On the 8th of November, a wildfire tore through 3000 hectares of Tongariro National Park, before being extinguished four days later.

The fire resulted in multiple walks in the region to be closed, including the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. However, as of today, many of these tracks have reopened.

However, the full extent of the fire on the region’s ecosystem is yet to be fully investigated.

On Friday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to George Perry, a Professor in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, about this wildfire, and how detrimental this fire will be on the region's ecosystem, from what we are currently seeing

This week on the Monday Wire:

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about charter schools, changes to the Education and Training Act, removing school boards’ responsibilities to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the Regulatory Standards Bill passing into law.

Producer Alex spoke to Greenpeace Campaigner Gen Toop about the passing of the Regulatory Standards Bill into an Act last week, and what it means for corporate interests over the environment in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Joel spoke to George Perry, a Professor in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, about the recent Tongariro wildfires that have devastated the region.

And Alex spoke to Professor in Public Health at the University of Auckland, Chris Bullen, about New Zealand dropping in the Global Tobacco Interference Index rankings, and what that means for smoking policy and health in Aotearoa.

Whakarongo mai!

This week was the start of the COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil. 

Young people from across the globe are heavily involved in climate campaigning, but many face obstacles in being able to attend COP, particularly in being involved in the actual decision-making.  

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Youth Environmentalist and member of the Youth Climate Justice Project, Sumaya Mohammed, who is attending COP next week, about young people's experiences with the climate talks.

They also spoke to Aoife Daly, Professor of Law at University College Cork and Lead on the Youth Climate Justice Project, about her research into youth participation at COP. 

The infrastructure commission has identified that there is a $210 billion dollar infrastructure deficit in New Zealand. Unfortunately, due to the lack of available capital New Zealanders lose out on the advantages of high quality infrastructure and the wealth it can generate for the public good. 

To respond to this Kiwisaver Manager Simplicity has created a new company called Infrakiwi. This company would be listed on the stock exchange and would only allow for New Zealanders to invest in it. This company would own and operate key infrastructure assets, generating long term risk adjusted returns and jobs for New Zealanders as well. 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat spoke to Simplicity’s CEO Sam Stubbs about this proposal and what it means for future generations of New Zealanders

Similar to how Prime Ministers choose who their cabinet members are, the Mayor last week announced his appointments for committees in Auckland Council.

Committees are powerful pieces of the Auckland Council machine, determining the direction on key policy issues around community assets, budgeting, transport and housing. 

Notably different to his approach last term, the Mayor has opted to appoint key allies to committee chair roles. These are councilors who have had a good working relationship with the mayor over the last three years and will mean that there are less roadblocks when it comes to advancing his agenda. 

At the same time the Mayor and Central Government are responding to increased complaints about anti-social behaviour in the CBD by considering laws and bylaws that would ban homelessness. 

Critics of this policy note that such laws would not address the key drivers to poverty and housing need and would simply endanger those individuals experiencing homelessness further. 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat talked to Councilor Shane Henderson today about these committee appointments and this proposed ban on homelessness.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about the expulsions of two Te Pāti Māori MPs, concerns about police leadership, and Chris Hipkins ‘socialist’ label.

For International Desk, they spoke to Youth Environmentalist Sumaya Mohammed and Lead on the Youth Climate Justice Project Aoife Daly about youth participation at COP30.

For City Counselling, Producer Sanat talked to Councillor Shane Henderson about a proposed ban on Homelessness in the CBD and new committee appointments inside Auckland Council.

He also talked to Kiwisaver Provider Simplicity’s CEO Sam Stubbs about their new infrastructure proposal called Infrakiwi.

Recent tensions within Te Pāti Māori, which exploded into the light last month, have culminated in the expulsion of two rogue MPs: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi of Te Tai Tokerau and Tākuta Ferris of Te Tai Tonga.

Despite this, much remains unresolved, and controversy lingers over the preceding actions, the manner in which they were communicated online, and how the expulsion was handled by the party leadership. 

During an interview with the ‘Morning Report’, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed that orders for the homeless in Auckland’s CBD to move on were “definitely a consideration”. He later stated, that “Aucklanders don’t feel safe going into the central city”, and both Central government and Auckland Council are considering how they can move homeless people out of the CBD ahead of summer. 

This follows previous reports that the Government was considering a rough sleeping ban for central Auckland.

This news comes as Stats NZ released their annual unemployment figures this week. The results show that national unemployment has risen to a nine-year high at 5.3%, with the New Zealand youth taking most of the damage.

For our weekly catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March, to discuss the new unemployment figures released last week. They also spoke about the Government’s new action plan to combat methamphetamine use.

But first, they discussed what The Green Party thought about the Government’s plan to decrease homelessness in the Auckland CBD

In an article on Newsroom, John Morgan, Head of the School Critical Studies and Education at the University of Auckland, discusses his belief that we are seeing a collapse in the country’s curriculum accord.

This comes as the government has announced a plethora of changes to the country’s curriculum heading forward.

News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Morgan about the history of the curriculum accords in the country and why we are seeing changes in this space.

This week on the Wednesday Wire:

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about government ministers announcing they are considering banning rough sleeping in Auckland’s CBD, recent unemployment figures, and the government’s action plan to combat meth usage.

For this week's Get Action, Producer Manny spoke to JT from Touch Compass on their petition to Say YES to “Access” #YesToAccessNZ | Words shape world on their petition to replace inclusion with access.

Manny spoke with Jason Mika, Professor of Māori Management at the University of Auckland, about the ructions within Te Pāti Māori.

And News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with Professor John Morgan, The Head of the School Critical Studies and Education at the University of Auckland, about his article on Newsroom his belief that the country is seeing a collapse of the second curriculum accord.

Whakarongo mai!