Rosetta and Milly catch up with Adam Whatton, who is Principal Ranger for the Auckland marine district keen to chat. His role is all about engaging the community around Auckland, the Coromandel and the Hauraki Gulf islands with the new marine protections in the Hauraki Gulf. Whakarongo mai nei!
The National party has rolled a series of new proposals aimed at dealing with violent gangs, if they were to win the 2020 election. They’ve said they want to take a much stronger stance than the current government, promising new laws ranging from banning gang patches to revoking parole for those associated with gangs to the setting up of a new task force, modelled after a prolific New South Wales unit called “Strike Force Raptor”. This is apparently only the beginning of a broader “gang action plan” that National has promised to release by next year. Meanwhile Corrections minister Kelvin Davis called the document a "mishmash of reheated ideas", stating that the focus should be on anyone who breaks the law rather than specific groups. University of Auckland Criminologist Dr Ron Kramer said the proposals were "transparently pathetic", "overblown propaganda", and that they provide no substantive impact on crime. William Boyd spoke with Manukau ward councillor Efeso Collins, who has been outspoken in the past about opening up conversation with gangs as opposed to cracking down on them. William started off by asking him for his input on the new proposals.
Holy satanic buttplug, it's Gigi and Kiki of Hex. Discussing inspirational hatred, their Valentine's Day album release, vacuum packed supermarket coffee bricks, their Kings Arms gig tomorrow night, hankies vs. serviettes, fundraising to get to SXSW, _and_ their brand new single 'Sight Beyond the Line'... try and keep up, will you? (Russell did.)
Tickets HERE. Donate HERE. Pre-order The Hill TempleHERE.
Last week, the government’s ban on gang patches officially came into effect. Under the new law, gang insignia is now officially banned in public places and police now have the power to break up large groups in public for causing fear and intimidation and can issue orders preventing gang members from associating or communicating for up to three years.
While hailed by the coalition government as a bold step in their “Tough on Crime” approach to law and order, the law has been questioned by experts and even a number of police officers themselves, who say that a suppression approach to policing gangs is likely to push gang activity to the periphery instead of eradicating it, and that it would disproportionately target marginalised communities.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendedz-March about the gang patch ban coming into effect and the party’s take on it.
They also had a discussion about the fall in New Zealand’s ranking on the Climate Change Performance Index, as well as the Ministry of Health's evidence brief and position statement on puberty blockers.
Established in 1997, RM is Aotearoa’s longest running artist-run space. The gallery seeks to engage with the practices, discourses and modes of presentation that aren’t well-supported or easily accessible in Tāmaki Makaurau, placing the work of local emerging artists alongside more seasoned practitioners.
Published by RM with the support of CNZ, RM25 is a non-exhaustive selection of scans and screenshots from the RM archives (physical and digital) presented in broadly chronological order.
Sofia spoke with longtime member, Nina Dyer, about the book and the history of RM and artist-run initiatives in Aotearoa.
Jami-Lee Ross talk Auckland's Fuel Tax, and weather labour is spending outside of their means in order to accomodate gold plated public transportation.
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