This week, Auckland council is facing scrutiny as Council chief executive Phil Wilson investigates the liquidation of a company owned by chief of staff, Jaswant Singh.
His property company which called in for liquidation in June, has no assets and owes sole creditor Inland Revenue just under $560 thousand dollars.
In other news, Auckland Council is reinvigorating calls for stronger powers and the dog control act, as community leaders report a crisis of abandoned and roaming dogs across Auckland.
Both the local council and community organisations like SPCA are urging the central government to take action and support on-the-ground efforts with legislative change.
As well, a recent survey has found that local alcohol policy changes enacted at the end of 2024 have had a positive impact in Auckland. But one community advocate believes the council should not be complacent about improving policies to make the community safer against the harms of alcohol.
Tuesday Wire Host Sara spoke with Shane Henderson about all of these topics, starting with Singh’s company liquidation
Last week, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, announced that the construction of open-plan classrooms would be halted.
The National Party had previously petitioned for the classroom design in 2011, with the idea of pushing for flexibility in the way students were taught, and to accommodate a shift in how technology is used in educational spaces.
However, the classroom design has received a mixture of responses.
Some say the classroom design resulted in a noisy and distracting environment. Despite this, surveys by the Council for Educational Research showed that most teachers liked open-plan classrooms, adding that students benefitted from the classroom design.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Blair Dravitski about the government’s move regarding open-plan classrooms.
Dravitski is a spokesperson on the topic for the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, and Tumuaki/Principal of Te Uru Tarata | Lemonwood Grove School in Rolleston.
Chris recaps the week of cannibas in the news on Marijuana Media thanks to The Hempstore, then later Arlo and Paddy of The Magic Wild Tavern make a DnD inspired elixir on Cocktail Corner and chat about their series Fury of the Small.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about the war on Gaza, Labour MP Camilla Belich’s pay secrecy bill, and the increase in KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals.
For International Desk, they spoke to Ralph Hall, advisor at the Electoral Reform Society in the United Kingdom, about the significant electoral reform in the UK.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the New Zealand Principal’s Federations’ Blair Dravitski, on the government stopping the construction of open-plan classrooms.
For this week’s City Counselling, Tuesday Wire Host Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about the liquidation of council chief of staff’s business, calls for stronger powers to respond to roaming dogs, and Auckland’s local alcohol policy.
Chris discusses a large stash growing in a swamp belonging to a Waikato man, charges brought against a woman who shared cake edibles at a hospital, the proposed merger between Helius and Elysian continues after the Cannibas Clinic withdraws, plus upcoming premiere for The Weed Eaters at this year's NZIFF!
Arlo and Paddy of Wild Magic Tavern cook up an elixir for HALFQUEEN inspired by their DnD series Fury of the Small. Whakarongo mai nei and check out the series over on their substack.
Earlier this week New Zealand Parliament voted to support a joint statement with 27 other countries calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Labour MP Camilla Belich’s members bill titled the “Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill” passed its second reading.
And 50,000 people have made withdrawals from their KiwiSaver for the reason of financial hardship this year.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Earlier this week New Zealand Parliament voted to support a joint statement with 27 other countries calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Labour MP Camilla Belich’s members bill titled the “Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill” passed its second reading.
And 50,000 people have made withdrawals from their KiwiSaver for the reason of financial hardship this year.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
The United Kingdom is passing significant electoral reforms as part of an effort to “boost public trust in democracy.”
One of these reforms is to lower the voting age to 16 for all elections, aligning voting rights with Scotland and Wales which already have lowered their voting ages.
The reforms also include expanding acceptable voter IDs, a new automated system to register to vote, and a tightening of rules surrounding political donations.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Ralph Hall, advisor for the Electoral Reform Society, about these changes.
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