The Wire with Max

The mental health of New Zealanders has been put under strain during Rāhui and the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey conducted by YouthLine has shown that the mental health New Zealand youth has been highly affected in the past months. Zoë Larsen Cumming interviewed Youthline CEO Shae Ronald to discuss the results, and the other implications on New Zealand Youth during the covid 19 crisis.

If you, or someone you know, needs to talk Youthline, they can be contacted via their free help line on 0800 376 633, or you can text 234 or email at talk@youthline.co.nz. 

Mental Health First Aid is a system designed to support people struggling with their mental health. Amongst Covid 19, many people have been experiencing distress and experts have pointed to PTSD as a mental illness we could see spike in correlation with this pandemic. CoLiberate is an organisation that helps workplaces design plans to look after employees' mental health and is looking to do more work in community outreach as many people may find themselves unemployed in the coming year. Cofounder, Sarah Tuck joined me to explain what exactly mental health first aid looks like. 

The government released the final draft bill on cannabis that the public will be voting on in the upcoming referendum. Laura Kvigstad fills you in on the updates and what kind of changes are in this bill. 

Andrew Little tells us about what Level 3 looks like for him, as well as announcements by the government this week about commercial property tenants, and border closures. Mary-Margaret speaks to Zoe Kounadis for Neighbourhood Watch, and they discuss rhetoric by the Australian government that China should be reprimanded for COVID-19, as well as stockpiling of essential medicines by Clive Parker. We hear today's Epidemic Response Committee notes, in which we heard from the Women’s Refuge and the City Mission as well as Police Commissioner Andrew Foster. Mary-Margaret brings a quick summary of the most recent cretaceous period discovery. Finally, we hear the final part of the discussion between Oscar Perress and Samuel Miller McDonald on national emergencies and changing systems.