Second school teachers’ strike, New Zealand calling for foreign media access in Gaza w/ the ACT Party’s Simon Court: 25 August, 2025

Last week, up to 19,000 secondary school teachers across the motu went on strike for a day over what they say is an inadequate pay offer of 1% each year for three years by the Ministry of Education.

The union, the Post Primary Teachers’ Association, or PPTA, say this pay offer is the lowest in a generation.

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about these strikes and the Ministry’s pay offer.

They also discussed New Zealand joining 26 other countries in calling for “immediate and independent” foreign media access into Gaza, and to allow Israel to protect journalists reporting from within the besieged strip.

The joint statement by the Media Freedom Coalition says, "Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively. We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts".

Joel also spoke to Court about this, but first, we discussed last week’s secondary school teachers’ strikes.