The Wire with Caeden

In the lead up to the election, political parties have been proposing different measures to address the cost of living crisis.

If re-elected, Labour has promised to scrap goods and services tax from fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables from 1 April next year, claiming it would save an average household about $4.25 per week.

First, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, and asked him what impact they believe this policy would have for low to middle income workers and their whanau. 

She also asked Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson to weigh in on how effective they believe this policy would be in alleviating cost of living pressures. 

To hear from an economist's perspective she spoke to Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, who has been a vocal opponent of the policy. I started off the interview by asking him why he believes the policy would not benefit consumers. 

Lastly, she spoke to Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta, who gave her thoughts on the policy and suggested potential alternatives. 

Wealth inequality, ending poverty, and the cost of living crisis are pressing issues this upcoming election. 

The Green Party are the only party supporting a wealth tax and a universal basic income. 

Arno spoke with Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party's economic policies and their reasoning behind them. 

Arno started off our interview by asking how the Green’s tax plan differs from others.

On The Wire for Rāapa Wednesday. 

News and Editorial Jessica Hopkins spoke to New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson, economist Brad Olsen, and Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta about addressing the cost of living crisis.

Milly spoke to the Co-Director of the Public Health Communication Centre and Professor in Public Health at the University of Otago Nick Wilson about new research which found that political parties tend to be short-sighted in their policies when it comes to global catastrophic risks. 

Mahdhi chatted to biologist and winner of the University of Auckland’s Three Minute Thesis competition Cam Hoffbleck about her research into the unique gut microbiome of Tuatara. 

Arno spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March about wealth inequality, the Green’s economic policies, and a proposed wealth tax to provide free universal dental care. 

Nicholas spoke with New Zealand Student’s Association’s National President Ellen Dixon about what a universal Study Wage would look like and the potential economic realities surrounding its implementation.

This week on the Tuesday Wire Milly speaks to Adele Gautier from the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand on how the organisation feels about National's decision to fund 13 new cancer treatments, none of which include any of the 14 available Breat Cancer Treatments.