Loomio
Fri 11 Apr 2014 12:22AM

October 15: Occupy Parliament Grounds

DS Danyl Strype Public Seen by 201

O15 this year is the seventh anniversary of the Operation 8 raids, and the third anniversary of the start of Occupy Aotearoa. I've been talking to people over the summer about a proposal for how to mark this date: holding a general assembly in Parliament Grounds. People who can't or don't want to travel attend this, would be encouraged to hold a GA on that day in their own region.

When I was first started envisioning this, I assumed that it would be in the lead-up to the election as Occupy was in 2011, but with an election date in set for Sept, it would instead be immediately afterwards. I actually think this is better. By that stage we will have a better idea where the political winds are blowing for the next 3 years, and we can use the GAs to discuss strategies, projects, and actions with the goal of putting the people of Aotearoa in charge of new government, whoever it is.

BTW I'm not suggesting a rehash of the 2011 Occupy camps. Anyone wanting to live in community would be much better to join one of the many intentional communities around the country who need fit, young people. 2011 taught us that we don't yet have the capacity to cope with the scale of homelessness and hopelessness created by Labour/National and the state-corporate system.

However, I am excited by the idea of establishing a permanent, 24/7 presence in parliament grounds, with at least one tent in which to hold meetings and discussions, and keep a small political library. A place which, like the camps of 2011, people could come and actually take part in democracy all year around, not just once every three years. If a similar permanent space for democratic engagement could be created in other cities and towns too, that would be even better.

I have written a draft call-out, which I will attach to a comment in the next few days. I started working on it when I watched the LiveSteam of the GCSB public meeting in Auckland, and realised that those Aucklanders had to pay thousands of dollars to hold a public meeting in their own town hall. I'm guess this is thanks to the"SuperCity" corporation which has effectively privatized the public resources which used to be held in trust for the public good. If this isn't a good enough reason to start a democratic revolution in Aotearoa, I don't know what is.

RDB

Richard D. Bartlett Fri 11 Apr 2014 2:16AM

I would love to participate in a general assembly :)

EM

Emma McGuirk Sun 25 May 2014 8:34AM

Kia ora koutou,

Here's Strypey's draft (mentioned in his post above) for a call to action to Occupy Parliament Grounds on Oct 15th this year. Please feel free to make any changes as you see fit, and/or add more of your own reasons to the list. I'm uploading both a .PDF and .ODT version - the .ODT is editable.

I'm uploading this on Strypey's behalf because he's started his one year net fast, which you can read more about here: http://www.disintermedia.net.nz - it's going great so far, he's loving all the extra face to face time with people and the phone calls!

Cheers,
Emma

MN

Mingus Noone Fri 3 Oct 2014 11:57PM

Hmmmm.
Might be worth contacting the speaker.
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/mpp/mps/current/51MP171/carter-rt-hon-david
I contacted the old speaker a while back, Jonathan someone, about squatting on parliament lawn to protest homelessness and was told that protests are not allowed during night time, and must be booked in advance during daytime and can only happen at the speakers discretion and must have a definite start and end point.
My request to sleep on parliament in protest against homelessness in Wellington was declined.
The nature of an occupation however is different to a cooperative endeavour, so shrug.
Also, someone out there who knows human rights/protest law should be consulted re this.
And you might wanna put the tent away from whereever the sprinkler system is setup, and don't expect to get noticed until about 7 or 8am in the morning if you start camping after about 6 or 7pm at night.
I suggested this ages ago while Occupy Wellington was still going, but at the time the idea was viewed as a great way to get us all arrested, not sure what's changed there...
Also not sure of the difference between Civic Square and Parliament lawn.
Also, I hear parliament security are a bit nazi-fied, after my experience with them (I wanted to make an appointment with the speaker to arrange a protest and was treated with significant hostility and told that I have to do that over the phone or via email, can't just walk up to parliament... which I think is ridiculous, how many of the affected people would have regular phone/email use...) I told them off, told them they worked for me and the rest of the public, and recommended to the person in charge that they do conflict resolution and defusing training. If anything, I've heard they've gotten worse.

DS

Danyl Strype Tue 12 May 2015 6:21AM

Oct 15 at parliament grounds was a modest success. In the end we had some huge cardboard signs signifying the anniversaries of the Operation8 raids and Occupy Aotearoa beginning, and a couple of banners, including one calling for "deep democracy". We didn't have to ask for permission to gather in public space, or put up our signs and banners for the afternoon.

We had a brief General Assembly with about a dozen people, from a range of different political backgrounds, ages etc. We introduced ourselves, summed about what we've been doing in our communities since the tent occupations ended, and envisioned what we could do as a network over the next few years.

Probably the major thing missing was leaflets. There were heaps of people hanging out in Parliament grounds that day, and it would have been great for us to walk around talking to them, and giving them a leaflet inviting them to join the GA and this Loomio group. Some of them might even have joined in, and at least we would have built awareness.

I'd like to attempt another Oct 15 event this year, with a more prepared group creating a democratic space outside parliament, and groups creating local GAs in towns and cities. The challenge seems to be convincing people that it's worth the effort.

BTW Yes, I'm back online. My year long net fast was great, and gave me a chance to talk to a lot of people in person/ on the phone, read a lot of books etc, and rethink the way I use the net. Still working on the book which I hope to get published.

P

pilotfever Wed 19 Aug 2015 11:01AM

Democratically elected to the Internet Party executive this year, I have supported InternetMana from the get go. I favour a UBI as a parallel domestic currency based on a renewable energy credit, oppose the TPP and Kim Dotcom as Fuhrer of the Internet Party, and am taking my proposals to any party that will listen.
Unfortunately, that does not include the Internet Party Executive Members who broke all sorts of constitutional safeguards to have me removed without a membership vote, or Fred Look who offered me the role of secretary but never intended to relinquish it. I resigned from the Internet Party in protest. I have recently returned to New Zealand to protest the TPP and am rejoining the Internet Party and nominating myself to the executive. I sincerely hope there are a bunch of pirates out there as well as the good fellows who voted for me last time to support me in the next phase of our endeavor without the Fuhrer.
Best regards,
James Abbott
theoccupyparty.wordpress.com