The State of the Nation 2025 report by the Salvation Army paints a bleak but unsurprising picture of life in Aotearoa under capitalism. It reveals what many of us already feel every day—an economy designed to serve profit, not people, and a state that perpetuates inequality rather than dismantles it. The report highlights three fundamental needs for human flourishing—kai (food), kāinga (housing), and whānau (family and community)—and shows how, across all measures, our society is failing to meet these basic human rights.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t a crisis of poor decision-making, bad policy, or economic mismanagement. It’s a feature of the system itself. Under capitalism, poverty isn’t a glitch—it’s a tool. Housing insecurity isn’t accidental—it’s profitable. Rising imprisonment rates don’t reflect a failing justice system—they’re a symptom of state violence protecting capitalist and colonial interests.

For those of us committed to an anarcho-communist vision for Aotearoa, this report serves not just as a wake-up call, but as undeniable proof that reform is not enough. The system is working exactly as it was designed to. It’s time to dismantle it and build something better—rooted in mutual aid, collective ownership, decolonisation, and true freedom for all. The Manufactured Crisis of Poverty

One of the most damning revelations in the report is the rise of food insecurity in Aotearoa, particularly among families with children. Over 400,000 people now require welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s, and half of all Pacific children go without food often or sometimes. For many whānau, the basic human right to kai has been stolen by a system that prioritises profit over survival.

But let’s not be fooled into thinking this is about scarcity. There is no shortage of food in Aotearoa. What we have is a system of artificial scarcity, where food is treated as a commodity rather than a human right. Supermarkets rake in record profits while families go hungry. The state steps in with welfare payments and food parcels not as a solution, but as a band-aid on a bleeding wound caused by neoliberal policies and corporate greed.

The rise of poverty is not a failure of capitalism—it’s capitalism working exactly as intended. The working class is kept precarious, wages are driven down, and dependency on low-paid, insecure work ensures the system remains profitable for the elite. Meanwhile, the state acts as an enforcer, making life just bearable enough to avoid outright rebellion.

The anarcho-communist alternative is clear: mutual aid and food sovereignty. Communities must reclaim control over their own food systems through collective gardening, cooperative farming, and the dismantling of corporate monopolies on food production and distribution. Real security comes not from state handouts but from self-organised systems that put human needs before corporate greed.

Housing as a Site of Struggle

Housing is another area where the state’s complicity in upholding capitalist interests is brutally clear. The report reveals worsening rental affordability, increasing homelessness, and a shortfall of over 4,000 homes just to keep up with population growth. This is not a housing shortage—it’s a crisis manufactured by speculation, commodification, and the unchecked greed of landlords and developers.

Let’s call it what it is: housing in Aotearoa has been transformed into an investment scheme for the wealthy. Houses sit empty while thousands sleep on the streets or cram into overcrowded rooms. The government’s tightening of emergency housing access has left many without shelter, and Pacific and Māori whānau bear the brunt of this injustice, facing the highest rates of rental stress and the lowest rates of home ownership.

Māori initiatives have shown glimpses of what a decolonial approach to housing could look like—housing led by and for Māori communities, grounded in whanaungatanga (relationships) and collective responsibility. Yet, these initiatives remain underfunded and undermined by state structures that prioritise capitalist interests over tino rangatiratanga (self-determination).

From an anarcho-communist perspective, the solution is radical and unapologetic: abolish landlords. Housing should be a collective resource, not a profit-making tool. Empty homes must be expropriated and returned to those who need them. Community-led housing cooperatives, grounded in mutual aid and collective ownership, offer a model for housing that prioritises people over profit.

The Prison-Industrial Complex and State Violence

One of the most harrowing revelations in the report is the rise of violent crime and the growing prison population—especially among Māori. Despite overall crime rates declining, violent crime is increasing, and the prison population has grown to nearly 10,000. The report makes it clear: Māori are twice as likely to be the victims of violent crime and remain vastly overrepresented in prisons.

This isn’t accidental—it’s by design. The prison-industrial complex in Aotearoa, like in every capitalist state, serves a dual purpose: it disciplines the working class and upholds colonial power structures. Māori over-incarceration is not a side effect; it is a continuation of colonisation by other means. The state’s reliance on punishment rather than restoration ensures that cycles of violence continue, feeding back into a system that profits from repression.

The answer is not more prisons, harsher sentences, or “tough on crime” rhetoric. Instead, we must look towards abolitionist frameworks that dismantle the prison system and replace it with restorative and transformative justice—models that prioritise healing, accountability, and community-led responses to harm.

In practice, this means investing in community-led initiatives that address the root causes of harm: poverty, trauma, and systemic inequality. It means supporting Māori-led justice initiatives that are grounded in tikanga Māori and honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Decolonisation and Tino Rangatiratanga

One of the most insidious myths perpetuated in public discourse is that Māori receive “special treatment” under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The reality, as the report shows, couldn’t be further from the truth. Māori continue to face deep structural inequities across every measure—higher unemployment rates, lower incomes, disproportionate incarceration, and worsening outcomes in education and health.

When Māori seek to exercise tino rangatiratanga, they are met with resistance from a state that fears any real challenge to its colonial foundations. Yet, where Māori-led initiatives have been given space to operate—such as in housing, education, and care of tamariki—they have delivered better outcomes than state-led interventions.

For anarcho-communists, decolonisation is not just a moral obligation—it’s fundamental to the dismantling of capitalist and colonial structures. True liberation in Aotearoa means supporting Māori sovereignty and creating space for Indigenous-led governance, free from the constraints of state power and capitalist exploitation.

Decolonisation is not about integrating Māori into the existing system—it’s about dismantling that system entirely and rebuilding from the ground up, with Māori leadership and self-determination at the core.

The Path Forward: An Anarcho-Communist Vision for Aotearoa

The Salvation Army’s report lays bare the consequences of a system built on exploitation, inequality, and control. But while the statistics are grim, they also serve as a call to action for those of us who believe in a future beyond capitalism and colonialism.

An anarcho-communist future for Aotearoa would be built on four core principles:

Mutual Aid and Collective Care Communities supporting one another through solidarity, not charity. This means creating networks for food distribution, housing support, and direct action—led by the people, for the people.

Decolonisation and Tino Rangatiratanga True recognition of Māori sovereignty, the return of stolen land, and support for Māori-led initiatives that operate independently of colonial state structures.

Abolition of Capitalist Structures The dismantling of private property, landlords, and wage labour. Building worker-owned cooperatives, local assemblies, and collective ownership of resources.

Restorative and Transformative Justice Moving away from punitive justice systems and investing in community-led conflict resolution, healing, and rehabilitation that address the root causes of harm.

Conclusion: No One Is Coming to Save Us—We Save Each Other

The State of the Nation 2025 report exposes a brutal truth: the state will not save us. The government’s role is not to protect the vulnerable but to maintain the status quo for the wealthy and powerful. The rising rates of poverty, homelessness, and incarceration are not accidents—they are the logical outcomes of capitalism and colonialism.

But within these crises lies a radical opportunity. The cracks in the system reveal spaces where communities can rise up, reclaim power, and build something better. It starts with mutual aid, with direct action, with solidarity—and with the understanding that the fight for justice in Aotearoa is inseparable from the fight for Māori sovereignty and the dismantling of colonialism.

We cannot wait for politicians or policies to save us. The power to create a better world lies in our hands—the people, united, organised, and committed to building a future free from oppression, exploitation, and state control.

The time for reform is over. The time for revolution is now.

https://awsm4u.noblogs.org/post/2025/02/23/58/

AOTEAROA WORKERS SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT

aotearoa_anarchism@riseup.net

23.2.25

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