The Wire with Castor

For our regular catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about the government’s plan to address low truancy levels post-COVID-19, and Court’s X post stating he stands with Israel.

She spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr Brian Marsh, and Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr John Fenaughty, about how the government can improve school attendance rates.

And she reported on Trade Me’s legal action against small business Trade Jobs NZ, speaking to the owner of Trade Jobs NZ, Colleen Getley.

Producer Ezra spoke to Associate Professor of Environmental Science at The University of Waikato, David Campbell, and Senior Ecologist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Olivia Burge, about the climate-saving potential of Wetland Conservation.

A proposal to merge the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local boards has been met with criticism, with consultation opening at the end of next month.
A new report has also been released on the quality of living in Tāmaki Makaurau with our city receiving mixed results by scoring high on some areas (the environment), and lower on others (education). 

Wire Host Caeden speaks to Counsellor Lotu Fuli about both these topics for City Counselling.

For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks about job losses in media, cuts at MSD, and Teanau Tuiono’s restoring Samoan Citizenship members bill.

For City Counselling they speak to Cr Lotu Fuli about a proposal to merge the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local boards and a new report on quality of living in Tāmaki Makaurau.

They also speak to AUT Lecturer Laumua Tunufa’i about the bill to repeal the 1982 bill which stripped Samoans of New Zealand Citizenship.

And they speak to Paul Thistoll from Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa, as well as Rainbow Spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission Prudence Walker about Hate Speech Law protections for LGBTQIA+ communities.

Today Jasmine speaks with lawyer Alexandra Allen-Franks about a landmark European climate action human rights lawsuit

And she speaks to Greenpeace Spokesperson Amanda Larsson about the dire state of Aotearoa’s freshwater protectionshat have you got for us today?

The Ministry of Social Development is not immune to job cuts seen in other public service departments, with MSD calling for voluntary redundancies after cost-saving efforts failed to meet Government targets. For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks her about the impact of cuts at MSD, especially amongst other Government policies disadvantaging beneficiaries.

They also ask about the Samoan Citizenship Bill led by Teanau Tuiono, and the impact of losing independent media giants such as Newshub for democracy.