The Wire with Joel

Following the passing of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (safe areas) Amendment Bill in March of last year, the Government has implemented six abortion safe areas, or spaces outside abortion clinics protected from anti-choice harrassment, across Aotearoa. 

Wire producer Rosetta spoke to Abortion Law Reform Association New Zealand president Ella Shepherd about why the safe areas are important and what more needs to be done to increase abortion care accessibility.

For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, host Spike Keith spoke to Simon Court about NIWA’s El Nino forecast, and ACT’s new policy around privately built highways.

They also spoke to Auckland University urban planning researcher Dr. Tim Welch about the use of misinformation in opposition to the Great North Road cycleway project. 

Rawan Saadi spoke with Lisa Woods, spokesperson for Amnesty International, about the two reports that were released by the Office of the Ombudsman concerning the state of prisons in Aotearoa

Caeden Tipler spoke to E Tū Union Director Sarah Thompson about why cleaners from several industrial cleaning companies are picketing for fairer wages and conditions.

And on Tomorrow's World, a segment that looks into issues around science, technology and the environment, Leilani Cardosa spoke with Professor Paul Glue from the University of Otago about the use of Ketamine injections to treat depression.

This week, Spike spoke to MP Simon Court about the new NIWA forecast predicting a 90% chance of an El Niño event over the next three months, and their new policy for privatised highways.

They started by asking what Court’s thoughts were on the new NIWA forecast. 

The Labour government announced last week that it will make ram-raiding its own criminal offence and build two new Youth Justice residences. We thus enter an election season where both major parties converge on using 'tough on crime' measures on rangatahi. 

Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about why the party does not endorse Labour's policies even though they claim to have a more rehabilitative focus than National's, their strong opposition to placing rangatahi in carceral institutions, addressing the systemic drivers behind youth offending through community integration and manaakitanga, and what space Te Pāti Māori have to push their policies when both Labour and National agree on punitive approaches to youth offending.