The Wire with Nicholas

The government's decision to remove funding for pre-sentencing cultural background reports has faced criticism from advocates, particularly for how it could impact Maaori and Pasifika.

News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Action Against Poverty Coordinator, Brooke Stanely Pao, about their recommendations for how the government could better reduce crime in Aotearoa.

In 2018, Women in Urbanism Aotearoa conducted a survey that found more than 75% of women experienced harassment while using public transport, cycling, or walking. 

The survey is being conducted once again, and this time is paired with workshops aimed at better understanding Wāhine Māori experiences in a western framework.

ARUP, a collective organisation of engineers and designers, are heading the research project to see what urban space and transport systems might look like planned from a Te Ao Māori perspective.

Sofia spoke to Senior Transport Planner at ARUP Tiffany Robinson about the project.

For our weekly catch up with Te Pati Māori, Takutai Kemp and Rosetta had a kōrero about Waitangi day and how last week unfolded. They spoke about how the government was received at Waitangi, Rawiri Waititi’s repeated call for the establishment of a Māori parliament during his speech, and Te Pati Māori entering Waitangi alongside the Kiingitanga rather than other opposition parties. Rosetta and Takutai also caught up on the events at Rātana a couple of weeks ago and David Seymours comments about the day.

Two Aotearoa researchers are arguing that indigenous knowledge and western science need to be taught alongside each other in a recently published paper in Science journal titled “Teach Indigenous knowledge alongside science”. Amanda Black, co-director of Bioprotection Aotearoa and Professor at Lincoln University and Jason Tylianakis, professor of ecology at University of Canterbury, are the two lead authors of the paper. They argue that while indigenous knowledge and science are not interchangeable, they are equally as important to be taught in their own rights, and are equally as important on a global scale when discussing climate policy. The paper also discusses the misinformed common attitude towards indigenous knowledge as less valuable or inferior to western science. 

Rosetta spoke to Amanda Black about the paper further.