iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

What's the purpose of paying taxes? Are they a burden extracted from individuals, or a mechanism for collective care? Our research examines how the Taxpayers' Union constructs the purpose of taxation, and what that means for Aotearoa. tinyurl.com/WhoCountsANZ #NZPolitics #Aotearoa

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Taxpayer citizenship narrows democratic belonging in Aotearoa, but critique alone isn't enough. In our final video, we argue for an alternative: a model of citizenship grounded in universal rights, collective responsibility, and the constitutional promises of Te Tiriti

youtu.be

- YouTube

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

The Taxpayers' Union doesn't just advocate for lower taxes. Our research found they actively construct a political identity, 'taxpayer citizenship', that promotes who deserves rights in Aotearoa. Here's what it's made of. 🔻 buff.ly/MIayuwQ #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #TaxpayerCitizenship

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Actions speak louder than words. Our research found the NZTU is largely silent when it comes to Te Tiriti, but campaigns hard against every attempt to enact its promises. Any serious account of citizenship in Aotearoa has to start with Te Tiriti. Video 4 in our series. 🔻

youtu.be

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Here's the strategy: The Taxpayers' Union finds one example that sounds wasteful, then presents it as the 'tip of the iceberg'. When this is highlighted over and over, all government spending starts to sound like waste. But who decides what counts as waste? tinyurl.com/WhoCountsANZ #NZPolitics

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Wonder what never gets called 'wasetful' by the Taxpayers' Union? Billions in government spending get a free pass while research grants, mātauranga Māori, and local government get targeted. Our research shows the pattern. 🔻 buff.ly/MIayuwQ #nzpol #Aotearoa

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Kyle Matthews @kylermatthews.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

In the third video in our series on the NZ Taxpayers' Union, 'Who Counts as a Taxpayer' we take a dive into how the NZTU talks about the public service, particularly the language of the 'bloated bureaucracy'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTc7... #nzpol

youtube.com

Who Counts as a Taxpayer? Video 3- Slashing the "Bloated Bureaucracy"

YouTube video by Who Counts as a Taxpayer

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The NZTU calls itself a 'union'. We analysed two years of their campaigns and found they reframe public servants not as delivering essential services, but as bureaucratic excess. Unions fight for workers; our research finds the NZTU fights against them. youtu.be/uTc7EbaoUg8?...

youtu.be

Who Counts as a Taxpayer? Video 3- Slashing the "Bloated Bureaucracy"

YouTube video by Who Counts as a Taxpayer

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

We studied the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union for two years and identified five key findings about how they construct citizenship in Aotearoa. Swipe to see what we found — and why it matters for democracy here. Full report: buff.ly/MIayuwQ #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #TeTiriti #TaxpayerCitizenship

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Kyle Matthews @kylermatthews.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

In the second video of our 'Who Counts as a Taxpayer' series we look at the NZTU's PR strategy which calls out small elements of waste as the 'tip of the iceberg' of a 'culture of government waste', encouraging us to it as indicative of all government spending. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnge...

youtube.com

Who Counts as a Taxpayer? Video 2-The Tip of the Iceberg

YouTube video by Who Counts as a Taxpayer

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Coley @coleytangerina.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Given how small Aotearoa is, everyone knows someone who's 'gone down the rabbithole' in recent years. At safetytoolkit.nz, we’ve done our best to summarise the issue as sensitively as possible, while keeping things within scope for what organisations need to know when they’re being targeted.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

In our analysis of two years of NZTU material, we found the same pattern again and again: a single example of small-scale "waste," framed as proof of widespread misuse of public funds. It's a rhetorical move with real political consequences. Video 2 in our series.🔻 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This is important and timely work given the upcoming submission deadline on the "Definitions of a Man and Woman" Bill.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Many thanks to @sanjanah.bsky.social for intellectually engaging with our work and contextualising it with his own. Read our report where we delve into how the New Zealand Taxpayers Union uses ‘fiscal responsibility’ to assert a neoliberal, settler colonial agenda. tinyurl.com/WhoCountsANZ

tinyurl.com

OSF

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Kyle Matthews @kylermatthews.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Today my colleagues and I are releasing the first outputs from our research 'Who Counts as a Taxpayer? The Taxpayers' Union and Citizenship Rights in Aotearoa'. It's an in depth look at how the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union associates citizenship rights with paying tax www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFuQ...

youtube.com

Who Counts as a Taxpayer? Video 1

YouTube video by Who Counts as a Taxpayer

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Are rights conditional on paying tax? Our new research studied the NZTU for two years and found a consistent pattern in who they say deserves rights in Aotearoa. First video in the series 🔻 @kylematthews.bsky.social #NZPolitics #Aotearoa youtu.be/CFuQGniJT7Y?...

youtu.be

Who Counts as a Taxpayer? Video 1

YouTube video by Who Counts as a Taxpayer

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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Latest from me - a disturbing shift in government reporting from being evidence based to being based on political rhetoric: open.substack.com/pub/drbex/p/...

