Nau mai, haere mai

As winter comes to an end, spring is bringing new growth in nature and in OraTaiao.

We had a wonderful noho marae in July (group pictured above), strengthening old and new connections. Thank you to everyone who came. We hope to see more new faces at our next noho marae.

Read more about the noho below and you'll also find the link to watch Gareth Hughes' kōrero to OraTaiao from that weekend under 'Resources' in this pānui.

Since then, regional groups have been meeting and making plans to meet with their local politicians to ask them about their commitments to our election year priorities. Our priorities are based on the survey that many of you completed last year. 

Read more about our regional rōpū in this pānui.

Looking ahead to October, we're excited to announce our Climate and Health Public Forum. We are co-hosting the event with 350 Aotearoa.

Climate and health belong on the same agenda. The forum will bring together parties from across the political spectrum to respond to our policy priorities for a healthier, more equitable Aotearoa acting on climate change. And, of course, there will be opportunity for you in the audience to ask questions too. 

Climate and Health Public Forum

7pm Tues 6 October 2026

Attendance is free but you'll need to register so save the date and we will send registration details out soon.

We hope to see you soon at one of our get regional meet ups or events. If you can't attend but still want to support, we welcome donations at any time or you can contribute your annual or member subscriptions if you haven't already. 

By being a member of OraTaiao, you help continue the mahi to build the movement we need to make the health of our people and our planet to be the priority for the next Government and Governments to come.

This week, a new UN report stated that global warming beyond 1.5°C is now inevitable and the world must limit the 'overshoot' as much as possible before reversing it.

So now, as ever, it is important to know that we're together in this work.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari taku toa he toa takitini

My strength is not that of one but of many

Ngā mihi nui,

Summer, OraTaiao Convenor

OraTaiao mahi & updates

Members at noho marae leave "inspired, motivated and resourced"

This year's noho marae gave us an opportunity to connect with old and new faces, be in a beautiful place together and share plans and ideas.

Summer, Steve and Marnie shared the movement building tools they learned at Global COACH and together we developed a plan for the election year (and it's happening!).

We working towards our goal for this year of having political parties commit to our priorities and pushing to have our priorities actioned by the next Government. 

To do this, we've developed regional groups each with a regional lead. These groups will then organise meeting with their local politicians to discuss our priorities with them and ask for a commitment to them. And as a finale, we are inviting all parties to attend our Climate & Health Public Forum so we can again put the priorities to them. 

We wanted to capture how the weekend was for those who came, here are some of the things people said:

OraTaiao member Robin: "I came to the noho for strategies to support my action for a liveable future for my mokopuna and future generations of all creatures. I left inspired, motivated and resourced"

OraTaiao member Helen: "I came to the noho for strategy planning and I’m leaving with my part in an overall plan"

Hannah from 350 Aotearoa: "I came to the noho to connect with others working towards a healthier planet and people. I'm leaving with inspiration, energy and new allies to collaborate with!"

Romelli from our Board: "I came to the noho for whakawhanaungatanga and working together. I’m leaving with an exciting plan"

Summer, our Convenor: "I came for clearer organisational tactics and left with a clear cohesive vision, a path to action and stronger community connections"

Mikey from our Board: "I came to the noho for connection and I’m leaving with a movement"

We are so grateful to Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae for hosting us so warmly and to Felix and Meg for keeping us feed with the beautiful food all weekend.

Already looking forward to next year!

📷 Action shots of inaugural noho marae pass the parcel championship.

OraTaiao members meet in the regions preparing for next steps, meeting with politicians

Regional groups in Whangārei, Tāmaki Makaurau, Whakatū, Ōtautahi and Ōtepoti met over the last couple of weeks to (re)connect, get to know each other and make plans.

If you'd like to be involved with one of these groups or create a group where you live, please get in touch. [email protected] 

📷 Tāmaki group meet (top) & Nelson Whakatū group meet.

Katiaki Hauora | Together for Public Health campaign builds

OraTaiao continues to support the Kaitiaki Hauora campaign.

Last week, Kaitiaki Hauora's Bill Rosenberg was on the front page of The Post calling out that the Government's GP boost was being paid for by cuts to hospital and specialists services.

📷 Murdoch's political cartoon on last week's story.

This week Kaitiaki Hauora launched a street poster campaign in our major centres. The posters use the words of the 15000 healthcare workers who responded to a nationwide survey about what is happening inside the public health system. 

You can find PDFs of the posters to print off and put up at your work or local cafe here at the Kaitiaki Hauora website.

📷 One a series of seven posters Kaitiaki Hauora has in their nationwide street poster campaign. Download a copy to print off here.

Resources

Brand New Taking Us Places: A Free Fares report on Public Transport. 

You can read it here.

And finally...

Gareth Hughes, Director of Wellbeing Alliance Aotearoa (WeAll), beamed into our noho marae at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae to talk to our members about WeAll mahi and vision for Aotearoa, and its connection to OraTaiao's kaupapa.

Listen to his full talk here.