Kia Tika Kia Pono—For a Just Society
There are concepts emerging internationally and nationally that will help us develop a framework for a society built on equity and justice for all.
16–18 April 2026
Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus
This conference developed a new way of thinking about Aotearoa New Zealand as a society. Our task is to imagine a new language with which to address the issues that we are facing and help us move towards a just society and economy. We know enough of what is wrong; we have the evidence on the causes and harms of pay inequity, poverty, and systemic destructive racism. Now we need to build a new analytical narrative that takes us from an extractive to a just economy and society.
We invited speakers to develop the building blocks for a just society. Setting about creating an Aotearoa New Zealand that is built on notions of comprehensive, holistic justice we need to re-imagine how an Aotearoa with a future would look.
Economists, environmental and medical experts, social scientists, Iwi, and community organisations are warning that the health of our country is eroding. Decades of declining investment in state services and a dominant extractive politics have created an unbalanced country in which an increasing majority is struggling to make ends meet and an environment endangered by continuing exploitative practices and climate change. A reset is needed.
There are concepts emerging internationally and nationally that will help us develop a framework for a society built on equity and justice for all. This conference was a kōrero of scholars, activists, community builders, economists, and legal experts. To imagine a just society we must be willing to engage in exploration together: the speakers, and the audience.