The Wire with Caeden

Earlier this week, a number of leaders în the Green party’s Pasifika Greens group announced their resignation. The now former MPs, namely: Marie Laufiso, Alofa Aiono, and Vasemaca (vah-seh-mah-tha) Tavola released issued a joint letter saying that they felt culturally disempowered by the party’s treatment of former MP Darleen Tana, who they say was treated too harshly during while under investigation for allegations of migrant worker exploitation at her husband’s business.

The resigning MPs also said that they were not properly convened with or reached out to by Green Party leaders following the passing of late-MP Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, a prominent Pasifika member of the Greens and representative of the Pasifika community of Tamaki Makaurau.

For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the resignation and statements made by the Pasifika Greens members. 

They also had a chat about the government’s changes to child poverty reduction targets and the Green Party's open call to the government on behalf of renters.

As a result of Israel’s war on Gaza, almost 2 million people in the Gaza strip are at risk of famine and disease and are in urgent need of food and medical aid, as a result of Israel’s mass destruction of civilian infrastructure. 

This is on top of the 39,400 Palestinians who have been killed throughout the course of the conflict. 

With the government set to implement it’s new tax cut policy today, a campaign was launched by organiser Hayden Eastmond-Mein calling for Kiwis to donate their tax cuts for to aid organisations in Gaza, aptly named “Give your tax cut to Gaza”. 

Hayden came down to the station earlier today to tell us about the campaign and how Kiwis can donate their tax cuts.

If you're interested, you can donate to the campaign here:

The Child Poverty Action Group is calling for better monitoring of private rentals, as new research reveals the share of affordable rentals has decreased significantly over the last five years.

However the national trend saw a consistent share of private rental housing in Auckland and Christchurch compared to other regions, this in part is due to increased home projects in those regions.

The Child Poverty Action Group is advocating for the need to increase public housing builds in all regions, stating the government prioritises one and two bedroom housing over other rental housing. Sasha spoke to Greg Waite of the Child Poverty Action Group about the decrease of affordable rental shares.

The recent government decision to halt classroom developments across the country has met opposition from those working in the education sector, who say new developments are both urgent and necessary, including in the locations the government has chosen to put on hold. 

Additionally, the government has set aside $150 million for charter schools, which come with other controversies. Recently, the government announced changes to their charter school plans, which would give them access to the teaching resources given to public schools and prevent employers from negotiating a multi-employer collective contract with charter schools. 

Wire host Castor spoke to the Post Primary Teachers Association’s junior vice president Kieran Gainsford about the allocation of education funding and the government’s prioritisation of charter schools. We also speak further about charter schools - whether they work and the issues with blocking collective bargaining.