The Wire with Joel

Today the government announced a number of housing measures aimed at helping first-home buyers get on the property ladder. Some of these include, increasing the income cap for first home grants, expanding the rules around who can access 5% deposits and a $3.8 billion injection into the country's housing supply. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Jarrod Kerr, the Chief Economist at Kiwibank, about what impact the government expects these measures to have and whether they will make a difference to New Zealand's exorbitant housing market.

Jemima then talks to Lesley Harris, Director and Representative of the First Home Buyers Club about the hurdles that exist for first-home buyers and whether the government's new policies will effectively mitigate them.

Felix explains what an NFT is and why you should care about their environmental and economic impact, with the help of University of Auckland Professor and Blockchain Researcher Alexandra Sims.

^{Vaccines have become increasingly important but controversial over the past year. Last week, a court ruled that a four year old under the protection of Oranga Tamariki could receive vaccinations, despite her father's objections. Noah spoke to Professor John McMillan from the University of Otago's bioethics centre on the case and New Zealand's attitude to vaccines.}

Ayana talks to specialst in Chinese politics, Professor Anne-Marie Brady, about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, how it got to this point, and New Zealand's role in taking a stand against this humanitarian crime.