bCasts

Last week, several politicians including the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Auckland attended Auckland's City Rail Link test run. As the project nears completion, the CRL team is busy running tests to ensure this new upgraded rail system is ready for use on the day it launches on an unspecified date in 2026.

Several political leaders were invited to a test last week where they went through the three new stations that are a part of New Zealand’s first underground rail system. 

This comes at a time where Central Government is becoming increasingly stand-off ish with Local Governments across the country with rhetoric aimed at focusing councils on “Roads, Rubbish and Rates” 

This has come to a head with a recent move to introduce a rates cap which threatens to put a hard ceiling on what Local Councils can spend on in their communities. 

The CRL has been under construction for nearly a decade and costs more than $5.5 billion dollars with the project going over budget and over schedule on multiple occasions, drawing criticism from those who believe we are spending too much money on ineffective infrastructure projects. 

Producer Sanat talked to Councilor Julie Fairey today about the value that CRL will give to the city and why we have such a hard time nationally building ambitious infrastructure projects.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s comments on Israel obstructing aid to Gaza, the recent Taxpayers Union-Curia poll and changes to electorate boundaries and names for the next election. 

For International Desk, they spoke to Assistant Professor in Journalism at Mount Royal University, Gabriela Perdomo Páez, about Israel’s targeted attacks on Palestinian journalists.

For City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about the CRL and building infrastructure in Auckland.

He also talked to Dental For All campaigner Hana about their new national roadshow.

And he had a conversation with Dr Gabriell McDonald from the University of Otago about the new GP funding formula and how it neglects ethnicity data.

True School Hip Hop Show: August 14, 2025

This week the Dental for All campaign set out on a national roadshow to build public support over communities across the country. 

The campaign team stands for universal, free and te-tiriti consistent dental healthcare that is delivered through our public health care system. 

Under the current system individuals above the age of 18 have to access dental healthcare privately and those in need can apply for a WINZ grant of $1000, which is strictly means tested. This often means that those who do not qualify for the grant simply do not access dental health care. 

According to public polling carried out in 2022, 74% of the public supports the idea of universal dental health care. 

The campaign is trying to make the case to communities across the country so that they can get buy-in necessary from political leaders, going into the 2026 election next year.

Producer Sanat wanted to get more insight into what the campaign team sees as its road to victory on this issue and whether this is a feasible proposal, so he talked to Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching about her work.