Over the weekend, at the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that New Zealand would not formally recognise a Palestinian state.
This follows weeks of the Government not explicitly laying out what their plans were regarding recognising Palestine, unlike countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, who all announced they would be recognising a Palestinian state.
The government’s decision to not recognise a Palestinian state has received criticisms from the opposition parties, international relations experts, and pro-Palestinian advocates.
For our weekly catchup, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the country’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood.
We also discussed the government overhauling the Holidays Act.
The changes include a shift to hours-based accrual system for annual leave and a 12.5% Leave Compensation Payment for casual employees as opposed to accruing leave.
Joel also spoke to Simon about this topic, specifically about its impact on casual and part-time employees.
But first, we discussed the Government’s decision not to recognise Palestine.
Over the weekend, at the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that New Zealand would not formally recognise a Palestinian state.
This follows weeks of the Government not explicitly laying out what their plans were regarding recognising Palestine, unlike countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, who all announced they would be recognising a Palestinian state.
The government’s decision to not recognise a Palestinian state has received criticisms from the opposition parties, international relations experts, and pro-Palestinian advocates.
For our weekly catchup, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the country’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood.
We also discussed the government overhauling the Holidays Act.
The changes include a shift to hours-based accrual system for annual leave and a 12.5% Leave Compensation Payment for casual employees as opposed to accruing leave.
Joel also spoke to Simon about this topic, specifically about its impact on casual and part-time employees.
But first, we discussed the Government’s decision not to recognise Palestine.
Last Week, at a United Nations Climate Summit, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters pointed to what he called the “elephant in the room” - that in order to rein in emissions, the top 4 countries in terms of emissions, at 60% of the world’s emissions, must do their part.
While there is validity to these claims, and they offer a welcome contrast to the Climate Denialism of leaders such as US President Donald Trump, there are still concerns over what these claims may mean in terms of Aotearoa’s own responsibilities and approach to climate change and action.
Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in accountancy and Finance at the University of Otago, Dr Sebastian Gehricke, about these claims, and how they may reflect the Government’s approach to Aotearoa’s emissions responsibilities.
Last week, US President Donald Trump had an outburst of criticism towards the UN. Despite the why and what of these criticisms by the right wing leader, he is not the first to levy criticisms against the organisation and its structures.
Particularly, the inability for the organisation to enact, oversee and rule on meaningful change, as well as the powers invested in an outdated security council, have been subject of significant concern, especially in the 21st century.
Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Tutor in Law at the University of Auckland, Dr Justin Sobion, about the UN’s glaring issues, and potential fixes.
In a recently released study from the University of Otago, researchers surveyed over 1000 participants, with over two thirds of these participants supporting the idea of the government developing plans to deal with catastrophe’s, extending across the political spectrum.
Such catastrophes include nuclear war, the spread of bioengineer infectious diseases, and weather events.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Senior Researcher and a Population Health Professor at the University of Otago, Wellington, Nick Wilson, about this study, and what the government already has in place to deal with these risks.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about the Government not announcing they would recognise a Palestinian state and the government’s new Employment Act.
Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in Accountancy and Finance and the University of Otago, Dr Sebastian Gehricke, about Winston Peters’ comments to the UN about top Emitters, and what it means for Aotearoa’s climate approach.
Alex also spoke to Senior Tutor in Law at the University of Auckland, Dr Justin Sobion about the problems with the UN, the Security Council, and how these can be fixed.
And Joel spoke to Nick Wilson - a Public Health Professor at the University of Otago, Wellington, about a new study, showing a majority of New Zealanders in the study want the Government to develop specific plans in case of catastrophic risks to the nation.
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