On Friday, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced various changes to the electoral system in New Zealand which he says seek to make the process of voting more efficient and effective for future elections.
These include the closing of enrolment 13 days before the official election day, prohibiting the provision of food and drink at polling booths, and a reinstatement of a total prisoner voting ban.
A number of Labour and Greens party politicians have been among those to criticise the changes as a disenfranchisement of voters which will make democratic engagement in New Zealand more difficult.
As well, last week the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development released the latest iteration of the Homelessness Insights Report which reveals that there has been a quantifiable rise in homelessness across Aotearoa.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s plan to replace the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, The FBI office opening in Wellington and The party's call to the government to reverse changes to emergency housing access.
He spoke with Ritesh Shah, a Senior Lecturer Critical Studies in Education, about why Israel is facing international condemnation for how it’s handled aid distribution in Gaza.
And he spoke to Dr Mohsen Mohammadzadeh, A senior lecturer in the school of architecture and planning in the faculty of engineering and design at the University of Auckland about the rollout of AI enabled surveillance technology in Auckland.
Max spoke to Stuart McNaughton, a professor from the University of Auckland, to talk about the government’s decision to scrap NCEA by 2030.
For 95bFM's election coverage this year, Jemima Huston speaks to Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere about the party's housing policy. They discus an Iwi Build policy, social housing, and increasing the building market.
This week's show featured new music from Geneva AM, David Byrne, Bret McKenzie and more. Sam also pays tribute to American session musician Bobby Whitlock who passed away last week.
Amidst soaring house prices, the Labour government have announced a new policy to build 18,000 state houses by 2024, with more housing policies set to follow over the year. Community groups have levied criticism that the policy doesn't go far enough, especially considering the over 20,000 strong state housing waitlist.
Hanna reached out to Bernie Smith, CEO of the Monte Cecilia Housing Trust, for his view on the proposed public housing build and for perspective on the lived experience of Aotearoa's housing crisis.
Dr Brian Greene is professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and co-founder of the World Science Festival, an annual week-long series of seminars and panel discussions that has taken place in New York since 2008 (loads of those panel discussions are available to watch here)
Ahead of his live talk this Sunday - A Time Travelers Tale - Dr Greene spoke to Hugh Sundae about string theory and science in the age of Trump.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw joins Wire host Amanda Jane Robinson to talk about Labour's immigration policy and whether the Greens are becoming too centrist.
With discussions about the possibility of a new blue-green party arising before the next election flooding the media at the moment, Jemima asks Green Party co-leader James Shaw what his thoughts are on a new party. James also talks about what the Green Party has planned for the next few months.
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