Around mid-August this year, senior management at the University of Auckland made an announcement saying that they were looking to cut a number of small postgraduate and undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Arts with less than 60 and 30 students respectively.
The University said that the cuts were being proposed to “optimise” course offerings and address classroom spacing issues. They also said that the cuts came about as a result of a routine review of courses regularly conducted by the University.
The announcement resulted in widespread outcry and condemnation by the University of Auckland’s senior academics and lecturers, saying that the University gave them a limited timeframe to review and contest the changes, and the decision to cut courses such as Huarahi Māori will have an impact on marginalised communities.
Oto spoke to Nicole Wallace, an organiser at the Tertiary Education Union who works with lecturers at the University of Auckland to discuss the course cut proposal and its implications for senior academics and lecturers.
The Government has introduced new move-on orders for rough sleepers across the country. The new orders give police the authority to ask rough sleepers to relocate from an area for 24 hours, and leaves support for them up to the police. If rough sleepers fail to comply with these orders, they are liable to pay $2000 in fines.
Producer Vihan spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland's School of Social Sciences, Dr Emmy Rākete, on what the rationale is behind these new orders and their impact on the social landscape of Aotearoa.
Over the weekend, the US and Israel launched supposedly pre-emptive strikes against Iran. Their goal was, initially, to cripple Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and bring about regime change. In the days since, however, criticisms have been levied over the way that these claims have been wielded. Additionally, the western world, and the rules-based liberal order, have had to adjust further to the US’ chaotic behaviour on the world stage, with countries variably either standing behind the US, or casting criticism.
Tuesday Wire Host Alex spoke with Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Otago, Nicholas Khoo, about the role Nuclear Proliferation has played in these strikes, how the strikes have evolved, and how the liberal order has reacted.
This week the government is implementing their long-awaited tax cuts. The tax cuts differ but are generally small cuts. A couple earning $100,000 a year with no children would pocket an extra $80 a fortnight for example, while a single childless person on minimum wage will save $25 a fortnight.
The tax cuts have been celebrated by some while being criticised by others for being minimal relief, especially for those who need relief from the cost of living the most.
The Government has also put aside an extra $216 million to pay for the scrapping of the excise tax on tobacco. Labour’s health spokesperson has criticised this move, saying the money would be better spent elsewhere.
And the Minister for social development quietly lowered child poverty reduction targets from 13.3% to 9% for 2024/2025 and 11% for 2026/2027. The government says this to make the targets more achievable.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, WIre Host Caeden spoke to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
In March this year, the government made the decision to reduce the benefit for hospital patients who remain hospitalised after 13 weeks.
After 13 weeks, those experiencing long-term hospitalisation would see their benefit reduced to their "hospital rate" which was $55.35 a week (after tax), unless the person has a partner and a child or is a veteran.
For this week’s Get Action! I spoke to Fiona Charlton, volunteer president of New Zealand ME Society, who’s started a petition calling on the government to roll back benefit cuts to people experiencing long-term hospitalisation.
If you’d like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
Anniversary albums is back for another year. This year we are going to be looking at albums from years with a 4 or 9. So this means 1964, 69, 74, 79, 84, 89, 94, 99, 04, 09.
Kicking things off, this week, Sam took a look at Manchester band New Order's fifth studio album "Technique." Released in 1989 during the height of the "second summer of love," this album captured the essence of the time with its dance and rave-heavy sound.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced the government’s new provision for police, allowing them to issue move-on orders to rough sleepers and those displaying “disorderly behaviour” in cities throughout New Zealand.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced the government’s weakening of housing intensification plans in Auckland, reducing the maximum housing capacity from 2 million to 1.6 million.
The government has also taken its first step towards a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport, by disestablishing the Ministry for the Environment, a process they say will make policy and planning more productive across these sectors.
This week US President Donald Trump signed an order to freeze billions of dollars in Federal grants and loans which, since this interview was conducted, has been rescinded.
Earlier today he signed an executive order to deport non-citizen pro-Palestine student protestors who have any convictions relating to those protests, including trespassing.
On the economic front, America nearly entered a trade war with Colombia over Trump’s deportation policies and the stock of tech giants, including OpenAI, plummeted earlier this week as Chinese company DeepSeek revealed their AI tech.
For our final State of the States, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about all of these topics as well as what the future of the Trump presidency could hold.
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