The Wire with Oto

The government has proposed to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules  to restore the referendum mechanism. 

This would mean if any council wanted to establish a Māori ward, and a petition that had been signed by 5% of people was presented, a binding referendum would have to be held. 

Additionally, the bill requires that all the councils that created Māori wards since 2021 have to hold a poll about whether to keep them at the 2025 local elections, with the results of the poll to be binding and come into force in 2028. 

ActionStation has released a report, ‘Protect Māori Wards’, which has gathered the stories of over 200 community members on their experiences of Māori wards. 

Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to ActionStation director, Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), about what the report found, why Māori wards are important, and the government’s proposed changes for Māori wards more generally.

Yesterday Minister for Racing Winston Peters told a select committee he would not rush a decision on whether Greyhound racing will be banned or not.

He cited the potential legal ramifications of a ban and also made the comment ‘dogs love racing.’

Wire host Caeden spoke to Campaign Manager for the Animal Rights group SAFE, Emma Brodier, about this delay in making a decision on a ban. 

They started by asking about SAFE’s thoughts on Peters’ more controversial comments.

New Caledonia has been dominating headlines recently for ongoing riots and indigenous opposition against an attempt from France to tighten their political control over the territory. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to indigenous Kanak youth co-ordinator Viro Xulue about recent developments in their fight against French rule on this issue and more generally.

We also spoke about his comments that New Zealanders, especially Māori, should be standing in solidarity with the Kanak people.

He encourages everyone to write to their MPs in support of New Caledonian independence from France and to also organise and attend rallies for this cause. 

They started by asking what the current situation is.

The current coalition government has decided not to implement Labour’s plans to do mandatory reporting for pay gaps with companies that have more than 250 employees. 

Instead they will introduce a voluntary tool for companies to use in order to determine Gender pay gaps.

Rawan spoke with Senior human rights advisor Oliver Christeller from the Human rights commission about what this tool is and what the benefits could be. 

They also talked about the Commissioners' call to include ethnicity pay gap into the conversation. They discussed the current state of the ethnicity pay gap and why there needs to be an increased focus on this now more than ever.