The Wire with Castor

Earlier this week, a number of leaders în the Green party’s Pasifika Greens group announced their resignation. The now former MPs, namely: Marie Laufiso, Alofa Aiono, and Vasemaca (vah-seh-mah-tha) Tavola released issued a joint letter saying that they felt culturally disempowered by the party’s treatment of former MP Darleen Tana, who they say was treated too harshly during while under investigation for allegations of migrant worker exploitation at her husband’s business.

The resigning MPs also said that they were not properly convened with or reached out to by Green Party leaders following the passing of late-MP Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, a prominent Pasifika member of the Greens and representative of the Pasifika community of Tamaki Makaurau.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the resignation and statements made by the Pasifika Greens members. 

They also had a chat about the government’s changes to child poverty reduction targets and the Green Party's open call to the government on behalf of renters.

As a result of Israel’s war on Gaza, almost 2 million people in the Gaza strip are at risk of famine and disease and are in urgent need of food and medical aid, as a result of Israel’s mass destruction of civilian infrastructure. 

This is on top of the 39,400 Palestinians who have been killed throughout the course of the conflict. 

With the government set to implement it’s new tax cut policy today, a campaign was launched by organiser Hayden Eastmond-Mein calling for Kiwis to donate their tax cuts for to aid organisations in Gaza, aptly named “Give your tax cut to Gaza”. 

Hayden came down to the station earlier today to tell us about the campaign and how Kiwis can donate their tax cuts.

If you're interested, you can donate to the campaign here:

On the 29th July, 2024, Ngāti Manuhere Settlement Trust, in partnership with Revive our Gulf and the University of Auckland, dropped seven million kūtai, green-lipped mussels, into the Hauraki Gulf.

This comes as part of an initiative to restore the depleted kūtai population in the Hauraki Gulf. It is hoped that restoring these reefs will have a significant positive impact in reversing human-caused damage to the gulf and it's ecosystems.

Kūtai are vital in providing shelter, food, and protection to local species, but their resources have been depleted due to human activities such as dredging.

Producer Josef spoke to the Chief Executive for the Ngāti Manuhere Settlement Trust, Nicola Macdonald, about the initiative, what it means for the Gulf, and how similar schemes can be implemented across Aotearoa.

On the Tuesday Wire this week... 

For Dear Science, both of our usual experts were away, so Tuesday Wire host Castor and Thursday Wire host Caeden took us through a range of self-selected science stories. Spectacular! These included a study on reducing phone use while driving, potential life on mars, and komodo dragons with iron on their teeth.

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the abuse in state care inquiry and the government’s education funding allocations. 

They also spoke to the Post Primary Teachers Association’s junior vice president Kieran Gainsford about this education funding, and the government’s decision to put some school developments on hold. 

They spoke to Executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Sarah Dalton, about staff shortages in the health sector and how the government is responding. 

And they spoke to senior lecturer of sociology at the University of Auckland, Dr Carisa Showden, about Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, and his comments about single women.

Producer Josef also spoke to the Chief executive for the Ngāti Manuhere settlement trust, Nicola Macdonald, about yesterday’s drop of seven million Kūtai into the Hauraki Gulf.