The Wire with Castor

The crown mineral amendment bill was introduced to parliament last Tuesday. Public submissions on the bill close tomorrow (Tuesday 1st October). This gives the public only four business days to make their submission on the bill, significantly shorter than the average submission time. 

The bill is aiming to reverse the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, something the coalition government campaigned on. 

The government has also cut down the normal six month select committee process, wanting the bill to be passed before the end of the year. 

Greenpeace says the short public submission time on the bill shows the government has a complete disregard for people in New Zealand who care about climate change. 

Producer Evie spoke to Greenpeace Executive Director Russell Norman about his concerns surrounding the four day submission time on the bill, and what impacts the ban reversal will actually have on the environment. 

Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News on the latest United States election polling numbers and the execution of Marcellus Williams for State of the States.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s Mental Health spokesperson, Ingrid Leary, about Mental Health Awareness Week.

For State of the States, they speak to Andre Fa’oso from the Yale Daily News about recent presidential election polling numbers and the execution of Marcellus Williams.

And they speak to Daniel Benson-Guiu, Assistant National Secretary of the Tertiary Education Union about today’s strikes across four universities. I also speak to University of Auckland’s Queer Rights Officer Artie Ho about what the strike means for students. 

For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Julie Fairey about Council’s working from home policies and a rubbish bin graveyard found near Auckland Domain following Council removing public rubbish bins as part of its cost-saving drive

She also speaks to UNICEF Aotearoa Communications Director Tania Sawicki Mead about an open letter launched with the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health calling for a multi-sectoral approach to tackle the global mental health funding gap.

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s upcoming Special General Meeting to discuss using the Waka Jumping Legislation to remove former MP Darleen Tana from Parliament. They also spoke about Nicola Willis’s announcement to clamp down on public sector Work From Home Arrangements and Minister for Social Development Louise Upston rejecting suggestions for a $3 billion investment to fix child poverty

He spoke to Dr Paula O’Kane from the University of Otago for an expert’s perspective on Nicola Willis’s Work from Home proposals

He spoke to Shohil Kishore from the University of Auckland to discuss a study he conducted evaluating the role of social media in mental health discussions during the Pandemic.

And he spoke to Dr Chris Wilson, also from the University of Auckland, to discuss the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens from captivity by the West Papuan Liberation Army, as well as the conflict itself in West Papua.

Sasha spoke to professor of Business and Economics Robert MacCulloch from the University of Auckland about the United State’s Federal Reserve rate cut putting pressure on RBNZ.

And for this week’s Get Action! Sasha spoke to Dave Macpherson from The Future is Rail about a petition he started to ensure replacement Cook Strait ferries can carry trains.