Mark Derby, organiser of the “Another World is Possible” competition, says it aimed “to inspire debate on alternative futures”. The competition was organised by the Labour History Project, to emulate a similar event held a hundred years earlier by Walter Nash, then a labour organiser and later a popular prime minister.
A total of more than 40 entries from throughout the country were received, remarkably similar to the number who entered the original competition a century ago. The oldest entrant was aged over 90, the youngest 17.
A panel of three judges – Victoria University historian Cybele Locke, political commentator and trade unionist Matt McCarten, and journalist Jeremy Rose – assessed the entries anonymously, and independently of each other.
Winners
The overall winner, receiving the first prize of $500 cash, was Ciaran Doolin of Christchurch.
One judge said this entry “hinged on a vision of how powerful participatory democracy of ordinary people could be”.
Ciaran Doolin, ‘Democracy and Community: New Zealand at a Watershed’
Second prize winner, receiving $250, was Jane Blaikie of Wellington.
A judge commented that Jane’s was “a deeply moving, personal story that gave real clout to the vision of freeing the poor.”
Jane Blaikie, ‘Free the poor – another world is possible’
The youth (under 18) winner was 17-year-old Wellington schoolgirl Daisy Cadigan.
Reading Daisy’s entry, said one judge, meant having “eyes opened to a brave new world where diversity and equality were not exclusive terms.”
Daisy Cadigan, ‘Another world is Possible – Race Relations in New Zealand’