Today on Loose Reads, Suri is up in the studio to chat about Parellel Lines, by Edward St Aubyn - the story of a group of wildly different people whose fates are improbably yet inextricably linked. Whakarongo mai nei!

Thanks to Timeout Bookstore!

Justice Minister, Paul Goldsmith, recently announced a proposal to the Electoral Act and Constitution Act, removing the ability for an individual to enrol on election day.

Alongside this comes the proposal of halting the ability to enrol during the advanced voting period.

This move has received backlash - including from within the government. This morning, Attorney-General, Judith Collins KC, says the move goes against the Bill of Rights Act.

During the 2023 general election, over 450,000 enrolled in the 12-day period, with 110,000 enrolling on election day.

A significant proportion of those later enrolments consist of young people, and in areas of bigger Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities.

In light of this move, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, says those who have left voting to the last minute are “drop-kicks”. As well as this, the ACT Party’s justice spokesperson, Todd Stephenson, added to this, saying “Democracy works best when voters are informed, engaged, and take the process seriously,” and that “It’s outrageous that someone completely disengaged and lazy can rock up to the voting booth, get registered there and then, and then vote to tax other people’s money away.”

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel spoke to him about this move.

This week on the Monday Wire:

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about the scrapping of same-day election enrolments, as a part of the government’s changes to the Electoral Act, and ACT Party Leader, David Seymour’s comments that those who enrol late are “drop-kicks”.

Joel spoke to Gen Toop — a senior campaigner at Greenpeace, on NZ First’s support of ACT’s Overseas Investment Bill, and Greenpeace’s concerns with the bill.

Joel spoke to Calvin Cochran — a spokesperson for the Smokefree Expert Advisory Group, about a recent RNZ investigation alleging close connections between NZ First Party Leader, Winston Peters and multinational tobacco company, Philip Morris, and what needs to be done to combat tobacco industry lobbying.

And Joel spoke to Dr Saira Raza Khan — a Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Auckland, on the need to move away from ‘scare tactics’ in health advertising.

Whakarongo mai!

In a recent RNZ investigation, the investigation alleges that NZ First Party Leader, Winston Peters, has close connections to the multinational tobacco company, Philip Morris.

This has raised concerns about what impact alleged tobacco lobbying has on government policies and decisions.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Calvin Cochran, a spokesperson for the Smokefree Expert Advisory Group about RNZ’s investigation, and what needs to be done to tackle tobacco-industry lobbying in Aotearoa.

We listen back to Milly's chat with Fernando from Italian rockers New Candys, at their show at Whammy Bar on Saturday! Whakarongo mai nei!

Vintage Reggae 45s

In a recent study by Dr Saira Raza Khan — a Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Auckland, published in the Journal of Advertising Research, the study looks at the advertising of health campaigns, with the need to move away from ‘scare tactics’.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about her study, and why we should move away from these ‘scare tactics’.

This week's show featured new music from Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist, Tyler, the Creator and more. Sam also paid tribute to Ozzy Osburne who past away last week.

Frances Chan features the sophomore album by The Circling Sun, plus lots more Kiwi jazzers, krautrock-inspired jazz and jazz poetry. 

Setlist:

Jack Kerouac with Ste