With the Government cutting several jobs at the ministry of education, New Zealand’s school lunches programme, Ka Ora, Ka Ako, is expected to be cut in the budget.
Rachel spoke to Research Fellow in the School of Population Health, Dr Kelly Garton about the implications the defunding will have on New Zealand’s youth.
Earlier this week, the coalition government announced it would be re-introducing the Three Strikes sentencing law that was scrapped under the previous labour government.
The government plans to introduce harsher punishments for repeat criminal offenders, automatically giving the maximum sentence the third time someone commits an offence.
Oto spoke to Greens MP Ricardo Menendez about the Party’s stance on Three Strikes law, and how they believe recidivism in Aotearoa should be combatted.
They also had a conversation about the recent letter from Labour MP David Parker to Foreign Minister Winston Peters, calling for the government to officially recognise a Palestinian state.
In the later half of 2023, the University of Auckland announced rent increases of more than 8% at their halls of residence. The University justified this as a necessary measure, caused by the impacts of inflation
However, students bearing the full brunt of the rent increase said the University’s decision to increase rent and subsequent explanation were unacceptable, pointing out that inflation rates only increased by 5.6%, and that the increases would make the cost of living unaffordable for a large number of students living at the halls of residence.
This prompted a number of students to form a “Students for Fair Rent”, a group advocating for rental rates at the University of Auckland to be made more affordable by matching rental rates to inflation rates and the average cost of housing in Central Auckland.
In August last year, Students for Fair Rent organised a petition on change.org that received 1500 signatures, urging the University of Auckland to lower the cost of living which the University of Auckland reportedly ignored.
Last week, on the 19th of April, Students for Fair Rent held a rally on Campus calling for a rent strike as a last resort protest against the cost of living at the halls and the University’s dismissal.
95bFM News Reporters, Shane and Oto, went down to the rally and spoke to Matthew Lee, the founder of Students for Fair Rent, as well as Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick, to discuss call for a rent strike.
In early April, Christopher Luxon and David Seymour addressed journalists with promises of several policies aimed at reducing absences in public schools.
These policies joined other policies introduced by the current government, such as the school cellphone ban and ban on disposable vapes, which hope to improve education outcomes in our schools and increase attendance.
Additionally, the government recently announced 565 job cuts in the Ministry of Education, including some currently vacant roles, in part of their larger move to cut costs across all ministries.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to James Meager about these issues, both the theory behind the policies and how the policies will functionally be implemented.
In early April, Christopher Luxon and David Seymour addressed journalists with promises of several policies aimed at reducing absences in public schools.
These policies join other policies introduced by the current government, such as the school cellphone ban and ban on disposable vapes, which hope to improve education outcomes in our schools and increase attendance.
Additionally, the government recently announced 565 job cuts in the Ministry of Education, including some currently vacant roles, in part of their larger move to cut costs across all ministries.
Wire host Castor spoke to the president of the Secondary Principals Association NZ and principal of Papatoetoe highschool, Vaughan Couillault, about these changes and how they affect teachers on the ground in Aotearoa.
For Dear Science this week, Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about underwater bumblebees, UV light for biofilm, and data analysis by Borderlands players.
Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s James Meager about absence rates in schools, ministry of education job cuts, and the school cellphone ban.
He also spoke to President of the Secondary Principals Association NZ and Principal of Papatoetoe Highschool about these same issues from a frontline perspective.
Producer Sofia spoke to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law, Carrie Leonetti, about criminalising stalking.
Last week, the Independent Police Conduct Authority released its summary of police’s handling of Farzana Yaqubi’s complaints of a man stalking her, eight weeks before she was murdered in December 2022 by the same man.
The report found a litany of police failures in its handling, including that its assessment matrix did not consider all lines of inquiry.
New Zealand is one of the few countries that does not treat stalking as a crime.
As a result of the IPCA’s report and Yaqubi’s death, many have called for this to change.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law, Carrie Leonetti, about current laws for stalking in Aotearoa, the importance of criminalising it, and what that could look like.
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