The Wire with Joel

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, Producer Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, being kicked out of Parliament for her speech on Palestine, and te reo Māori being discontinued in the ‘Ready to Read: Phonic Plus series’.
Thursday Wire Host Caeden spoke to Margaret Mutu - a professor in Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, about the discontinuation of the ‘Ready to Read: Phonic Plus’ series, and the positives of tamariki being raised with both te reo Māori and English knowledge.
And Caeden spoke to the co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, Maher Nazzel, on Chlöe Swarbrick being kicked out of Parliament for her speech on Palestine, and the need for Aotearoa to take action for Palestine.

Alex spoke to the University of Auckland’s Marcelo Rodriquez Ferrere about the Greyhound Racing Association’s turn to the High Court to halt the Government’s ban on the industry until a Judicial review of the legislation, and whether the Association’s objections to the ban hold weight.
He also spoke to Co-Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto about a recent Survey poll published by the PSNA that showed a majority of the public support the government applying sanctions on Israel, and how the Government should react

This week the Dental for All campaign set out on a national roadshow to build public support over communities across the country. 

The campaign team stands for universal, free and te-tiriti consistent dental healthcare that is delivered through our public health care system. 

Under the current system individuals above the age of 18 have to access dental healthcare privately and those in need can apply for a WINZ grant of $1000, which is strictly means tested. This often means that those who do not qualify for the grant simply do not access dental health care. 

According to public polling carried out in 2022, 74% of the public supports the idea of universal dental health care. 

The campaign is trying to make the case to communities across the country so that they can get buy-in necessary from political leaders, going into the 2026 election next year.

Producer Sanat wanted to get more insight into what the campaign team sees as its road to victory on this issue and whether this is a feasible proposal, so he talked to Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching about her work.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s comments on Israel obstructing aid to Gaza, the recent Taxpayers Union-Curia poll and changes to electorate boundaries and names for the next election. 

For International Desk, they spoke to Assistant Professor in Journalism at Mount Royal University, Gabriela Perdomo Páez, about Israel’s targeted attacks on Palestinian journalists.

For City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about the CRL and building infrastructure in Auckland.

He also talked to Dental For All campaigner Hana about their new national roadshow.

And he had a conversation with Dr Gabriell McDonald from the University of Otago about the new GP funding formula and how it neglects ethnicity data.

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government's plan to consider recognising a Palestinian state, The Green's petition to restore Te Reo names of Wellington electorates and the most recent taxpayers union-curia poll.

He spoke to Tom Hunt from E Tu union’s national media delegate’s committee about the killing of 5 Al Jazeera journalists by Israel in Gaza.

And he spoke to Stephen Hoadely, a retired Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Auckland, about the upcoming talks between Trump and Putin to negotiate a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Max spoke to John Morgan from the University of Auckland, to talk about why the recent proposal to drop NCEA might be part of a larger global shift