The Wire with Oto

Greenpeace Aotearoa recently conducted a round of water testing at a series of bore wells in the Ashburton district. 

The tests found that close to one in five private bores they tested were above the Government’s maximum allowable value of nitrate in drinking water, which is 11.3mg per litre, and that nitrate contamination had been linked to a number of preterm birth complications.

Greenpeace have also linked the nitrate contamination to the dairy industry and the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser which leaches into groundwater.

Oto spoke to Will Applebe, Greenpeace Aotearoa’s Freshwater campaigner, about nitrate contamination in the Ashburton district’s water and their calls to the ministry of health to address it.

The Treaty Principles Bill was officially put to bed last week, as it was voted down in parliament by all parties besides ACT. The bill spent a long time in the public spotlight and has been met with extensive criticism from across the political spectrum. Now that it’s done, Wire host Castor asked Nancy Lu about whether the bill met the government’s expectations and whether they’d explore something similar in the future.

Last week, we also saw a report released about the harassment of female MPs. The harassment levels have been concerning to many, especially given targeted campaigns and posts from some members of parliament or political parties encouraging this harassment. 

In our weekly catchup with the National party, Tom Rutherford was absent this week, so Castor spoke to Nancy Lu about these issues, beginning with the Treaty Principles Bill.

A report was released this week titled ‘Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand’, containing data on how much the New Zealand public trusts news organisations. While trust has been declining over the past five years, this year has seen some stabilisation and some optimistic statistics for the future. 

To discuss the report and what it means for the relationship between the public and media in Aotearoa, Wire host Castor spoke to one of the study’s authors and head of journalism at AUT, Greg Treadwell.

You can find the full report here. 

This week on the Monday Wire:

For our weekly catchup with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about the Treaty Principles Bill being voted down on it’s second reading and the party announcing they will be running candidates in general seats in the next election.

For our weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the Treaty Principles Bill being voted down at second reading, an ACT Party Members Bill proposing the removal of university services based on race, and research finding female MPs are increasingly receiving abuse online.

Evie also spoke to Students Against Dangerous Driving’s (SADD) Donna Govorko about the government proposal to change the drivers license testing from two practical tests, to one - removing the full license test.

And Joel spoke to the Co-convenor for Justice for Palestine, Samira Zaiton, about recent controversial comments made by Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Stephen Rainbow, and the organisation's calls for Rainbow to leave his position.

Whakarongo mai.