The Wire with Oto

For the weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to ACT MP Simon Court about taking agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme, reports about the ACT Party’s mistreatment of staff, as well as the party’s 15% of the vote goal for 2026. 

She also spoke with Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at Victoria University, Dr Clare-Ann Fortune, about boot camps for young people who commit serious offences. 

Producer Castor spoke to New Zealand Director for Brake, the road safety charity, Caroline Perry, about the newly proposed speed limit changes. 

And producer Josef spoke to Debbie Ward, the National Disability Leadership Coordinator for CCS Disability Action, about the government announcing funding for specialist schools and classrooms for students with disabilities.

Whakarongo tonu mai!

In a recent study conducted by Dr Janine Swail and Dr Susan Marlow, 16 female entrepreneurs shared their experiences with starting their company. We discussed the perceived flexibility of entrepreneurship for women versus the harsh realities they face.

Rachel spoke with co-author of the “Entrepreneurship: why women quit” study,  Dr Janine Swail, about the perceived flexibility of entrepreneurship for women versus the harsh realities they face.

The National-led coalition government has recently confirmed they will be shutting down he waka eke noa, which was an agriculture emission plan set out by the previous government instead of placing agriculture under the emission trading scheme.

The current government has instead decided to create a pastoral sector group for agriculture with more details yet to come. 

I spoke with Niamh O’Flynn from Greenpeace Aotearoa about how this will further worsen the climate crisis and what actions need to be taken to urgently turn things around.

Last Saturday, thousands gathered in Central Auckland for the 'March for Nature Rally' led by Greenpeace, to demonstrate their opposition towards the government’s Fast Track Approvals bill and other policies involving environmental conservation.

Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March was present at the rally, alongside many of his colleagues, and for their weekly chat, he and Oto discussed the implications of the rally and opposition to the government’s environmental policies. 

They also talked about the recently announced changes to the Emissions trading scheme, as well as the government’s decision to invest $4 billion dollars into a fund to repair potholes.