40 million people globally are in modern slavery. Clothing. Sugar. Electronics. It’s time to make slavery in our products history.
Trade Aid and World Vision ran a petition (March – June 2021) that urged the government to pass a modern slavery act.
“There are very few campaigns that I have seen or been involved with, in about 20 years of being involved in politics that have had such a wide collection of the community and different interests in our society as the one I have seen play out through this campaign. I know that takes work so I just want to acknowledge all of you for the roles you are playing and to let you know that collective campaigning has a real strength when you bring it to our Parliament.” Minister Wood
Campaign Milestones
Business Support
On 16 March 2021 an open letter was presented to the government by 85 New Zealand businesses expressing their support for progressing the work required for a Modern Slavery Act. Since then 31 other businesses have added their voices.
View the open letter with supporting business logos here.
Read More: https://www.tradeaid.org.nz/news/nz-businesses-show-support-for-a-modern-slavery-act/
Handover Event
On Tuesday 29 June we took action against modern slavery and presented a 37,000+ strong petition to Parliament! The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Michael Wood, has convened an advisory group to advise on Modern Slavery Act legislation.
This is an exciting step forward, and both World Vision and Trade Aid are proud to be a part of this advisory group. We’ll continue to push for legislation that will have real impact, representing your voice and the voices of thousands of other kiwis who care about this issue.
Click here if you would like to check out the photos of us taking action at Parliament.
Read More: https://www.tradeaid.org.nz/news/we-took-action-against-modern-slavery/
Submission
Following the presentation of the Sign For Freedom petition to Parliament on July 1, 2021 the written submissions of Trade Aid and World Vision New Zealand were considered by the Petitions Committee on 9 Sep, 2021. You can read this joint submission here.
Oral Submission
On Thursday 18th November 2021 Trade Aid and World Vision made an oral submission to the Petitions Committee. The oral submission gives the chance to explain our petition to the committee and also provides an opportunity for the members to ask questions. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the Human Rights Commission also spoke to their submissions. This is an exciting next step along the journey towards (cross fingers) legislation.
Visit the https://www.facebook.com/petitionscnz/ to watch the oral submission.
Sign for Freedom campaign wins CID award for collaboration
The Council for International Development (CID) has announced the winner of the CID Collaboration Award 2021. The Collaboration Award recognises and celebrates the importance of effective relationships, partnership, and collaborative thinking within and across the sector to tackle global challenges.
Public Submission
On the 15th of September 2021 the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) released the Summary of Feedback on submissions received as part of consultation on a proposal to address modern slavery and worker exploitation.
A massive 5,600 submissions were received and 90% of these were supportive of all entities being required to take action to address modern slavery.
Read more: https://www.tradeaid.org.nz/news/modern-slavery-update/
Drafting Modern Slavery Legislation
In July 2023, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Carmel Sepuloni, announced they are drafting a modern slavery reporting law, requiring businesses with at least $20 million in annual revenue to report on the risks of modern slavery in their supply chains. Those who do not meet disclosure requirements can face financial penalties. This may take another 6-12 months.
Read more here.
