The Wire with Manny

This week, Mary-Margaret spoke to Zoe about Northern Territory’s recent decriminalisation of sex work, Malcolm Turnbull having spoken up again about Australia becoming a republic, and an exciting new recycling initiative

The National party has rolled a series of new proposals aimed at dealing with violent gangs, if they were to win the 2020 election. They’ve said they want to take a much stronger stance than the current government, promising new laws ranging from banning gang patches to revoking parole for those associated with gangs to the setting up of a new task force, modelled after a prolific New South Wales unit called “Strike Force Raptor”. This is apparently only the beginning of a broader “gang action plan” that National has promised to release by next year. Meanwhile Corrections minister Kelvin Davis called the document a "mishmash of reheated ideas", stating that the focus should be on anyone who breaks the law rather than specific groups. University of Auckland Criminologist Dr Ron Kramer said the proposals were "transparently pathetic", "overblown propaganda", and that they provide no substantive impact on crime. William Boyd spoke with Manukau ward councillor Efeso Collins, who has been outspoken in the past about opening up conversation with gangs as opposed to cracking down on them. William started off by asking him for his input on the new proposals.

Photo Credit: Stuff.co.nz

The NZ First party has been in the news recently following reports on the New Zealand First Foundation that has allegedly channelled donations through to the political party. Party Leader Winston Peters has maintained the legality of the process, however Andrew Geddis, law professor at Otago University, says whether that is legal or not - there needs to be a discuss about whether it should be legal. Andrew studied in the US and during that time became interested in the relationship between money and politics. When he returned to Aotearoa he made that one of his central areas of research, looking at electoral law generally, and how those laws govern how money can be used to influence elections. Lillian Hanly wanted to speak to Andrew about what is happening with NZ First, but started by touching on money and politics in the US and whether NZ is heading the same way.

In this interview, 95bFM reporter Dhan-nun(@FreedomOfCommon) spoke with Waterfront 2029's Spokeperson Michael Goldwater. They're an organisation campaigning for the moving of Auckland’s container and used car Port to Whangarei. Waterfront2029 grew out of Stop Stealing our harbour which successfully prevented port expansion in the past like wharf extensions to Devonport and concrete bases for the america’s cup. I started off asking about Waterfront2029, their history and what their current activities are.