The Wire with Joel

Spike speaks to Ben Schmidt, an organiser with the Tertiary Education Union, about the staff cuts recently announced at Massey University, and its potential impacts for the institution. 

Kia ora, and welcome to The Wire for Rāpare Thursday!

Spike speaks to:

- Labour MP Andrew Little about his visit to the Shangri-La Indo-Pacific defense summit, and the Taumaru review of intelligence laws and services

- TEU organiser Ben Schmidt about the proposed job cuts at Massey University

- Natalie Vincent from Good Shepherd about the prevalance of Buy Now Pay Later debt

Simon speaks to:

- City Councillor Lotu Fuli on the budget negotiations starting today, abusive emails from Mayor Brown and the much contested sale of airport shares

- Associate Professor Grant Duncan on the new independent electoral review and its recommendations around term limits, prisoner voting rights and the "coattails" rule

- Professor John Townend about the risk of a major earthquake along the Alpine Fault over the next 50 years  

It has been revealed that the Alpine Fault, which runs down the south island, has a 75% chance of creating a magnitude 8 or stronger earthquake in the next 50 years. Professor John Townend has spent many years studying the fault line to gain a greater understanding of the risks. He began by discussing what he has discovered recently.

The Auckland Council budget is holding public services hostage - that was what PSA had to say about Mayor Brown’s Auckland Council budget proposal. On the chopping board in Brown’s budget is the selling of Auckland Council’s stake in Auckland Airport, which has been a consistent revenue stream for the council since Auckland’s district councils merged into the Supercity in 2010. 

Tomorrow, Council members will vote on Mayor Brown’s budget proposal including whether to sell-off Auckland Councils Airport shares. To talk more about what implications the share sell-off could have for public services in Auckland, Andre Fa’aoso spoke with Ian Gordon, PSA National Sector leader for local government.