We are excited to announce a new ‘Activist in Residence’ Programme at Te Whare Hapori o ngā Puna Waiora / Newtown Community Centre, with Free Fares NZ taking up the 6-month residency for the start of 2025.

Free Fares NZ’s national organising team member Frances Mountier, 2023 recipient of the Quaker Peace and Service Aotearoa New Zealand's Loxley Award, will be in residence as of January 2025, working out of Te Whare Hapori o ngā Puna Waiora, on the corner of Colombo & Rintoul Streets.

Free Fares NZ is a Coalition of over 100 organisations calling for free public transport for under 25s, students, Community Service Card holders and Total Mobility Card holders and their support people. They were successful in achieving half-price fares for Community Service Card holders.

Frances Mountier today said, "We organise for Free Fares because it will benefit the climate, reduce the cost of living, and increase social connection. In late 2024, NZTA wrote to all public transport authorities, telling them to increase the 'private share' of ticket prices. That would be a fare hike across the motu. We are delighted that councils all over the country have been pushing back against these fare hikes, as they would have a devastating impact on communities. We are organising against those fare hikes, and we continue to call for Free Fares for our four target groups."

"Free Fares NZ love coming to Newtown Festival each year, and I am delighted to be based out of Te Whare Hāpori o Ngā Puna Waiora in 2025, as we organise for Free Fares."

Kaiwhakahaere / Manager at Newtown Community Centre, Ellie Clayton, said of the residency: “Newtowners, along with people across Aotearoa, are doing it tough at the moment, so we’re excited to be able to support Free Fares NZ in their campaigning mahi. The main benefit for our community of this organising would be the ultimate aim of free or cheap fares for people who need it the most, but there will also be opportunities for Newtowners to engage with the campaign along the way, and have their voices heard.”

This Residency follows in the footsteps of the Newtown Community Centre’s successful Artist in Residence programme which ran through 2021-2022, with artist Mirella Moschella running art workshops and organising public art installations around the suburb.

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