The Wire with Castor

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is reportedly a done deal, again.  The rebranded Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership is due to be signed in Chile on 8 March. Labour and NZ First are confident in changes, and have spent this most part of this morning defending their decision to flip from their pre election stance and sign. Meanwhile James Shaw released a statement that greens still will not sign. I chatted today with TPP critic Professor Jane Kelsey of the University of Auckland Law School to unpack what changes are in the new agreement, and just how hard our government is pushing for their demands.

First up we talk to Justice Minister Andrew Little about ongoing treaty settlements, as well as Professor Jane Kelsey about the CPTPP.

For our Wire Worry Week, Lachlan spoke to Richard Shaw from Massey University about the future of the Bachelor of Arts degree.

Finally we have This Day in History, which takes us back to the start of the 2011 Egyptian Uprising.

Michael Horowitz is the Dean of the Atenisi Institute in the Kingdom of Tonga. His background is in political and social science before completing an interdisciplinary phd from the college of public affairs at portland state university. He has been in Tonga for 22 years now, and has held summer residencies at all the major universities in New Zealand. Currently he is visiting AUT university as part of a joint architectural project for a new building on one of the Atenisi campuses. Next week however, he will be presenting a discussion on the Possible Indictment of the Trump Campaign, and outlining the legal details. He came into bFM this morning for a chat with Lillian Hanly who started by asking what the talk was about.

The talk is being held at AUT University on Tuesday the 30th January at 12pm, in room WF214 at the AUT Business School. 

Photo credit: USA Today

On the Wednesday Wire today,

Allan Blackman brings us Dear Science with a discussion of rats and the plague, the banning of pesticides that are harmful to bees and fungi that might help to heal concrete.

Tracey Martin speaks to us about how it will work when Winston Peters takes over as acting Prime Minister, what the official Oranga Tamariki name change actually means in regards to a change in the way things are done, and 'education' under her portfolios as part of our Wire's Worry Week.

Michael Horowitz, a visiting academic from the Atenisi Institute in Tonga talks to Lillian Hanly about his upcoming talk, The Possible Indictment of Trump: the Legal Details.

Marianne Elliot from Action Station talks to Will Parsonson about the government's mental health inquiry and how New Zealand can change the way it addresses mental health.