The Wire with Castor

This week on the Monday Wire... 

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News Director Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about proposals to reduce the number of government ministries and about what the ACT Party has for Auckland. 

They also spoke to Associate Professor of Law, Vernon Rive, about iwi leader and climate activist Mike Smith’s new case against the New Zealand government.

And Producer Jude spoke to distinguished scholar and scientist, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, about the heatwave in Europe and the eastern half of the United States.

A report from the Auditor-General has found that while the government’s school lunch programme is saving money compared to Labour’s, it has not been able to show if it is delivering on its aims.

Health Coalition Aotearoa h expressed concern about the meals not meeting nutrition standards, meaning they fail to “provide enough energy, protein, grains, and vegetables, ideally covering between a quarter to 30% of what children need in a day, depending on their age.”

The evaluation found that the School Lunch Collective lunches only provide half to two-thirds of the recommended energy and are 40% lower in energy compared to the meals provided in 2022 before the programme changes.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Kelly Garton, Health Coalition Aotearoa spokesperson and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, about the report and the impact of cutting costs.

This weekend saw the Labour Party hosting its annual congress, with discussions over campaign organising and new policy announcements. 

At the congress, the party discussed a proposal to expand New Zealand’s Apprenticeship Boost, which they argue should support young people to access qualifications, making it easier to get a job. 

Labour also recently confirmed it would not go ahead with the government’s announced rent increase for those living in state housing, an increase which leader Chris Hipkins argued is “cruel” and “wrong”. 

Lastly, the Regulatory Standards Act came into effect this week, which the government has argued will improve lawmaking by holding new policies to certain guidelines. Its opponents, however, say these guidelines are arbitrary, and have criticised them for not including protections for the environment or Te Tiriti.

For this week’s catchup with the Labour Party’s Shanan Halbert, producer Pranuja asked about each of these issues, beginning with Labour’s annual congress. 

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson on progress for the Northwest busway being halted, a potential funding pause for Heart of the City, and the Mayor saying disaster recovery costs are contributing to a rates increase.

And they spoke to Dr Kelly Garton, Health Coalition Aotearoa Spokesperson and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, about a report from the Auditor-General warning that the government’s school lunch programme is not able to show if it's delivering on its aims.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about Labour’s congress, the party’s proposed apprenticeship boost, state housing rents, and the Regulatory Standards Act. 

She also spoke with Professor Chris Bullen about multi-pronged nicotine addiction, and his new study into alternative ways to quit smoking.