Justin spoke to Justice Minister Andrew Little about parliament's working culture, the situation on managed isolation, the progress on treaty settlement with Te Whakatotea iwi, and guidelines on advertising for the upcoming referendums.
This week, Mary-Margaret and Andrew discussed the proposed rewriting of the Official Information Act, the extension of the role of Children’s Commissioner to monitor the treatment of children in secure detention centres, and whether or not advocacy by an American lobby group is ‘interference in another country's electoral process'.
Mary-Margaret speaks to the Justice Minister about yesterday’s opening of the New Zealand Criminal Cases Review Commission, and the restoration of the right to legal representation in the family court. They also have a more holistic discussion about making the justice system less 'homogenous', as Andrew describes it.
Justin talked to Justice Minister Andrew Little on COvid-19 quarantine and testing, Sexual Violence Legislation, cybersecurity, and the prisoner voting rights bill's third reading in Parliament.
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.
In today’s catch up with Minister Little, Mary-Margaret asks about the meaning of “operational matters” and not being able to comment on them, and what he thinks of our modern national security regime in light of revelations that our Secret Service broke into the Czechoslovakian Embassy in the late 80s.
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.
Minister Andrew Little announced yesterday the possibility of further support for tenants of commercial property. Lillian spoke to him about this, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday regarding closing the border to NZ citizens, and the submissions process for the Electoral Amendment Act.
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.
A group of academics calling for a 'Plan B' posit that the economic harm our rāhui will cause is worse than loss of life. In her catch up with Andrew Little this week, Mary-Margaret asked what the Government's response to this notion is, and if it will influence future decisions relating to COVID-19 response. This week also saw the first package announcement for tertiary students during the pandemic, and Mary-Margaret questioned the Minister about why students are the only group whose COVID-19 assistance has come in the form of accumulating more debt.
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