The Wire with Jemima Huston

This week on the Wire, Dear Science's Marcus Jones tells Bronwyn about the Ig Nobel Prize winners, genetic discoveries about Vikings and IBM’s 1000-quibit quantum computer. 

Bronwyn speaks to NZFirst’s Tracey Martin about the Māori Party’s proposal for a new, independent 'Mokopuna Māori Entity' to replace Oranga-Tamariki.  

Election coverage this week is health and the referenda, so Bronwyn also speak to Minister Martin about the end of life choice bill and recreational cannabis.  

Then, Felix speaks to Lukas Marek, a researcher at the University of Canterbury, about childhood immunisation.

Lastly, Bronwyn speaks to lawyer Catherine Marks who fact-checks some of the claims made about the End of Life Choice Bill by anti-assisted dying campaign group ‘votesafe’.

The End of Life Choice Referendum is a public vote on whether assisted dying under the End of Life Choice Act 2019 should become part of the law in Aotearoa. If a majority vote "yes" in the referendum, the Act will come into force and if a majority vote "no", the Act will not be able to be accessed. 

Jemima Huston explores the number of social and moral issues that surround the Act and assisted dying such as the input of family in the decision, coercion, the responsibility of doctors to preserve life vs. end life, the right for a doctor to opt out and the short "cooling down" period between prescribing and administering a lethal dose. 

ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden and University of Auckland Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Ethics Phillipa Malpas provide an insight into these issues and help breakdown what exactly we are voting for in the End of Life Choice Referendum. 

Today on the Wire we focus on the End of Life Choice Referendum as part of our election coverage. 

Jemima speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden who outlines the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the requirements to be eligible for assisted dying.

Jemima also highlights a number of concerns surrounding assisted dying and the Act, which are addressed by Brooke van Velden and Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Auckland, Phillipa Malpas.

Hanna talks to Dr Vanya Kovach, who teaches Ethics in the Philosophy department at the University of Auckland, about the ethical issues surrounding euthanasia. 

Zoë Larsen Cumming interviews Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick on the upcoming Cannabis Referendum as part of 95bFM's 2020 Election coverage.