The Wire with Caeden

The data of New Zealand's rainbow community has, for the first time, been incorporated as a part of the country’s 2023 Census.

This is a huge win for the country’s LGBTQIA+ community, as queer people have been advocating for decades for their inclusion in Census data, which would in turn help aid in better resourcing for the country's rainbow community.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Workplace Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, a queer national charity group, Rosie Leadbitter, about the data, and what this means for New Zealand’s queer population moving forward.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s education spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, on education unions opposition to charter schools, the reallocation of te reo Māori funding towards the maths curriculum, and the government’s new plan to lift school attendance rates. 

For States of the States, 95bFM’s US election coverage, they speak to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the vice presidential debate.

And they speak to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.

For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council's progress on emergency response systems and the buyout scheme for homeowners impacted by floods

She also speaks to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, about why Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations need to be considered on a wider scale. 

Oto reached out to Paula Lorgelly, a professor of Health Economics and Population Health at the University of Auckland for an expert opinion on the end of Free Covid Test distribution. 

From Monday this week onwards, Rapid Antigen Tests would not be provided from pharmacies freely and would instead need to be purchased directly from retailers.

A pack of 5 covid tests would cost $16.99 at Chemist Warehouse, for example.

Recently there has been a spike in reported violence within schools across the country.

In March, The Education Review Offices’ Education Evaluation head, Ruth Shinoda, discussed a report into the findings with RNZ, saying that New Zealand ranks amongst the worst for disruptive behaviour in classrooms, with this only increasing in the past few years.

In 2022, 29% of the total number of students stood down in schools were due to physical assaults on other students, with 3% being stood down for physical assaults on staff members.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr Brian Marsh, about this rise in violence, and how these rising statistics stem from students being in isolation during the Covid-19 lockdowns.