The Wire with Castor

He Puapua, the odds are that you may not have read it, but it is most likely that you have at least heard of the controversial report.

The report was labelled as “segregation by stealth” by the former National Party Leader Judith Collins, and the report even garnered a special mention in National’s Coalition Agreement with NZ First, with the National Party agreeing to stop all work on He Puapua.

Amidst the controversy and outrage one question has remained unanswered, what actually is He Puapua?

He Puapua was a report published by a working group intended to help envision what Aotearoa would look like if we were compliant with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people.

The National government signed New Zealand up to the declaration in 2010 after we had previously rejected joining the declaration, despite the declaration not having any legislative effect in Aotearoa.

He Puapua was written to give advice and recommendations, but had no legal authority or legislative power.

Despite this He Puapua has been purposefully obfuscated and misconstrued.

Nicholas spoke to Co-author of He Puapua Claire Charters about the report, our discussion began with a question about the reports inception.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP28, is currently taking place in Dubai. The conference began on the 30th of November and runs until the 12th of December, and UNICEF Aotearoa is sending a delegation of young ambassadors to represent young New Zealanders priorities’ regarding climate change. The delegation will leave to Dubai on Wednesday, are all aged between 18 and 24, and offer a range of perspectives including Māori, Pasifika, rural and urban living experiences, and LGBTQIA+ youth. COP is the biggest climate conference in the world, and this year over 70 thousand people from both business and political sectors will attend. In the past, youth advocates such as Greta Thunberg have criticised COP conferences as too much talk and too little action, and the conference has already started with controversy after the BBC reported that leaked briefing documents revealed plans by the United Arab Emirates to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. The conference also comes at an interesting time for Aotearoa, as the new government has pledged to reintroduce oil and gas exploration, which has come under criticism by many of the delegations present at COP28

Rosetta spoke with Vira Paky, who is one of the Young Ambassadors in the UNICEF delegation. We spoke about the importance of having young voices represented at COP28, and discussed what role the new government should be playing in involving Aotearoa in global conferences like this.

As part of the coalition deal between National, ACT and New Zealand First, the Government intends to refocus school curriculum on academic achievement, which includes the removal and replacement of the gender sexuality and relationship-based education guidelines.

In 2020, former New Zealand First MP and minister Tracey Martin initiated Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE), giving our youth a safe space to learn about themselves, as well as develop knowledge and skills towards acting in positive and respectful ways with others. Now, current Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is reversing this policy, primarily because parents oppose the RSE curriculum. 

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa recently released a statement condemning the Luxon governments plan to remove RSE from school curricula, arguing that the government would be ignoring decades of evidence-based research carried out in Aotearoa and overseas.

Lou discusses the removal of RSE with Ella Shepherd, President of ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa further.

Last week the Government confirmed its plan for its first 100 days, combining the 100-day plan National campaigned on, with the priorities of the partner parties ACT and New Zealand First.

Announcing the plan at his first post-Cabinet briefing held last Wednesday, Luxon spoke of 49 ambitious actions they plan to deliver in the next 100 days. During the briefing Luxon spoke that New Zealanders voted for a change of government, policies and approach, And the plan announced reflects this, with many of the actions proposed being repeals of the previous government’s doing. 

The Plan revolves around three key areas- the economy, law and order and public services. 

In our weekly catch up with Simon Court, Lou enquired about the ACT Party’s response and support of the repeal of the Labour government’s Fair Pay legislation, their promise to begin work towards the crack down on serious youth offending, and ACT's stance on the intent to remove the current Smokefree legislations.