Politics Central

There's debate over Victoria University's decision to call off a discussion on free speech.

It comes after outrage within the university, with claims the panellists didn't represent a balance of views.

600 people had registered to attend before the university's Vice-Chancellor postponed the event, saying they were going back to the drawing board.

Students' Association president Marcail Parkinson says some speakers would've made students uncomfortable, and have a history of hate speech.

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Te Whatu Ora has been criticised for telling public hospitals to bring the organisation back to budget, they need to make target savings of $105 million by July.

It said several districts have gone over budget in the past three months.

However, health unions have warned the constraints will impact medical care.

Former Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell says we should be trying to improve our health system - not just saving costs.

"Once you get the emphasis on just saving costs, you end up cutting things that should not be cut."

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Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr joined Helen Clark at Parliament this week, to warn New Zealand against joining Pillar 2 of the AUKUS defence pact, saying it is "fragrant, methane-wrapped bullsh*t," and funnily enough former opposition leader Don Brash tends to agree. 

Later, Shane Jones who has recently ben speaking about mining and fishing, this week let go with a broadside against the Waitangi Tribunal, saying they have "no business running it's operations as some sort of star chamber delivering pre-emptory summons for ministers."

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Today, Israel launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel, in an attack that may trigger a major escalation between the regional archenemies. The United States has since pledged to back Israel.

Waikato University's International Law professor Alexander Gillespie analyses the escalating situation.

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In a widely anticipated move, Iran has launched an aerial attack into Israel.

The Israel Defence Force estimates Iran launched over 200 different kinds of drones, including killer drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Waikato University Law Professor Al Gillespie says this attack was to be expected, as both sides had been 'goading' each other for the past few months.

"I think the final provocation was the attack on the consulate, it was the bit that tipped them over the edge. And Iran felt they had to respond, because the provocation was too much."

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Immigration Minister Erica Stanford makes immediate changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa, by introducing a minimum skills and work experience threshold, as well as introducing an English language requirement for migrants.

Later, marketing professor Bodo Lang talks about about the triggering effects social media has on politics and democracy in this country, and how much political parties are spending on social media advertising.

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There's growing concerns from experts about the impact social media has on the political landscape.

It's been revealed that social media giant Meta has limited the reach of political content on its platforms- inspiring increased worry about censorship.

Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang says platforms like Instagram and Facebook specialise in short-form content - and he believes those outlets aren't suited for political content.

"We want people to think about these things- and social media isn't the best way to get people to think about these things."

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The Immigration Minister is confident changes to the Accredited Employer Worker Visa will get the balance of skill right.

Changes include an English language requirement for some roles, and a minimum skills threshold.

Erica Stanford says they're focused on attracting and retaining high-skilled migrants where there are shortages, and prioritising New Zealanders in jobs where there aren't shortages.

She says in 2017, about half of migrants were high-skilled, but now that's switched.

"We really had a big switch to low-skilled migrants. And that's not going to improve our productivity, our economy, our GDP- we need to have that switch back."

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The University of Auckland is under fire after a picture of a designated study space for Māori and Pasifika students surfaced online.

The University has since claimed they're obligated to respond to the needs of their diverse student population with facilities, spaces and support.

ACT's Parmjeet Parmar has expressed concern over race becoming a big agenda item for more organizations. 

"The discussion is really important in my view. Because we don't want to go backwards, we all have fought hard for the values of inclusivity, and we need to stand by those values."

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Labour leader & now leader of the opposition Chris Hipkins gave his State of the Nation speech in South Auckland today, he joined the Weekend Collective to discuss.

SailGP Lyttelton kicked off in Lyttelton yesterday but was abandoned after a dolphin was sighted on the course. Today, SailGP CEO Russell Coutts delivered an emotional response- Otago University professor Liz Slooten joined the Weekend Collective to discuss.

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