The Wire with Joel

The ACT party is introducing a bill which, in their words, will “ensure our nation’s founding document delivers on its promise of equal rights for all New Zealanders.” They claim they are only clarifying the Treaty and not rewriting it. 

However, academics are saying their interpretation distorts the language and meaning of the text and the bill could significantly alter the practical application of Te Tiriti.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Margaret Mutu from the University of Auckland about the intentional mistranslation of Te Tiriti in this bill and why it is so harmful.

They started by asking why the Treaty Principles Bill is “deeply misleading.”

This month is Disability Pride Month, a month-long event celebrating disabled communities. It began in the United States to commemorate the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990, and now celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, their culture, and contributions to society across the world. 

The months aims to end the stigma of disability and ultimately change the way we think about and define the term.

Wire Host spoke to Sam Morgan from the Disability Persons Assembly about the month and what it means in an Aotearoa context.

They started by asking what Disability Pride Month means.

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s calls to former MP Darleen Tana to resign and housing minister Chris Bishop’s new legislation to boost housing development.

He spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystal from the University of Auckland to discuss a project she led assessing the impacts of extreme weather events on hospitals in the Pacific Islands.

And He spoke to Professor Sue Crengle, from the University of Otago, to discuss a project she was involved in with Te Whatu Ora to create a national cancer screening program in Aotearoa.

Rawan spoke with Debra Ashton from SAFE animal rights group about their interception of the proposal to build intensive chicken farms in Waikato

She also spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity network about the illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, what the government needs to do and solidarity rallies.

Pacific island nations, such as Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga are facing some of the worst impacts of the global climate crisis. With a landmass close to sea level, coastal population centres and limited economic development, many pacific island nations face frequent extreme weather events that they often struggle to recover from. 

A group of researchers at the University of Auckland started a project to map out cyclone and extreme weather risks for hospitals and medical centres in numerous pacific island nations to assist in planning and recovery for future extreme weather events. 

Oto spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystall, Research fellow at the Faculty of Science in Physics at the University of Auckland and leader of the project, to discuss her research and the impacts of the climate crisis on Pacific Island nations.