The Wire with Max

This week on the Wednesday show, Ximena & Adam hear a series of critical perspectives from a number of different voices, including Greater Auckland’s Matthew Lowrie on recent plans from Auckland Transport, as well as the Pacific Panther Network’s Sina Brown-Davis on the concept of Māori-run prisons. Sam Fraser-Baxter also joins us again this week for Dear Science, following-up on last week with a second round of fascinating shark-related fodder.

In New Zealand, Māori incarceration rates are disproportionately high - in 2015, 15% of New Zealand’s population identified as being Māori, while they currently make up around half of the prison population. Earlier this week the idea of Māori-run prisons resurfaced again within the media, with Labour corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis saying it’s one solution to tackling high Māori incarceration rates, and Marama Fox telling us on The Wire yesterday that this is a solution the Māori Party has repeatedly raised with the government. But not everyone agrees this will be an effective way to approach this problem. Māori prison abolitionist and member of Pacific Panther Network, Sina Brown-Davis, told Ximena her thoughts about the proposal.  

Yesterday Māori Television CEO Paora Maxwell announced he was stepping down from the role. His resignation comes after a controversial tenure which saw many high profile staff leave and tension with staff. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to Māori political commentator and blogger Morgan Godfery about Maxwell's time at Māori Television and where to next for the station. 

Mack takes a look at New Zealand’s clash with the Philippines over Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged extrajudicial killings, during a UN summit in Geneva.