The Wire with Manny

A total of 149 projects have been selected for fast tracking through the government's new Fast-track Approvals Bill.

There’s a variety of projects on the list, in sectors including farming, infrastructure, energy, and mining. 

The fast track approvals bill went through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects. 

This meant the public didn’t have specific details when submitting on the bill. 

Now the 149 projects on the list have been revealed, a number of environmental concerns have arisen over projects that were successfully opposed in the past. 

Forest and Birds Richard Capie calls this an assault on Aotearoa’s democracy. 

Producer Evie spoke to Capie about the list of projects and Forest and Birds concerns around them. 

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.