The Wire with Sara

The government’s plans to construct a liquified natural gas import terminal have sparked a lot of conversation over the past week about the role of natural gas in our energy infrastructure, and what more we need.

Producer Alex spoke with Professor in Chemical and Material Engineering at the University of Auckland, Brent Young, about how this proposal fits in to the issue it seeks to solve, and what more needs to be done within our energy infrastructure.

Next, News Director Castor spoke to Professor Emeritus at Massey University, Ralph Sims, about the sustainability of Liquid Natural Gas and potential alternatives.

Finally, they spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor of Electrical Engineering Nirmal Nair about how energy companies stand to benefit from the LNG changes.

Thousands of locals have protested the Winter Olympics in Milan, citing issues like cost of living and the environmental impact of the games, as well as the presence of law enforcement officers from the United States.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Sports History at Macquarie University, about these protests in Milan, and their broader context within Olympic history.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about this year’s Waitangi Day, seabed mining in Taranaki, and Labour and National’s joint Modern Slavery members' bill.

And for International Desk, they spoke to Dr Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Sports History at Macquarie University, about the controversy surrounding security at the Winter Olympics. 

For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson about Auckland Museum, a potential merger of Kaipara and Rodney district councils, and the opening of the Auckland International Convention Centre. 

They also spoke to Communications and Advocacy manager at the Burnett Foundation, Kirk Serpes, about the decision to allow politicians to speak on the mainstage of Big Gay Out this weekend.

The Commerce Commission, responsible for regulating competition and fair trading in Aotearoa New Zealand, recently took two businesses to court over their ‘unconscionable conduct’.

Among other behaviour, the businesses were found to have misled and exploited consumers, and targeted particularly vulnerable customers.

This is the first time that the Commerce Commission have pursued cases under this prohibition, with ‘unconscionable conduct’ being added to the Fair Trading Act back in 2022.

To understand exactly what ‘unconscionable conduct’ entails, and how future cases may play out, Producer Theo spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland Dr Jodi Gardner.