The Wire with Manny

The government recently announced its New National Land Transport Plan for 2024- 2027. The plan would consist of a $32.9 billion package, largely going towards the development of new roads, many of which are part of the Roads of National Significance programme, as well as maintaining and repairing existing highways and improving public transport in Aotearoa’s major cities.

Based on the it's large expenditure on road and highway development, the Greens issued statements calling out the plan for increasing car dependency and the potential for greater emissions shortly after it was announced. 

For our weekly catchup, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the party’s take on the National Land Transport plan. 

They also had a chat about the Ministry of Education removing information on previous iterations of charter schools from their website, as well as the party’s nomination for bird of the year and why it’s important.

In our catchup with the National party this week, Wire Host Castor asked MP Katie Nimon about several issues in the recent week of politics. Firstly, I asked about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia and the government’s response. I then asked about the potential arrival of Candace Owens, a far-right speaker from the United States who has been known for engaging in anti-semitism and holocaust denial. 

Castor then asked about a recent submission by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Simon Upton, regarding the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan. The submission makes several critiques of the government’s attitude towards emissions reduction, particularly criticising its promotion of short term solutions which could end up offloading responsibility onto future generations. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about each of these issues, starting off with the recent passing of Kīngi Tūheitia. 

The latest poverty report, authored by the Ministry of Social Development Principal Advisor, Bryan Perry, shows New Zealand is behind regarding child poverty statistics, when compared with European nations.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, speaks to Staff Researcher for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Harry Yu Shi, about the findings of the report, and what policy proposals CPAG have outlined to mitigate the statistics.

Recently, the government has amended gang legislation that would allow police officers to enter private properties of repeat offenders showcasing emblems, patches, and insignia.

The New Zealand Law Society sent an open letter, sent by the society’s vice president, David Campbell, outlining their concerns for the proposal.

The concerns raised include how gang insignia is identified, which if the clause is taken literally, could be interpreted as printed reproductions of logos, which could make it illegal to own newspapers or certain books with gang insignia in it, increasing in the risk of someone to be criminally liable around someone in possession of gang memorabilia, concerns that the amendment will have detrimental effects to communities and whānau in which gang members reside in, as well as infringing on rights protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the committee’s open letter and the ethics of the amendment.