Occupy Wellington Vision Statement
Please note that this is intended to be a working draft or a “living document”. Anyone can contribute to shaping this
document and our shared vision – you just need to Get Involved!
Who are we?
We are you, we are the people of the world: all ethnicities, backgrounds, genders, generations, sexualities,
dis/abilities and faiths. We stand together in solidarity with pro-democracy movements around the world: the Arab
Spring, the Spanish Indignados, popular uprisings in Greece and Iceland, and most recently the global Occupy movement in
over 2,500 cities.
Why are we speaking out?
Each of us can identify different problems with the current system, but we are unified in our desire for a move towards
social, political and economic systems that benefit all.
Globally, we face increasingly widespread environmental destruction, economic exploitation and disregard for human
rights. The institutions perpetrating these abuses against our people and our planet are bigger and more powerful than
any government.
How does this apply to New Zealand?
While we recognise that the situation in New Zealand is not identical to that in other countries, we are subject to, and
contribute to, many of the same global problems.
• We are internationally recognised as the third most unequal society in the OECD, with an ever-widening gap
between rich and poor. This year foreign-owned banks posted billion dollar profits and 151 individuals increased their
wealth by $7 billion, while 200,000 children live in poverty.
• In the past 3 years, an unprecedented number of bills have passed under urgency, eliminating the opportunity for
public debate while rushing through damaging changes in education, taxation, policing, copyright, and employment
relations, to name a few.
• Deaf to the global call for climate action and blind to ongoing environmental catastrophes, our government seeks
to open up our fossil fuel reserves to commercial speculation, mine our National Parks and drill for deep-sea oil.
• The cost of education continues to increase, while cuts in funding and resources further compromise its quality.
• Wages are not consistent with the increasing cost of living, meaning more people find it harder to make ends
meet.
• This year five homes a day have been foreclosed because the owners can’t keep up with mortgage payments. The
possibility of owning a home is getting further out of reach.
We are speaking out now in the hope of prompting positive change before things deteriorate further.
What is causing these problems?
The local and global problems currently facing us are the result of hierarchical economic and political institutions
with the wrong priorities: the pursuit of power and profit is currently placed above the needs of people.
How do we find solutions?
We cannot expect the solutions to these problems to come from within the institutions that created them. Solutions must
come from the people, united. A change is required, locally and globally, which can only be achieved with the
collaboration, cooperation and creativity of all the world’s people.
We need real democracy
Real democracy is not attainable when the political process is influenced by economic power and institutional
self-interest.
Decision-making processes involving more voices will generate solutions that benefit all of us.
Right now, the principles of consensus-based decision making, in which all people have an equal say, are being adopted
in thousands of cities around the world. This process can be applied on local, national and global scales.
A question of priorities
We believe that society should prioritise universal values of peace, justice, equality, freedom, solidarity,
collaboration, sustainability, companionship, respect, and wellbeing.
These rights should be fundamental: health, nutritious food, safe water, housing, education, self-determination,
culture, political participation, freedom of movement and peaceful association.
Our vision
Our vision is a genuinely sustainable system based on human values and the principles of real democracy, in which all
planetary resources are treated as the common heritage of all the earth’s inhabitants.
In New Zealand, we are fortunate enough to possess the resources needed to realise this transition. We feel it would be
irresponsible not to.
The time is now. Have your say. Shape your future.
ENDS