Mojo Mathers 🇵🇸

A power wheel-chair user at the front of an excited crowd, looking at a colourfully lit stage.

Two festival goes smiling at the camera. One is a wheelchair user.

A person standing on top of some stacked wooden crates holding a sign that says "Accessible Parking"

You can just feel the positive vibes through the screen! Twominds Festival 2026 - March 13-15 2026 - Access Tickets are out now!

TWOMINDS WEBSITE
www.twomindsfestival.co.nz

TWOMINDS ACCESSIBILITY PROGRAMME
www.twomindsfestival.co.nz/accessibility

مُحاصَرة  Muhasara Besieged Restricted Surrounded Closed Israel has shut the Rafah border in Gaza once again.

Israel opened the Rafah border from February 2nd to 28th, after seizing and shutting it completely for nearly 2 years. In the 26 days the border was open, only a few sick and injured Palestinians were able to evacuate out of the tens of thousands who require urgent medical attention and care. A minimal amount of food, medicine, and people were allowed to enter Gaza in this short period of time.

While Israel continues to genocide Gaza, its calculated use of starvation as a weapon of war acts as a tool of collective punishment in an attempt to make Palestinian survival near impossible. Israel's impunity and deliberate attempts to erase Palestinian life in Gaza and the West Bank continues in broad daylight for all to see.

This is why we must all continue to use our privileges and freedoms to help fight, work, speak, and organize for the liberation of Palestine and all oppressed people in the world. A day will come when Gaza is no longer, مُحاصَرة, besieged by land, air and sea.

Together we must #BreakTheSiege of Gaza.
The genocide of the Palestinian people is not only still raging but exponentially ramping up, while Zionist & imperialist leaders are trying to make us look away.
There is no ceasefire, there never was...
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Chch hospital prefers patients to do home dialysis and will set up people to do so.This will effect those who can’t do it at home because of comorbidities,renting, poverty, youth!, mental health, or people wanting moral support from others or to minimise the impact on family. Absolutely horrible.

Celebrating Working Women's Week

Respect Us, Value Us, Pay Us 📢

DPA recently submitted to the People's Select Committee on the Pay Equity and Disability Rights Inequities.

Read more here: www.dpa.org.nz/disability-r...

Covid hospitalisations climb as New Zealand enters new wave There’s been an increase in hospitalisations and in wastewater detections, and it’s expected to last another month or two.

There were 19 reported covid related deaths last week and a big uptick in hospitalizations. We're in a wave.

We haven't been hearing much about it, so I'm pleased to see this article on Stuff.

PETITION: CONDEMN TRUMP'S ILLEGAL WAR Sign the petition to pressure Luxon to stand up against this reckless war

action.greenpeace.org.nz/petition/pea...

The Government is currently negotiating an Enhanced Border Security Partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security that would grant US agencies, including ICE, automated, direct access to New Zealanders' biometric data and identity records.

Papakura student road patroller hit by car becomes fifth child run over since start of term

I mean, fuckin' Hwhat? #NZPol

Supplementary assistance should not be retrospectively turned into debt

Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has submitted on the Social Security (Accident Compensation and Calculation of Weekly Income) Amendment Bill.

Read the submission here:

Young goat smiling

Five young goats and a mum at the base of a big tree

Three does sunbathing

Some of mine!

Nawww! Love this! They are gorgeous! 🧡🥰🧡

Pay equity ‘select committee’ finds ‘flagrant and significant abuse of power’ A group of female former MPs subjected the pay equity overhaul to the scrutiny it should have received before passing into law. Their newly released report is damning.

People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity report is out:
www.payequity.org.nz/report

Key finding (p.37): The Government failed to consider its obligations under the CRPD when passing the Equal Pay Amendment Act, breaching its international commitments.

Our submission:
www.dpa.org.nz/disability-r...

Of course!

A tabby kitten stretched out beside an elderly dog on the bed , noses touching in an affectionate way.

My elderly dog Kea has accepted her beautifully!

The goats were standing in a circle staring down at a spot in the long grass so I went to investigate and there was this tiny little kitten crouched down!!

Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson said she was "trying not to panic" thinking about the impact it would have on people. She did not believe the law would work. "Good law and order in our country means every person, needs a home and they need appropriate support," she said.

All across my feed there is both clear distress over the new “move on” orders, and clear expert advice these will not work.
I realise we’re now following the Trump era rules of not listening to experts but surely we’re at a point now that widespread condemnation is worthy of a few more headlines? 🤔

Govt threatens to imprison homeless for 90 days at a cost of $49,680 per person Govt to empower Police to 'move on' homeless with threat of three months prison, costing taxpayer $552 per person per night; Govt adds 2,000 prison beds since election & delivers 420 new homes

FYI I’ve opened this one up for full public reading, listening & sharing after requests from paying subscribers. Their support allows me to do this public interest journalism on Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate & poverty in public. #nzpol open.substack.com/pub/thekaka/...

