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Aotearoa is Not for Sale: National day of action on Saturday

Power to the People - Aotearoa is Not for Sale - National day of action this Saturday 27th April

Helen Kelly, President, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

"It's really important people attend the rally on Saturday. Selling the assets makes no sense - economic or social. Retaining the action against the sale is very important. We will soon have a referendum on the matter and it is important the Government knows that despite their crude rush to get the sales over with, we will not be deterred."

From an Auckland Nurse and a member of the NZNO-

"I'll be marching alongside other outraged New Zealanders on April 27th at the Aotearoa is NOT for sale national day of action not for myself, but for the countless number of ordinary kiwis who feel disempowered by this government.

Disempowered by a government hell bent on eroding the ideals that I believe New Zealanders hold dear. The ideals of being able to protest at sea, of being able to swim in oceans untainted by oil, tramp in mountains and national parks unspoilt by mines or private development, to earn a living where a fair days work means a fair days pay.

I will be marching for the countless number of kiwis living overseas who see no future in New Zealand because this government has taken us down a path of economic and environmental ruin. Where corporate interests trump those of ordinary hard working kiwis, and jobs are being shed almost daily in cost cutting measures, restructuring and outsourcing.

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In National's blinkered view of Aotearoa, every aspect is up for grabs, no stone is safe, no river uncontrollable, no mineral unexploitable.

But in the view of most, mine included, Aotearoa is NOT for sale. Not it's land, mountains, oceans, rivers, minerals or people.

And that's why I'll be marching on April 27th."

From Martyn Bradbury, Blogger and Media Commentator-

"I'm marching on Saturday 27th at the Aotearoa is not for Sale protest action for a number of reasons. My disgust at allowing those who have benefited most from tax cuts being subsidized to buy assets my mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunties, cousins, uncles and brothers have already paid for burns me with injustice but the main reason I am marching on Saturday is for my beautiful 3 year old daughter.

The promise of democracy is that we can look into the faces of our children and know they will get a better of it than we did. I refuse to look into her eyes and know she will get less than I did.

These assets are the economic sovereignty of our nation and selling them diminishes her future. I simply won't be quiet about that."

From Lisa Gibson, Glen Innes resident and State Housing activist.

"On Saturday the 27th of April 2013, I shall be participating in the Aotearoa is not for sale march. My reasons for doing so would probably be resonated by most if not all of the people marching along side of me on this day. I am against the selling off of shares in any of our state owned enterprises, that we the peolpe of NZ already own. These intended sales are not for the benefit of us the people of NZ but for the greed of the corporate rich who are trying to fool us all into thinking that this step is necessary and in our best interests.... These are lies. Over 300 thousand New Zealanders signed a petition asking for a referendum to stop these sales. This National led government refuses to listen to the people. It is now time that we must all take to the streets, take our power back and say NO to the destruction of our lives and the country in which we all reside ... Should these sales go ahead, I support the Renationalisation of these assets. All political parties that are against the sales should send a clear WARNING to anyone buying these shares, that should they come into power at the next election, they are very committed into Renationalising any shares sold and that the loss will be to the buyer."

Shane Malva, National Affairs officer AUSA.

"My name is Shane Malva, National Affairs officer for AUSA. I support and endorse the Aotearoa is NOT for sale national day of action on Saturday 27th April. I will be marching alongside other students, unions, mothers, fathers, and children in opposition to this governments deeply unpopular privatisation agenda.

I am proud of the student legacy of supporting and leading social justice campaigns that have influenced and altered historical events in our country and overseas. I believe this polarising issue will be one of the defining legacies of this government, and I'll be marching to ensure it's a failed legacy.

If this sale goes through, it will rob a strategic asset from future generations, widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Aotearoa is NOT for sale, not now, not ever."

From Joe Carolan, Unite Organiser and Socialist

"Margaret Thatcher was a brutal class warrior, who wielded power ruthlessly as I grew up under her rule as a teenager in the 1980s. She tried to smash the unions, she drove the living conditions of workers backwards, and she looted Britain's state assets, selling off its electricity, steel, railways and telecommunications. She led a revolution that enriched her class, and her ideas spread across the world.

Last week, Thatcher died, but we are still fighting a battle against her legacy. The sabotage begun by her acolyte, Roger Douglas, is today being continued by John Key and his National Party government. The privatisation of Mighty River Power is the beginning of an assault on what remains of state owned assets in Aotearoa, and it is vital that this attack is resisted on the streets. Because, as the once mighty Thatcher found out, when she lost the street to the Anti Poll Tax movement, she lost her Iron Crown.

It's time we took the fight to the Tories, all across the world. It's time that we used our power with the same determination as Thatcher did. We should tell the rich and the speculators that if they risk their money gambling on the privatisation of state assets build up by working people, then they risk losing it all when these assets are renationalised. Renationalised, just as assets were in Bolivia and Venezuela in recent years.

I attended the funeral of Folole Muliaga. We organised the protests outside Mercury Energy in solidarity with her family. She died because her electricity was disconnected, under a Labour government. When our assets are renationalised, it should not be under the failed Profit before People SOE model. Truly public assets controlled by the community, not the corporates, should provide cheap or free power, services and resources to the people, to ensure that the tragedy that befell Folole never happens again.

Aotearoa is Not for Sale. The fight to take her back from Thatcher's worshippers has begun."

It's time for the Government to listen to the majority of New Zealand. A National Day of Action organised by Aotearoa Not For Sale Coalition to stop Asset Sales.

Now endorsed by the Labour party, NZ First, the Mana Movement, CTU, Unions Auckland, Unite, NZNO, PSA, SFWU, FIRST union, MUNZ, the EMPU, ANFS, Occupy, Auckland Action Against Poverty, the Tamaki Housing Group and Socialist Aotearoa.

Auckland- Britomart 2pm, Saturday April 27th.
https://www.facebook.com/events/151078145052593/?fref=ts
Wellington- https://www.facebook.com/events/549656878400623/
Tauranga- https://www.facebook.com/events/165947043558739/
Napier- https://www.facebook.com/events/101180450070550/
Christchurch- https://www.facebook.com/events/498770806846579/
Dunedin- https://www.facebook.com/events/228130223991407/
Nelson- https://www.facebook.com/events/178199345664434/
Hanmer April 28th- https://www.facebook.com/events/571065112918062/571096586248248/

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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