The Wire with Castor

Last week, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced a five-point climate strategy which aims to reduce the impacts of climate change and prepare for future effects. 

The five core pillars announced were:

1. Infrastructure is resilient and communities are well prepared 
2. Credible markets support the climate transition 
3. Clean energy is abundant and affordable
4. World-leading climate innovation boosts the economy 
5. Nature-based solutions address climate change 

Watts said the three-page strategy is “comprehensive” and “ambitious”, however, there is no explanation as to how each goal will be achieved. 

Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to climate lead at Forest and Bird, Scott Burnett, about the nature-based solutions pillar and the strategy more generally.

The ACT party is introducing a bill which, in their words, will “ensure our nation’s founding document delivers on its promise of equal rights for all New Zealanders.” They claim they are only clarifying the Treaty and not rewriting it. 

However, academics are saying their interpretation distorts the language and meaning of the text and the bill could significantly alter the practical application of Te Tiriti.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Margaret Mutu from the University of Auckland about the intentional mistranslation of Te Tiriti in this bill and why it is so harmful.

They started by asking why the Treaty Principles Bill is “deeply misleading.”

This month is Disability Pride Month, a month-long event celebrating disabled communities. It began in the United States to commemorate the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990, and now celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, their culture, and contributions to society across the world. 

The months aims to end the stigma of disability and ultimately change the way we think about and define the term.

Wire Host spoke to Sam Morgan from the Disability Persons Assembly about the month and what it means in an Aotearoa context.

They started by asking what Disability Pride Month means.

Lung cancer is the largest cancer contributor to the life expectancy gaps between Māori and non-māori, being the leading cause of death for Māori women and the second leading cause of death for Māori and non-māori men. In spite of this, Aotearoa has no national lung cancer screening program at all, even though similar programs exist for Breast, cervical and bowel cancer. 

To address this, a team of researchers at the University of Otago started a series of projects in collaboration with Te Whatu Ora to help develop a lung cancer screening pathway in Aotearoa, which they’ve called Te Oranga Pūkahukahu. 

Oto spoke to study lead Sue Crengle, Senior Māori Health Researcher at the University of Otago of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha descent, to discuss the project and the impacts of lung cancer on Māori.