Last week, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced plans to double the tourism value by 2034, with increased funding to support the country in reaching this goal. The funding is primarily targeted at increasing the marketing of New Zealand tourism overseas, which has been met with mixed reactions from tourism operators in Aotearoa, many of whom have been struggling with existing tourist numbers.
Also this past week, the New Zealand government imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers for ‘inciting extremist violence’ against Palestinians. While the move has received cross-party support, opposition parties such as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have criticised the government for not taking further action against Israel.
In our weekly catchup with National's Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the new tourism funding.
Naarm-based musician Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote) has begun a tireless and nobel social media call to action, after his project The Sweet Enoughs had their streaming profiles hijacked by what appears to be AI-generated music. Turns out, it's becoming a really common issue; the low barriers for entry of digital distributors and lack of verification processes, combined with the speed and scale of AI content, making it harder for artists to protect their creative identities and autonomy across streaming. Rosetta decides to investigate, chatting with Paul, Dave Gibson from Elemeno P about a similar experience last year, Recorded Music NZ CEO Jo Oliver, and AI Music researcher Dr Fabio Morreale.
This week on Dear Science our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about characterising liquid carbon, a New Zealand led cleanup in Antarctica, and plants making their own pesticide.
Join Milly and Tuva'a for one interesting Tuesday, with some great tracks old and new! Featuring Ready Steady Learn with , thanks to the University of Auckland!
Playlist
DIIV - Return Of Youth (Radio Edit)
Michael Llewellyn - Stalin
Erny Belle - Hell Hole
Bosq, Kaleta - Wake Up
The Funkees - Abraka
The Go! Team, Monster Rally - Ladyflash (Monster Rally Remix)
Although the anti-stalking legislation has been praised as a step forward for women in NZ, activists have deemed the bill “the bare minimum,” and believe that some grey areas haven’t been addressed.
Producer Faith spoke to community worker Layba Zubair from Aotearoa Free From Stalking about why she believes that the bill needs to be modified to be more victim-focused, and that police need to be better-equipped to deal with cases of stalking.
The government has discussed potential changes to how sick leave is allocated, scaling sick leave days with the number of hours a person works. While this wouldn’t affect the days available to full-time workers, it could see part-time workers with reduced access to sick leave. This has raised some concerns around disproportionate outcomes for women and students, two groups that tend to be employed in more part-time roles.
Wire host Castor spoke to professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Simon Schofield, about the proposed sick leave changes and how they could disproportionately affect some demographics.
The Act Party has unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation for the regulatory standards bill three times.
Producer Faith spoke to Emeritus law Professor Jane Kelsey from the University of Auckland about why she believes they should not progress a fourth time round.
Milly and Tuva'a talk to Tom a PhD candidate in History at the Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland about all things cold war and space race. In a deeply engaging chat we apply this to today's space politics and Trump's 'Golden Dome' and the laws of space.
Oto and Jaycee interivewed Kiwi-Filipino comedian James Roque about his upcoming 'Champorado' tour across Aotearoa and Australia and had an extended kōrero about Filipino food and has transnational experiences in the Canadian comedy scene.
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