E whai ake nei, coming up on The Wire today:

Liam had their regular chat with city councillor Shane Henderson, chatting about his re-election to the Waitakere Ward seat, the local elections and his goals for this term of council. 

We also have a report from David Liwei Shi, covering last week's tertiary education union strike. 

They’ve also spoken to Caroline Mareko from NZCTU about the pacific pay gap inquiry and what needs to change about wealth inequality in Aotearoa.

We also have a kōrero with the green parties Ricardo Menedez March, on the government's re-opening of the migrant worker and parent visas, and some of the issues they’ve identified within it.

And lastly Liam spoke to Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about the risk of new Covid-19 Subvariants. 

Multiple sub variants of the Covid-19 Omicron variant have recently made their way into Aotearoa, seeing new territory for the country having to deal with multiple sub variants at once.

In the final Covid-19 media response, the Head of the Public Health Agency Andrew Old has made it clear to New Zealanders that the pandemic isn’t over. 

Covid cases are currently on the uptick, with Poneke Wellington leading the pack in having case numbers doubling over last weeks amount. 

To learn more about the next few months of the pandemic, Liam spoke to Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about the new wave.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the Human Rights Commission have recently made recommendations to the government on how to minimise the pacific pay gap. 

This came due to a report into the systemic gap seen between pakeha men and minority groups. 

The groups have called for urgent pay transparency, as well as changes to the living wage and implementing protective measures. 

To learn more Liam spoke to NZCTU’s Caroline Mareko about what they’re calling for and why it’s important. 

A pair of resident visas that have been closed for some time have recently been re-opened. 

Immigration minister Michael Wood announced the Skilled Migrant Category, and the Parent Category visas would be re-opened, allowing people to become residents through their careers or through their children. 

However, various groups have criticised the conditions of entrance, including the Green Party who’ve raised concerns about class inequality becoming a part of the system, 

Liam spoke to their immigration spokesperson, Ricardo Menedez March, about the current system and what can change. 

Welcome to The Thursday Wire!

This week on the show, today is World Sight day! Stella speaks to Dan Buckingham, CEO and Tamara Gussy, audio describer, from Able, a media accessibility trust about what they’re doing to celebrate. Tuva’a has his weekly catch up with Andrew Little. The Green Desk is covered by Joel, who interviews Emily Ward, a masters student from the University of Canterbury about making public transport more accessible. Stella speaks to Rob Major, a project lead on work that sets out a roadmap for ensuring Aotearoa’s seaweed industry is ready to boom.Stella has a chat to Shanan Halbert, MP for the Northcote electorate about resources in the community in response to crime.

 Stella speaks to Shanan Halbert, MP for Northcote, about the moves to increase police on the beat, and other strategies to mitigate crime in the Northcote electorate. 

Aotearoa’s seaweed sector has had a comprehensive industry plan released recently. Stella speaks to Rob Major, a project lead involved with the roadmap to help guide the development of the industry.

Today is World Sight Day! Stella speaks to Dan Buckingham, CEO and Tamara Gussy, Audio Describer from Able, a media accessibility trust, about how they're celebrating.

Today on The Green Desk, Joel Armstrong speaks to University of Canterbury Master of Urban Resilience and Renewal student Emily Ward about barriers preventing people from cycling, walking, or taking public transport like the bus or the train.

This week on The Wire for Rāapa Wednesday:

Casper speaks to Brooke van Velden in our weekly chat with the ACT Party.

Emilia chats to Christine Rose from Greenpeace Aotearoa, and our News and Editorial Director Jess chats to Federated Farmers Climate Change Spokesperson Andrew Hoggard about what they make of the amendments to He Waka Eke Noa.

Emilia also chats about the latest updates on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Otago Uni’s Robert Patman.

And lastly, Jess speaks to John Crocker from Unite Union about a fair pay agreement for hospitality workers.

That's us for the Wednesday Wire! See you next week.