Feeling disenfranchised and angry with the current government? Me too. Not sure how to constructively channel this energy? Come to this workshop!

It’s no secret that the law is pretty cooked. Whether you think it's boring or the machinery which facilitated the colonisation of Aotearoa, it’s usually not all that fun to think about let alone engage with. But the inaccessibility of law is by design. The powers that be don’t want you to engage with it; the more people with legal literacy, the less they can get away with.

The Regulatory Standards Bill is a textbook example of this insidious behaviour. Never heard of it? Fair enough. The Bill opened for submissions when we were all hungover just after Twisted last year. Coming right off the back of the infamous Treaty Principles Bill and framed as a dry procedural amendment, it received relatively little attention. Unfortunately for New Zealand, however, it’s perhaps the biggest undemocratic constitutional change in the last 100 years. The Bill requires law-makers to assess the consistency of all proposed and existing law with the set of principles defined in the bill. The principles, set out by none other than David Seymour, elevates private property and individual rights, while subordinating the environment and Te Tiriti. The effect of this is that laws designed to protect te taiao, achieve our emissions reduction targets and provide equitable outcomes for Māori, among many other things, may be slowed down, weakened and challenged in Court. Shits cooked. And this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time that this government tries to sneak its morally bankrupt agenda through without people kicking up too much of a fuss. So let's kick up a fuss.

Submissions are a critical part of the legal process before bills become law. Anyone can write a submission and it can be anywhere from 5 words to 5,000+. This workshop is designed to give some background to some of the shit fuckery that has been going on in Parliament of late and provide you with the skills to fight back.

I don’t claim to be an expert in all things law. But five years of legal studies, plenty of submission writing and a background in activism and environmental advocacy has taught me a few things. This government has offered us a challenge and it’s never too late to rise to it. Whether or not you know anything about the legal system, if you care about anything from the environment, Te Tiriti to human rights come to this workshop and upskill. Check out Climate Clinic - student run environmental law advcoacy organisation (we take litigation too!). Insta: @climateclinicvuw Website: http://climateclinic.org.nz/