The Wire with Manny

Following a call of urgent action from energy minister Simeon Brown and the coalition government, the government intends to reverse the ban on oil and gas exploration beyond onshore Taranaki. 

This decision comes after Simeon Brown declared New Zealand to have an energy shortage, leading to the highest wholesale electricity prices of comparable countries. At the same time however, there has been a continual increase in solar panel power which may solve New Zealand’s energy crisis.

Sasha spoke to Professor Barry Barton from the University of Waikato about the governments’ intention to remove the oil and gas exploration ban.

This week on the Tuesday Wire... 

For Dear Science this week, we chatted with our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin about bats with glowing toes, glue sealing wounds inside the body, and new technology to make green and yellow lasers. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia, Candace Owens potentially visiting Aotearoa, and the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan. 

They also spoke to Doctor Timothy Welch about the government’s recently announced transport funding allocation. 

With the return of the Green Desk, Jack Marshall talked to Sophie Journee from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust about the waterways in an Auckland golf course. 

And News and Editorial Director, Joel Armstrong, spoke to Staff Researcher at Child Poverty Action Group, Harry Yu Shi, about a recent report showing Aotearoa has poor child poverty statistics compared to European countries.

The government announced its transport budget yesterday, a record 32.9 billion dollars, mostly going towards the campaign promise of ‘roads of national significance’. This focus on large highway projects has led the government to pull funding from other areas, such as public transport, walking, and cycling.

Wire host Castor spoke to Senior lecturer of Urban planning at the University of Auckland, Doctor Timothy Welch, about the government’s funding allocation and its potential impact on congestion and the environment.

Last week Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand announced they were offering voluntary redundancies to admin and advisory staff. This follows 268 roles already being cut from Te Whatu Ora’s commissioning team. 

The organisation has said that the “majority of their expenditure is on people costs, and Health NZ needs to review its size and structure.” Adding that “they are providing the opportunity for eligible staff to consider voluntary redundancy ahead of likely formal change consultation processes over the coming months.” 

However many health staff say a cut to admin will put more pressure on the already understaffed and overworked nurses, doctors and primary care workers. 

New Zealand Nurses Organisation Chief Executive Paul Goulter says Te Whatu Ora did not follow the correct consultation processes before arriving at the conclusion that there should be redundancies. 

He added that any reduction of staff will impact on the people who remain. Saying removal of supporting roles means that other staff must pick the work they’re doing, something he calls unacceptable. 

Producer Evie spoke to Goulter about Te Whatu Ora’s voluntary redundancies and the impacts they will have on other healthcare workers.