The Wire with Castor

This week on the Wednesday Wire:

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s downgrade of methane targets, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and the country’s oceans warming 34% faster than the global average.

For this weeks Get Action Producer Manny speaks to The chair of the Public Issues for the Association of Psycho therapists, Rick Williment, on the open letter from Mental Health Professionals calling on the New Zealand Government to act on Palestine

Joel spoke to Ritesh Shah, a Senior Lecturer in Critical Studies and Education and the Co-Director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies at the University of Auckland, about the most recent ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel and whether it will stick.

Manny spoke to the Chief Executive of Retail New Zealand Carolyn Young about the government's plans to ban stores passing on the contactless pay wave fee

Tuesday Wire Host Sara also attended the Auckland Central World Homeless Day event on Friday, and spoke with Lifewise director Pam Elgar.

Whakarongo mai!

Following on from my chat with MP Ricardo Menendez March, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with Ritesh Shah, a Senior Lecturer in Critical Studies and Education and the Co-Director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies at the University of Auckland, about the most recent ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

This comes following reports of Israeli soldiers having shot and killed nine Palestinians returning to their homes following the ceasefire.

US President, Donald Trump, has warned that if Hamas do not disarm, the US will “disarm them”.

Joel spoke to Shah about this topic and whether this ceasefire will stick.

The cost of living in Aotearoa New Zealand has been one of kiwi's main issues since it topped polls at the end of the Covid lockdowns, prompting the National Party, in oppostion at the time, to declare a cost of living crisis.

However, now the National led government is recieving push back for proposed reforms of contactless payments that critiques say will increase prices.

The government says they are removing an annoyance for consumers but stores say banning their ability to pass on the fees of using contactless payments to those using the service means they will have to compensate by increasing prices, leading to everyone, not just those paying with contactless, will bear the costs.

To learn more about this, Wednesday Wire Producer Manny spoke to Chief Executive of Retail NZ, Carolyn Young, about the impacts of governments plan.

Last week, Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced the Cabinet’s decision to amend the Policing Act, to restore the right for police to collect and use images in public spaces. 

This follows a recent Supreme Court case which ruled that an image of a person taken during a traffic stop could not be used against them in an unrelated crime.

Privacy law specialist Gehan Gunasekara says the revision could extend police powers towards a “surveillance state”.

The government has also announced a change of eligibility for the jobseeker benefit to come into effect from next November — which will see 18 and 19 year olds with parents making more than a combined income of $65,529, no longer able to receive payments. 

In the June 2025 quarter, 12.9% of this country’s 15 to 24 year olds were not in jobs, education or training, and despite claims by Prime Minister Chris Luxon, employers and recruitment agencies have said there aren’t enough roles for those seeking.

Finally, on Sunday the government announced their plan to change methane emissions reduction targets in New Zealand, aiming for between 14 and 24% by 2050, compared to 2017 levels, as opposed to the previous target was between 24 and 47%. 

Agriculture and Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay says the decision is in alignment with evidence, as well as the practicality for farmers — but the decision goes against the Climate Change Commission recommendations to increase the targets, and has been called a “step back” for our climate targets. 

Wire Host Sara spoke with National MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, starting with the Policing Act amendment. She started by asking about the expected benefits of the change