open.substack.com

The propaganda is going wild

It's not just the covid inquiry - it's in reporting and consultations too

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 23/02/2026

Please please please even if you can't call, recirculate these posts so who can make the call see it

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In order to dehumanize, you first must lose your own humanity.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Their cruelty knows no bounds. A 5 yo in a bunny hat. Used as bait.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

This is unfortunately true. Remain human enough to let your heart break ❤️‍🩹

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

‘Noem earlier called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers’. The state is weaponising the term terrorist against those who would hold them to account. It’s not about actions but the ability of those in power to define those actions. May the loss of Renee not be in vain.

stuff.co.nz

US protests spread after killing of woman by ICE officer, while Trump administration doubles down

Minneapolis is on edge following the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal officer taking part in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, with protesters venting their outrage, the g...

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

As He Whenua Taurikura closes its doors, this final episode distils years of research into a narrative about what extremism really threatens: not just physical safety, but the fundamental human need to belong and our ideas of peace. open.spotify.com/episode/3umc... #populism #GRT #islamophobia

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Looking for other folks on here celebrating #kwanzaa I am really part of the diaspora celebrating all the way out here in New Zealand. Let’s connect!

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Max Soar @maxsoar.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Another example in the "AI is not a band-aid for capitalism it's just more capitalism" bucket

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Welp, since the US has all in on ‘great replacement’ it’s an excellent time to revisit this episode.

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 10/10/2025

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

It’s really quite simple to understand this. It’s harder to follow convoluted logic that wants you to believe otherwise.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

This is the part people don’t get, you don’t get to be racist without it having some very material (and moral and spiritual) costs. Not only do you lose any kind of credibility but also your own humanity.

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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

They're using chemical weapons & deploying snipers against citizens. They're using chemical weapons & deploying snipers against citizens. They're using chemical weapons & deploying snipers against citizens. They're using chemical weapons & deploying snipers against citizens. They're using chemic

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Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 18/09/2025

•ABC: fires Kimmel for mocking Trump •CBS: fires Colbert for mocking Trump •ABC: fires Moran for slamming Stephen Miller •MSNBC: fires Matt Dowd for saying “hateful thoughts lead to hateful actions” •FOX: Champions Brian Kilmeade as he calls for Nazi state murder of America’s 600K homeless people

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Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

"school shooting industry"

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 08/09/2025

You cannot genetically encode cultural behavior The idea that you can is literally racist science from the antebellum era

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

I want to tautoko what Māori have already said about this being an ongoing form of colonial racism. As a scholar of Whiteness, this is an example of the concept of whiteness as property/possession. It shows the power whiteness has to exclude who and what is allowed to be accepted as knowledge.

rnz.co.nz

Literacy experts say no problem with Māori words in book for learner readers

The Education Ministry has said it won't reprint 'At the Marae' for kids because it includes a higher number of Māori words.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

“Let’s be clear: Woke is not about political correctness. It is about moral clarity. It’s about waking up to the suffering of others and refusing to look away. It’s about standing for justice, even when it is uncomfortable.” 💯 This 👆🏽

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Dr. Cassandra Mudgway @legallyfeminist.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Until we treat online violence as a structural barrier to equal participation, we’ll keep losing voices we cannot afford to lose. Reform is overdue. #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/06/n...

newsroom.co.nz

NZ has no clear direction on online safety regulation

From the University of Auckland – Analysis: Rather than placing the burden on victims, the Government should place the burden of online safety on social media platforms

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Newtown is one of Wellington’s most diverse and vibrant suburbs. Today I had coffee at a punk rock coffee shop, went to the halal butcher, browsed a trans op shop, and got the best priced veggies and eggs in all of Welly. Newtown is not the problem, this govt disastrous policies are.

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

How your email finds me. Thanks Victoria Zoo. This little one’s name is Noodle

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

This is the most compelling case I’ve seen yet that America is no longer a democracy but an authoritarian state. Not a *soon-to-be* authoritarian state—a *current* one.

motherjones.com

Slouching into fascism

Are we already past the tipping point?

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Avery Smith @averysmith.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Had the pleasure of going to the book launch for Oceans Between Us @ Unity Books edited by Dr Naepi. Crucial scholarship in how racism impacts Pacific communities in Aotearoa. Bula vinaka to all the scholars who contributed to this mahi.

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Wellington Pride Festival I Tū whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara @wellingtonpride.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

We need you in the public gallery of the courtroom so we've set up a roster. Slide into our DMs or email tasmin@wellingtonpride.com for info. Please be aware there's lot of court rules, and may be some very upsetting content. Can’t make it but keen to support? givealittle.co.nz/cause/wellin...

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LostArcNZ @lostarcnz.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

My wife has a list of all the words in the book that they are going to stop printing, and is going to get them printed on a T-shirt. The words are: marae, karanga, wharenui, koro, hongi, karakia, kai if you want to do the same. newzealandcurriculum.tahurangi.education.govt.nz/at-the-marae...

newzealandcurriculum.tahurangi.education.govt.nz

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