Roger Norman Fowler: 12 September 1948 – 21 February 2026

Roger Fowler, an activist legend of social justice solidarity movements from Bastion Point to resisting apartheid and racist rugby tours and freedom for Palestine, has died after a long illness. He was 77.

Described by some as a “true Tāne Toa”, his protest warrior courage and his commitment to a bicultural and cross-cultural vision for Aotearoa New Zealand, was perhaps best represented by his “Songs of Struggle and Solidarity” vinyl album launched last year.

The first of 14 tracks on the album produced by Banana Boat Records, was “We Are All Palestinians”, which has become an anthem for the Gaza solidarity movement for the past 124 weeks of protest against the Israeli genocide.

Ironically, this was sung yet again by a group in Te Komititanga Square yesterday within hours of his death.

It was written by Fowler after the Viva Palestina solidarity convoy from London to Gaza in 2010.

Fowler led the Kia Ora Gaza team of six Kiwis who drove three of 135 aid-packed ambulances – funded by New Zealand donations — into the besieged enclave. This was followed later by two other land convoys and three Gaza Freedom Flotillas.

In April 2026, a massive new siege-breaking Sumud Flotilla to Gaza with 100 boats and carrying some 1000 activists is being planned.

Gaza solidarity rallies
In spite of failing health in recent months, Fowler was frequently seen at Gaza rallies, speaking and singing in his rousing voice.

Close comrade and friend, John Minto, co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), paid tribute to his contribution in a statement today.

“Roger has been a legend of the solidarity movement for many decades as the founder and co-cordinator of Kia Ora Gaza which delivered aid to the besieged Gaza strip by land and by sea,” he said.

“He was a man of great integrity and character with passion for justice. He will remain a guiding light for the solidarity movement here.”

Co-chair Maher Nazzal presented Fowler an award for his contribution to Palestinian solidarity last September.

Another comrade, especially during Fowler’s activism in the 1960s and 1970s, Tony Fala, recalls his “dauntless courage, tireless optimism, boundless energy, and vast strategic capacity was profoundly inspiring.”

“Roger was one of the humblest and kindest people I have ever met. He could build coalitions and strengthen community bonds with ease. He sought what brought people together, not what kept them apart.

Belief in ordinary people
“He believed in ordinary people and possessed a deep, instinctive understanding of justice. He was strong yet carried no ego.”

Fala praised Fowler’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to Te Ao Māori community life, describing him as a “born oral historian”.

“He gave selflessly to every cause he committed himself to and would move mountains to achieve victory for the struggles he served.”

“We are all Palestinians.”                              Video: Banana Boat Records

In the weeks before his death, he and his whanau were working hard to complete a history of the socialist Ponsonby People’s Union, “Struggle and Solidarity”, due to be published soon. Fowler met his future wife, Dr Lyn Doherty (Ngati Porou and Ngāpuhi), then while they were activists campaigning to stop landlords evicting tenants.

Activist author Dean Parker once described Fowler as “the Great Helmsman of the legendary Ponsonby People’s Union, brave hero of so many struggles”.

Fowler had lived for almost four decades in Mangere East, a multicultural quarter of South Auckland.

He was manager of the Mangere East Community Learning Centre and an executive member of Out of School Care Network.

Impressive community tribute
In 1999, he was a recipient of the Queen’s Service Medal for his “services to community” and the people of Mangere East paid an impressive tribute to him with a daytime concert last November.

One of his best remembered local campaigns was the community coalition in 2010 that saved Mangere East’s Postshop.

A one-time bus driver, Fowler strongly campaigned for public transport.

He was also involved with amateur theatre for several decades, including Auckland Light Opera, “The Aunties” children’s theatre and Manukau Performing Arts.

Fowler was a founding member of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the 1970s and he was part of the anti-apartheid movement for 15 years.

In 1969, along with a large group of activists — including Alan Robson, Pat Bolster and Graeme Whimp — he opened the first Resistance Bookshop in Queen Street and he was co-director for a time.

During his lifelong protests, he was arrested and jailed four times and with colleagues he set up a free prison visiting service in 1972 for Paremoremo and Waikeria.

The last track on Fowler’s album is titled “The Final Song” but his music will be long remembered as the hallmark of the life of an extraordinary community and political activist.

• Roger Fowler’s life will be celebrated at Ngā Tapuwae Community Centre, 255 Buckland Road, Mangere, 10-2pm, Wednesday, February 25.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sir Tim, who was awarded the Knight Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List, served eight terms as Invercargill Mayor between 1993 and 1995, and again between 1998-2022, and two terms as Waitematā (Auckland) Mayor, between 1983 and 1989, making him one of the longest-serving mayors in New Zealand.

