The Wire with Manny

In August 2021, New Zealand’s intelligence agency was hit with a cyberattack carried out by a group allegedly backed by the government of China, part of a series of attacks that also hit government offices in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

However, the parliament data breach wasn’t the only cyberattack to happen here in Aotearoa. More than 100 staff members were the victim of cybercrime in 2023 alone, disrupting the operations of more than than a third of businesses nationwide. The repeated string of cyberattacks across the country has created discourse surrounding the vulnerability of cybersecurity systems in New Zealand.

Oto spoke to Professor Giovanni Russello, the head of the school of computer science at the University of Auckland and a lecturer in cybersecurity, to discuss the state of cybersecurity in Aotearoa, and possible steps that can be taken to improve it.

A Māori and Pasifika study space at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, has engendered wide discourse about safe spaces in universities. 

Commentary has included ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar saying the space is a form of segregation, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters saying it is comparable to the Ku Klux Klan and apartheid in South Africa. 

Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Dr Julie Douglas, the National Co-President for the Tertiary Education Union, about this commentary and the importance of these spaces for these tauira.

Social work students in Aotearoa along with many other countries undergo 120 hours of unpaid placement work as part of their qualifications. 

During this time, many students experience financial and material hardship, juggling placement work with paid work or other commitments.

In a recently published paper, social workers discuss the conditions and offer possible solutions. Wire host Castor spoke to one of the paper’s authors, the University of Auckland’s professor Liz Beddoe, about the paper and how these issues affect social work students.

On this week's Tuesday Wire,

For Dear Science, Professor Allan Blackman spoke to us about 100 year old preserved milk, climate change affecting the earth's rotation, and song lyrics becoming simpler over time. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party's James Meager, Wire host Castor spoke to him about transgender issues in light of transgender day of visibility, as well as the Fast Track Approvals Bill. 

He also spoke to the University of Auckland's Professor Liz Beddoe about poor working conditions for social work students.

He also spoke to Professor Missy Morton about the government's "One size fits all" approach to education inequities. 

Producer Sofia spoke to Doctor Julie Douglas from the Tertiary Education Union about the importance of safe spaces for tauira with regards to discourse surrounding a study space for Māori and Pasifika students at the University of Auckland.

She also spoke to Sophora from Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau about the climate strike on Friday the 5th of April. 

Enjoy the show!