The Wire with Joel

The current coalition government has decided not to implement Labour’s plans to do mandatory reporting for pay gaps with companies that have more than 250 employees. 

Instead they will introduce a voluntary tool for companies to use in order to determine Gender pay gaps.

Rawan spoke with Senior human rights advisor Oliver Christeller from the Human rights commission about what this tool is and what the benefits could be. 

They also talked about the Commissioners' call to include ethnicity pay gap into the conversation. They discussed the current state of the ethnicity pay gap and why there needs to be an increased focus on this now more than ever.

The government is proposing the repeal of several speed limit changes introduced across the country under the previous government since 2020. Among these changes include the expansion of school zone speed limits to cover the full day. These changes have been criticised for their potential risk to particularly children and other young people. 

The Emissions Trading Scheme is a program introduced in Aotearoa to reduce emissions in line with global standards. The program requires emitters to log and report their emissions, and limits the quantity of emissions. Emitters can sell or buy emissions units from others to allow them to emit more or less. By removing agricultural emissions, farmers would no longer be required to adhere to these requirements.

In our weekly catchup with the National party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Suze Redmayne about the speed limit changes and removal of agriculture from the ETS. Particularly, he touched on the speed limit risks to children and how the government will restrict farmers’ emissions without the ETS covering them.

For Dear Science this week, we chatted to Dr. Cushla McGoverin about a potential new treatment option for polycystic ovary syndrome, and a new development in the study of pain and 34,000 year old termite moulds. 

Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Suze Redmayne about changes to speed limits and agriculture being removed from the ETS. 

He also spoke to the University of Auckland's Kendra Cox about removal of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. 

He also spoke to Dr Gabriela Baron about green consumerism and its impacts on the environment. 

Producer Elle spoke to Greenpeace Aotearoa’s Freshwater Campaigner Will Appelbe about the Resource Management (Freshwater and other matters) Amendments Bill.

The government has announced $90 million in funding for specialist schools and facilities for students with disabilities.

Disability and Human Rights groups are concerned about how this investment may undermine inclusive education and our obligations under the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

CCS Disability is New Zealand's largest support and disability advocacy organisation. 

Producer Josef spoke with the National Disability Leadership Coordinator for CCS Disability Action, Debbie Ward, about what this focus on specialist schools could mean for disabled students.