The Wire with Oto

On Wednesday, 24th July, the final report from the Abuse in State Care Inquiry was made public, detailing abuse within and by Aotearoa’s state care system. Of particular note in the inquiry were the impacts on Aotearoa’s Māori, Pasifika, and disabled populations, who experienced on average further hardship than other groups. 

The final report makes several recommendations to parliament to ensure meaningful change in Aotearoa’s state care system. Tuesday Wire host Castor discusssed the expectations, impact, and potential outcomes of the abuse in state care report on Pacific communities with Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Auckland, Doctor Tamasailauu Sualii.

Greenpeace says they “are raising the alarm” on Fonterra’s role in derailing international Climate Action. 

This comes after the Netherlands-based Changing Markets Foundations released a report last week outlining the actions of 22 of the biggest meat and dairy companies across four continents. The report highlights Fonterra and the New Zealand livestock industry as key players in a strategy to delay regulation of agriculture emissions. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Greenpeace spokesperson Sinead O’Flynn about the report and Greenpeace’s concerns. 

They started by asking about Fonterra’s role in preventing international climate action.’

Yesterday the Abuse in Care Inquiry was released to the public. It came with a set of formal recommendations, including a suggestion for a formal apology from the government, compensation, and new legislation to do with mandatory reporting. 

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also acknowledged Labour’s role in beginning the inquiry and their response to the 2021 interim report, stating, “We didn't do enough and the ball now falls to you and your government.” He added that “this must be bigger than politics.”

And Data released last week showed the number of benefit sanctions being issued by the government is up 50% compared to this time last year. This has been met with criticism but the Minister for Social Development says the sanctions are because the government is serious about getting people into work.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asks about both of these topics, as well as a bill that was dumped yesterday because the Minister failed to turn up to its first reading. 

They started by asking about the number of benefit sanctions.

United States President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 Presidential race. This came after repeated calls from supporters, who were worried that they would lose the election if Biden was the Democratic nominee.

The presumed replacement for Biden has been current Vice President Kamala Harris, and supporters have rallied to support her this week.

Wire Host spoke to Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Dr Timothy Fagden about Biden stepping down and the support shown to Kamala Harris so far.