The Wire with Joel

This week was the start of the COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil. 

Young people from across the globe are heavily involved in climate campaigning, but many face obstacles in being able to attend COP, particularly in being involved in the actual decision-making.  

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Youth Environmentalist and member of the Youth Climate Justice Project, Sumaya Mohammed, who is attending COP next week, about young people's experiences with the climate talks.

They also spoke to Aoife Daly, Professor of Law at University College Cork and Lead on the Youth Climate Justice Project, about her research into youth participation at COP. 

During an interview with the ‘Morning Report’, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed that orders for the homeless in Auckland’s CBD to move on were “definitely a consideration”. He later stated, that “Aucklanders don’t feel safe going into the central city”, and both Central government and Auckland Council are considering how they can move homeless people out of the CBD ahead of summer. 

This follows previous reports that the Government was considering a rough sleeping ban for central Auckland.

This news comes as Stats NZ released their annual unemployment figures this week. The results show that national unemployment has risen to a nine-year high at 5.3%, with the New Zealand youth taking most of the damage.

For our weekly catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March, to discuss the new unemployment figures released last week. They also spoke about the Government’s new action plan to combat methamphetamine use.

But first, they discussed what The Green Party thought about the Government’s plan to decrease homelessness in the Auckland CBD

Recent tensions within Te Pāti Māori, which exploded into the light last month, have culminated in the expulsion of two rogue MPs: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi of Te Tai Tokerau and Tākuta Ferris of Te Tai Tonga.

Despite this, much remains unresolved, and controversy lingers over the preceding actions, the manner in which they were communicated online, and how the expulsion was handled by the party leadership. 
Wednesday Wire Producer Manny spoke with Jason Mika, Professor of Māori Management at the University of Auckland, to get his perspective on the expulsions.

Last week, Climate Minister Simon Watts announced numerous changes to New Zealand’s Climate Change Response Act, including removing the requirement for Climate Change Commission advice on emissions reductions plans, and easing requirements around public consultation on government targets.

Last week, the second reading of the Regulatory Standards Bill passed through parliament, despite large public opposition to the bill.

Finally, the central government alongside Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown have been discussing measures to “move on” homeless rough sleepers from the Auckland CBD. 

Wire Host Sara spoke with MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, she started by asking about the government’s motivation for changing the consultation requirements within the Climate Change Response Act