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A bevvy of mid-winter music to lift the mood, including brand new tracks from Georgia Knight and The Circling Sun, plus some classics from the vault like Dam Native, Dimmer and Enigma (cringe or cool?). Listen in for some advice on how to see the New Zealand International Film Festival.

The government has announced that Te Pūkenga is set to return to ‘regional governance,’ re-establishing 10 polytechnics that were merged under the previous Labour-led government.

In 2020 under the previous Labour-led government, 16 polytechnics and nine industry training organisations were merged into the mega-institute Te Pūkenga, as a “head office”. Despite this, the polytechnics were allowed to maintain their unique images and continue operating.

Vocational Education Minister, Penny Simmonds, announced the move, to establish a vocational education system that is “locally led, regionally responsible, and future-focused”.

The move has faced backlash. The Tertiary Education Union’s national secretary, Sandra Grey, says the move would be a disaster for regional education and that the sector is being treated as a “political football”.

For our weekly catchup with the Labour Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Shanon Halbert, about this move from the government.

They also discussed Te Pāti Māori members expressing concerns over Labour’s choice of running MP Peeni Henare in the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.

Te Pāti Māori media liaison, Kiri Tamihere-Waititi, says a vote for Henare would be “wasted,” as Henare already has a seat in Parliament. She has called for people to vote for Te Pāti Māori’s candidate, Oriini Kaipara, so that there would be two Tāmaki Makaurau-based Māori MPs in Parliament.

But first, they discussed vocational education.

On the 25th of June, our regular City Counselling guest Julie Fairey was involved in a road collision while she was biking in her local area. Fairey wrote about the close call, which she says could have been a lot worse, in a piece published in the Spinoff, as a reinvigoration of her previous advocacy around the need for road safety measures that improve how safely and efficiently Aucklanders can get around the city.

As well, this week we’ve seen the release of the State of the City report, which compares Auckland on metrics including opportunity and prosperity, culture and experience, place and connectivity, innovation and knowledge, and resilience and sustainability.

Producer Sara spoke with Julie Fairey about both of these topics, firstly by asking her what motivated her to write about her recent collision.

As the climate and sustainability crises continue to worsen and corporations and governments refuse to act the question must be asked, do we need to rethink our entire society? From one built on resource extraction for profit, to one built around sustainable local living.

Producer Sam spoke to Professor of geology at the University of Auckland, Phil Shane, about the sustainability of our society.

On the 25th of June, our regular City Counselling guest Julie Fairey was involved in a road collision while she was biking in her local area. Fairey wrote about the close call, which she says could have been a lot worse, in a piece published in the Spinoff, as a reinvigoration of her previous advocacy around the need for road safety measures that improve how safely and efficiently Aucklanders can get around the city.

As well, this week we’ve seen the release of the State of the City report, which compares Auckland on metrics including opportunity and prosperity, culture and experience, place and connectivity, innovation and knowledge, and resilience and sustainability.

Producer Sara spoke with Julie Fairey about both of these topics, firstly by asking her what motivated her to write about her recent collision.

It's 95bFM Breakfast with Milly and Rosetta! On todays show, the pair catch up with David Slack and ask 'what if there'd been no Covid-19 vaccine?' for Political Commentary - and Georgia Knight phones in to have a kōrero about her new single 'Desire'! Whakarongo mai nei!

Thanks to Atomic!

It's 4:20, and today Chris discusses a new local comedy-horror film 'The Weed-Eaters', plus some recent studies on cannabis for pain relief and as an economic driver. 

Thanks to The Hemp Store.

David Slack is back on the airwaves for Political Commentary this week - chatting with Milly and Rosetta about his recent Substack piece, which ponders the question "What If There'd Been No Vaccine?" At the time of the Government's Covid-19 enquiry. Whakarongo mai nei! 

This week on the Thursday Wire:

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to MP Shanon Halbert about the re-establishment on TEN polytechnics that were previously merged under Te Pūkenga, and Te Pāti Māori members accusing the party of being ‘greedy’ for running MP Peeni Henare in the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.

For this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about her recent biking accident and her hopes for road safety in Auckland, as well as the recently released State of the City report.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Natasha Lindstaedt from the University of Essex on the backslide of democracy in Georgia, particularly due to Russian influence, and the public response.

Joel spoke to Tom Wilkinson, a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Auckland, about Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, nominating US President, Donald Trump, for a Nobel Peace Prize.

And on Monday, Producer Sam spoke to Peter Adams, a Professor in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, about the government’s alcohol levy, in light of recent lobbying by the alcohol industry.

Whakarongo mai!

A number of experts have raised concerns recently regarding the “way too friendly” relationship between alcohol industry lobbyists and policy makers responsible for alcohol restrictions and laws in New Zealand.

While we have had an alcohol harm-reduction levy in place for over forty years, some experts including University of Auckland School of Population Health Professor Peter Adams, believe that this levy isn’t as positive as it seems.

As alcohol lobbyists have been granted input and influence in the development of alcohol policies, Adams says that the levy is actually a smokescreen that allows the industry to profit from alcohol consumption without tangibly addressing its harms to the population.

On Monday, Producer Sam spoke with Professor Peter Adams about this topic.