The Wire with Alex

This week on the Monday wire... 

Producer Evie speaks to Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about the thousands who have enrolled in the Māori Roll following the hīkoi mō te tiriti, the gang patch legislation coming into effect, and the COP29 climate summit talks.

Evie also catches up with the ACT Party's Simon Court about the party marking one year in government and how they think they’ve done so far, along with the gang patch ban legislation officially coming into power. 

Producer Yesenia speaks to the PSA’s National Health Sector lead, Ashok Shankar, on the Government planning to axe 1500 public health care roles. 

She also speaks to Associate Professor of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, Chris Ogden, about Donald J. Trump's return to the oval office and his push to authoritarianism.

And finally, producer Evie speaks to senior research fellow at the University of Auckland Dr Anna Brooks on the just released Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19 and how it fails to address the long term impacts of the disease. 

Whakarongo mai!

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour spokesperson for Auckland and Rainbow issues Shanan Halbert about the new Federal Street Police Station in the Auckland CBD, a potential 70% surge in Public Transport pricing, and an evidence brief on Puberty Blockers from the Ministry of Health.

For State of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about new targeted tariffs proposed by Trump, the case against Trump for election interference being dropped, and the new Attorney-General Nominee.

For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about the new police station on Federal Street in Auckland CBD which was announced earlier this week. 

She also speaks to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Mark Henaghan, about calls to reform children’s housing rights. 

And she speaks to Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Dr Olga Pantos, who is on the ground in Busan, Korea for the final International Plastics Treaty negotiations.

Last week, Judges at the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister - Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister - Yoav Gallant and the military commander of Hamas - Mohammad Deif.

As a result of the warrants, any countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court would be required to arrest those charged and hand them over to the court in the Hague. 

The move is considered to be particularly significant, as it’s the first incident in which the leaders of a western-allied country are receiving warrants from the court.

Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Treasa Dunworth - An Associate Professor in the Faculty of :aw at the University of Auckland, to discuss the warrants, their significance and efficacy.

On the 25th of November, the University of Auckland’s new recreation and wellness centre officially opened for students and staff members.

The recreation centre boasts a 26,000 square metre facility equipped with amenities such as an 8-lane swimming pool, two sports halls and a large gym.

However, around the time of the centre’s opening, a protest was held outside the building by students, lecturers, university staff and members of the Tertiary education union in opposition to the rec centres opening and the expenditure that went into it.

According to the protestors in attendance, the $320 million expenditure that went into the rec centre’s development could not be justified, while staff were still fighting for fair pay agreements with university management and while numerous courses are facing cuts.

Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Java Grant - A Representative of the student led-advocacy group - We Are the University, and Sean Sturn - an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Member of the Tertiary Education Union, to discuss why the protest outside the new rec centre was held, and the concerns that staff and students had with UoA management.