The Wire with Oto

With the Black Friday shopping season approaching, the anticipated consequences of overconsumption in Aotearoa have prompted the company, Buy NZ Made, to encourage New Zealanders to reconsider their participation in Black Friday sales.

Producer Athena spoke to Buy NZ Made Executive Director, Dane Ambler, about the effects of overconsumption in Aotearoa, and how shoppers may be conscious of their spending during the Black Friday period.

This week is Fraud Awareness Week, bringing to light the issue of scamming in Aotearoa and what the government can do about it. Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly announced yesterday that the government is looking into addressing the issue with a coordinated response. 

This response will focus on improving relationships between industries and international partners, however Consumer NZ sez this may not be enough. Tuesday Wire host Castor spoke to acting head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, Jessica Walker, about scamming in general and what more can be done.

You can check out Consumer NZ's scams and how to avoid them page here.

Currently there's 99,000 children in persistent poverty according to newly released official statistics NZ definition which was released on Friday. 

Producer Yesenia spoke to Child Poverty Action Group researcher Harry Yu Shi about the new statistics regarding persistent poverty being prominent in children lives and how new-long term approaches have been proposed to combat the 99,000 in poverty. 

The Australian government has announced plans to implement legislation that would ban under 16 year olds from social media, with Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, saying the bill will be introduced to Parliament within the next few weeks.

This move has been criticised, including by the The Australian Child Rights Taskforce; an organisation made up of 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, which have written to the Australian government opposing the bill, rather calling for the government to impose “safety standards” on social media.

However, Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Samantha Marsh, supports Australia’s move, and is calling for New Zealand to implement similar restrictions. 

News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about Australia’s move, and why she supports it.