The Wire with Oto

New Zealand’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, for many foreign policy experts has been anything but clear. Foreign minister Winston Peters has called for a humanitarian ceasefiirie in the UN General Assembly but has been reluctant to recognise a Palestinian state.

However, the government has had no qualms about deploying Naval personnel to the Red Sea to assist the United States in combatting the Houthis, whose illegal attacks on shipping vessels have been carried out in opposition to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip. 

Oto spoke to Professor Robert G. Patman from the University of Otago to discuss New Zealand’s ambiguous stance on the war in Gaza, and the steps we should take to clarify our position.

The government recently announced a number of amendments to the employment relations act which would clarify whether a worker was legally considered to be an employee or a contractor. 

The amendments included a test with four added criteria, such as a written agreement with the worker specifying they were an independent contractor and that the business did not restrict the worker from working for other businesses and requiring them to take on additional tasks and engagements among other criteria.

If a worker met all of the criteria specified in the act, they would be considered as a contractor and wouldn’t be able to challenge their employment status through the courts. 

While Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said that the changes would provide greater certainty for contractors and businesses, union members and labour rights advocates have criticised the move, saying that it would allow companies to strip away the rights of workers to boost profit margins.

For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the recent changes to the Employment Relations Act and the party’s take on it.

They also had a korero about the Waitangi tribunal’s findings into the recent changes to the Marine and Coastal Areas act, as well as the recently released draft list of 35 minerals considered essential to New Zealand’s economy.

The New Zealand government has recently provisionally approved the Monkeypox, or MPOX vaccine in New Zealand. This comes after two new cases being linked to the Queenstown Winter Pride festival. 

The overall risk of MPOX to New Zealand still remains low, despite the World Health Organisation Director-General declaring MPOX outbreak a public emergency of International Concern. Despite this, the virus may still prove deadly without proper vaccination or treatment.

Sasha spoke to Associate Professor Mark Thomas from the University of Auckland Molecular Medicine and Pathology about the recent adoption of an MPOX vaccine.

The government recently announced proposed changes to the Marine and Coastal Area Act, which, among other changes, would require iwi to prove continuous and uninterrupted occupation of a coastal area since 1840 to make a claim. The proposed changes were reviewed by the Waitangi Tribunal, and the resulting report was released yesterday. In their weekly catchup, Wire host Castor asked Katie Nimon about the government’s reaction to criticisms in the report.

They also asked about the government’s policies on Māori wards. Last year the National Party campaigned on putting Māori wards to referendums, with the goal of ‘restoring democracy’. Since asking councils to vote on the issue, all but two of Aotearoa’s local councils have voted to retain their wards. Local government minister Simeon Brown has expressed some discontent at this response, implying that the government may push for binding referendums. 

Wire host Castor spoke to National’s Katie Nimon about these issues in their weekly catchup, starting with the Marine and Coastal Area Act.