A small tabby kitten perched on the shoulder of a middle aged woman smiling.

Hello Matty! Meet Lulu , a wild kitten my goats found in the paddock!

Emergency housing worse for disabled A new report that shows people with disabilities spend longer in emergency housing has not surprised a Dunedin sector advocate. A study by...

"There is still a need for more public housing builds to be undertaken, more social housing builds, in order to meet the demand that is there." - Chris Ford, Disabled Persons Assembly southern and central policy adviser

3G Shutdown Info Hub Find out how the 3G network shutdown in Aotearoa may affect you, what steps to take and where to get support.

Aotearoa's 3G networks will shut down by March 2026, affecting devices reliant on 3G, including emergency calls. The Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa highlights that disabled people may be especially impacted due to reliance on older devices.

Accessible Music Technology Workshops by The Accessible Sound Collective 🎵🎶 These free sessions are open to everyone, with a focus on making music technology inclusive and interactive for disabled people, young adults, and anyone curious about sound. Participants will explore synthesisers, tactile instruments, iPad- based eye-tracking tools, and music software compatible with screen readers. All instruments, headphones, and gear will be provided. A quieter, sensory-friendly session will also be available for neurodiverse participants. When: Thursdays, 12.30 - 4 pm starting 19 Feb Where: Magenta Creative Space, Whakatū, Nelson Cost: Free To register your interest, or drop in on the day: Fill out a short Google Form at https://shorturl.at/IZKYp For questions or access needs, email: theaccessiblesoundcollective@gmail.com

Accessible Music Technology Workshops by The Accessible Sound Collective 🎵🎶

These free sessions are open to everyone, with a focus on making music technology inclusive and interactive for disabled people, young adults, and anyone curious about sound.

Climate change is here. NZ isn't ready

Analysis: A serious approach to climate adaptation requires reckoning with the grim reality the future holds: more storms, more floods, more heat.

Cartoon. Title: “Boys’ Trip” The image shows a flooded landscape, with hills, trees, a dead cow, and a car plowing through the muddy floodwaters. In the car are Deputy PM David Seymour, NZ First leader Winston Peters, and PM Christopher Luxon. Seymour is saying, “We’ve gotta be realistic - we can adapt. Well, the ones that matter can” Winston Peters is saying, “It’s climate hysteria! It’s just a bit of rain” And Luxon, who is driving, says, “Hey, anyone wanna hear my Spotify?”

More extreme weather more often. What do our leaders think we should do? In a word, not much.
My Stuff #cartoon today #NZpol #Climate

A blue drawing with trees, birds and houses with the artist Lachlans signature below it. Text at the top says From Data to Dignity 2026.

IHC NZ has just released new findings in their Data to Dignity 2026 report.

Read our full response: www.dpa.org.nz/.../dpa-deep...
Download the IHC report in alternative formats: www.ihc.org.nz/.../advo.../...

WOW 🤯

The number of times a State of Emergency has been declared this year in New Zealand ALREADY matches the 2025 total.

It’s February.

This is what the Climate Crisis looks like.

A system that punishes disability is a system that has failed — CCS Disability Action By Phoebe Eden-Mann, National Policy Analyst, CCS Disability Action Published 11 February 2026 The facts at a glance Report:   Mana Āki: Dignity for All  – Citizens Advice Bureau (C...

The Citizens Advice Bureau's latest report, Mana Āki: Dignity for All, shows our welfare system is not just failing to support disabled people; it is actively harming them.

⚠️ New Additional Warnings for Heavy Rain 🌧️

🟠 Heavy Rain Warning for Banks Peninsula
🟡Heavy Rain Watch for Canterbury Plains and Foothills between the Rakaia River and Amberley

More information: metservice.com

I don't currently have the words for my anger and frustration seeing climate events happen all over the motu and knowing - we could have been better prepared. We could have made different choices. People don't have to die.

I'm trying terribly hard to not be bitter.

'Nakedly political': No rivals considered for Judith Collins' new job

The Government appointed ex National Party leader Judith Collins to lead the Law Commission without following good practice processes for such roles, writes RNZ acting political editor Craig McCulloch

Why not spend $2.7b on solar & batteries instead? Govt to pay up to $180m/year or $2.7b over 15 years to lease LNG re-gasification plant, paid for by $15-$30 'levy' per household per year. That $2.7b would build four Benmore Dams worth of electricity

FYI I’ve opened this up for full public reading, listening & sharing after requests from paying subscribers. Their support allows me to do this kind of public interest journalism on Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate & poverty in public. #nzpol thekaka.substack.com/p/why-not-sp...