The Wire with Caeden

Public transport is crucial in the fight against climate change, making our cities more liveable and supporting sustainable mobility for vulnerable and low-income communities.

However bus drivers, passengers and the environment have been victims of a decades-long experiment in privatisation. 

In July 2021 FIRST Union’s #BusFair campaign called for the Ministry of Transport to abolish the current tendering model (the “PTOM”), massively increase investment in public transport, and work together with stakeholders to bring our public transport back into public ownership.

Trishil spoke to Louisa Jones from First Union on the matter for this weeks delayed ActionStation.

The new UK government has only been in power for less a month, yet has already found itself in economic and political turmoil following the release of a package of tax cuts and borrowing. 

Newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, released his ‘mini-budget’ last week, prompting a sharp devaluation of the Great British Pound against the greenback. 

The International Monetary Fund today took aim at the package, warning that "large and untargeted fiscal packages" would likely increase inequality in Britain and could undermine monetary policy.

To get more on the currency crisis, as well as how it may impact us in Aotearoa, Emilia spoke to Murat Üngör from the University of Otago.

Cities across Iran have erupted in protests following the death of 22-year old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini 2 weeks ago.

Amini was arrested by the so-called morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country’s strict modesty laws that require women to wear a hijab.

Authorities claim Amini died of heart failure after she was taken into custody to be quote ‘educated’, however her family claims she was beaten and tortured, before falling into a 3-day coma and eventually succumbing to her injuries.

Iran Human Rights said it had recorded the deaths of 76 protesters across 14 provinces as of Monday, including six women and four children, although it warned that restrictions on the internet placed by the Iranian government were causing delays in reporting.

Emilia spoke to Dr. Forough Amin, founder of Iranian Women in New Zealand.

A members bill put forwarded by Green party MP Eugenie Sage that would have prevented further mining on conservation land has failed without support from the Labour party.

Previous Labour party policy was to have no new mining, but they have now proposed a review of DOC land instead of an outright mining prohibition.

Casper spoke to Coromandel Watchdog chair Catherine Delahunty about the bill, why many believed it to be important and how it's failure may contradict Labour’s promises.