The Wire with Alex

The Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki, is facing a funding shortage which may see it cutting opening hours or staff next year if the shortfall is not met.

The award winning gallery is currently open every day except for Christmas and attracts around 550,000 visitors annually.

The gallery’s Auckland Council funding has been cut from $12 million in 2012 to $6.9 million annually. Arts patron Dame Jenny Gibbs has called the current grant a disgrace and completely unsustainable.

Reuben McLaren spoke to Chris Brooks, the CEO of Regional Facilities Auckland, of which the Auckland Art Gallery is a division.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region is raising concerns about their capacity to continue providing the service that they do. Matt Williams is the Chief Executive of the organisation and is saying that the service is running like a small business, which is not sustainable. They are hoping central government will get involved. Lillian Hanly spoke with Matt about the issues they are facing.

On today's Wire, India speaks to Oxfam NZ's Executive Director about the Paradise Papers, a huge document leak which reveals how the world’s elite use offshore havens to avoid paying tax.

Dr Jackie Blue from the Human Rights Commission discusses Labour’s changes to paid parental leave and the Equal Pay Act.

On Green Desk with Conor Mercer, we hear about shallow reef systems, and the importance of citizen scientists.

We speak to Greer Rasmussen from Women in Urbanism about the importance of accessibility in Auckland’s transport, and illustrator Toby Morris discusses ethics in cartoons.

This week on the Tuesday Wire, we look at the Paradise Papers, which examine how the world's elite use offshore tax havens, Labour's changes to paid parental leave and the Equal Pay Act, and accessibility issues in Auckland's transport system. Cartoonist Toby Morris also explains the ethics of cartoons and the line of racism and on the Green Desk we look at warmer oceans and their effects on reefs.