“Today we lost the cornerstone of our family and the man who has devoted himself to promoting the City of Invercargill for almost 30 years,” the mayor’s partner of many decades, Asha Dutt, said in a statement on behalf of the family.

“Tim was a kind-hearted man who cared deeply about the people around him. He was a champion for the underdog and an active political campaigner from his student days of anti-war protest, his activism for Māori rights, and his fight to keep the Southern Institute of Technology and Zero Fees autonomous.

“Tim will be remembered with gratitude, respect, and affection for his commitment to the south and his passion for life. The citizens of Invercargill can be proud of the enormous legacy he leaves.”

Invercargill Mayor Tom Campbell told RNZ he was saddened by the news of Sir Tim’s passing.

“He was an extraordinary, charismatic man. On the surface he was a bit of a joker and a bit of a showman. But also a profoundly capable person.

‘Beloved by Invercargill’
“He is beloved by the people of Invercargill and they’re going to be deeply affected by his death.”

The longstanding local leader was responsible for amplifying the city’s profile, not just around New Zealand, but offshore, Campbell said.

“You went anywhere in this country, you go into a taxi, the taxi driver says: ‘where do you come from?’ you say: ‘Invercargill’. They say ‘Sir Tim Shadbolt’.

“You could go to London and the same thing happened. You could go to Melbourne and the same thing happened.

“He was extraordinarily well known.”

Campbell, who won the city’s mayoralty last year, said aside from Sir Tim’s longevity, his advocacy for both the Southern Institute of Technology and Invercargill Airport were some of his greatest achievements in office.

“I think the city is much stronger as a consequence of having Sir Tim as mayor for as long as it did,” he said.

‘Everybody smiled’
“There’s a lot of good that comes from continuity. Just having the same person, pushing the same programmes, being well-known, being popular, everybody smiled when they saw him.

“I think he raised the spirits of Invercargill, he certainly raised the profile of Invercargill, and that’s what he’s going to be remembered for.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon paid tribute to Shadbolt, writing on social media that “few New Zealanders have given such devoted public service as Sir Tim.”

I’m saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Tim Shadbolt.

Few New Zealanders have given such devoted public service as Sir Tim. He served Southlanders and Aucklanders for decades – with a smile on his face and a distinctive charm.

He devoted his career to making his community…

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) January 8, 2026

Labour party leader Chris Hipkins also expressed his condolences.

“From all of the Labour Party, we are very sad to hear of the passing of Sir Tim Shadbolt,” he said.

“Sir Tim gave decades of service to the people of Invercargill. He was a passionate advocate for his community, a tireless public servant, and a voice for those often unheard.

“He believed deeply in the power of people and his leadership helped transform Invercargill.”

Sir Tim’s family has requested privacy during this time and said funeral service details will be announced once confirmed.

The Invercargill City Council said flowers could be left at the Blade of Grass sculpture outside the council’s Esk Street offices.

Politician needs communicating “in all ways”
When he was tapped for New Year Honours in 2018, he told RNZ that being a good politician required people to “communicate in all ways”.

“You’ve got to be an excellent and confident public speaker, you’ve got to be a good writer — you’re always writing reports or newspaper columns. You’ve got to be able to communicate via the radio, the internet, and all the changes in technology that we live in.”

“I like to think I am a good politician,” he said then.

“I guess it’s the old cliché that the proof is in the pudding and we’ve had a golden run, really, in Invercargill.

“When I arrived there we were the fastest declining city in New Zealand or Australia, and we’ve turned that around, mainly with the zero fees schemes (at the Southern Institute of Technology) where we went from a thousand students to 5000 students, so it’s good to actually be able to see changes that are significant.”

He said the zero fees scheme changed Invercargill.

“Instead of being sort of a rural backwater, we were suddenly on the cutting edge of innovation and change and that to me is the project I feel most strongly about.

‘Gritty, honest people’
“The people of Invercargill are gritty, honest, hard working and prepared to take risks, and I was a risk.”

Born in Auckland in 1947, he attended Rutherford High and Auckland University.

He first came to national prominence in the 1960s as a student activist on issues like the Vietnam war and apartheid.

A talented public speaker and debater, he worked as a concrete contractor and was a member of the Auckland Regional Council.

In 1983, Shadbolt was elected mayor of Waitematā — and spent a colourful, and at times controversial, six years in the job.

In 1997, he sued Independent News for articles on the disappearance of the mayoral chain and robes eight years earlier, and was awarded $50,000 in damages.

In 1992, he stood for mayor in Auckland, Waitakere and Dunedin, finishing third in each poll.

Elected mayor again
But the following year, Shadbolt was a mayor again, easily beating 13 rivals for the job in a byelection in Invercargill.

Voted out after only two years, he was re-elected in a landslide in 1998.

He lost his last bid for re-election in 2022.

