The Wire with Caeden

Earlier this week, 26 climate scientists wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, accusing the government of ignoring scientific evidence of methane emissions and urging him to work towards reducing emissions.

The letter also criticised the government’s method of reducing emissions to the level of “no additional warming”, a concept approved by the Federated Farmers and Beef + Lamb, to keep New Zealand’s contribution to global heating at the levels they were in 2017.

However, Chris Luxon reportedly dismissed the open letter, referring to the climate scientists as “worthies” and insisting that the government was managing methane emissions better than "every other country on the planet,” despite the fact that New Zealand has one of the highest per-capita methane emissions rates in the world.

Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson, Senior Campaign manager for Greenpeace Aotearoa about the open letter sent to Christopher Luxon by 26 climate scientists, Luxon’s reaction to it and the concept of “no additional warming.”

The 2025 Budget included almost $40 million over four years on science kits for Year 0 to 8 students, which the Education Minister yesterday announced will "support teachers to confidently deliver practical science learning, aligned with the new science curriculum".

Dr Carrie Swanson, a senior lecturer in teacher education at AUT called the announcement of investment in primary science education welcoming, and that while the curriculum is not announced yet, “it appears that the curriculum is heading towards educating future scientists”.

To talk about the current state of science education at primary schools in New Zealand, and the incoming investments, Producer Max spoke to Dr Carrie Swanson.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about discounting claims of life on k2-18b, stories of a mysterious ninth planet, and 'The Blue Danube' heading to outer space. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the new defence spending in 2025's Budget and where everything’s going to go. 

They also spoke to the General Manager at Forest and Bird, Richard Capie, about the disestablishment of Predator Free 2050. 

Producer Faith spoke to Professor Robert MacCulloch from the University of Auckland’s School of Business and Economics about the official cash rate (OCR), and whether or not it should drop.

She also spoke to Professor Jodi Gardner from the University’s Faculty of Law about how the government’s Budget 2025 will invest in abuse redress and care reform.

Like the rest of the world, we are currently living in a time of economic uncertainty. Economists are forecasting the NZ dollar’s decrease in value, and there have been debates about whether the official cash rate should decrease.

Professor Robert MacCulloch is one of the academics that believe the OCR should stay as is. Producer Faith spoke to MacCulloch about his stance.