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Get Action!

We talk to different Action Station petitioners campaigning for a fairer future every Wednesday on The Wire.

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Get Action! w/ Paid Placements Aotearoa Founder, Bex Howells: 31 January, 2024

 Get Action! w/ Paid Placements Aotearoa Founder, Bex Howells: 31 January, 2024 Get Action! w/ Paid Placements Aotearoa Founder, Bex Howells: 31 January, 2024, 6.38 MB
Wed 31 Jan 2024

For Get Action! this week News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to community organiser and advocate in healthcare, education, and social work, and founder of Paid Placements Aotearoa, Bex Howells.

They discussed Howells’ petition that has almost 5000 signatures, calling on the government to address long-term workforce shortages by funding student placements. 

She started off the interview asking Howells why this issue is important.

Get Action! Protect our youth, make Wellington’s streets safe! w/ Rachel Jaboon from VASDA

 Get Action! Protect our youth, make Wellington’s streets safe! w/ Rachel Jaboon from VASDA Get Action! Protect our youth, make Wellington’s streets safe! w/ Rachel Jaboon from VASDA, 21.73 MB

A recent Salient survey revealed that 75% of students at Victoria University of Wellington felt unsafe while on a night out in the Wellington CBD. 

This figure comes amidst a nationwide statistical increase in violence, with figures from 2023/24 showing increases in murder and manslaughter offences at rates of up to 77% compared to the year before. 

As such, a petition was launched on Our Action Station by Victoria African Diapsora Student Association, also known as VASDA, calling on the Wellington City Council to create and fund a wide-scale cross-community project aimed at addressing violence in the CBD and improving the safety of Rangatahi. 

The petition was also launched in wake of the murder of Luke Smith, a 21 year old student who was killed in Wellington’s Courtney place. 

Oto spoke to Rachel Jaboon, the outgoing president of VASDA, to discuss the petition and her organisation’s calls to the Wellington City Council to improve the safety of Rangatahi in Wellington's CBD.

If you'd like to sign the petition, you can find it here.