The Wire with Caeden

As part of 95bfm's election coverage on the local economy this week, Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about the party's economic policies.

Te Pāti Māori is campaigning on raising incomes, focusing on the lower end of the income spectrum. They plan to do this by raising the minimum wage, legislating for yearly increases to the minimum wage, universalising student allowance, supporting pay equity for Māori nurses and teachers, and supporting trade unions. Hanna spoke to Takutai about these policies, including whether they would push up costs and addressing Aotearoa's low-wage economy. 

The party is also seeking to remove GST from kai. While the party has long campaigned on this policy, Labour introduced a similar policy two weeks ago to remove GST from fruit and vegetables. Hanna and Takutai discussed the differences between these two policies, namely administrative simplicity and paternalism, and responded to economists' critiques of such policies.

The ACT party has recently pledged to abolish cultural reports if they are elected. Cultural reports contain background detail about the offender, which Judges refer to when determining the length and type of sentence. 

Olivia spoke with Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dylan Asafo, about the potential harmful consequences of abolishing these reports.

Parliament has backed legislation that will create a new independent entity to strengthen and protect the integrity of sports and recreation in Aotearoa. 

The Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission will begin on 1 July next year and focus particularly on the well-being of participants. 

First, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Barrister and Board Chair responsible for establishing the Commission, Don Mackinnon, about its purpose. 

MPs also voted on an amendment that ensures representation from the rainbow community, which will be included in the legislation. 

She also spoke to InsideOUT Kōaro Managing Director Tabby Besley about rainbow representation on the Commission.

BNZ’s latest research into New Zealand’s scam savviness has shown that Nine out of Ten Kiwi’s have been targeted by scams.

This number is up 13% on last year, but fortunately the research also found that only one out of ten Kiwi’s have actually fallen victim to a scam.

BNZ’s research coincides with the beginning of their Scam Savvy Week, in which the bank raises awareness around scams as well educating the public on tips and tricks to avoid being duped.

Nicholas spoke to Ashley Kai Fong, the head of BNZ’s Financial Crime unit, about tell-tale signs of common scams as well as the upcoming resources provided during Scam Savvy Week.