The Wire with Joel

Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke have been suspended in Parliament. Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi faced a suspension of 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a suspension of seven days, over their haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Margaret Mutu, a Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland about the ruling, and what impact this will have on the party heading forward.

The proliferation of deep fakes and AI-generated content on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, is playing an ever-increasing role in political campaigns. 

Recent elections in Australia and the United States, among other countries, have demonstrated the role of deep fakes in representing, or misrepresenting political figures, as well as spreading sensationalist mis- and disinformation on key political issues. 

University of Waikato Anthropology lecturer Bronwyn Isaacs published a piece in the Conversation this week, calling for new legislation in Aotearoa while expressing her concern of the role of AI in politics, as echoed by other academics across the globe witnessing the impact of artificially generated content on their own elections. 

Leading expert in Māori Data, Tech Ethics and Data Governance, Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, has also raised concern recently with the impact of AI and other emerging technologies on institutional trust and security.

Producer Sara talks to both Bronwyn Isaacs and Dr Karaitiana Taiuru about the role deep fakes and AI might play in New Zealand’s upcoming elections

https://theconversation.com/playing-politics-with-ai-why-nz-needs-rules-on-the-use-of-fake-images-in-election-campaigns-255415 

The 2025 Budget included almost $40 million over four years on science kits for Year 0 to 8 students, which the Education Minister yesterday announced will "support teachers to confidently deliver practical science learning, aligned with the new science curriculum".

Dr Carrie Swanson, a senior lecturer in teacher education at AUT called the announcement of investment in primary science education welcoming, and that while the curriculum is not announced yet, “it appears that the curriculum is heading towards educating future scientists”.

To talk about the current state of science education at primary schools in New Zealand, and the incoming investments, Producer Max spoke to Dr Carrie Swanson.

Earlier this week, 26 climate scientists wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, accusing the government of ignoring scientific evidence of methane emissions and urging him to work towards reducing emissions.

The letter also criticised the government’s method of reducing emissions to the level of “no additional warming”, a concept approved by the Federated Farmers and Beef + Lamb, to keep New Zealand’s contribution to global heating at the levels they were in 2017.

However, Chris Luxon reportedly dismissed the open letter, referring to the climate scientists as “worthies” and insisting that the government was managing methane emissions better than "every other country on the planet,” despite the fact that New Zealand has one of the highest per-capita methane emissions rates in the world.

Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson, Senior Campaign manager for Greenpeace Aotearoa about the open letter sent to Christopher Luxon by 26 climate scientists, Luxon’s reaction to it and the concept of “no additional warming.”