This week the Thursday Wire's usual host Caeden was away, so Tuesday Wire host Castor filled in. For City Counselling this week, Castor spoke to Shane Henderson about the draft regional land transport plan for Auckland and the council’s hopes for budget announcements later today.  Producer Jasmine spoke with Dr. Hiran Thabrew about mental health funding following the Government’s budget announcement regarding investment in the I Am Hope Foundation. She also spoke PSA Delegate Sian...

June is the month for Sweat With Pride in Aotearoa, where Kiwis can sign up to sweat for 21 minutes everyday to raise money for services provided by the Burnett Foundation, Rainbow Youth, OutLine and InsideOut for our rainbow and Takatāpui communities. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to the Burnett Foundation’s Ella Sarigson ahead of the initiative kicking off this Saturday! It’s not too late to get involved - head to sweatwithpride.com to signup and support our rainbow and takatāpui communities.

Strike action by more than 290 NZ Blood Service Workers across the motu begins tomorrow. The decision follows seven months of stalled negotiations in pursuit of funding that seeks to rectify the 13-35% pay gap between NZ Blood Service Workers and their colleagues of the same job roles, skills, experience at Te Whatu Ora. Representatives of strike action have affirmed the support of the executive team at NZ Blood during this process, and have emphasised that frustrations lie around the...

Last week the government announced a $24 million funding commitment to I Am Hope, the foundation behind Mike King’s Gumboot Friday initiative. The $6million annual allocation is set to fund two counselling sessions for those ages 5-25 years old. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Senior Lecturer in Psychological Medicine, Dr. Hiran Thabrew, on differing strategies to address mental health investment needs.   

Last week, resources Minister Shane Jones released a draft strategy for mineral mining, aiming to double the amount of exports in the sector.  The strategy also mentioned "significant amounts of different types and grades of coal deposits" in Aotearoa, and aimed to align consents for coal to other minerals in order to increase coal extraction. In response, the Green party has created a petition, calling on the government to completely roll back on its coal mining initiatives and to...

Health outcome gaps for Māori and Pasifika suffering from cardiovascular conditions have been apparent for quite some time. In order to address this ongoing problem, a group of researchers involved in Manawataki Fatu Fatu for ACCESS conducted a qualitative study, where they interviewed Māori and Pasifika patients in cardiovascular care to uncover the causes behind these health gaps, as well as potential solutions.  To discuss the study and its findings, Oto spoke to Senior Research fellow...

Earlier this May the government announced plans to revisit a development at Waikeria Prison in Waikato. Originally proposed under the 2017 Labour government, the plan to add new beds was delayed due to COVID 19 complications.  Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell sez the development will continue past Labour’s initial plan, with an overwhelming message from the National party that the prison population should and will increase. In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Katie Nimon, Wire...

This weekend, People Against Prisons Aotearoa organised a protest against the planned development at Waikeria Prison, calling out existing space in prisons, excessive spending on prisons during cuts across government departments, and the ineffectiveness of prisons broadly. Wire host Castor spoke to People Against Prisons Aotearoa’s Press Spokesperson, Emmy Rākete about the development and the government’s approach to crime and punishment.

For Dear Science this week, Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about reconstructing the genomes of extinct moa, a protein folding prediction programme, and a discovery forcing us to rewrite chemistry textbooks.  Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Katie Nimon about the Waikeria prison development and funding for corrections in advance of this week’s budget announcements.  He also spoke to People Against Prisons’ Emmy Rākete about these developments and the government’s...

The United States and New Zealand are the only high-income countries that allow unrestricted direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines, which directs advertising towards consumers rather than medical professionals. Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Associate Professor of Medical Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, David Menkes, about concerns researchers have raised about direct-to-consumer advertising and how to address them.  She started the...

An urgent open letter has called on the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Paul Goldsmith, to amend the Crimes act to include the act of stalking.  Producer Ezra spoke to co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law Practice and Policy at the University of Auckland, Carrie Leonetti, about why criminalising stalking will help prevent innocent people from living in fear.

Last week the Students for Justice in Palestine Canterbury set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. The police were called on the peaceful protest, but students remained for 27 hours, before an agreement was reached with the University.  Producer Evie spoke to Matt, the spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine Canterbury about the encampment, the group's demands and their response to the comments made by ACT’s Simon Court.

$153m has been allocated in the 2024 budget to establish Charter Schools in Aotearoa by the coalition government, after being previously shut down by the last Labour Government in 2018, to establish 50 new charter schools. This system of education has come under controversy by many, over concerns these schools can allocate funding however they see fit with almost total discretion, teach any curriculum they want to, and are not required to hire teachers with adequate teaching certificates,...

