The Wire with Joel

In our weekly interview with National’s James Meager, producer Castor began with National’s promised ban on wearing gang patches in public. The ban is due to come later this year as part of a bundle of legislation aimed at reducing gang presence in communities. 

A similar law was passed by the Whanganui District Council in 2009, which was later reviewed by the High Court and found to be unlawful and in violation of the Bill of Rights. 

Castor then briefly discussed Labour’s clean car discount, which was repealed by the National government on the 31st of December last year. Ministry of Transport data shows that registrations of new electric vehicles have decreased from 1 in 4 in 2023 to 1 in 26 in January this year. 

For Dear Science this week, Dr Cushla McGoverin chatted with news and editorial director Jessica Hopkins about Northern Patagonian rock art, an inchworm-inspired robot with enhanced transport capabilities, and the FDA approving the first medication to treat severe frostbite. 

Producer Castor spoke to National’s James Meager about gang patch legislation and the clean car discount repeal.

And producer Sofia spoke to co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Lisa Te Morenga, about the repeal of the Smoke-Free legislation and current legal requirements for public policy-making transparency in New Zealand. 

Concerns have been raised about the spread of fake news and propaganda and to justify anti-Palestinian actions.

News and Editorial Director Jesica Hopkins spoke to National Chair Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto about why unfounded claims are being repeated in the media and by politicians, here in Aotearoa and globally?

Telecom company One NZ, previously Vodafone, was recently acquired by investment management company Infratil, which under the backdrop of unionisation efforts, has started to downsize the company in order to maximise profits. The latest announcement from the CEO includes changes that might result in 10-20% of the workforce being made redundant.

Spike spoke to Unite Union Contact Center organiser Sam Burnside-Woods about unionisation at One NZ, work from home policies, and the ongoing redundancy waves.