The Government has recently announced their bringing forward of the Aotearoa border opening to the 31st of July.
This includes a newly implemented two tier system for migrant workers, allowing professional industry workers to gain permanent residency quickly.
As this pushes back other workers in industries with high turnover rates, the Migrant Workers Association of New Zealand have publicly condemned the new system.
Liam had a chat with Anu Kaloti from the association about their frustrations, first asking her to summarise the scheme new government scheme
Last week The Green Party released a statement addressing the proposed imigration changes by the government, and how they could fail to guarantee pathways to residency workers in the types of jobs deemed essential throughout the pandemic, by prioritising high income earners - instead of focusing on the wellbeing of workers and enabling migrants to put down roots.
Joe spoke to Green Party spokesperson for immigration, Ricardo Menedez March, on the proposed immigration changes from the government.
$300 million was allocated in the new budget under education spending towards replacing the school decile system with a new Equity Index The decile system currently governs how much government funding is given to each school based on a socio-economic evaluation of the area the school resides in.
Casper spoke to the President of the New Zealand Principals’ Association, Cherie Taylor-Patel, about the issues with the decile system, how it will be replaced, and the effect of the education budget overall.
On May 10th New Zealand’s employment court reached a landmark decision against the Gloriavale religious community, classifying the work members do as employment, going against the claims that residents were volunteers.
This comes after years of allegations against the group exposed kiwis to a world of physical abuse and workers violations, with children as young as 6 being made to work long hours at Gloriavales many businesses’.
Jack spoke with Dr Bill Hodge, an employment law expert about the decision, and what it could mean for the future of the secretive community.
The allegations against Gloriavale have also re-ignited demands for the community to lose its tax exempt status, I talked to professor of Law Michael Littlewood about the possibility of this, however I started by asking him why they are tax exempt in the first place.
In the past few months, following Auckland's long lockdowns, residents saw a boom in graffiti on public structures.
This has led to a lot of discussion about the artform, and its place in the cultural zeitgeist.
While everyone from artists to politicians to locals agree that graffiti on private residential property is vandalism, the conversation of painting on public structures like bridges and trains has been more divided.
Jack Horsnell spoke with Graffiti artist, CAPO, street art expert, Dr Reuben Woods and Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson to understand why this discussion is taking place.
This week’s Wire shows will contain a series of interviews with Auckland’s mayoral candidates, which bFM has been putting together to provide our listeners with relevant information on the candidates and their policies.
Today, Casper speaks with Viv Beck, who is currently the chief executive of Heart of the City, a business advocacy group for Auckland’s city centre, and has been endorsed by the National-Party aligned Communities and Residents organisation.
This is the full version of Casper’s interview with Auckland mayoral candidate Viv Beck, of which an abbreviated segment was played on the Monday Wire.
Viv Beck is currently the chief executive of Heart of the City, a business advocacy group for Auckland’s city centre, and has been endorsed by the National-Party aligned Communities and Residents organisation.
Various art groups from throughout New Zealand have recently had their funding cut back by Creative NZ, in the midst of the government entities extension of their Kahikatea Scheme.
This includes the Shakespeare globe theatre, an artist residency at the home of painter Colin McCahon, and the Arts On Tour NZ .
The scheme has brought in important new talent for funding, but the letting go of groups who’ve received funding in the ast has raised questions about expanding arts funding.
To learn more, Liam had a chat with Steve Thomas, the artistic director of Arts on Tour, about how they’re planning to adapt.
More than 200 homes have been red-stickered, and at least 5000 have been damaged after the devastating deluge across Tāmaki Makaurau and the upper North Island.
Experts are warning that health hazards such as mould and contamination could be waiting for residents returning to their flood damaged homes.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Senior Lecturer at the Massey University School of Built Environment, Dr Mikael Boulic, who says Auckland’s current conditions are the “worst case scenario” for mould to grow.
We started off our interview discussing what steps people should take when cleaning up their wet property.
There are 38 organisations who are issuing a public call for Auckland Transport to urgently deliver the long overdue inner west cycle lanes and street improvements. Six of those are schools that want safer street for their students, there is the Grey lynn residents association, there are several businesses from ponsonby and K road that support the improvements and there are advocacy groups.
The Waitematā Safer Routes (also known as the Grey Lynn and Westmere improvements) is the project that hangs in the balance. It has been paused and this spawned criticism from the community who urge to continue the Grey Lynn and Westmere improvements.
The Waitematā Safer Routes are a vital link between the adjoining projects. Dropping the middle project would mean network benefits were lost, and the schools and communities of the inner west would be left disconnected.
There are 56 letters in support of Grey Lynn and Westmere improvements, while there are 6 letters opposing the improvements.
Daniel spoke with Mike Lee about his thoughts on the inner west cycle lanes and street improvements.
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