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.
As the Prime Minister put it, those who are in their 20s are the vector for tranmission of COVID-19. Mary-Margaret speaks to Minister Andrew Little about this, as well as a new channel to report price gouging, police dispersal and the place of cannabis in the new landscape.
In light of our COVID-19 rāhui, Mary-Margaret asked the Minister if he was worried about the extent to which noncompliance might jeopardise our efforts. They discussed what the dispersal of patrol might look like during this crisis compared to day to day New Zealand, in which police presence is noticeably unequal across regions and suburbs.
Mary-Margaret asks the Minister about last night's removal of abortion from the crimes act; the COVID-19 stimulus package and what it says about Labour's relationship to provisions for safety nets outside of pandemics; how prisoners are being affected currently; and impacts on Pike River recovery funds.
Abortion has passed its second Parliamentary reading, so Mary-Margaret asked what the Minister's reckons are before it goes to committee stage. They also talk about two more recent amendments and nuclear disarmament.
Last week, we missed our chat with Andrew Little as he was at Waitangi, so this week, Lillian speaks to the Minister about Waitangi! They touch on Andrew's speech given fully in te reo Māori, and whether the government managed to address some of the key issues raised by Māori prior to Waitangi Day. Lillian also gets the MInister to explain his position on constitutional transformation and what he thinks the role of the Waitangi Tribunal is following comments by the opposition to eventually disestablish it.
It's Andrew Little's final Wire interview for 2019 - and his final chat ever with host Stewart Sowman-Lund.
Today, how should we be thinking about criminal justice reform? Plus, is 12-billion dollars in infrastructure spending too little too late? And what does the Minister think about a possible NZME-Stuff merger?
95bFM 