The Wire with Castor

The Australian government has announced plans to implement legislation that would ban under 16 year olds from social media, with Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, saying the bill will be introduced to Parliament within the next few weeks.

This move has been criticised, including by the The Australian Child Rights Taskforce; an organisation made up of 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, which have written to the Australian government opposing the bill, rather calling for the government to impose “safety standards” on social media.

However, Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Samantha Marsh, supports Australia’s move, and is calling for New Zealand to implement similar restrictions. 

News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about Australia’s move, and why she supports it.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about the joint press release from Labour, the Greens, and Te Paati Maaori against the Treaty Principles Bill and the formal apology to survivors of abuse in state care.

For State of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the republicans winning the house of representatives and Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments.

For State of the States they also speak to political commentator and former Radioactive political host Tom Unger about the mood on the ground in Washington D.C. and the Democrat’s response to losing the election.

For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Hīkoi mō te Tiriti passing through Tāmaki Makaurau yesterday and Auckland Council’s Christmas tree spending. 

She also speaks to Distinguished Scholar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States and honorary academic at the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland, Dr Kevin Trenberth, about the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP29, which started this week.

Last week, the Department of Corrections announced that it had axed four contracts with community organisations providing mental health support services to prison inmates. 

This comes amidst an internal review of mental health services within Corrections, leading to these contracts being the next set of public service initiatives to face cuts under the coalition government.

Oto spoke to Ti Lamusse, a Lecturer in Criminology at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, to discuss these cuts and mental health services for prisoners in general.

They also had a discussion about new figures showing that the prison population of Aotearoa had exceeded 10,000 inmates, for the first time in four years.

Just last week, on the Seventh of November the new Treaty Principles Bill was announced in parliament. The development of the bill excluded any consultation with Maori and does not reflect the texts or meaning of Te Tiriti, according to the Waitangi Tribunal. Principle 2 within the Bill, if enacted, would revoke the promises made by the queen to Maori in 1840.

Hikoi protesting the bill began three days ago and has moved from Cape Reinga to Northcote and Bastion Point today, with its eventual goal to protest at parliament on the 19th. The first reading occurs this week in parliament, afterwards being sent to the select committee for a six-month hearing process.

Sasha spoke to Lisa Woods, a Movement Building & Advocacy Director at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand, about the Treaty Principles Bill and its opposition.