The Wire with Caeden

Greenpeace Aotearoa has recently released their petition for the government to limit the amount of nitrates in drinking water to one milligram. 

At the moment the legal limit of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is 11.3mg, which Greenpeace says is a major issue that has caused several illnesses and deaths. 

The organisation has stated that water is a human right, and that the government must stand up for the health of our communities. 

To learn more, Liam spoke to Steve Abel from Greenpeace about the petition and how Aotearoa got to this point.

Earlier this week, researchers from the University of Otago released a report looking at substance usage amongst adolescents. The study found that rates of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis usage amongst Kiwi teens peaked about 20 years ago and have declined rapidly since, but our adolescents are still binge drinking at higher rates than their peers in similar countries overseas.

Joe spoke to Jude Ball, from the Department of Public Health, who co-authored the study on the matter. 

A campaign to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote has been granted leave to appeal in the Supreme Court. 

While the Court of Appeal agreed that barring teenagers from voting was in fact unjustified age discrimination, they stopped short of making a formal declaration.

Emilia Sullivan spoke to Sanat Singh, co-director of Make it 16 about his campaign heading to the Supreme Court.

Yesterday the honourable Megan Woods, Minister of Energy and Resources announced  the third round of the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry Fund will provide $13 million to 15 businesses to help them move away from fossil fuels. I spoke with Georgia Piggot,  an environmental social scientist from the University of Auckland, starting by asking her if the funding will inspire other businesses to follow suit, even if they aren’t receiving that funding