• A Financial Transactions Tax as an alternative to GST, Speech notes for a meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Wellington Branch, Petrus Simons, 5 May 2012
• Women in Aotearoa New Zealand: An overview on the issues as they are presenting themselves to a new MP - An invitation to hear Jan Logie, the Green Party MP whose responsibilities include the women's and human rights portfolios. Over the years, Jan has been active in women's organisations including Women's Refuge, Rape Crisis, Wellington Sexual Abuse Help Centre, and the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand; she is committed to making progress on women's rights while in parliament. Jan will be speaking about violence against women, women in prison, women and work, and some possibilities for change. On Saturday, 10 March 2012, at the WEA, 59 Gloucester Street, Christchurch - 3pm for afternoon tea, 3.30pm start. All welcome
• Public Meeting on Saturday, 12 March 2011: You are warmly invited to join us to hear Dr Tracey McIntosh, Tuhoe, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Auckland, and Joint Director of the Centre of Research Excellence Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, lead a discussion on the possibilities and challenges of establishing an alternative to prison for women. Tracey's two main interest areas are: firstly all things Maori, and her research around processes of marginalisation and identity issues with Maori; and secondly, her interest in systematic suffering and state crime which has a more international focus. At the Friends Meeting House, 113 Mt Eden Road, Auckland - 2.30pm for afternoon tea, 3pm start. All welcome
• Public meeting on Friday, 26 March 2010: Discussion on Depleted Uranium (DU), with MPs Keith Locke and Phil Twyford talking about NZ's position on DU - where to from here. At 7.30pm, Friends’ Meeting House, 7-8 Moncrieff Street (off Elizabeth Street), Mt Victoria, Wellington.

WILPF (Aotearoa) is part of the international women’s peace organisation established in 1915 to 'bring together women of different political beliefs and philosophies who are united in their determination to study, make known and help abolish the causes and the legitimisation of war'.

There are WILPF groups in 42 countries, all working towards the same goals:

• an end to war, violence and coercion;
  
• peaceful negotiated solutions to conflicts;
  
• universal disarmament and the diversion of resources away from armed forces and weapons to meeting human needs;
  
• the elimination of all forms of inequality, oppression, discrimination and exploitation;
  
• the establishment of an international economic order based on meeting the needs of people, not on privilege and profit;
  
• environmentally and socially sustainable development;
  
• reform and strengthening of the United Nations to assist with achieving the above goals. WILPF (International) has consultative status at the UN, and we use this to ensure women’s voices for peace are heard at that level.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand, we are committed to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as this is a positive way to prevent conflict and to remedy past and present injustice.

WILPF (Aotearoa)’s current work

• We are actively opposed to the NZ government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation - our written submission on the Terrorism Suppression Bill is available on-line, we presented further arguments against the Bill being passed into law in our oral submissions to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee.

• In the past year we have campaigned and lobbied the NZ government, other governments, and international bodies, on issues including: the response to the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington and the subsequent 'war on terrorism' (some WILPF letters are listed on the index page here); West Papua; Bougainville; the NZ Royal Commission on Genetic Modification; the refugees on the Tampa; Section 59 of the Crimes Act; the World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance document on indigenous peoples; and the Israeli / Palestine conflict (see for example WILPF letter here).

• In 2002, as in previous years, WILPF members organised and took part in activities around the country for Waitangi Day.

• We have organised, and joined in others, protests and vigils opposing the war on the people of Afghanistan, NZ military involvement in the 'war on terrorism', and the Israeli military re-occupation of Palestinian territory.

• We put forward a remit to the National Council of Women’s AGM (September 2001) calling for an enquiry into the activities of the GCSB, the operation of the Echelon system, and the Waihopai spybase; and an emergency remit urging no support for a military response to the 11 September attacks - both remits were voted out. The text of the emergency remit was the basis for the Petition calling for Peaceful Resolution.

• During 2002 we have worked with other women's groups to put together the NGO report to go to the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee - this will go to the Committee at the same time as the NZ government's report.

• Submissions presented, and spoken to, on the Government Communications and Security Bill, the Nuclear Free Zone Extension Bill, the Human Rights Amendment Bill, and the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee enquiry into human rights and foreign policy.

• In October 2001, as part of the International Day of Action to Stop the Militarisation of Space, we spoke about the impact of weapons in space on the Pacific, the speech is available here

• In August 2001, as part of the international celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Greenham Common women's peace camp, Greenham women here in Aotearoa recognised the day with Women say NO to Star Wars. Read the reports, see the photos and learn the song here!

• In 2000 we began the ongoing Saying NO to Militarism and War project with Peace Movement Aotearoa, the first factsheet is available on-line here

• In 1999, we jointly organised the Pacific Conference and Court for Violence against Women and the Land in association with Nga Wahine Pasifika. Workshops held included those on the effects of nuclear testing and dumping in the Pacific, uranium mining, militarism, colonisation, loss of land and culture, logging, global warming; and contributed to the Hague Appeal for Peace international peace conference in the Netherlands during May 1999.