As part of my Head2Head series I have been interviewing politicians to find out a little about who they are,why thet got into politics, and what they believe.

In this episode I meet Vanushi Walters who is Labour’s Shadow Attorney- General and an Associate Spokesperon on Foreign Affairs .

We discuss the threats to our rule of law and our democracy by legislation that has been brought before the House in recent times, and what New Zealand could be doing about the terrible events in Gaza and Ukraine.

This interview has been made free to view thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.

For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.

I post something everyday and all subscriptions go to meet production costs .

Bryan Bruce catches up with Dr Ganesh Ahirao, former BERL Research Director and Chair of the now disestablished Productivity Commission , to talk about the direction and purpose of our Economy, privatisation concerns for our Public Health System and why Early Childhood Education is much more than baby sitting.

This interview has been made free to listen to thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.

For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.

Please restack and share posts you think are worthwhile as it all helps to build readership.

The Sunday Long Read gives way this week to a Sunday Long Watch and Long Listen.

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing two Jesus and 1st Century historians – Professors Joan Taylor, currently in Wellington, and Prof. Helen Bond at the University of Edinburgh, who jointly authored and presented the BBC Channel 4 documentary Jesus’ Female Disciples and the book Women Remembered about Jesus’ Female Disciples.

Because the history of Christianity was written by men, the two scholars argue, the importance and contribution of the women to the spread of the Jesus message has been largely overlooked - women who preached, healed, baptised and even bankrolled the movement.

You can find their documentary JESUS’ FEMALE DISCIPLES here:

The Head2Head series is made possible and freely available thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. Please consider supporting my public journalism work by becoming one of them. I publish something everyday mostly on social, political, climate and life challenging issues.

For $10 a month (including GST) you can gain access to all premium posts and comment in the chat room..

Today I am catching up with Blake Forbes and Paul Barlow

Blake has a disability. He has spastic cerebral palsy with mild autism and ADHD, but that hasn’t stopped him running a very effective interview podcast called BFG (short for Blake Forbes Gentle) which he produces with co-host Paul Barlow .

Paul has a media background and, in addition to working with Blake, runs his own podcast show entitled Paul The Other One.

Blake has become an effective advocate for people with disabilities and at the moment is rightly concerned about the loss of respite funding for care givers.

And Paul is into anyalizing the Local Body elections.

Kia kaha Blake and Paul .Thank you for a very enjoyable and informative conversation.

If you want to check out Blake’s Channel you can find it here:

https://www.youtube.com/@thebfgpodcast

Paul’s personal channel Paul The Other One is here:

https://www.youtube.com/@Paul...theotherone

Paul is a former political commentator with a background in media studies and pop culture, and has over 35000 followers of his content from across Aotearoa.

This content is also available in video formats on Tik Tok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram as well as audio versions from wherever you get your Podcasts.

Thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who help fund my Head2Head interviews are free to access. Please consider supporting my public journalism work by becoming a paid subscriber for $10 a month (including GST) as only paid subscribers can comment in the chat room.

Part of my job as a public interest journalist and documentary maker is to give a voice to people in our community who find it difficult to be heard.

Disability access to houses and public buildings is one of those issues that doesn’t get enough attention in Aotearoa New Zealand, and as advocate Nick Ruane points out in today’s interview, any of us can find ourselves having to use a wheel chair as a result of an accident or illness or simply because of mobility problems associated with aging.

Accessing public spaces is something we recognise by law as a right everyone should have - a right that is embedded, for example, in The New Zealand Building Code.

These regulations, however, don’t apply to the buildings we inhabit most each day - our private homes or rental accommodation. This is a much greyer area where voluntary accessibility is encouraged and, in some cases, incentivised, but not compulsory.

Private landlords, for example, are not legally required to provide no-step entries, wide doors, accessible bathrooms or even lever handles instead of knobs.

There is however government support for modifying existing homes to accommodate people with disabilities, including the Ministry of Health’s Housing Modification Service, which provides funding for necessary changes such as ramps, stair lifts, and accessible bathrooms.

You can find out about what is available and may be possible here:

https://www.govt.nz/browse/health/help-in-your-home/modifying-your-house/#825

Head2Head is made possible thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free,please consider becoming one of them.

For $10 a month (including GST ) - less a cup of coffee each week- you can help to have more issues investigated, give a voice to those not being heard and call government to account.

You will not only get access to my documentaries, interviews and premium posts, you will also be able to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer, more democratic society.

All subscription money goes on production.

As regular readers will know, Monday on my Susbstack is Hope day, and for over 30 years Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has been bringing hope to children living in our most deprived homes, by fighting for their rights to food, housing, health and education.

They are an independent, registered charity, that since its inception has been working to eliminate child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand through research, education and advocacy

Here’s their website.

https://www.cpag.org.nz

As their name suggests CPAG has been a driving force in getting the idea that there is such a thing as child poverty accepted, to the point where in 2018 The Child Poverty Reduction Act was passed, which set up a framework for measuring and reporting on it.

So when CPAG’s Executive Officer Sarita Divis received an invitation to a Child Poverty Reduction Summit, hosted by Ministry Of Social Development at Parliament Buildings. she was looking forward to hearing what initiatives the National/ACT/NZ First coalition government were going to announce.

In this episode of Head2Head Sarita not only describes her disappointment after attending the event - in which the assembled charities were told the onus would be on communities to look after the vulnerable - but points up some solutions we need to put in place at government level to ensure the well-being of all our children.

Recording interviews like this one is made possible by the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free, please consider supporting my public journalism by upgrading to paid status.

For $9 a month (less than a cup of coffee each week) will not only give you access to my documentaries and premium posts, you will also get to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer,more democratic society.

All subscriptions go to meet production costs.

Please share and restack posts you find useful as it all helps to build readership.

Thank you.

Last Monday I wrote a Hope post about two independent film makers who are trying to crowd fund the money to finish their self- funded feature film 1978 .

They need $15,000 to do the post production and finish their film so it can be shown in cinemas up and down the country. As I write they have reached $10,834 on the Arts Foundation Boosted site. If they reach their target in the next 7 days they get the money. If they don’t they get nothing.

Cruel, I reckon.

But there it is.

Yesterday I spoke with Director Isaac Lee and Co -Director April Phillips about their quintessential Kiwi film - where the idea came from, the struggles they have had to shoot their feature length film which has now been edited and just needs some post production polishing before it gets released for the big screens around our country.

Do have a listen to the interview and if you can afford something to help them out please do. Every bit helps.

Thank you to everyone who has chipped in so far.

As you will hear in the interview they really appreciate your support.

Here’s the link

https://www.thearts.co.nz/boosted/projects/post-production-1978

Here is their website

https://www.1978.co.nz

And their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/1978NZ

Let’s help make their inspiring 1978 film happen!

Thanks

Bryan

Please share this post with whanau and friends.