He also showed an interest in national politics — he was the New Zealand First candidate for the Selwyn byelection in 1994, less than 24 hours after joining the party.

And in 1996, he was on the party list for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

Always prepared to make fun of himself, he appeared in a famous cheese ad featuring the line: “I don’t care where, as long as I’m Mayor”.

The Invercargill City Council paid tribute to him, saying “he was a huge advocate for Invercargill and tirelessly championed for its people. His impact and legacy will be remembered for generations to come.”

“The former mayor was known for ‘putting Invercargill on the map’ and to honour this legacy, the Invercargill Airport terminal building was officially named to the Sir Tim Shadbolt Terminal last year.

“While Southland was not originally the place he called home, Invercargill will always be proud to claim him as one of its own.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Palestine has lost a champion of the struggle against Israeli apartheid with the death of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, aged 90.

Tutu is known internationally as a leader of the struggle against white minority rule in South Africa and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work reconciling South Africans after the end of its brutal apartheid regime.

He was the moral conscience of the country and sometimes highly critical of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC)-led government, saying that some in the ANC leadership had stopped the apartheid gravy train “just long enough to jump on”.

Relationship with New Zealand
Archbishop Tutu was a warm friend of New Zealand and many New Zealanders across our political divides will feel a deep sadness at his passing.

In the early 1980s when Tutu faced court action from the South African authorities, a delegation of church leaders from New Zealand, led by former Anglican Archbishop of Aotearoa New Zealand, the late Sir Paul Reeves, went to South Africa in an act of international solidarity.

This was deeply appreciated by Archbishop Tutu.

During the protests against the 1981 Springbok rugby tour, one of the three Auckland protest squads was called Tutu Squad in his honour.

Later he came to New Zealand and at one point gave evidence as an expert witness on apartheid during a trial arising from 1981 tour protests.

Such was his charisma, his mana and the deep respect he commanded everywhere that when he was called to the witness stand by Hone Harawira, the entire courtroom stood.

In this case all the activists on trial were acquitted after the jury deliberated.

Support for Palestinians
Tutu was outspoken against injustices all around the world and in particular he condemned the racist policies faced by Palestinians from the Israeli regime. He frequently described Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as “worse” than that suffered by black South Africans.

He said international solidarity with Palestinians such as through BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) was critical to ending injustices like apartheid.

“I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing in the Holy Land that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under apartheid,” said Tutu.

“We could not have achieved our democracy without the help of people around the world, who through… non-violent means, such as boycotts and disinvestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the apartheid regime.”

In relation to Israeli policies towards Palestinians, Tutu said the world should “call it apartheid and boycott!”

In honouring Tutu’s legacy, freedom-loving people around the world should follow his advice and spurn Israel till everyone living in historic Palestine has equal rights.

Aotearoa New Zealand, the Palestinian struggle and the world have lost a dear friend and a great humanitarian.

John Minto is national chair of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) and former national chair of HART (Halt all Racist Tours).

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

US ice cream manufacturer Ben and Jerry has announced it will no longer sell icecream in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

This is a welcome development while Israel is continuing to flout international law with their new government approving the building of 31 more illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank alongside the destruction of Palestinian homes and on-going ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families from occupied East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers. 

It appears this move may be linked to last week’s request from the UN Special Rapporteur, Michael Lynk, for countries to recognise Israel’s sponsoring of Israeli settlers on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank as “a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

The Special Rapporteur calls these settlers (680,000 across almost 300 illegal settlements) “the engine of Israel’s 54-year-old occupation, the longest in the modern world”. 

This UN report gives the government the opportunity to make public New Zealand’s abhorrence at these ongoing racist policies against Palestinians.  

New Zealand has been silent since 2016 when the last National-led government co-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 which declared Israel’s illegal settlements to have “no legal validity” and constitute a “flagrant violation of international law”.  

The next step — as requested by the United Nations last week, is for New Zealand to declare this Israel settler policy as a “war crime”.

Five years of silence is complicity with Israel’s war crimes. It is not acceptable.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has written this week to the Minister of Foreign Affairs about this. We are expecting the government to speak out.

John Minto is national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

When Mike Treen, the national director of the Unite Union in New Zealand, arrived at the airport in Auckland earlier this month, a group of people were anxiously waiting for him at the terminal with Palestinian flags and flowers. They hugged him, chanted for Palestinian freedom and performed the customary indigenous haka dance.

For them, Mike, as all of those who set sail aboard the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza last July, were heroes.

But the truth is Mike Treen and his comrades were not the only heroes for braving the sea with the aim of breaking the hermetic Israeli military blockade on the impoverished and isolated Gaza Strip.

