The Wire with Caeden

Earlier this year, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith in a private meeting with Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones and seafood industry representatives discussed potential changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, which is a piece of legislation that replaced the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. 

The Takutai Moana Act allows Māori to apply for certain customary rights over the foreshore and seabed under customary marine title. 

The government intends to change section 58 of the Act which currently requires an applicant group to prove they have "exclusively used and occupied it from 1840 to the present day without substantial interruption". The proposed changes would change the section 58 test to reduce the 100% of coastline subject to customary marine title to 5%.

As a result, an urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim into the government’s proposed changes to the Act had its hearings this week. 

This is the seventh urgent inquiry by the Tribunal into the coalition government’s policies. 

Producer Sofia spoke to lawyer at Te Mata Law, Harry Clatworthy (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, and Ngāti Uenuku-Kōpako), about these proposed changes as well as the historical context of foreshore and seabed ownership in Aotearoa.

Last Sunday, the Cabinet proposed five changes they would make to the Fast-Track Approvals bill, which they recommended to the Environment select committee. 

Some of the changes included shifting the final say on fast-tracked projects from ministers to an expert panel, requiring an iwi authority representative to be present on the panel alongside experts in Māori development and the environment, and extending the timeframe for comments on fast-tracked projects.

However, despite Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones saying the changes were based off feedback from submitters to make the fast-tracking process more inclusive, many advocates and experts say the bill still poses a threat to the environment and that it still prioritises development over conservation. 

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March about the party’s take on the changes to the fast-track approvals bill. 

They also talked about the government's plans to remove natural gas import barriers, and arsenic contamination of the Ohinemuri river caused by mining

A recent study involving commuters in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, found that women and people of intersectional identities were more likely to avoid using public transport out of fear of harassment. 

Anti-harassment strategies proposed in that study promoted the idea of encouraging members of the public to become “active bystanders” during situations of harassment, where they could intervene by helping to de-escalate situations, reporting harassment incidents to transport staff and directly confronting perpetrators as a last minute resort.

Oto spoke to Doctoral candidate Kirsten Tilleman from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Auckland, to discuss what active bystanders are and the role they could play in preventing harassment on Auckland’s public transport

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of New Mexico in the United states revealed a high concentration of microplastics located in the brain tissue of a number of test subjects, as well as many other organs in the body.

While experts are still evaluating the exact physiological impacts of microplastic contamination, higher concentrations of these substances have been found in the brain tissue of subjects suffering from conditions such as early onset-dementia.

Oto spoke to Dr Joel Rindelaub, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland, to discuss the presence of microplastics in human brain tissue and their potential impacts.

If you'd like to catch Joel's science-comedy show “Science Is No Joke”, you can get your tickets here: