The Wire with Joel

The University of Otago's AIDS Epidemiology Center released their annual HIV/AIDs report yesterday as part of their newsletter. The report showed that 244 people were diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand in 2016, the highest number ever diagnosed in one year since recording began of the epidemic in 1985. Wire Producer Harry Willis spoke with the Head of the AIDs Epidemiology Center Dr Sue Mcallister to try and break down some of the statistics released and to try to figure out why these numbers are getting higher each year.

Anti-establishment sentiment has been an increasingly more relevant and contentious topic around the world, especially going into this year’s general election in New Zealand. An academic keenly interested in this topic is Grant Duncan from Massey University, who will be giving a public lecture about it tomorrow night. Producer Will Parsonson speaks to Grant about recent global political events and what the potential impact might be on New Zealand, first asking him about the changing landscape of international democracies.

If you’re interested in heading along to Grant’s free lecture tomorrow night called ‘Trust, distrust and the end of politics as we knew it’, register here. The lecture runs from 6:00-7:30 in the Atrium Building Round Room on Massey University's Albany campus.

A group who advocates for community mental health support workers has warned there may be an exodus if pay rates do not increase. Platform sez workers in the sector may move to the aged care and disability sectors, who are set to receive a pay increase between 15 to 50 percent on July First as part of a settlement that was reached early this year. Our reporter Katie Doyle spoke to Platforms CEO Marion Blake about the warning and her concerns with the current state of the Mental Health sector.

Donald Trump is threatening to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Reports are suggesting Trump has told multiple sources that he plans to leave the landmark agreement, although the man himself says he will make a decision on America’s future involvement later this week. During the election campaign Trump made it clear that he favored withdrawal, while he has also labeled man-made climate change a hoax. The Paris Agreement is a multilateral agreement adopted in December 2015 and ratified by 147 countries that aims to hold the increase in global temperatures to below two degrees and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to environmental politics lecturer at the University of Auckland Julie MacArthur about what this means for the future of the agreement.