The Wire with Sara

Earlier this week, Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle (Ngāpuhi) resigned from Parliament.

They cited concerns for their safety following receiving ‘hate, vitriol and threats of real-world violence.”

Earlier this year, research found online threats of physical and sexual violence have caused Members of Parliament to feel ‘fearful, anxious and distressed.’

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, Cassandra Mudgway, about this issue and potential solutions.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Shanan Halbert about the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election result, this weekend's march across the Harbour Bridge for Palestine, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

For International Desk, they spoke to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the death of Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and the prominence of political violence in the United States.

They also spoke to Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, Cassandra Mudgway, about the online abuse faced by politicians, especially those who are women and/or minorities. 

For City Counselling, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey on the major ‘shakeup’ of Auckland Transport.

And Joel spoke to John Fraser, the former Dean of Faculty of Medical Sciences and current research professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology at the University of Auckland, on US health secretary RFK Jr’s cancellation of $500 million US dollar worth of funding for mRNA vaccine research.

Producer Jasmine spoke to Dr. Nona Taute about the tool he’s developed through his PhD research to centre mātauranga Māori and empower iwi decision-making in geothermal engineering in Aotearoa. 

The government has recently announced the specifics of the ‘shakeup’ of Auckland Transport.

This follows the plan, which was first announced in December last year, to introduce new legislation that would strip Auckland Transport of a lot of the entity’s power.

The changes will result in Auckland Council overseeing major decisions regarding transport, that will be split between the major, 20 councillors, and local boards.

As well as this, a new Auckland Regional Transport committee will be established, that will include councillors, government appointee’s, and an independent chair, to work on a 30-year transportation plan.

The bill is set to have its first reading next month, and is expected to pass into law by March next year.

For City Counselling this week, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about this topic.

When a White House reporter asked the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whether he was ready to move to the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin earlier this week, Trump responded with a blunt “yeah I am” and chose not to elaborate any further.

Following this, the European Union’s most senior sanctions envoy was confirmed to be holding talks with US counterparts, which were reported to have taken place yesterday. The main topic was to look for tougher measures to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine, after Russia launched its largest-ever airstrike against Ukraine this past weekend.

To discuss what the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia could be, and how it could impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Producer Max talked to Stephen Hoadley, a retired professor of international relations at the University of Auckland.