For their weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the 4th government investigation into school lunches, The proposal to cut Te Reo Māori resource teachers and the Greens call to the government to rule out joining AUKUS.
He spoke to Esmé Hulbert-Putt from Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine about the open letter from Christian leaders calling for humanitarian visas for Palestinians, as well as the Gaza ceasefire pilgrimages that will be happening across the motu later today.
And he spoke to Shiva Gounden from Greenpeace Aotearoa about Greenpeace’s call for reparations from the United States to the Marshall Islands for the impacts of the Castle Bravo nuclear bomb’s detonation in the Bikini Atoll in the 1950s.
Sasha spoke with Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University about Urban Fire planning and Global Warming.
And he also spoke to Professor Robert Patman, from the University of Otago about recent global political developments.
Throughout many Pacific island nations, the belief in sorcery and black magic as the cause of disease, death and other forms of misfortune is a major contributor to violence amongst a number of families and communities.
Despite outreach from community leaders, church groups and government officials, many say that sorcery-related violent incidents are increasing in bopth rural and urban areas in countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, with many of the victims being women.
Oto spoke to Post-Doctoral Fellow in Pacific Studies Dr Kerryn Sogha Galokale, who is from the Solomon Islands, about the prevalence of sorcery related violence in the west pacific, it’s impacts and what community groups are doing to address it.
Last friday, Israel launched a series of missile strikes on Iranian soil, aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear research facilities and assassinating their top generals and scientists.
In response Iran fired a series of their own missile strikes into Israeli territory, striking areas like Tel Aviv and the Israeli port city of Haifa.
Both countries have attacked civilian areas in this round of fighting, with Israel strikes into Iran hitting Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran as well as the Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah, killing at least 200 people, with Iran’s strikes targeting a number of residential areas in urban Israel similarly.
Oto spoke to an Iranian New Zealander who is currently in Iran, going under the alias of ‘Maryam’ for her safety and security, who talked us about her experiences trying to flee Iran and contacting the New Zealand for assistance.
Extreme weather events such as the recent Tasman floods, are becoming more common in New Zealand. With that, the risk of severe flooding is only increasing.
The question is: how prepared is Aotearoa for the next severe flood and what action is needed to prepare for it?
Producer Max spoke to Dr. Iresh Jayawardena, a lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Auckland, to talk about New Zealand’s lack of awareness when it comes to floods and why short term planning has left many areas vulnerable to severe weather.
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.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's latest Homelessness Insights Report shows that there has been an increase in homelessness across Aotearoa.
In particular, the report — like other research including a report from Ihi Research last year — highlighted a disproportionate impact of homelessness on Māori and Pacific populations, as well as women and younger demographics.
Tuesday Wire Host Sara was interested in delving into the correlation between these findings about homelessness and health outcomes for the populations who face exacerbated impacts.
She spoke with both Manaaki Rangatahi spokesperson Brooke Stanley, and Māori health researcher Dr Madeline Shelling about the impact of homelessness on Māori and Pacific health.
Her first interview is with Brooke from Manaaki Rangatahi.
She also spoke with Madeline Shelling. I started by asking her to talk about how this latest report connects to previous research on the impact of homelessness on Māori.
Plan change 120, a new plan that seeks to allow for up to 2 million new dwellings in high density zones across mass rapid corridors throughout the city is currently up for public consultation.
Although hotly contested during the election period, it seems as if the city is on its way to unlocking high density development and a strengthening of its urban landscape against natural hazards.
Thursday Wire Producer Sanat talked to councilor Julie Fairey today about the consultation process, how people can get involved and what they should know about the plan change.
Sanat also talked to her about the process of going from being a candidate to actually starting a role in council, what the inauguration looks like and how the Auckland Council building feels as new Councillors settle in for their term.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about government ministers announcing they are considering banning rough sleeping in Auckland’s CBD and the Regulatory Standards Bill passing its second reading.
Producer Alex spoke to Dr Iresh Jayawardena, a lecturer in Architecture and Urban Planning and lead researcher for the Future Cities Research Centre about Earth Science New Zealand’s new Flood Risk Map, and what it says about our infrastructure’s exposure to climate based harms.
And Joel spoke to Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, an Associate Law Professor at the University of Auckland, about NZ First’s members bill proposed a ban on the private sale and use of fireworks, touching on why we are seeing so many members bills from the party.
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