People in Aotearoa have a long history of standing up for what is right.
From Dame Whina Cooper, who led the 1000km land march hīkoi on foot from Te Hapua in the Far North to Parliament, to protest against the ongoing loss of Māori land.
To the 1981 Springbok tour in which anti-apartheid activists took part in national demonstrations to protest against the injustices of racial segregation in South Africa at the time.
And against attempts to vest ownership of the foreshore and seabed to the Crown.
We also have a long history of coming together and standing up for nature in protest marches that have helped change the course of history.
We campaigned to save Manapouri and to stop native logging and to make New Zealand nuclear-free.
We marched against genetic engineering and we marched to stop deep sea oil drilling. To stop the John Key government allowing mining on conservation land.
And in the school strikes for climate demanding the government take action on climate change.
Fast forward to today, and we face the Luxon government’s all-out assault on nature with the Fast Track Approvals Bill.
The Fast Track Approvals Bill is undemocratic, wide open to corruption and will allow environmentally-destructive projects to bypass the critical checks and balances that protect nature.
It could see the forests and oceans of Aotearoa turned into open-cast mines, rivers and lakes turned into sewers and precious wildlife condemned to extinction.
So we’re taking action.
Greenpeace, along with Forest and Bird and a host of other groups, are organising a March for Nature to protest against the Luxon government’s War on Nature.
The March for Nature is taking place this Saturday 8 June in Auckland. We’ll gather at 1pm in Aotea Square and then head down Queen Street.
Will you March for Nature?