The Government is reintroducing the Three Strike laws which were repealed by Labour during their last term. These laws set out mandatory, lengthy sentences for some repeat offenders.
The laws have been controversial, with experts stating that there is no evidence that they work in preventing serious crime.
The Government has also announced a reduction in support to community food providers. Auckland City Mission has stated they may need to cut their food packages by half.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asks Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
The Auckland regional fuel tax ended on 30 June that has been active since 2018, with the purported aim to ease cost of living pressures.
The generated tax revenue was used for road safety initiatives and public transport infrastructure projects including the eastern busway, new electric trains for the City Rail Link and redevelopment of the downtown ferry terminal.
Without a fuel tax, the infrastructure funding will come from rates which are unlikely to increase to recoup the loss of tax revenue.
I spoke to Senior lecturer in Urban Planning Dr Timothy Welch about the short and long term impact of the removal of fuel tax.
The National-led Government has recently announced their action plan for the next 3 months. It has a focus on being ‘tough on crime’ with policies like boot camps for youth offenders and roadside drug testing.
Labour has spent this week in Auckland, visiting businesses, public services and community groups to understand what’s going on in our biggest city.
For our weekly catch-up, Wire Host Caeden asks Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about the Q3 Action Plan and Labour’s Auckland strategy.
Jonny is joined by Isa Seow, a PhD candidate at the School of Computer Science. Isa discusses how the introduction of congestion charges in the busiest cities in Aotearoa may impact individual privacy and conflict with the Privacy Act. Listen back to learn about how the law needs to catch up to developments in surveillance technologies!
Tuva'a talks to Sam V, one of the judges for the 2024 Stand Up Stand Out(SUSO) initiative established by Auckland Council initiative, in partnership with Auckland Live, Rockshop and Auckland UNESCO City of Music. SUSO provides pathways for rangatahi across the Tāmaki Makaurau region to develop their skills in music and dance composition and performance. Whakarongo mai nei!
This week on The Green Desk we have a special episode on the state of Wellington, recorded inside Parliament’s cafe with the Spinoff Wellington Editor Joel MacManus. He talks about infrastructure, cycleways and tunnels.
If you’ve read the news in the past month, the capital is being buffeted by gnarly headwinds. Not off the Cook Straight but rather from pesky employees working from home. Journalists talking to retail operators and cafe owners have painted a bleak picture of the city. But are sunny days ahead for Wellington?
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about new beneficiary data from the Ministry of Social Development and last week's worker's strikes.
For States of the States this week, they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the recent Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, accusations of voter fraud, and how the US is looking ahead of next week's election. They also speak to Tom Unger, political activist and former political show host at Radioactive, about their assessment of the imminent election from the ground in New York City.
And they speak to Mike Lee, Associate Professor of Business at the University of Auckland, about the growing anti-consumerism movement associated with Halloween.
And News and Directorial Director Joel spoke to Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, Dr Ritesh Shah, about Israel banning the UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem.
Last week, Auckland Council presented a proposal to shift Kumeū’s town centre as an effort to address the area’s history of flooding.
Additionally, late last month public consultation opened on Council’s proposed bed night visitor levy. The levy would fill a budget gap of $7 million for major events in Tāmaki Makaurau.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics, beginning by asking her what current issues Kumeū is facing that informed the proposal to move its town centre.
This month, a number of council body reforms have come into effect in the Auckland Council, fulfilling Mayor Wayne Brown’s promise to address issues and implement community feedback into the council’s format.
The three new divisions in the Auckland Council to improve organisation include the Auckland Urban Development Office, the Property Department, and an Economic Development Office, each of which are intended to make decision making more effective and accessible to the public.
As well, with the persisting cold temperatures and rainy weather hitting Auckland this Winter, I wanted to discuss the topic of homelessness in Auckland’s city centre, and to what extent the council is working to support those rough sleeping in the CBD
Hannah Mckittrick, Zoomed in from Naarm to talk about her latest single release Crowd Scene. She also gave us some recommendations for local music for us to get into.
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