The Wire with Caeden

Last week, a vote no confidence was made against Judith Collins as leader of the National Party and she was ousted from the position. Collins' Deputy Dr Shane Reti swiftly took over as interim leader and announced that a new leadership team would be voted on next week. 

The sudden party fall out came after a late night statement from Collins that Simon Bridges, MP for Tauranga and previous party leader, had been demoted due to an allegation of serious misconduct by a colleague. This allegation was clarified by Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean who said Bridges had made inappropriate comments five years ago that upset her and Bridges had apologised for this at the time and again on that day. 

Today, Tuesday 30 November, is the day that the National Party is expected to vote on their new leadership team. Reports are suggesting that the competition for the top position is really between Bridges and Christopher Luxon, MP for Botany and ex-CEO for Air New Zealand with a mere two years of political experience.

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to political commentator David Slack about the National Party fall out last week, the vote expected later today, some of the core candidates, and why Dr Shane Reti is never considered to be in the running for the leadership role. 

UPDATE: Christopher Luxon has been named as the new leader of the National Party, following Simon Bridges withdrawing his ticket. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston interviews Maria Bellringer, Director of the Gambling and Addictions Research Centre at AUT, about gambling habits in lockdown and gambling regulations in Aotearoa. Maria explains that online gambling is not as popular in lockdown as you might think and although online platforms attract more young people, it tends to attract those that already gamble in real life at casinos and bars. They also discuss how gambling is regulated in New Zealand and what she believes needs to be done to keep more New Zealander's safe from gambling harm. 

This week on the Monday wire...

Louis spoke with the University of Canterbury's Michael Plank, the Green Party's Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, and the Restaurant Association's Marissa Bidois about the Covid-19 traffic light system. He also spoke to Metservice's Kevin Alder about newfound logbooks from early Antarctic expeditions and the University of Auckland's Dr Rajshri Roy about comfort food and lockdown. 

Charlie talked to Monash University's Dr Stella Talic about Covid-19 prevention strategies and Omar Hamed about the upcoming perfusionist strike. 

Have fun. 

Perfusionists are highly trained medical professionals that operate heart-lung machines during surgical procedures. Auckland perfusionists intend to strike later this week to take industrial action regarding the pay freeze that affects salaries over $100,000. Omar Hamed, advocate for Apex Union perfusionists, spoke to Charlie regarding why the strike is important for perfusionists and how the strike will affect elective surgeries.