The Wire with Joel

Earlier this month, the women’s Super Rugby Aupiki team Hurricanes Poua kicked off their season with a new haka calling out the coalition government, raising concerns about its policies on te reo Māori, and acknowledging He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

Additionally, last week a school in Palmerston North, Freyberg High School, performed a protest haka to visiting ACT Leader David Seymour over his parties’ policies on Te Tiriti, education, and workforce issues. 

Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to haka expert and University of Auckland Professional Teaching Fellow of Māori Studies in contemporary and traditional Māori performing arts and language, Paora Sharples, about the use of haka as political expression, how it’s been received, and movements led by rangatahi. 

Auckland Council has proposed a change from weekly to fortnightly rubbish collections in its Waste Management Plan 2024.

Ezra spoke to the General Manager of Waste Management at Auckland Council, Parul Sood about how the proposal will affect Aucklanders, particularly those with large households.

Homeowners across the motu are facing an average rates rise of 15 percent in the next year.

Councils say they need to balance the need for investment with affordable rates increases, but that budgetary pressures have reached a “tipping point”.

For their weekly interview, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to ACT’s Simon Court about their party’s stance on investing in local infrastructure, amid the government reducing funding for public transport.

During his State of the Nation speech in Palmerston North this weekend, Winston Peters compared co-governance in Aotearoa to Nazi Germany.

In a statement, Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation, called the Deputy Prime Minister's comments anti-Māori and anti-Semitic.

News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Jewish New Zealander and Dayenu Co-Founder Justine Sachs, about what she believes the consequences are of a statement like this coming from a senior politician like Peters.