELY SONGS, and it's all being done for free. And locals are kvetching about it. Pffft.
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I see a lot of rhetoric about us going backwards as a country. The very reason all of these things are happening right now is because we are pushing forwards and they’re just pushing back.
Even the possibility of the slightest of their power slipping away, terrifies them.
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I send love to all the teachers, today.
Some of you will be faced with stuff you haven’t been faced with before. Hard questions, painful conversations.
And some of you, those who teach in Muslim schools, you will have faced this too often.
All love.
Take care.
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the government can make all the laws they want, can try to create division, but there are so many of us who will keep on with the kaupapa of creating an Aotearoa where we embrace each other, celebrate our shared histories, and strive to uphold the intent of Te Tirit O Waitangi.
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For 5 yrs, I've been telling you the women's stories, w/their truths so you see them + and not the violence.
Next yr, a book will be published.
Of their stories.
Their truth as told by them.
And you will see them.
By speaking their power, they will have power.
#whaeapower
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I really wish ppl would stop treating us like some little hick outfit.
Last year our income was $270,000.
Likely to be $350,000 this year.
AND WE HAVE A BOARD AND EVERYTHING
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It is wild to me.
People arguing about whether a referendum on THE TREATY is a good idea. The govt wanking on about signage in Te Reo Māori.
The racism is just rampant.
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I don’t want anyone to be frightened of having this done.
Just do it.
No big deal at all.
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I am fat.
I am healthy.
I am successful.
I am an expert in my particular niche field.
I claim my space in the world.
I’ve earned it.
And I’m not giving it up.
I am not an epidemic or a disease or a problem.
Deal with it.
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Lots and lots of ppl enjoy cricket.
But nobody enjoys a rapist.
Just saying.
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How our Whānau works:
A social worker asks me if we can help their client. 5 kids, preg with twins. OverWHELMED. Needs a hand to spring clean.
I ask the women.
Four of them volunteer. One offers to mow her lawn.
They’re going over this week.
Fuck yeah.
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