Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Welcomes Historic Cross-Party Progress on Modern Slavery Legislation
National and Labour unite to advance human rights protections after ACT obstruction
Latest
Letter to the Minister of Health re FSU correspondence concerning the Nursing Council's draft code of conduct for nurses.
Rights Aotearoa has become aware of correspondence to you from the Free Speech Union (FSU) regarding the Nursing Council’s proposed amendments to the Code of Conduct for nurses. We write to provide an alternative perspective and to respectfully urge you not to intervene in this matter.
Letter to the Prime Minister re: Winston Peters use of an antisemitic dogwhistle
I write to you regarding a matter of serious concern: the use of coded antisemitic language by your Foreign Minister, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, in public commentary on international institutions.
The Philosophical Case for Hate Speech Laws
Human dignity matters because it recognises our equal moral worth. But when speech performatively enacts subordination, it degrades dignity into empty formalism. Democracy matters because it makes power accountable to reason. But hate speech poisons deliberation and excludes citizens.
Letter to Paul Goldsmith re: Urgent regulation of AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery and suspension of government communications on X
Rights Aotearoa is deeply concerned about the ongoing availability of xAI's Grok image generation tool, which has been widely reported as facilitating the creation of non-consensual intimate images, including of public figures and potentially of minors.
Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Welcomes High Court Ruling: Minister's Appointments Declared Unlawful
WELLINGTON – Rights Aotearoa welcomes the judgment delivered today by the High Court in Thistoll v Minister of Justice [2025] NZHC 4067, which declares that the Minister of Justice acted unlawfully in his decision-making process regarding recent appointments to the Human Rights Commission.
Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban
Rights Aotearoa unequivocally supports the urgent legal action filed today by the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to halt the Government’s discriminatory ban on puberty blockers.
Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #7
Critiquing the Government's decision to ban blockers, defending the HDCA and a Podcast appearance.
Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.
Rights Aotearoa condemns the Government’s decision today to ban the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender youth as an act of unlawful discrimination and political interference in clinical medicine.
The Tool Isn't Broken – The Wielders Are Corrupt - A Defence of the HDCA
Why the Ms Z case demands accountability, not the repeal of the Harmful Digital Communications Act - By Paul Thistoll, CEO, Rights Aotearoa
Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #6
Week Ending 1 November 2025
Letter to Stephen Rainbow re: Urgent Request for Public Statement on Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum
I write to you both as the Chief Executive of Rights Aotearoa and as a fellow advocate for human rights in Aotearoa, regarding a matter of urgent concern that falls squarely within the Commission's mandate to promote and protect human rights in New Zealand.
Letter to Hon Erica Stanford Re: Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum – Human Rights Concerns Regarding Erasure of LGBTTQIA+ Content
I write to you regarding the draft Health and Physical Education curriculum content released on 28 October 2025, and to express Rights Aotearoa's extremely grave concerns that the draft framework fails to meet New Zealand's domestic and international human rights obligations.
Media Release: Draft Curriculum Erases Rainbow Students and Breaches Human Rights Obligations
Wellington — Rights Aotearoa completely and utterly condemns the Ministry of Education's draft Health and Physical Education curriculum, released yesterday, which completely erases references to diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and intersex variations.