A large crowd is gathered in the Auditorium as Captain_Plat_2258 walks on stage to the tune of FVEY by Shihad. A clap passes through the room as the music dies down and Kate clears her throat
βTΔnΔ koutou tΔnΔ koutou tΔnΔ koutou katoa, ko Kate Kawhena ahau, nau mai haere mai!
Itβs so good to be here nearing the end of the campaign before all of your faces, the people who have gotten us from just above the threshold to beating the previous Feminist campaign in the party vote and on track to possibly winning two electorates!
Weβve provided a voice to the undersung minorities of Aotearoa and weβve pushed compassionate economics throughout the campaign, but today Iβd like to talk about a few things a little different. As you may have guessed from the musical opener, my first topic is Five Eyes, the compact between Aotearoa, Australia, the UK, the US, and Canada. Weβve been part of Five Eyes for a while, but under John Key a number of press releases showed just the extent of an abuse of power being undertaken in our FVEY stations. Wiretapping our own citizens and residents, undertaking massive surveillance operations for the US.
Well we in Mana Hapori say no more.
As a frontline policy in Government or out of it we will push for the immediate closure of the Five Eyes stations at Waihopai and Tangimoana; alongside the abolition of the Government Communications and Security Bureau, the repeal of the Intelligence and Security Committee Act, and amendment of the NZSIS Act to ensure it only applies to espionage, sabotage, and terrorism.
The fact is our people should not be being spied on. Nobody should have the power that Five Eyes affords us, and Aotearoa wants no part of it. I was involved in protests against Waihopai as a member of the Young Greens years ago, and I have never lost that conviction. In its position as the true minor party of Aotearoa, MHA will ensure that Governments do and cannot abuse the power of our surveillance networks. Aotearoa is a nation of peace, and peace does not need to exist under the watchful eye.β
A clap rings through the audience, then the lights change colour.
βEarlier I also announced that this conference would be the day on which a new Mana Hapori policy would be announced, and I will hold true to that.β
A stage technician comes and fixes a lapel mic to her, and she steps back from the microphone and towards the curtains at the back of the stage.
Aotearoa has a colonial history. One marked by the suppression of
... keep reading on reddit β‘They briefly changed their name to "Pacifier" in an attempt to enter the american market in the early 2000's without success and then switched back to "Shihad" again, releasing several more albums under their original name. They have some great albums. Highly recommend listening to their album "The General Electric" as a place to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVJoGQv6JTw&list=PL4ANZU2B47NEHLXF7ryw1WgbiFlKNRd1Z
