The Wire with Sara

On Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a new National Party Kiwisaver policy, where they’re looking to further increase the default Kiwisaver contribution rate. Luxon said, if re-elected, National would continue to gradually increase the default contribution rates by 0.5% per year until 2032, when both employees and employers would pay 6% each.

The Government also announced that New Zealand would become the latest country to halt new prescriptions for puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria. In response to this, Ricardo Menendez March told RNZ that the government was “buying into imported culture wars”. 

And last week saw the end of the COP30 climate summit. One of the major outcomes of the summit was that more than 80 countries, including the United Kingdom and Pacific Island Nations, signed a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, but New Zealand chose not to.

For our Weekly Catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez March about The Green Party’s reaction to the COP30 summit, as well as their thoughts on the Government’s decision to halt new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.

But first, we started with National’s new Kiwisaver policy.

Last week, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced plans to add feral cats to the government’s list of pests to be eradicated by 2050. The decision follows a campaign promise from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made in a debate in 2023. 

Feral cats pose numerous wildlife risks when compared to other predators such as rats or stoats. In addition, their larger size makes trapping more difficult, meaning new techniques will need to be developed. To discuss the change, why it’s important, and how it fits in with the larger predator free 2050 mission, producer Castor spoke to Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Auckland, James Russell.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about moss in space, a use for mosquitos, and how turtles detect magnetic fields

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Sara spoke to MP Carl Bates about the recently updated Social Housing Plan, and the government’s decision to “pause” access to puberty blockers.

For Green World, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Sebastian Gehreke, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Climate and Energy Finance Group at the University of Otago, about COP30, and New Zealand not joining over 80 other countries in agreeing to a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels.

Sara also spoke with University of Otago international politics professor Robert Patman about Trump’s peace plan for the Ukraine - Russian war

At COP30, New Zealand has not joined over 80 countries in signing a global plan to phase out fossil fuels.

Climate Minister Mark Mitchell has defended this move, saying that the government was already committed to “transition away” from fossil fuels, as of two years ago.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Sebastian Gehreke, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Climate and Energy Finance Group at the University of Otago, about COP30 and whether New Zealand’s climate policies are enough to justify not signing this roadmap