The Wire with Caeden

A Māori and Pasifika study space at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, has engendered wide discourse about safe spaces in universities. 

Commentary has included ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar saying the space is a form of segregation, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters saying it is comparable to the Ku Klux Klan and apartheid in South Africa. 

Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Dr Julie Douglas, the National Co-President for the Tertiary Education Union, about this commentary and the importance of these spaces for these tauira.

Social work students in Aotearoa along with many other countries undergo 120 hours of unpaid placement work as part of their qualifications. 

During this time, many students experience financial and material hardship, juggling placement work with paid work or other commitments.

In a recently published paper, social workers discuss the conditions and offer possible solutions. Wire host Castor spoke to one of the paper’s authors, the University of Auckland’s professor Liz Beddoe, about the paper and how these issues affect social work students.

Sunday, March 31st, marked international transgender day of visibility, a day meant to highlight the achievements of transgender individuals and communities around the world and highlight the many legal struggles still affecting them. 

Wire host Castor talked to James about what the government has to offer our trans rangatahi, especially given policies promoted by New Zealand First Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters before the election. They also spoke about the Fast Track Approvals Bill and the possible environmental consequences. 

Last month saw the release of an independent review examining the emergency management of Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay last year. Insights revealed the key role marae, iwi and hāpu played in disaster response, heralding calls for strategies more inclusive of te ao Māori.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke with Dr. Shaun Awatere, of Ngāti Porou, who is Kaihautū Māori Research Impact Leader and Manaaki Whenua at Landcare Research. He discussed the ways in which national and local bureaucracies can be more formally inclusive of te Ao Māori and mana whenua approaches.

Jasmine also spoke with Professor Christine Kenney, of Te Ātiawa ki Kāpati, Ngāi Tahu, and Ngāti Toarangatira. Amongst an impressive array of interdisciplinary roles in this area, Christine is the Chair of Disaster Risk Reduction at Massey University, and she provided us more insight about what the report’s findings mean for Aotearoa’s wider emergency management frameworks.