The Wire with Max

A couple of weeks ago in our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, we discussed multiple countries moving to formally recognise Palestinian Statehood, and what New Zealand’s plans were in this regard.

Last week, Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, said the country would carefully weigh its position over the next month in recognising the state of Palestine.

During a debate in Parliament, the government’s delay in recognising a Palestinian state, as opposed to other countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, led Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, to refer to the country as “outlier,” and called for the government MPs “with a spine” to “stand on the right side of history”. This led to her being ordered to leave Parliament by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, after refusing to apologise for her statement.

As well as this, last week, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, announced cancelling the early-reading book At the Marae from its Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. 

The government’s reasoning for this is through “mixed” evidence suggesting that learning both English and te reo Māori for young learners could confuse them.

The move has been widely criticised by linguists, academics, and educators, for being “an act of racism” and “white supremacy”.

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Castor spoke to Simon about both these topics, starting with recognising a Palestinian state.

Find out more about the Māori words which are a part of the official Oxford English Dictionary here

Following on from our chat with Simon Court, Thursday Wire Host, Caeden, spoke to Margaret Mutu - a Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland, who has a PhD in linguistics, about Education Minister, Erica Stanford’s announcement, that the early-reading book At the Marae from the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series, will be canned.

The ministry told RNZ that At the Marae, unlike other books in the series, the book uses six kupu Māori, could result in challenges for young learners.

However, Officials have advised the ministry that there was “limited” research regarding the effect kupu Māori had in early-reading books.

Caeden spoke to Mutu about this, and the positives of raising tamariki with both English and te reo Māori.

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, Producer Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, being kicked out of Parliament for her speech on Palestine, and te reo Māori being discontinued in the ‘Ready to Read: Phonic Plus series’.
Thursday Wire Host Caeden spoke to Margaret Mutu - a professor in Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, about the discontinuation of the ‘Ready to Read: Phonic Plus’ series, and the positives of tamariki being raised with both te reo Māori and English knowledge.
And Caeden spoke to the co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, Maher Nazzel, on Chlöe Swarbrick being kicked out of Parliament for her speech on Palestine, and the need for Aotearoa to take action for Palestine.

Alex spoke to the University of Auckland’s Marcelo Rodriquez Ferrere about the Greyhound Racing Association’s turn to the High Court to halt the Government’s ban on the industry until a Judicial review of the legislation, and whether the Association’s objections to the ban hold weight.
He also spoke to Co-Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto about a recent Survey poll published by the PSNA that showed a majority of the public support the government applying sanctions on Israel, and how the Government should react

This week the Dental for All campaign set out on a national roadshow to build public support over communities across the country. 

The campaign team stands for universal, free and te-tiriti consistent dental healthcare that is delivered through our public health care system. 

Under the current system individuals above the age of 18 have to access dental healthcare privately and those in need can apply for a WINZ grant of $1000, which is strictly means tested. This often means that those who do not qualify for the grant simply do not access dental health care. 

According to public polling carried out in 2022, 74% of the public supports the idea of universal dental health care. 

The campaign is trying to make the case to communities across the country so that they can get buy-in necessary from political leaders, going into the 2026 election next year.

Producer Sanat wanted to get more insight into what the campaign team sees as its road to victory on this issue and whether this is a feasible proposal, so he talked to Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching about her work.