Interviews_
Local MP Trevor Mallard has claimed that people in the Hutt Valley were reluctant to call the police after a crime had been committed because they felt the response would be too slow, or in some cases not happen at all. Detective Inspector Sean Hansen disagrees, and explained how and why police allocate resources to the Hutt..
More than 100 Maori health representatives turned up to the Hutt Valley DHB's meeting, concerned that the Board appears to be ignoring Maori input into health. They claimed proposed funding cuts to Maori health groups were unfair, and showed institutional racism. Noeline Smiler from the DHB’s Maori Health Development Group outlined their concerns..
Cyclists are being called the big winners from the re-prioritising of various transport projects by the Regional Transport Committee. In all, $140 million has been allocated to cycleways. The Great Harbour Way would see an unbroken cycling track from Pencarrow around the harbour to the southern coast of Wellington. Rex asked Great Harbour Way Trust member Graeme Hall whether this funding brings the concept a step closer, and whether ratepayers are getting good value for money.
Are slabs of stone engraved with the names of the fallen really the best way to honour them, or should we be spending the money things which celebrate the freedoms they won for us, like libraries, or art? Rex spoke with Stout Research Fellow John Horrocks.
An exhibition of watercolour paintings and charcoal sketches by servicemen and official artists in World War 1 was held as part of Splash 2015 at St Paul's cathedral. Rex spoke to the curator, Claire Clark.
In the aftermath of the prosecution of Moses Tupaea for a "racist rant" at two young men on a Hutt Valley bus, Rex asked Joel Cosgrove, Wellington area spokesperson for Fightback, whether this is a rare incident or whether the Hutt Valley is becoming a racist place.
First he was stood down, then demoted, then sacked, then reinstated, but to a lesser job on the same salary. And ordered to undergo "rehabilitation" - all for having smoked cannabis seven days before he came to work. Rex talked with Chris Fowlie, President of NORML, about the Hutt City Council's handling of its pot smoking pool manager.
Rex spoke to Fran Wilde, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, about the proposed rates rise of 9.8%, flood mitigation, and public transport.
In an increasingly secular world, does Easter still have meaning? And what's a Cardinal doing on a picket line? Rex found out from His Eminence Cardinal John Dew.
Housing New Zealand Regional Manager Stephen Wilson is interviewed about plans to demolish some of the housing stock in the Hutt Valley. How many homes are involved, what is being done to house people on the wait list, and where will the money go if the properties are sold to the private sector?