The Wire with Alex

This Friday, the Matariki stars will be observed in the Northeastern skies, marking the beginning of the Māori new year and Maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar.

However, earlier this year, the Puanga star rose in the Western skies, which some Iwi, especially those in Te Tai Tokerau, look to to mark the beginning of the Maramataka.

With this year’s theme for Matariki being Matariki mā Puanga: Celebrating Together, Oto spoke to Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting, a professional teaching fellow at Te Pūtahi o Pūtaiao - the centre for Pūtaiao at the University of Auckland, about why some Iwi look to Puanga instead of Matariki.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chats with us about characterising liquid carbon, Antarctic base cleanup, and plants making their pesticides. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about new investment in tourism marketing and New Zealand’s recent sanctions on two Israeli ministers.

They also spoke to professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Simon Schofield, about the proposed sick leave changes and how they could disproportionately affect women. 

Producer Faith spoke to Emeritus Law Professor Jane Kelsey from the University of Auckland about ACT’s regulatory standards bill, and whether the party should progress with it, after it failed three times.

She also spoke to Layba Zubair from Aotearoa Free From Stalking about the gaps in the anti-stalking bill.

The government has discussed potential changes to how sick leave is allocated, scaling sick leave days with the number of hours a person works. While this wouldn’t affect the days available to full-time workers, it could see part-time workers with reduced access to sick leave. This has raised some concerns around disproportionate outcomes for women and students, two groups that tend to be employed in more part-time roles. 

Wire host Castor spoke to professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Simon Schofield, about the proposed sick leave changes and how they could disproportionately affect some demographics.

The government has reduced staff and funding at the National Geohazards Monitoring Centre by 25%

This comes despite the siesmic activity expierenced throughout the country and the rising frequency of natural disasters, not only in New Zealand but around the world.

The Wire producer Samantha sat down with PSA organizer Claire Nickson to discuss the implications of this move and its affects in the public.