Labour's Andrew Little

As Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Andrew Little is nearing a redress deed with Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, the eight iwi whose maunga is Taranaki. Mary-Margaret asks what the Minister has learnt from listening to Ngā Iwi o Taranaki over the last couple of years. They also discuss the lack of implementation by this government of changes that Māori justice advocates say are essential for fixing a broken justice system.

Mary-Margaret chats to Justice Minister Andrew Little once again, on a range of topics such as the trans tasman bubble, and using opportunities for public involvement where possible. However, Mary-Margaret started by asking about how much government needs to make public when it comes to legal advice for decisions such as a national lockdown, in light of calls from Simon Bridges.

Comparing New Zealand’s COVID-19 policy to Australia’s has been a key part of the arguments posited by those who disagree with nationwide lockdown. For their last chat under Level 4, Mary-Margaret asked Andrew about if we should be paying attention to how Australia combatted the virus without a rāhui like ours. They also discuss mental health, if returning to ‘normal’ is viable or not, and how long Level 3 might last for.

Before our rāhui, the Minister of Justice had started accepting submissions on amendments to the Electoral Registration Bill - which he says is a form of voter suppression against prisoners. He also had started a review of our Hate Speech laws. Mary-Margaret asked him more about these reforms today, and what their progression looks like when Parliament has been suspended. She started by asking, though, about the role that legalising abortion last month played in being able to declare it an essential service during rāhui.