The Wire with Caeden

Yesterday, the ACT Party held their annual rally, being called the “Free and Equal Rally”.

Notably, US author, James Lindsay, was a keynote speaker at the event.

Lindsay is the author of ‘Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody’ - among other titles, such as ‘Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis’ and ‘The Queering of the American Child: How a New School Religious Cult Poisons the Minds and Bodies of Normal Kids’.

Party Leader, David Seymour, says Lindsay is a “prominent advocate for free speech”. Prior to the event, a spokesperson for the party said Lindsay would discuss “reclaiming liberalism in an age of extremes”.

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the rally, why the party chose Lindsay as a keynote speaker, and we address some of the concerns with Lindsay’s previous comments.

They also discussed the first public hearings into the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the former government’s Covid-19 response, and what to expect heading into the next hearings in Wellington next month.

But first, they discussed ACT’s 2025 “Free and Equal” Rally.

United States President Donald Trump’s mega-spending bill passed its final vote in the House of Representatives and is now set to become law.

Despite its controversy and universal opposition from the Democrats, the bill has been supported by the vast majority of Republicans.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University, Charlie Hunt, about the bill and Republican support.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Arena Williams about Phase Two of the Covid-19 inquiry and advisory group recommendations on climate adaptation legislation.

For International Desk, they spoke to Charles Hunt from Boise State University about United States President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill”. 

For this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about Mayor Wayne Brown’s recent council body reforms, as well as concerns around homelessness in the CBD this Winter

Regarding Phase Two of the Covid-19 Inquiry, she spoke with both Restaurant Association Chief Executive Marisa Bidois, and public health expert Sir Collin Tukuitonga

For the first time in its history, staff at the government drug-buying agency,  Pharmac, are going on strike. The action will happen this week, after Health economists, Māori health experts, and medical practitioners, who are members of the New Zealand Public Service Association, received what was described as an “unacceptable pay offer” and a “clawback of conditions”.

Pharmac is responsible for deciding which medicines and medical devices are publicly funded in New Zealand – an important part of the country’s healthcare system.

To talk about the details surrounding the first-ever strike, Producer Max spoke with the Public Service Association’s National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons.