The Wire with Oto

Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about Three Strikes Laws and cuts to food banks

For City Counselling they speak to Councillor Shane Henderson about Matariki and local government crime prevention plans.

And they speak to Palestine Solidarity Network’s John Minto about their open letter warning the government that they will take action against their complicity in Gaza

Sofia speaks to CEO of SAFE, Debra Ashton, about a petition presented to parliament this week calling for the ban on live exports to be kept. 

Castor speaks to spokesperson for Eczema Assocation New Zealand, Vanessa Jenkins, about the impacts of eczema on daily life.

A ban on live animal exports was introduced last year by the previous Labour government. However, the coalition government has said it would like to reverse it. 

This past week, a petition signed by over 57,000 people was handed to parliament, calling for the Government to keep its ban on live animal exports. 

Producer Sofia spoke to CEO of SAFE Aotearoa, Debra Ashton, about the petition, the importance of keeping the ban, and what reversal could look like.

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about: 

• The government’s decision to boost Pharmac Funding
• The introducing of a new Sentencing Category for Young Offenders
• And the implementation of check-in requirements for those on the Jobseeker Benefit.

He also spoke to Susan St John from the University of Auckland to talk about assistance gaps in the Working for Families Scheme

And he speak to Paula Lorgelly, also from the University of Auckland, for her perspective on the government’s recent Pharmac funding announcement.

Rawan spoke to Bianca Ranson from Forest and Bird about The Hauraki gulf protection bill being recommended to parliament in its entirety.

And spoke to Aaron Hendry from Kickback about a Petition of his against the government's new Ram-raid Bill.

The coalition government is planning to continue with the passing of the Ram Raid bill which was originally introduced by the labour government. 

This bill would mean that youth offenders as young as 12 years old, would be prosecuted more harshly with some potentially serving up to ten years in prison. 

Many organisations and activists have been vocal about their position on this bill from the beginning and many have now started a petition to stop its continuation.

Rawan spoke with Aaron Hendry, co-founder of Kick back, an organisation that focuses on assisting youth in homelessness and has also been heavily involved in this petition. 

Rawan asked Aaron about what the harmful impacts of this bill are and what this new opposing campaign is about.