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For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about The recent study showing the increased speed of Antarctic ice melt, the removal of the Proud Boys designation as a terrorist group and The government's recent Family Boost announcement.

For this week’s Get Action! Wednesday Wire host Oto spoke with Dave Macpherson from Save our Trains Southern about a petition of his calling for the restoration of the Southerner Train line.

Producer Max spoke with PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons, to talk about the historic strike that is occuring at Pharmac this week.

Oto spoke with the co-head of Maori and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland Gordon Nanau about French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to grant New Caledonia associated statehood.

And Monday Producer Sam spoke to the Deputy Director Māori at the Centre of Brain Research Te Huinga Hinengaro about her kauapapa to support rural Māori communities with members suffering from mate wareware, or dementia.

For the first time in its history, staff at the government drug-buying agency,  Pharmac, are going on strike. The action will happen this week, after Health economists, Māori health experts, and medical practitioners, who are members of the New Zealand Public Service Association, received what was described as an “unacceptable pay offer” and a “clawback of conditions”.

Pharmac is responsible for deciding which medicines and medical devices are publicly funded in New Zealand – an important part of the country’s healthcare system.

To talk about the details surrounding the first-ever strike, Producer Max spoke with the Public Service Association’s National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons.

Brought to you by NZ On Air Music, with thanks to Big Pop's Drake Street Studios!

Recently, a study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton which uncovered a shift in the circulation of the Southern Ocean.

The study showed that the shift would draw up more salt water from the deep ocean, subsequently accelerating the loss of ice in the Antarctic and leading to an increase of sea levels and global heating.

The week before, the government allowed the terrorist designation given to the far-right ‘Proud Boys’ group to expire, effectively decriminalising the act of funding or openly supporting the group here in Aotearoa.

And, just yesterday Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed a number of changes to Family Boost which she said would help families with the cost of living.

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.

The Southerner was a passenger express train in the South Island running between Christchurch and Invercargill from 1970 to 2002.

The train was eventually closed due a decline in passenger numbers and subsidies, although it was briefly revived in May this year for four days as part of a tourist experience.

Recently, a group of campaigners from Save our Trains launched a petition calling on the government to restore the Southerner train route as a more accessible form of travel for South Islanders.

Wednesday Wire Host Oto spoke with Dave Macpherson from Save Our Train - Southern, to discuss his petition and why the Southerner should be restored.

At a recent summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a number of options for New Caledonia’s potential statehood, following island-wide unrest last year over voting reforms that led to 14 deaths.

One of the options proposed by Macron involved granting New Caledonia “associated statehood” status, where the island would be largely self-governing while still being linked to the French state.

Wednesday Wire Host Oto spoke with Gordon Nanau, co-head of Maori and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, about Macron’s proposal to grant New Caledonia associated state status, and what this would mean for the Island’s indigenous Kanak population who have largely been seeking independence from France.

Skanks & Praises

This week on Dear Science, our expert, Daniel Thomas chatted with us about rice arriving in the Pacific, Aotearoa's native forests sinking carbon, and orcas using seaweed to groom themselves. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Oto and Jaycee chatted with Beizou about her debut single "Too Comfortable" and played 2 hours of lo-fi downtempo songs by singer-songwriters from the Asian diaspora.

A recent study from the University of Otago shows that more than twenty percent of children in Aotearoa who’ve been infected by Covid-19 still suffer persistent, ongoing symptoms.

Producer Faith spoke to Larisa Hockey from the Long Covid Kids organisation about how long covid affects children, and how children are specifically at risk.