READ MORE: Freedom Flotilla activist: Israel soldiers beat us, stripped us, then robbed us

Without those who were present at the Auckland airport, upon Mike’s arrival on August 1, and without the thousands of supporters all across the world who have mobilised as a community – held numerous meetings, raised funds, created a powerful media discourse, and so on – Treen’s attempted trip to Gaza would not have been possible in the first place.

The first boats to successfully break the Gaza siege, in October 2008 were the Free Gaza and the Liberty. They carried 44 people from 17 countries. The activists wanted to push their countries to acknowledge the illegality of the Israeli blockade on Gaza and to, eventually, challenge the siege.

Their triumphant arrival in Gaza 10 years ago, marked a historic moment for the international solidarity movement, a moment, perhaps, unparalleled. Since then, Israel has launched several massive and deadly wars on Gaza.

The first war took place merely weeks after the arrival of the first boats, followed by another war in 2012 and, the deadliest of them all, in 2014. The siege grew tighter.

Also, since then, many attempts have been made at breaking the siege. Between 2008 and 2016, 31 boats have sailed to Gaza from many destinations, all intercepted, their cargo seized and their passengers mistreated.

The most tragic of these incidents was in May 2010 when the Israeli navy attacked the Mavi Marmara ship – which sailed alongside other boats – killing 10 activists and wounding many more.

Even then, the stream of solidarity boats continued to arrive, not only unhindered by the fear of Israeli retribution, but also stronger in their resolve. Palestinians consider the killed activists as “martyrs” to be added to their own growing list of martyrs.

However, none of the boats made it to Gaza; so why keep on trying?

Last May, I arrived in New Zealand as part of a book tour that took me to other countries as well. However, in New Zealand, a relatively small Pacific island nation with a population that does not exceed five million people, the solidarity with Palestine was exceptional.

I asked about the strong Palestine solidarity work in New Zealand, inquiring with the coordinator for Kia Ora Gaza, Roger Fowler, who, at the time, was busy with final preparations for the Freedom Flotilla.

In New Zealand, he said, “for many years support for the Palestinian struggle lingered, often perceived as being too distant, and falsely portrayed as being ‘too complicated’. But the global outrage at Israel’s murderous attack on the Mavi Marmara-led humanitarian flotilla to Gaza in 2010 was a major turning-point that changed all that.”

Fowler, himself, along with other New Zealand activists joined the Lifeline to Gaza convoy soon after the attack on the Mavi Marmara, reaching Gaza with three ambulances, packed with badly needed medicine, as the Israeli siege also deprived the Strip of hospital equipment and urgently needed medicine.

Coordinating all of this was not a simple task as it also needed to be streamlined with the global efforts for the convoy, which included the dispatching of 140 other ambulances and 300 activists arriving from 30 countries.

There were many moving scenes as Palestinians learned how far we had come from to offer solidarity – their Israel overlords had told the Palestinians for years that nobody cared about them, which is a big line.

Fowler told me.

I also spoke with Mike Treen upon his return from his Gaza sea journey. Treen is a seasoned activist, who works daily at defending the rights of workers from across the country. He sees his struggle for workers’ rights in New Zealand as part and parcel of his global solidarity outlook as well.

“In my role as part of the union movement in this country, I was also able to explain [to New Zealanders] that innocent working people [in Gaza] are the victims of this siege and that Israel has driven unemployment to over 50 per cent for working people – one of the highest rates in the world,” he told me.

Treen, just like Fowler, understands that the boat solidarity is not merely an issue of providing urgently needed supplies, but as a well-coordinated effort at exposing the evils of the Israeli blockade. He said:

“Unless Israel is directly bombing Gaza, the siege and its hideous human implications simply drop off the radar of public consciousness.”

And this is precisely the real mission of the Gaza flotillas: While Israel wants to normalise the Gaza siege as it is currently normalising its Occupation and Apartheid regimes, the solidarity movement has created a counter discourse that constantly foils Israeli plans.

In other words, whether the boats arrive on the Gaza coast or are hijacked by the Israeli navy, it makes little difference.

The power and effectiveness of this kind of solidarity goes even beyond Gaza and Palestine.

“Our involvement in international solidarity endeavours, such as the Freedom Flotillas has, in turn, sparked a resurgence in other important elements of building the strength of the world-wide movement for justice.”

Fowler told me, soon after Treen’s return to New Zealand.

Mike Treen also has his work cut out for him as he is now busy engaging the media and various communities in New Zealand, sharing his experiences on the boat, which led to his arrest, beating, tasering and deportation.

And like the horrific Apartheid regime in South Africa, the Israeli Apartheid will collapse, too, because Palestinians continue to resist and because millions of people, like Mike and Roger, are standing by their side.

Dr Ramzy Baroud is author of The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story and visited New Zealand in May.

#FreedomFlotilla

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz