After weeks of action from teacher unions, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti has announced a plan to reduce classroom ratios for Year 4-8 classes. Spike speaks to the head of the New Zealand Education Institute Mark Potter about the announcement and what more needs to be done. 

Feral cat hunting was a prize category at the North Canterbury Hunting Competition up until today, when public backlash caused event organisers to remove the category. 

Arno spoke to Will Appelbe from Save Animals From Exploitation, abbreviated as SAFE, to find out more about the hunting event and to determine why a competition involving hunting feral cats is inhumane and generally a bad idea. 

Arno started the interview by asking what SAFE’s position on the competition was.

Last week Environment Minister David Parker agreed that Auckland Council could have more time to change its planning rules to allow greater intensification but he instructed the council that they had to reduce the amount of impermeable spaces like concrete driveways and plan for a sponge city. Alex Bonham talked to landscape architect Matthew Bradbury, an Associate Professor at Unitect and author of the book Water City what a sponge city is and what it might look like. 

If you have been exposed to negative news about vaccine side-effects, you are more likely to be affected by them. This is known as the nocebo effect. 

Dr Kate MacKrill, health psychologist at the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, has been studying the nocebo effect in context of Covid-19 vaccinations and has made some startling discoveries. 

Her research shows people are markedly more likely to receive negative side effects from vaccines after seeing bad things about them in the media. 

Arno started the interview by asking what the nocebo effect is.

The bus driver shortage has seen around 1000 buses cancelled per day. Alex Bonham talks to transport campaigner Matt Lowrie of Greater Auckland blog on the impact of delays and cancellations on Aucklanders and what can be done to improve wages and safety for bus drivers. 

Welcome to the Tuesday Wire! This week on the show: 

On Saturday 15 April, nationwide rallies were held to raise awareness about the nursing shortage and urge politicians to help secure better working conditions.

It was the first time the New Zealand Nurses Organisation had called on all of its 57,000 members to rally at once.

Nicholas spoke to Organization spokesperson Kerri Nuku about the rallies, their five fixes for the nursing crisis, and how the public can support Nurses.

A report from the Child Poverty Action Group has found measures to address child poverty are leaving behind Māori, Pasifika, and disabled children as well as children of solo parents.

The report signalled that despite some progress, child poverty rates in Aotearoa mean we are still failing to uphold the legal rights of the child under the articles of the UN convention.

Caeden spoke to Colleen Brown, disability spokesperson for the Child Poverty Action Group about the report and what it means for Aotearoa.

The Intergenerational Climate Ambassadors have published an open letter on Action Station calling on MPs to implement a climate resilient Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.

The letter highlights the need for participatory democracy, listening to indigenous voices, and land use planning as key ways to address the climate crisis. 

For Get Action! this week, I interviewed Sophie Handford, Councillor, Activist, and ambassador for the Intergenerational Climate Ambassadors, on why she helped write the open letter.

News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins talked to ACT’s Karen Chhour about Three Waters and the government’s decision to keep the mandatory seven-day COVID-19 isolation period. 

Hanna Thompson spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the Three Waters rebrand and Green MP Marama Davidson not contesting Tāmaki Makaurau.

Caeden Tipler spoke to Colleen Brown about the findings from the new Child Poverty Action Group report.

And on Get Action! Caeden Tipler spoke to Sophie Handford about Climate Resilience Recovery for the regular Get Action! Segment 

Nicholas spoke to New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokesperson Kerri Nuku about the nationwide rallies which took place on Saturday and the organisation's five fixes for the nursing shortage.