The Wire with Sara

We’ll be looking at what's happening behind the scenes when drinking water gets to our taps or our wastewater is discharged – and how might climate change get in the way.

Joe spoke to Dr Lokesh P. Padhye, Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Auckland about his thoughts on what needs to be done to address the issues within our water infrastructure.

Researchers have settled the mystery of a tiny, enigmatic reptile that left an impression on Scottish sandstone nearly a quarter of a billion years ago after more than a century of debate. 

The Scleromochlus taylori, was discovered near Elgin in Moray in the early 1900s, however due to a lack of remaining evidence, paleontologists were unsure of its features. In hopes of solving this mystery, researchers led by Davide Foffa at National Museums Scotland turned to computed tomography (CT) scans to reveal the creatures features in detail.

Joe spoke to Dr Nic Rawlence from the Paleogenetics Lab at the University of Otago, to get some insight into this fascinating discovery!

The tide of the war in Ukraine has turned and Russia forces are currently on the retreat across the Eastern part of Ukraine.

During the recent ceremonies announcing the illegal annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, Vladimir Putin promised to defend these areas “by any means necessary” 

Many analysts think that may include nuclear weapons.

David spoke to Waikato University Professor Alexander Gillespie about whether Putin is serious and what would happen if he does use them.

Announcements that government finances are in a healthier state than expected have renewed calls from National and ACT to implement tax cuts.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Wednesday that books are better thanks to higher taxes and lower spending on Covid-19 support. 

A large reason why the government has received more income from taxes is due to revitalisations in the economy seeing more income gained from the goods and services tax.

Regardless, the opposition parties have stated that high taxes are a major contributor to New Zealand's ongoing cost of living crisis. 

These calls came days after the United Kingdom had been put through economic turmoil after prime minister Liz Truss called for tax cuts for the rich, seeing the pound reach a record low value against the dollar. 

This, alongside other factors, has caused Labour and Green to call the concept of tax cuts absurd. 

Liam had a chat to Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter and ACT Party Leader/finance spokesperson David Seymour about their opinions on cutting back taxes, but first they spoke to University of Canterbury economics and taxation professor Adrian Sawyer to help frame the conversation.