Today, XR Whakatū are blocking the Trafalgar St to launch “The People” in the form of Te Tiriti based peoples assemblies as their candidate for this year's local body elections.

“The climate and ecological crisis proves our political system is broken. It is time for change” says father of three and member of xr whakatū Te Wehi Ratana. “Three years ago NCC declared a climate emergency. We have been waiting to see the action and leadership promised. It is clear that we must do something to force the change we need to see. To not act now is to condem our young people to unimaginable suffering and death” says Ratana.

A Te Tiriti based people's assembly is similar to the international practice of a citizens assembly but unique to Aotearoa. It's a form of decision making that puts everyday people in charge. Eliminating corporate and business influence by ensuring evidence based decision making. As well as upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi embedding mana whenua’s place at the table. All decisions made by the assembly must be binding.

“It is clear that our current political process isn’t working for anybody, including elected councilors. There are reports of bullying and an adversarial culture and this gets in the way of making effective decisions for our community” says xr whakatū member Ami Kennedy. The current decision making system is not inclusive or agile enough to make the progress we need to make. “I would love to see a process that unites people in respect and puts the wellbeing of life before all else”.

This will be the first action of many, as we embark on achieving our goal of establishing a Te Tiriti based people's assembly in the lead up to the election date. We can no longer ignore the enormity of the issue and our response needs to match the scale of the issue. If we fail to do so the consequence will be extinction!

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