The Wire with Caeden

On Thursday last week, politicians including Prime Minister Chris Luxon and ACT party leader David Seymour addressed the audience during the Waitangi Day events at the Treaty Grounds.

The theme this year was Mō tātou, mā tātou, which is for all of us and by all of us.

As well, the past week has seen various news updates in environmental legislation including the draft decision to reject consent for seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight, Greenpeace voicing concerns about a ‘kiwi killing clause’ in the proposed Natural Environment Bill, and a new Green Party bill calling to recognise the legal personhood of Tohorā — whales.

This week, Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Ryan Hamilton about all of these topics, starting with Waitangi.

On Thursday last week, politicians including Prime Minister Chris Luxon and ACT party leader David Seymour addressed the audience during the Waitangi Day events at the Treaty Grounds.

The theme this year was Mō tātou, mā tātou, which is for all of us and by all of us.

As well, the past week has seen various news updates in environmental legislation including the draft decision to reject consent for seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight, Greenpeace voicing concerns about a ‘kiwi killing clause’ in the proposed Natural Environment Bill, and a new Green Party bill calling to recognise the legal personhood of Tohorā — whales.

This week, Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Ryan Hamilton about all of these topics, starting with Waitangi.

In late January, Education Minister Erica Stanford and Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced the latest development in their approach to supporting disabled children in Aotearoa; $44 Million of funding to build 2 new ‘special schools’. 

These schools signal a focus on providing options for parents to support their children who need it with the choice for specialised support, but are not without criticism. Experts have expressed concern that this move is turning towards strengthening the exclusion of disabled children from Aotearoa’s youth and education, and have instead argued in favour of a more inclusive approach, supporting these children in local schools instead.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke with Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Practice at the University of Auckland, Dr Jude MacArthur, about this announcement, what it means in the context of this government, and what we should be seeing instead for the best outcomes for all of our young people in Aotearoa.

This week on the Thursday Wire...

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, News and Editorial Director Castor spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about the party’s plans for Waitangi Day and Labour’s take on the government’s secret mineral talks. 

Usual Thursday Wire Host Caeden spoke to Catherine Cheung, researcher for Climate Justice Taranaki and Marco de Jong, Pacific historian and lecturer at AUT law school and co-director of Te Kuaka, about the critical mineral talks between the governments of New Zealand and the United States.

For City Counselling this week, producer Jasmine spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about Waitangi Day, Laneway, Yellow-legged hornets and back-to-school.

She also spoke to Age Care Concern CEO Kevin Lamb about the generational inequities of NZ Post closures around the motu.