This Week's Bits

The best news nuggets from bFM's news service. This week: Paula Bennett and Sue Bradford on beneficiary bashing; ACC funding for physio sessions thrown out; Govt changes for the health system and Rodney Hide on why he'll quit if the Govt OKs Maori seats for the Auckland supercity.

Listen to Audio
MP3, 14m02s, 3.2MB

The Weekly Round Up

A selection of interviews from the rest of the station. This week: a chat with John Stirratt fromWilco (the band), Jeremy Toy from the Opensouls on their new Motown inspired album and a live performance from The Earlybirds.

Listen to Audio
MP3, 11m33s, 2.6MB

Sir Kenneth Keith

Eclectic is probably the best way to describe Sir Kenneth Keith's career in law. He's been a member of the United Nations Secretariat from 1968 to 1970; President of the NZ Law Commission; a member of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System which recommended the change to MMP; a member of the New Zealand legal team in the Nuclear Tests cases before the International Court of Justice 1973, 1974 and 1995; worked on additional amendments to the Geneva Convention; worked as a Judge on the Appeals Court and the Supreme Court and is now a Judge for the International Court of Justice.

He was back in New Zealand to give a keynote address at a seminar and panel discussion for the Fulbright NZ Alumni Association in Wellington. Aptly enough they were looking at the influence US law has on the New Zealand legal system.

I began by asking him what he thought that influence was and he also discusses the misuse of sovereignty as a concept, Maori seats and the work of the ICJ which has been asked to consider the legality of Kosovo's declaration of Independence.

Note: apologies for the background noise in the first half of the interview (it's Ritchie Hardcore blasting the living hell out of the Breakfast show btw). It does get better.

Further reading

Probably the best place to investigate Sir Ken's impact on the legal environment in NZ is to have a gander at Seeing the World Whole: Essays in Honour of Sir Kenneth Keith. It's a collection of essays about issues his career's touched on and should be in your local library.

A selection of documents pertaining to the ICJ's forthcoming hearings on the Kosovo and Serbia issue, including written statements and the request for an advisory opinion from the UN.

Listen to Audio
MP3, 27m20s, 6.3MB