Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 1d

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.

1 3

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 8d

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...

Peters and Luxon have planted NZ’s flag firmly on the wrong side of history

OPINION: When witnessing an unfolding genocide, there is a profound moral imperative to do everything in one’s power to stop it.

www.thepost.co.nz

2 5

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 9d

“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.“

A prophecy in Wellington

A teenager's poem from 1947 is now a public artwork – and challenge – on the outside of Wellington's reopened library.

newsroom.co.nz

1 4 8

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 21d

Proud of this kaupapa. Iwi and unions uniting for the first time is a historic moment and gives me hope for the future.

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · 21d

In a historic first, iwi leaders and unions have united to call for mass mobilisations against the Government on the 28th of October. Rā Whakamana will affirm tino rangatiratanga and workers' rights and mark He Whakaputanga and the first Labour Day in Aotearoa.

1 21 53

Reposted by Jack McDonald

Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 22d

Thank you Jack. It's moments like this where we see the mahi and legacy of groups like @asians4tino.bsky.social become so meaningful.

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 22d

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.

No party has a monopoly on kaupapa Māori politics

OPINION: I like Tākuta Ferris. But his comments surrounding the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election were at best crude and misguided, and at worst, racist and damaging to the tino rangatiratanga movement.

www.thepost.co.nz

12 41

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · 22d

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.

No party has a monopoly on kaupapa Māori politics

OPINION: I like Tākuta Ferris. But his comments surrounding the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election were at best crude and misguided, and at worst, racist and damaging to the tino rangatiratanga movement.

www.thepost.co.nz

7 18 60

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Aug 28

#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

1 13 34

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Aug 22

#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

4 89 170

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · May 15

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...

What the Equal Pay Act changes really mean for women

OPINION: This is not a policy adjustment—it is a structural demolition of pay equity law, and it will lock in pay discrimination for years to come.

www.thepost.co.nz

1 42 99

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · May 9

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_...

Protect Pay Equity – stop scrapping equal pay claims and law

Sign the petition: Protect Pay Equity

www.together.org.nz

1 31 61

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · May 6

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_...

Protect Pay Equity – stop scrapping equal pay claims and law

Join us in building a better world

www.together.org.nz

6 110 140

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Apr 28

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

9 17

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Apr 10

"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...

Van Velden accused of undermining unions by scrapping 30-day rule

A union boss says impending legislation risks employers encouraging workers away from union protection, support and coverage. Alice Peacock reports

newsroom.co.nz

7 15

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · Apr 2

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.

The debate about Māori and police we should be having

OPINION: After a week of sensationalised faux outrage, Tamatha Paul is right to stand by her comments.

www.thepost.co.nz

6 31 89

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Apr 1

When we fight back, we win.
#FightBackTogether #MarangaAke

1 24 53

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · Mar 27

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.

4

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · Mar 20

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...

Dean Wickliffe case highlights urgent need for prison reform

OPINION: Former prime minister Bill English once said that prisons are a moral and fiscal failure. He was correct. We should be creating a roadmap towards a future without prisons.

www.thepost.co.nz

2 3

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Mar 12

"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.

Cleaner hits out at Willis' plan to scrap Living Wage for new contracts

The proposal sends a message that people like him don't matter, Liam Shaw says.

www.rnz.co.nz

1 26 83

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Mar 12

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.

New procurement rules hurt low-income workers - NZCTU

New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff.

union.org.nz

9 37 82

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · Jan 22

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...

Cosying up to an empire that is lurching to the right

OPINION: This is the greatest crisis facing humanity. We are living in a new gilded age.

www.thepost.co.nz

2 2 5

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Dec 20

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.

NZCTU make submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill - NZCTU

The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collectiv...

union.org.nz

1 16 45

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Dec 12

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...

Six years of work wasted – Holidays Act reform now years away - NZCTU

Brooke van Velden has wasted six years of work from businesses, unions, and government by binning planned Holidays Act reforms, said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh in response to today’s annou...

union.org.nz

6 12

Jack McDonald @tautokai.bsky.social · Dec 11

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...

4

Reposted by Jack McDonald

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions @nzctu.bsky.social · Dec 10

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.

1 2 10