Following the government announcing its plan to improve school attendance rates, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to experts in the education sector about their thoughts on the proposal.
First, she spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr Brian Marsh, about what factors are responsible for low truancy rates in the past few years.
She also spoke to Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr John Fenaughty, about how we can make school a more inclusive space that is safe for LGBTQIA+ students.
Small business, Trade Jobs NZ, is facing a legal dispute with Trade Me over its name and branding, with Trade Me claiming copyright infringement for using the words 'Trade' and 'Jobs'.
Trade Me told 95bFM they cannot go into the details of the case while it is before the Court, but they provided us with the following statement:
“We have used the name Trade Me Jobs since 2006. It’s an important part of our business. We’ve worked hard to build a distinctive brand that is recognised and trusted by Kiwis. We rarely take the decision to go to court and we don’t take the decision lightly – it is something we would only consider as a last resort.”
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Trade Jobs NZ owner, Colleen Getley, about their business and opposition to Trade Me’s claim.
This week, the European Human Rights Court made a historic ruling on climate change, concluding that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to take sufficient action to combat climate change. The case was raised by the group, Klimaseniorinnen, a collective of more than 2000 Swiss women aged over 64, who claimed government inaction on climate put them at increased risk of dying during heatwaves, a vulnerability exacerbated by their age and gender demographics.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Alexander Allen-Franks, Co-Director of the NZ Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice on what this case means for accountability on climate action for vulnerable communities.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks about job losses in media, cuts at MSD, and Teanau Tuiono’s restoring Samoan Citizenship members bill.
For City Counselling they speak to Cr Lotu Fuli about a proposal to merge the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local boards and a new report on quality of living in Tāmaki Makaurau.
They also speak to AUT Lecturer Laumua Tunufa’i about the bill to repeal the 1982 bill which stripped Samoans of New Zealand Citizenship.
And they speak to Paul Thistoll from Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa, as well as Rainbow Spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission Prudence Walker about Hate Speech Law protections for LGBTQIA+ communities.
Today Jasmine speaks with lawyer Alexandra Allen-Franks about a landmark European climate action human rights lawsuit
And she speaks to Greenpeace Spokesperson Amanda Larsson about the dire state of Aotearoa’s freshwater protectionshat have you got for us today?
The recent release of the Ministry for Environment’s Our Land 2024 report has again reiterated the impacts of intensive farming and agriculture on freshwater ecosystems. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Head of Campaigns and Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson about the stakes for freshwater protections under the current coalition government.
The Ministry of Social Development is not immune to job cuts seen in other public service departments, with MSD calling for voluntary redundancies after cost-saving efforts failed to meet Government targets. For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks her about the impact of cuts at MSD, especially amongst other Government policies disadvantaging beneficiaries.
They also ask about the Samoan Citizenship Bill led by Teanau Tuiono, and the impact of losing independent media giants such as Newshub for democracy.
A proposal to merge the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local boards has been met with criticism, with consultation opening at the end of next month.
A new report has also been released on the quality of living in Tāmaki Makaurau with our city receiving mixed results by scoring high on some areas (the environment), and lower on others (education).
Wire Host Caeden speaks to Counsellor Lotu Fuli about both these topics for City Counselling.
Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono passed the first reading of his member's bill in parliament yesterday. The bill would restore citizenship to Samoan’s born between 1924-1948 who had their citizenship stripped in 1982 legislation.
The bill received unexpected support from the Act Party and NZ First Party to go through to select committee, with the only party voting against it being National.
Wire Host Caeden spoke with AUT Lecturer in Criminology Laumua Tunufa’i about the bill and it’s historical context.
The Court of Appeal has heard a Court Case which would consider if Sexual Orientation should be considered under our hate speech laws.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Rainbow Spokesperson for Tika Tangata the Human Rights Commission Prudence Walker about this Court Case and what more needs to be done to protect LGBTQ+ communities under hate speech laws.
They also spoke to Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa CEO Paul Thistoll about the mahi being done to include LGBTQ+ communities under hate speech laws by community groups, as well as the scope of what the Hate Speech Laws would cover.
Humanity is currently going through a stage in its history known as the “AI Spring”, an ongoing period of advancement in the world of artificial intelligence, heavily impacting the technology we use on a daily basis.
As to be expected, there are numerous ethical concerns to be raised regarding the development of artificial intelligence. The use of AI in modern military conflicts has demonstrated the capabilities of this new technology to cause large-scale destruction to human lives. The Israeli Defence Force, for example, have been using AI in their weapon systems to acquire targets in their war on Gaza, contributing to one the highest rates of civilian casualties in any modern conflict.
Dr Thomas Gregory is a Senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of Auckland, with expertise in civilian casualties and contemporary conflict. Oto spoke with him to discuss how AI is being used on the battlefield, and how it has impacted civilian lives in modern conflicts.
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