Campaigns

Auckland Peace Action is involved in community organising to promote peace and justice throughout the world. Here are some of the campaigns & issues we are working on. Please get in contact if you want to be involved

#CancelRIMPAC2022 and forever

RIMPAC is the world’s largest, US-led military exercise, which occurs every two years. In 2020 it was set to include over 26,000 troops from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Republic of Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. New Zealand had planned to send in excess of 300 troops.

RIMPAC is primarily intended to cement US military domination of the Pacific. As a participant, New Zealand is contributing to this military showcase of imperial violence and ecological destruction in places such as Hawai’i and Guam.

We know the threats brought by militarisation are many, one being the increase in sex trafficking of indigenous children in Hawai’i. It is just one of the aspects of RIMPAC that repeats the reckless spread of disease used to erase indigenous communities by military voyages in the Pacific over generations.

The New Zealand public never agreed to be a part of the US-led alliance, and our values stand at odds with the abuse of our Pacific neighbours caused by RIMPAC. In 2018, RIMPAC used humanitarian aid and disaster relief to cloak these exercises in a veil of legitimacy. This language seeks to obscure the very real death and destruction caused by these same militaries across the globe. In 2020 it was scaled back due to COVID. In 2022 we call for New Zealand to withdraw completely, to be an honourable Pacific partner and prevent all or any militarisation in the region.

As a coalition of peace, Indigenous, and foreign relations groups, we have a petition you can support: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/cancelRIMPAC and carry the #CancelRIMPAC campaign forward.

Space For Peace – Stop Rocket Labs Military Launches

Rocket Lab is a private US company that builds and launches satellites into space for profit. Their investors include Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms dealer. Rocket Lab’s activities in New Zealand include a launch pad on the Mahia peninsula, and production facilities and offices in Auckland and Christchurch. They specialise in small satellites to low Earth orbit. Their clients include the US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, weapons company Airbus Defence and Space Ltd, and private surveillance company Black Sky.

Rocket Lab’s work is dangerous to people across the globe, and it compromises the safety and security of people working and living here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Rocket Lab primarily works for foreign military agencies (mostly the US military), international weapons dealers and surveillance companies allowing them to gather information and data that supports their political, military and economic objectives – not those of the people who live in New Zealand. These satellites are designed to support mass surveillance systems and weapons systems, and can be used to target people who oppose the agenda of these states and companies. 

The NZ Space Agency evaluates each application for a launch, and makes a determination if the launch has any national security implications for New Zealand. We do not think it is appropriate to serve as effectively a privatised military facility for the US (or any country) or to provide a platform for weapons dealers and surveillance companies to profit.

Anti-Fascist Action

Auckland Peace Action works to build an anti-racist, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist society. We stand in solidarity with people on the receiving end of white supremacist and/or fascist violence, and organise with other like minded people in the geographical region around these issues.

For up-to-date information on the situation in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, check out Tāmaki Anti-Fascist Action facebook page

Uyghur solidarity

We are gravely concerned about the current human rights situation in Xinjiang, China (also known as East Turkistan). We have prepared a brief fact sheet about the situation and encourage people to get involved in the local Uyghur Solidarity group facebook page and twitter feed

Who is/where are the Uyghur people?

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), also known as East Turkestan, is a huge, sparsely populated area located in China’s far northwest. This is where Uyghurs – a Turkic speaking Muslim minority group – live. They comprise about 11.3 million of a total of 22 million people. 

What is happening to their human rights there?

Over recent months, disturbing details have emerged from the region describing

  • Mass detention camps called “re-education camps”
  • Intrusive surveillance
  • Arbitrary detention
  • Political indoctrination
  • Forced cultural assimilation being carried out there on a massive scale and targeting the region’s Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim peoples.

The Chinese government has long barred any form of meaningful independent investigation in the region, much remains unknown. What is known is that under the present environment in the XUAR, even relatively mild and constructive criticism of the government’s handling of ethnic policy can lead to heavy punishment including life sentences in the camps.

Stop the Weapons Expo!

We have long campaigned to shut down the annual gathering of the world’s largest weapons dealers here in Aotearoa under the name of the New Zealand Defence Industry Conference. In 2018, we were finally successful in scuttling their annual shin-dig, but the organisation continues to operate and expand. We will continue our work and refocus our efforts to shut down the arms trade in the coming year. Check out our Weapons Expo page for more details

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