Multiple sub variants of the Covid-19 Omicron variant have recently made their way into Aotearoa, seeing new territory for the country having to deal with multiple sub variants at once.
In the final Covid-19 media response, the Head of the Public Health Agency Andrew Old has made it clear to New Zealanders that the pandemic isn’t over.
Covid cases are currently on the uptick, with Poneke Wellington leading the pack in having case numbers doubling over last weeks amount.
To learn more about the next few months of the pandemic, Liam spoke to Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about the new wave.
This week Def Jim features selections from recent releases by John Zorn, Jeff Parker, John Scofield and Thumbscrew interspersed with gems plucked from recent and not-so-recent albums such as 1971's Hooteroll? by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, News, and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Golriz Ghahraman about their calls to double the Best Start payment, grant amnesty for people who have 'overstayed', their visas, and hold international powers to account for human rights abuses.
Nicholas spoke to the Epsom candidate for The Opportunities Party Dr Nina Su about the party's housing and foreign policy.
Arno interviewed Sense Partners economist Dr Kirdan Lees and barrister and columnist Dave Ananth about how rising immigration numbers may impact Aotearoa's economy.
And Kaze spoke to Mark Roach from the Anti-AUKUS coalition about the possibility of New Zealand joining the alliance.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, News, and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Golriz Ghahraman about their calls to double the Best Start payment, grant amnesty for people who have 'overstayed', their visas, and hold international powers to account for human rights abuses.
It’s been almost two months since the national hui at Ngāruawāhia, a unifying gathering of Maori and Iwi from across the Motu in response to policies by the coalition government, that many have said are anti-Maori. Despite widespread outrage against these policies, the government has appeared to double down and proceed with controversial moves such as disestablishing the Maori health authority and the proposal of ACT’s treaty principles bill.
In response, Ngāti Kahungunu have called for another national hui to be held in May this year at Ōmahu Marae in Heretaunga, Hastings, where a major point of discussion is expected to be centred around Kotahitanga, or the united Maori movement.
Oto spoke to Eru Kapa-Kingi, a legal academic at the University of Auckland of Te Aupouri and Ngāpuhi descent, and discussed the significance of the next national Hui.
Last week, resources Minister Shane Jones released a draft strategy for mineral mining, aiming to double the amount of exports in the sector.
The strategy also mentioned "significant amounts of different types and grades of coal deposits" in Aotearoa, and aimed to align consents for coal to other minerals in order to increase coal extraction.
In response, the Green party has created a petition, calling on the government to completely roll back on its coal mining initiatives and to protect the natural ecosystems of Aotearoa.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green Party MP, Ricardo Menendez-March, to discuss the petition. We also had a conversation about the Defence Minister Judith Collins decision to extend New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa
The government recently announced increases to visa application fees across several groups, in some cases more than doubling the cost to applicants. These changes are due to increase revenue for Immigration NZ, and are said to make the organisation 100% self-sufficient.
On the 12th of August, the New Zealand Police Association released an open letter to the government calling out their exclusion from discussions around firearms legislation reform. The letter spoke to the necessity of existing legislation, and criticised the involvement of former and present gun lobbyists in the process, including the minister in charge Nicole McKee. According to the ACT party website, McKee was formerly the spokesperson for The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners, a gun lobbyist group.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Katie Nimon, Wire host Castor asked about the changes to visa application fees and the involvement of police and gun lobbyists in firearms legislation reform.
The government also announced increased visa application fees, some of them now more than double the previous cost. The government says this change will make Immigration NZ entirely self-sufficient, no longer at any cost to the taxpayer.
However, the projected gain from this fee increase is four times as much as Immigration NZ currently spends annually. While the increased funding is expected to be reinvested in improving services, the actual impact or allocation is currently unknown.
Additionally, increased fees may deter potential applicants and increase costs to businesses looking to hire employees from overseas. The change may therefore reduce the number of overseas teachers and healthcare professionals, among other jobs.
Wire host Castor spoke to CEO of immigration advisory group Aims and chair of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment, Arunima Dhingra, about the changes and their impact on immigration.
New Zealanders continue to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza and on Israel’s illegal occupation of West-Bank, mainstream New Zealand media continue a narrative of double standards.
A recent report made by TVNZ, presented the Israeli military operation on the illegally-occupied West Bank. The report focused on Israeli narratives, justification and propaganda, with nothing coming from the Palestinian side to put such an issue into perspective. TVNZ presented an inversion of the truth.
I spoke to John Minto of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about appalling mainstream media reporting on Palestine, as well as the government’s silence on the issue and a justification for the ongoing rallies.
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