The Wire with Caeden

About two weeks ago, the government announced a series of changes to the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa.
Some of the changes included updating the definition of migrant exploitation to specify incidents occuring only under an official employment contract and excluding measures falling under lawful employment terminations.

Immigration minister Erica Stanford has said that the new changes would specify the terms of the visa and reduce the time migrants may be in vulnerable situations, however a number of human rights advocates have disagreed with this reasoning, saying the changes to the visa would reduce support for migrant workers and put more power in the hands of employers.

Oto spoke to Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata - The Human Rights Commission, to discuss the recent changes to the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visas and how it’ll impact migrant workers.

This week on the Tuesday Wire... 

For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Allan Blackman chatted to us about the largest known prime number, Carl Djerassi, and recycling e-waste.

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to MP Katie Nimon about Christchurch becoming the first city in the country to sanction Israel, and the rest worker’s rally, which was attended by thousands.

They spoke to the Assistant Secretary for the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons, about the recent workers' strikes.

They also spoke to the National Chair for the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, John Minto, about Christchurch sanctioning Israel.

And finally, they spoke to Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social and Cultural Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington, Lynzi Armstrong, about a study into sex work in New Zealand compared to Scotland and Ireland.

Last week, the Christchurch City Council voted to sanction Israel.

This follows calls from the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to stop purchasing merchandise from companies that have links to funding Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The staff report on Wednesday shows that council did not have any business with companies identified on this list, with recommendations passed by council members that amended the policy to prevent future business with these companies.

Despite passing, councillors Aaron Keown, and Kelly Baber voted against, with councillors James Gough, Victoria Henstock, and Mark Peters abstaining.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the National Chair of the Palestinian Solidarity Network, John Minto, about the sanctions, and why these sanctions are so important.

This week on Dear Science, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about the new largest known prime number, Carl Djerassi's birthday, and recycling gold from e-waste.