Over $20 million in Pokie machine profits were recorded last December in the Ōtara-Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Mangere-Ōtāhuhu local board areas of Auckland.  Producer Ezra spoke to Senior Lecturer of Education at the University of Auckland, Dr Analosa Veukiso-Ulugia, about the impact these figures highlighted of gaming machines in South Auckland.

A South Auckland-based art exhibition opened last week at the Mangere Arts Centre, featuring the works of 10 contemporary Aotearoa artists with Tāgata Pācifica and Tāgata Ahia heritage. Producer Ezra spoke to the Co-Curator from I-M.S Arts, Iokapeta Magele-Suamasi, about the importance of the “South-Versed” exhibition for recognising South-Auckland-connected talent.

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party's Simon Court, producer Evie spoke to Simon about mining and comments he made on X, formally Twitter, about the University of Canterbury pro-Palestine encampment. She also spoke with Spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine Canterbury, Matt, about the University of Canterbury encampment. For our weekly catchup with, Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Takutai about Māori wards and Kāinga Ora. They...

Recently, a University of Canterbury study, ‘investigating the spatial and temporal variation of vape retailer provision in New Zealand: A cross-sectional and nationwide study,’ published in the peer-reviewed journal, Social Science and Medicine, shows that most vape retailers reside in the country’s most deprived areas. News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Canterbury, and head of the study, Matthew Hobbs, about the findings of...

A new study of European Beech forests has discovered the impact of the summer solstice as a “celestial cue” on the species’ mast seeding production. This discovery may assist in efforts to protect biodiversity in Aotearoa, due to its relevance to our species of native southern beech, which comprises nearly half of our remaining native forest. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Emeritus Professor and co-author of this research, Dave Kelly, on how this discovery can support conservation work here...

Users are continuing to boycott celebrities on social media following the beginning of  #Blockout2024. The activist movement was sparked by a peak in digital audiences’ frustrations surrounding the concurrent platforming of wealth and celebrity at the MET Gala alongside scenes of humanitarian devastation in Gaza. The parallel has been described by many as uncomfortably close to dystopian narratives such as Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy.    Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Media and...

For our weekly catch-up with Labour Party Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks about the Government's comments on welfare and the unrest in New Caledonia.  They also speak to Student Justice for Palestine’s Layan Khalil about today’s protest action. For City Counselling, Caeden speaks to Councillor Lotu Fuli about the long-term plan and her Airport shares amendment.  And they speak with Greenpeace spokesperson Sinead Deighton-O’Flynn about their upcoming March for...

Greenpeace has announced an upcoming “March for Nature” in response to the current Government’s environmental policies, which they have called a “war on nature.” Their website says this protest is targeting the Fast Track Consent Bill which “undermines democracy and Te Tiriti.” Wire Host Caeden spoke to Greenpeace spokesperson Sinead Deighton-O'Flynn about the upcoming march. They started by asking what the demands of the march were.

Last week, New Caledonia became the site of widespread civil unrest and mass riots. Protests erupted in response to a decision made by the French government to grant voting rights to residents of New Caledonia who had been residing on the Island for at Least 10 years, overturning a previous constitutional amendment that only permitted the Island’s indigenous Kanak population and residents residing on the Island before 1998 to vote in local elections.  New Caledonia’s Indigenous Kanak...

The coalition government recently introduced legislation aimed at rolling back the establishment of Maori wards in local constituencies, requiring local councils to hold a referendum if they brought in wards without first polling residents or to scrap the wards that they have.  The Waitangi tribunal consider the legislation to be a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi principle prioritising, as they say the crown failed to consult with the tribunal or Maori stakeholders, and that the move will...

From January 1, 2025, the New Zealand Council of Legal Education has plans to make teaching tikanga Māori and te ao Māori compulsory in the legal curriculum for students, meaning all core law courses will have a compulsory tikanga Māori component. On the 7th of May, King’s Counsel Gary Judd filed a complaint to the Government’s Regulations Review Committee over this move, claiming that tikanga didn’t fall under “proper law subjects”. Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to co-Tumuaki at Te...

The Waitangi Tribunal recently found the government’s plans to reinstate a rule requiring all Māori wards to go to a local referendum, is not in line with the government’s obligations under Te Tiriti. Introduced in 2001, the required referendum was cited by many as a significant barrier to Māori representation in local government. Before 2021, there were three councils with Māori wards or constituencies. After the requirement was removed in 2021, 34 territories and 7 regional councils have...