The Wire with Caeden

This week News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston interviews ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about the passing of the bill that will ban conversion therapy practices in New Zealand last night. They also discuss the anti-mandate protest taking place on the parliamentary lawns in Wellington,how the MPs are feeling about it, and when Brooke thinks the sit in may end. 

Tonight at 11:59pm New Zealand will move to Phase Two of the government’s response to the Omicron outbreak. This does not make any difference to the red setting rules regarding access to public spaces, wearing masks in public, and contact tracing. Instead, this new phase will reduce isolation periods and narrow the meaning of a close contact. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Lesley Gray from the University of Otago Wellington and Dr Dion O’Neale who is the Project Lead for Covid Modelling Aotearoa about what Phase Two actually means. They also discuss how New Zealanders should be responding to the increase in daily Covid-19 cases and whether the country is prepared for a shift to Phase Two. 

The Ukraine crisis has been making international headlines for some weeks now. Most recently, thousands of Russian troops have positioned themselves on the border with Ukraine, NATO has increased their number of troops in Eastern Europe with the support of the US and the UK, and there has been a lot of talk about Russian invasion. However, Russia has consistently denied that they will invade and Ukrainan officials have called for the West to stop predicting an invasion because it is scaring people.

Rouben Azizian is a professor at Massey University in Security Studies and News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to him about the state of the Ukranian crisis right now. They also discuss the 'surface-level' media coverage of the crisis, whether Azizian believes Russia will actually invade, and what help Western powers are in finding a solution to a very long-standing, complex, violent relationship between Ukraine and Russia. 

Lost and escaped domesticated parrots seem to be posing a problem to native bird species. Owning a parrot is surprisingly popular in New Zealand, with around 330 pet birds getting lost every year. University of Auckland's Margaret Stanley spoke with Charlie about the issue and how to keep your parrots safe.