On the 8th of November, a wildfire tore through 3000 hectares of Tongariro National Park, before being extinguished four days later.
The fire resulted in multiple walks in the region to be closed, including the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. However, as of today, many of these tracks have reopened.
However, the full extent of the fire on the region’s ecosystem is yet to be fully investigated.
On Friday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to George Perry, a Professor in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, about this wildfire, and how detrimental this fire will be on the region's ecosystem, from what we are currently seeing
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
This year at Big Gay Out, politicians will be permitted to speak again at the mainstage, despite not being allowed last year. Politicians and their parties have had a complicated history at the event, most recently with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon leaving after being harassed by protestors at the event in 2024.
Big Gay Out has also been the site of other significant political action, including the Green Party’s 2021 petition to ban conversion therapy.
To discuss the decision and the importance of linking queer events with politics, News Director Castor spoke to Communications and Advocacy manager at the Burnett Foundation, Kirk Serpes.
Big Gay Out is on this Sunday 15th February at Coyle Park.
Auckland Council and the government have recently announced plans to cooperate with a new Auckland City Deal. The deal concerns collaborations between council and central government over the next few decades, across issues such as Eden Park’s ownership and operation or investigations into a potential bed levy.
Part of the plan and part of Auckland Council’s recent disputes with government has been housing planning. In February of this year, the minimum housing cap for Auckland was lowered from 2 million to 1.6 million, and was lowered again in March to 1.4 million.
The drop came alongside complaints from many residents of central suburbs such as Ponsonby, Mt Eden, and Epsom, who say intensification would hurt the character of their neighbourhoods. On the other side of the debate are those who say that intensification is necessary to ensure housing remains affordable, especially close to the CBD.
To discuss the debate and what the City Deal has for Auckland, News Director Castor spoke to Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, Dr. Elham Bahmanteymouri.
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