95bFM: The Wire

Last week, the government announced it would amend climate laws to prevent companies from being sued over damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The change will prevent liability findings in tort cases and will apply to current and future cases.

The amendment is in response to a case against Fonterra made by Iwi leader and activist Mike Smith, who is not seeking any financial damages but feels it is in the public’s interest to have companies held liable. The Supreme Court granted Smith the right to pursue the case, raising questions about whether this government action is going around the courts and breaching democratic checks and balances.

These changes will directly go against the International Court of Justice opinion, which confirmed countries have a duty to prevent significant harm to the environment and to regulate the activities of companies within their jurisdiction.

To discuss the repercussions of this climate law change, host Thomas talked to Dr Justin Sobion from the University of Auckland Law School.

This week on The Monday Wire...

Host Thomas spoke to Doctor Justin Sobion from the University of Auckland Law School about the government’s attempted climate law change and  how it goes against the International Court of Justice’s recommendations.

He then talked to University of Auckland Professor of commercial law Gehen Gunasekara about the police amendment bill and how it could diminish privacy rights.

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked about the government’s stance on immigration amidst a rise in anti-immigration sentiment overseas. 

They also spoke to Director of Wellbeing, System Leadership, Data, and Insights at Te Herenga Mahara, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Dr Ella Cullen, about plans for a social media ban in New Zealand as results emerge from the ban in Australia. 

And finally they spoke to Ben Wright from Lobbying Reform NZ about a recent petition the organisation has put to government asking for more transparency around lobbying.

Lobby Reform NZ recently put forward a petition to the government asking for three changes that would improve transparency around lobbying. These changes have been compared to some introduced in New Zealand’s international counterparts, which allow members of the public to assess with greater accuracy how different politicians are being influenced. In New Zealand, the legislation around lobbying is relatively lax, leaving the public almost entirely in the dark. 

To discuss the petition and the scale of lobbying in Aotearoa, News Director Castor spoke to Ben Wright from Lobby Reform NZ.

You can find more information about Lobby Reform NZ on their Instagram. You can find more information about their petition here. 

Earlier this week, the government announced a change to tort law that would see the legal basis for some claims against large companies removed. 

One of the key cases affected is Smith v Fonterra, which was set to be heard in the High Court in April next year. 

To discuss the case and the impacts of this decision, News Director Castor spoke to the man behind Smith v Fonterra, kaumatua and climate activist Mike Smith.

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about the need for council to be involved in discussions about the details of an additional harbour crossing, and the number of job losses in the Auckland Transport restructure. 

And they spoke to Māni Dunlop from Te Ao Māori News for our new bi-weekly catch-up on the political issues of the week from a Māori perspective.

News Director Castor spoke to kaumatua and climate activist Mike Smith about his court case against Fonterra in the wake of the government removing its legal basis. They also spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Waikato, Alexander Gillespie, about the legal ramifications of such a decision. 

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about the Government disestablishing the BSA and scrapping the tertiary Fees Free scheme, as well as the Government’s new citizenship test.

She also spoke with Associate Professor Alice Mills about why secure housing is central to reintegration for those leaving prison.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says the council must be involved in any final decision on a second Waitematā harbour crossing. 

And the number of jobs that will be lost in the Auckland Transport restructure has been revealed - a net reduction of 20. 

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.

A recent report from the Auditor-General found more than half of people leaving prison have an unmet housing need. Producer Pranuja spoke with Dr Alice Mills, Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Auckland, about why housing is central to reintegration, and what gaps exist in the current system.

A recently released report to the Associate Minister of Transport, James Meager, outlined progress on the resilience and security of New Zealand’s critical underwater infrastructure. The heavily-redacted 9 page report detailed ten ‘no-cost, low-effort’ options to mitigate vulnerabilities to undersea cables and to improve ways of working with industry and regional partners.

While the incidents of cable faults that the report pointed to were typically accidents, or related to currents and seismic activity, a particular impetus for the report was the growing threat to critical underwater infrastructure internationally.

With 99% of our international internet coming from just five cables, their importance to our day-to-day lives is difficult to understate. So, to discuss the report and the importance of the undersea cables connecting New Zealand to the rest of the world, producer Theo spoke to Dr Ulrich Speidel, from the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland.

Last week, the government announced plans to scrap a policy that gave university students one free year of study, known as fees free, with commitments to reallocate that funding to trades training. This comes at a time when an increasing number of young people are absent of employment, education and training.

And an OECD report spelled bad weather for the New Zealand economy. To correct course, they urged for reforms to increase the age of eligibility of Superannuation all the way up to 72, among other policies. This was picked up by the National Party, who are campaigning on moving forward with their previous plans to raise the retirement age up to 67.

So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the scrapping of fees-free and raising the eligibility age for superannuation, but as we called in, Mr Menéndez March was just leaving an extended sitting of parliament to scrutinise Erica Stanford's Immigration Amendment Bill, and we began with a discussion on how he believes it will hurt vulnerable migrant communities.

On the 1st of April, a cruise ship departed from the port of Ushuaia, in the far South of Argentina, carrying 175 passengers and crewmembers. Within a week, the first symptoms of the hantavirus infection began to show. A 70 year old Dutch man died onboard, becoming the first fatality of this outbreak, and his wife died not long after. With the death of a German woman in early May, the death toll now stands at three.

The surviving passengers, who come from 23 different nationalities, have finally disembarked the ship in the Netherlands, and most have gone back to their home countries where they will go now through a period of quarantine

To discuss the specifics of the hantavirus outbreak, producer Toby spoke to infectious disease expert and public science communicator Siouxsie Wiles.