The Wire with Caeden

A long-lived atmospheric river is landing on New Zealand shores today, which NIWA says could lead to “well over a month’s worth of rain” this week, especially in parts of the South Island.

To get some more insight on what atmospheric rivers are and what impacts they can have, Emilia spoke to Tristan Meyers, a Meteorologist at NIWA.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments in a case that could decide whether polluting companies are breaching important duties to New Zealanders. 

Sitting at the Environmental Court in Auckland, the Supreme Court will make a decision as to whether or not to strike out a claim against New Zealand’s 7 biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses by a Northland man who says they are breaching well-established common law principles by contributing to climate change.

Mike Smith is the climate spokesperson for the Iwi Chairs Forum, and is claiming that ongoing pollution by corporations such as Fonterra, Genesis and Z Energy has damaged his Whenua and sites of cultural and historical significance to him and his whānau.

To discuss the legal aspects of this case, as well as the role of tikanga Maori in the decision-making, Emilia Sullivan spoke to Geoff McLay from Victoria University Law School.

Forest and Bird is calling for the government to support a new bill to protect public conservation land from future mining. 

The conservation organisation says this is a chance for Labour to uphold its commitment to protect the climate and safeguard the biodiversity of NZ’s publicly owned conservation lands. 

Emily had a chat to a spokesperson from Forest and Bird Lynley Hargreaves regarding the bill. 

New legislation will see councils directly own and operate public transport services, a move which Transport Minister Michael Wood claims will alleviate worker shortages and give local authorities greater flexibility. 

The changes will see the existing, long-running operating model be replaced with a Sustainable Public Transport Framework.

Emily spoke with New Zealand Bus and Coach Association Chief Executive Ben McFadgen about the changes.