The Wire with Caeden

Today, the government announced that $121 million of relief funding for the Arts and Culture sector had been made available to sector workers. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni about what the funding entails, how people can access it and whether this funding relief is enough to provide sustained support for arts and culture workers. 

For the last two weeks Jemima has been speaking to people working in arts, music and events who lost their jobs and income when Aotearoa moved to 'red' and felt that there was very little support made available by the governement. To hear these podcasts, click here. 

The news surrounding New Zealand's MIQ system and journalist Charlotte Bellis has led the ACT Party to call for an immediate end to MIQ. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Brooke about this call, as well as what the ACT Party believes New Zealand's response to the Ukraine crisis should be. 

Today on the Wednesday Wire, we start with Dear Science with Allan Blackman joins us live. Christina Huang and Allan chat about robots performing surgery, fossils that are over two hundred thousand years old, and a bubble that did not pop for over a year.

Jemima Huston speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about her party calling for an end to MIQ, as well as what she thinks New Zealand’s response to the Ukraine crisis should be. 

Aneeka Moheed talks to Liam Rutherford from NZEI Te Riu Roa about pay parity in the education sector and the problems for early childhood educators. 

Jemima interviews Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni about the latest announcement of $121 million worth of Covid-19 relief funding for the arts and culture sector. 

Christina looks into food waste and how people are tackling it in Aotearoa and Australia. She speaks to Ellen Fogarty from Flinders University in Adelaide, about a recent study she conducted on food waste recycling in the hospitality sector. Christina also talks to some of the people leading the fight against food waste: Nick Loosley, founder of Everybody Eats; Madeleine Cull from For the Love of Bees; and Gavin Findlay, CEO of KiwiHarvest. 

Today on the Tuesday Wire, Jemima Huston and Emily Bell speak to educators about returning to classrooms during the Omicron outbreak. Emily interviews Stephen Lethbridge, President of the Auckland Primary Principals' Association, about how schools are operating under the red light setting and Jemima speaks to educators Liv and Chris about how Covid-19 has impacted their work and how they are feeling about heading back to in-person learning this year. 

Jemima follows up on her piece last week about the impact of the red setting on the arts, music and events industry. As there has not yet been any targeted government support made available, Jemima talks to freelance tour manager and promoter representative Sarin Moddle about where people should go for help. They discuss what resources are available for people working in arts, music and culture right now and how the public can support the industry. 

Emily interviews the National Coordinator for the Public Transport Users Association Jon Reeves about the government's project plan for the Auckland City Light Rail. 

Finally, Jemima talks to Event Producer for the Auckland Lantern Festival Eric Ngan about the history of the event and its online launch today.