Last week the Green Party unanimously agreed to use the Waka Jumping legislation to remove former Green MP Darleen Tana from parliament.
The party has historically been against the legislation, with a long-standing history of opposing waka-jumping laws and their use.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Evie asked what the ACT party’s views on this decision were, considering the ACT Party was the last to use the legislation in 2003, removing Donna Awatere Huata who was accused of fraud.
They also discuss Gore district council’s plan to designate the entire region as a site of cultural significance, which the ACT party strongly opposes, calling it a ‘land grab.’
And finally, they talk about the University of Auckland introducing a compulsory course focused around Te Tiriti o Waitangi for all students - which the ACT party has been vocally opposing.
Earlier this month, the Electoral Commission released political parties’ annual financial statements, however, Te Pāti Māori had failed to release theirs.
Since failing to do so, the party has since been referred to the police over the matter, with updates from last week from the police saying they were continuing to assess the matter.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party’s lack of a financial statement.
They also discussed Green Party MP, Teanau Tuiono’s Restoring Citizenship Removed by Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill passing its first reading with unanimous support from the select committee.
The bill would allow Samoans born between 1924 and 1948 to have reinstated New Zealand citizenship, following a 1982 ruling by the then National government that those born in the previously New Zealand-occupied territory of Western Samoa as non-New Zealand citizens.
Finally, they discussed 21 new te reo Māori names being allocated for sites around the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board area.
The government is reintroducing a ‘social investment agency’, an organisation last seen during Bill English’s National government.
The agency assesses the cost of individuals to the state, largely the cost of beneficiaries. Once this is assessed the government steps in to prevent those deemed most costly from creating these costs. This includes managing individuals' benefits, putting a limit on what they can spend and sanctioning them if they miss support sessions or meetings.
The move is largely created to save the government costs, rather than addressing poverty and disadvantage at the root.
Teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Eileen Joy says this approach completely ignores the systemic causes behind disadvantage.
Producer Evie spoke to Dr Eileen Joy about the system, how it’s implemented and what impacts it will have.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party failing to release an annual statement, the Samoan Citizenship bill, and 21 new te reo Māori names being allocated for sites around the Māngere-Ōtāthuhu Local Board area.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Evie talks about the Green Party using the Waka Jumping legislation to remove Darleen Tana from parliament, Gore district council’s plans to make the region an area of cultural significance and the University of Auckland’s new compulsory paper surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Joel speaks to the Organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the recent union member strikes at the University of Auckland.
Evie speaks to Professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland Dr Eileen Joy about the government’s approach to social welfare ignoring systemic causes.
And Joel speaks to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent student nurses rallies that happened across the country.
Listen back to hear Political Science student Castor recount a recent lecture on relations between Aotearoa and China on Lecture Me, thanks to Blue Hills Books!
On Saturday, student nurses rallied across multiple cities in the country; in Auckland, Whāngarei, Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Nelson, over petitioning for the government to implement paid training.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent rallies, and concerns that studying nursing is gradually becoming a lot less accessible to New Zealanders.
On Friday, staff at the University of Auckland held a strike on campus, over ongoing conversations with the University regarding bettering working conditions and improving pay for staff.
This follows similar protest action that happened on campus THREE weeks ago, with members as a part of THREE different universities striking on the same day. These rallies were attended by 4,000 Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union members overall, making this strike action the largest since staff from all EIGHT universities striked two years prior.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the most recent strikes at the University of Auckland, and what this means moving forward.
A busy, busy Drive for Rāhina evening! Matthew Crawley spoke to the winnner of the Play It Strange Songwriting Competition 2024, Keira Wallace, French crooner Ryder The Eagle ahead of his debut Aotearoa show at Double Whammy, Kaitlyn took a roaming mic down to Q Theatre to talk to Tom Sainsbury and the cast of upcoming Silo Theatre show Camp, and Crystal of Phoebe Rings about their eponymous EP that dropped on Friday last week! Thanks to The Beer Spot!
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