Tracey Martin is back after a busy few weeks and talks with Lillian Hanly about negotiations, the new coalition government and explains the "Waka Jumping" policy.
Carrying on with this week's election topic of health, Jogai Bhatt speaks to Tracey Martin about their health system funding policies and NZ First candidate Kym Koloni's controversial vow to remove the Treaty of Waitangi from New Zealand law.
This week with New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin we discuss how her party will tackle immigration and buying back state assets while keeping the economy on track.
This week, we kick-off our election focused coverage in the five weeks remaining before September 23, where each week we look at different key policy areas that matter the most in #Decision17. This week, we start things off with the environment, so we ask Tracey about what environmentally-focused policies NZ First has on offer for New Zealand.
Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced last week that a learning support pilot in schools will be expanded to cover 70,000 more children around the country. As part of the pilot extension, 15 Ministry of Education senior staff will be placed as facilitators across 30 Communities of Learning around New Zealand to provide help for students who may need additional learning support. However, critics of the move say it ignores the findings from a recent inquiry into the needs of children who require extra learning help. This week, Ximena chats to Tracey about why the pilot extension isn’t the right solution.
Both Labour and National released their transport policies in the weekend: Labour has pledged to build light rail from downtown Auckland to the airport within a decade and charge Auckland with a fuel tax, while National has promised to invest $267 million into rail. But New Zealand First says neither of the parties are “hitting the mark”. Ximena chats to Tracey to find out why the solutions aren’t enough and what New Zealand First would do differently.
Education Minister Nikki Kaye has confirmed the government will be replacing the decile system, saying that a new "risk index" set to be implemented will target school funding more effectively. However, the New Zealand Educational Institute says the government’s decision to replace the decile system with targeted funding is only "shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic". Ximena speaks to Tracey about her thoughts on the situation.
A new survey of primary and intermediate teachers in Auckland shows that two thirds are thinking about leaving the city due to high living costs, 64% of all new teachers have given up on the prospect of ever owning their own home, and that many in the occupation are postponing parenthood. Ximena speaks to Tracey about her thoughts on the situation.
At New Zealand First's election convention in Auckland on Sunday, Party leader Winston Peters made the promise that if New Zealand First was part of the next government, then they would initiate a referendum about abolishing Māori seats in parliament. This week on the show, Ximena talks to Tracey about the arguments for and against keeping the seats.