This past week the government announced plans to reinstate the prisoner voting ban. The ban was altered in June 2020 by the Labour led coalition government in a change which allowed prisoners serving a sentence of less than three years to vote in elections. This change followed a recommendation from New Zealand’s High Court, which found a prisoner voting ban was inconsistent with New Zealand’s Bill of Rights.
In 2025, the government is now looking at repealing the bill and reinstating the ban. The National Party has argued that there are certain responsibilities that members of society must uphold, and that those who do not fulfil these responsibilities will have their rights taken away. Asked about human rights concerns and the High Court ruling on the bill, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said “I do not care what anyone else says about it.” The bill is set to join others as part of this government’s “tough on crime” approach.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the prisoner voting ban and how the change would benefit the general public.
On Neighbourhood Watch we talk about Emmanuel Macron's visit to Australia where some unfortunate tranlations take place and the Australian government introducing fees free TAFEs.
The Mayor phones up to talk about Auckland staying at our current COVID-19 restrictions for another two week, vaccination rates, and parking fees in the CBD. Whakarongo mai!
Earlier in the week the Auckland council planning committee discussed a newly proposed parking strategy for the city.
The proposal, which is now up for public consultation, could remove roadside parking on dozens of main roads and introduce fees for park-and-ride facilies.
For this week’s regular city councelling segment Casper spoke with councillor Shane Henderson, about the parking strategy and what it’s aims are. He began by asking Shane what the council’s proposed parking strategy entails.
Damian Golfinopoulos, Billie Fee, and Mikey Sperring (the trio that together form thee Grecco Romank) come into the studio to share some sneaky unreleased (very cool) tracks and chat about the upcoming 95bFM Halloween Party whose spooky halls they will be gracing this Saturday night! Grab your tix and whakarongo mai!
Justine chats about how to join a union if you can't afford the fee currently, and how to deal with workplace cultures that don't sit right with you. Whakarongo mai nei!