The Wire with Caeden

On The Wire for Rāpare Thursday.

News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Labour’s Andrew Little about creating a single cybersecurity agency, the government’s $15 million pledge to restore the St James Theatre, and a review of weather forecasting systems.

Hanna Thompson spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about youth justice.

Nicholas Lindstrom talked to Auckland University Students' Association President Alan Shaker about AUSA elections, the upcoming AUSA Annual General Meeting, and calls for a universal study wage. 

Olivia Bing speaks to the Green Party’s Golriz Ghahraman about their calls for affordable dental care.

And Beth Torrance-Hetherington spoke to Principal Planner for the Rapid Transit Network at Auckland Transport, Luke Elliott, about the draft Regional Public Transport plan. 

The Labour government announced last week that it will make ram-raiding its own criminal offence and build two new Youth Justice residences. We thus enter an election season where both major parties converge on using 'tough on crime' measures on rangatahi. 

Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about why the party does not endorse Labour's policies even though they claim to have a more rehabilitative focus than National's, their strong opposition to placing rangatahi in carceral institutions, addressing the systemic drivers behind youth offending through community integration and manaakitanga, and what space Te Pāti Māori have to push their policies when both Labour and National agree on punitive approaches to youth offending.

Auckland Transport has recently announced a draft Regional Public Transport plan, which will take effect over three stages, long-, medium- and short-term. The proposal outlines AT's priorities for Tāmaki Makaurau's public transport system until 2031. Beth spoke to Luke Elliott, Principal Planner at AT, about the plan.

Save The Children is making an effort to better inform children about the voting process, and encouraging communities to better include their voices in politics. The organisation held a true-to-life voting experience for tamariki over the weekend, at Tāmaki Makaurau's Kids Only Market, where children were encouraged to voice the issues they want covered by the government. 

Wire producer Rosetta spoke to Jacqui Southey, Child Rights Advocacy and Research Director for Save The Children, about what the voting experiece entailed, and the importance of involving children in politics.