The Wire with Alex

This week on the Monday Wire... 

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News Director Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about increasing fuel prices, public transport, and the scrapped clean car discount. 

They also spoke to Professor Alistair Woodward from the University of Auckland about air pollution, how to address it, and also touched on the clean car discount. 

Producer Thomas spoke to Forest and Bird National Conservation Advocate Bianca Ranson about the proposed Fisheries Act amendment bill and the risk it poses to our oceans.

And he talked to University of Auckland Senior Research Fellow Dr Kelly Garton about New Zealand's increasing junk food imports and the detrimental health effects this could have on the country .

Research has recently been released which found between 1990 and 2023 Ultra Processed Foods share in New Zealand’s total food and drink imports has increased from 9 to 22 percent.

This has raised concerns, as diets high in ultra processed foods carry an increased risk of multiple serious health conditions and can be environmentally damaging due to their high usage of plastic packaging, and water and energy in production.

With the country in the midst of a cost of living crisis and people becoming increasingly reliant on these cheap, convenient, but unhealthy food options, the extent of this problem could continue to grow.

To discuss the research and its findings, producer Thomas talked to the report’s lead author Dr Kelly Garton.

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.

20% of the world’s oil supply has been shut off over the past week due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Petrol prices have reached $3 NZD a litre, with some stations running out of fuel due to demand. 

New Zealand imports all of our petrol, diesel, and jet fuel, making us especially vulnerable to global oil crises.  We are particularly dependent on oil for transport, with electricity accounting for just 0.5% of domestic transport energy. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to  Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and an expert in transportation and infrastructure, about how New Zealand can move away from car dependency and our reliance on foreign oil imports.