The Wire with Castor

This week in Aotearoa, the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill is set to pass its third reading in parliament. The legislation extends existing protections and introduces new areas of marine reserve. The move is providing what many have described as long overdue in Aotearoa’s conservation efforts, as only 0.3% of our waters are currently under full marine protection. However, experts have also raised concerns about the balance of consideration of commercial fisheries comparative to that of local whānau and hapū groups.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Fiona McCormack, an Associate Marine Anthropology Professor at the University of Waikato, about the nature of this legislation and what it means for wider marine conservation efforts.

Recently, the University of Auckland, Massey University, and the Victoria University of Wellington, have announced they will not be using software to check over student’s work for AI plagiarism. 

This has left concerns over what the future of checking for AI will mean in these universities, and whether other universities, and tertiary institutions as a whole, will follow suit.

On Friday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the National President of the Tertiary Education Union, or TEU, Julie Douglas, about this announcement and the union’s thoughts on it.

Following on from my chat with Douglas, Joel spoke to Shahper Richter, a Senior Marketing Lecturer at the University of Auckland about using “interactive oral assessments” or IOA’s, as a way to combat AI in testing students.

She has been testing IOA’s over the past couple of years. In a piece on the Conversation which she co-authors with the University of Auckland’s Patrick Dodd, she says this method of testing is “one of the most effective and authentic ways to see what students really know in the age of AI.”

Joel spoke to her about this method of testing, and what it entails.

On Wednesday, the government announced new energy reforms in its Energy Package.

This follows a review into the sector being undertaken by Frontier Economics. Despite this, the government has decided not to follow a significant amount of recommendations within the review.

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Court about this package, and some of the backlash the government has received from the sector regarding it.

They also discussed Samuel Leason, Rana Hamida, and Youssef Sammour, being detained in Israel by attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

The interception of these vessels is illegal under international law, as the interceptions took place in the Mediterranean Sea between 70-80 nautical miles off of the Gazan coast.

This comes a month after over a hundred humanitarian groups have signed an open letter calling for Israel to allow essential aid into the besieged Gaza Strip. They say they are “not authorised” to deliver aid, unless they comply with tough Israeli measures.

Joel also spoke to Court about the three New Zealand detainees, and what the government is doing to get them home.

But first, they discussed energy reforms.

The Israeli military has intercepted the Freedom Flotilla, which is trying to break Israel’s aid blockade by delivering food and medicine to Gaza.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Acacia O’Connor, actor and on-the-ground spokesperson for the Global Movement to Gaza, about Israel's interception of the flotilla, and what we know about the whereabouts of the New Zealanders on board.

Update: All three New Zealanders who are part of the Freedom Flotilla are confirmed to be taken by the Israeli Military. There will be a snap action taking place in Te Komititanga from 3pm today to protest what has happened.