The Wire with Manny

On this week’s installation of Eurovision, Emilia speaks to our European correspondent Cameron Adams about the war in Ukraine, elections throughout Europe, and more.

This is the full version of Casper’s interview with Auckland mayoral candidate Ted Johnston, of which an abbreviated segment was played on the Tuesday Wire.

Ted Johnston is currently the co-leader of the New Conservatives party as well as a practising criminal lawyer. He is running on what he labels a centre-right platform, advocating for a revival of the centre city, with a particular emphasis on crime, and reigning in the Council Controlled Organisations.

Yesterday the government announced the scrapping of the traffic light covid-19 protection framework, as well as the easing of many key restrictions.

Mask wearing will now no longer be required outside of healthcare settings, household contacts don’t need to isolate and all vaccine mandates will cease at the end of the month.

In the same announcement the government dedicated a one-off public holiday to honour the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

For Casper's regular interview with National MP Dr Shane Reti they spoke about this announcement and how it has been received by the National party.

Casper started off by asking him how he felt about the announced changes and whether there is anything he would have done differently.

This week’s Wire shows will contain a series of interviews with Auckland’s mayoral candidates, which bFM has been putting together to provide our listeners with relevant information on the candidates and their policies.

Today, Casper speaks with Viv Beck, who is currently the chief executive of Heart of the City, a business advocacy group for Auckland’s city centre, and has been endorsed by the National-Party aligned Communities and Residents organisation.