The Wire with Caeden

Last week, Minister for oceans and fisheries, Shane Jones, introduced the Fisheries Act amendment bill to parliament. The bill proposes sweeping changes to the current Fisheries Act including scrapping minimum size limits for the majority of fish species, and introducing penalties for whistleblowers leaking on-board camera footage. 

The bill also ignores thousands of submissions calling for positive environmental changes to the act, such as a ban on bottom trawling. The act’s defenders say the limited market for juvenile fish will financially punish commercial fishers for catching them, and claim the act can unlock commercial fishing's economic potential.

Critics, however, have accused Shane Jones of giving into commercial lobbyists and selling out New Zealand’s enviroment for short term economic gain.

To discuss the changes made in the act and their potential impact on Aotearoa’s oceans producer Thomas talked to Forest and Bird National Conservation Advocate, Bianca Ranson.

Last week also saw a study released around air pollution in Aotearoa, which found that Auckland faced significant air pollution risks. Traffic is the leading cause, with congestion and big vehicles as the largest causes. Over 700 people die annually from air pollution from traffic in Auckland, more than any other part of the country. 

As the fuel crisis gets worse, some are seeing it as an opportunity to improve our country by becoming less reliant on petrol and cutting out unnecessary large vehicles from our big cities.

To discuss air pollution and the potential opportunities within the fuel crisis, News Director Castor spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor Alistair Woodward.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about rising fuel costs, the government’s proposed pay rise for some primary teachers, and the Lawyers for Climate Action case against the government for dropping climate policies.

They also spoke to Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, on rising fuel costs, New Zealand’s dependency on petrol, and alternative ways of thinking about transport. 

For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about fuel insecurity and transport and energy alternatives in Auckland. 

Producer Pranuja spoke to Professor Nirmal Nair from the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering at the University of Auckland on making the switch to Electric Vehicles.

She also spoke with Dr Murat Ungor from the Department of Economics at the University of Otago on how New Zealand can deal with the price at the pump.

Petrol prices have risen at least 20% since the start of the month, with the price of 91 Petrol now above $3.

The government has offered pay rises to primary teachers on individual employment agreements, undermining their current negotiations with the New Zealand Educational Institute.

And Lawyers for Climate Action and the Environmental Law Initiative are jointly taking a court case against the government for their dismantling of climate policies immediately after they were elected.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.