VUW has become a hotspot for politicians heading to cast their vote, with Labour’s Grant Robertson and Ibrahim Omer voting in the Hub last Wednesday, and the Greens’ Tamatha Paul and James Shaw, alongside Wellington mayor Tory Whanau, voting here last Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni showed up in support, but didn’t cast her vote.
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again: hordes of freshers perform the annual ritual of scurrying to find a flat before the next academic year begins. The difficulty to even be offered a flat as a first-time renter has forced our news intern to accept a flat in the ditch of Devon Street in Aro Valley (pray for him).
Read MoreThis is the third year in a row where a VUWSA President is elected uncontested, signalling a dire trend of dwindling engagement in student politics. This is more evidence than ever that candidates willing to put their dignities on the line to advocate for students are a critically endangered species.
Read MoreIf you get the feeling you're being fleeced at the self-checkout, you're not mistaken: the price of food has increased a fat 8.9% over the past year. The cost of living crisis has financially crippled Aotearoa and students are feeling the squeeze. But there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the financially chequered horizon: New World Metro.
Read MoreJulie-Anne Genter regularly braves the cold for a swim in the South Coast’s marine reserve, Taputeranga. “It’s really magic,” she says. So it was an easy choice to film a campaign video there—until a whale visited Island Bay the day of their filming, disrupting their plans. Genter wasn’t disappointed. What a better sign, she thought, for a Green campaign than a whale visiting.
Read MoreA past resident of Stafford House has been awarded $4800 in compensation and damages by the Tenancy Tribunal, in a ruling combining eight different breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA). The resident lived at Stafford House from February to November 2022, during his first year at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, in accommodation he described as “disgusting”.
Read MoreAfter the University of Otago announced they had a $60 million debt in early May, suspicions of a similar blow at Te Herenga Waka arose. On 24 May, Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith presented a forum entitled ‘Achieving Financial Sustainability’. The presentation detailed immense debt for the university—a predicted forecast of $33m for 2023 alone—and major job cuts. Areas under review at this period included ‘central service units’, such as roles in Human Resources and Engagement, as well as staffing within Business and Government, Education, Health, and Law faculties.
The building extension of Te Herenga Waka Marae, the Living Pā, is unique, ambitious, and future focused, but burdensome challenges have continued to push the project backwards.
An OIA received by Salient confirmed that a revised budget of $52 million for the project was approved in late 2022, an increase of $17m from the original budget of $35m approved in 2019.
Read MoreWellington City is grieving after the deadly house fire at Loafers Lodge in Newtown last Tuesday morning, which has so far claimed at least six lives.
Read MoreVUW has committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its campuses by 2030. But it’s not coal boilers that are the problem for this university—it’s natural gas combustion.
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