The Wire with Sara

Recently, the government has announced some major reforms to how regional councils operate, with regional councillors proposed to be replaced by boards made up of city and regional mayors, and potentially even Crown-appointed representatives, called combined territories boards, or CTBs.

As well as this, Health Minister, Simeon Brown, has called for the decentralisation of Health New Zealand, with the expectation that the entity focuses on deliveries closer to the front-line, additionally expecting a plan to do so by the end of the year.

For our weekly catch up with the National Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to MP Stuart Smith about these topics, starting with the regional council.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about food waste and strategies for limiting food waste and E.coli being used to create rainbow dye.

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Christmas Lights at MOTAT - experience Auckland’s most magical Christmas lights - heritage trams, festive music, Santa visits, and thousands of sparkling lights Tickets at motat.nz 

This week on the Tuesday Wire:

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about food waste and strategies for limiting waste, the five stages of brain development, and scientists using E. coli to create rainbow dye, thanks to MOTAT.

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to MP Stuart Smith about the substantial changes to region councils, and Health Minister Simeon Brown’s calls to decentralise Health New Zealand.

For Green World, Tuesday Wire Host Sara spoke to Dr Sze-Wing Yiu, a Wildlife Ecologist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, about this week’s wildlife conference in Queenstown.

Producer Vihan spoke to Sam Pilisi, a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Auckland, about his study on burnout within New Zealand-born Pacific communities.

And Joel spoke to Peter Saxton, an Associate Professor in the School of Population Health and HIV researcher at the University of Auckland, about the Ministry of Health’s HIV Monitoring Report.

Whakarongo mai!

Starting in December, the government is banning new prescriptions of puberty blockers to adolescents. 

However, concerns have been raised about the effect this ban will have on the mental health of these individuals – research suggests that the medication reduces mental health distress in transgender youth, a community that is already vulnerable. Banning the drug may have adverse affects in this same vein.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology at the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland, Paul Hofman, about the ban, and what it means for the mental health of our transgender and gender dysphoric youth.