The Wire with Oto

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chats with us about research into multiple sclerosis, links between marriage and dementia, and a new massive particle collider. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government introducing a competitor to the supermarket duopoly and how New Zealand’s economy will manage in the wake of US tariffs. 

They also spoke to Dr. Gergely Toldi about the government’s baby formula changes and what brought them about.

Producer Amani spoke to Retail NZ’s Chief Executive Carolyn Young on how businesses are struggling with the impacts of infrastructure construction around the country.

And she spoke to University of Otago’s Dr Kimberley O’Sullivan on the recent increase to power prices.

A new report has highlighted the pressure major infrastructure projects are putting on local businesses and communities.

The research from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows short-term disruptions are being felt across the country: from Auckland’s City Rail Link to Wellington’s ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’ and CBD upgrades in Tauranga and Dunedin.

While it’s widely accepted that Aotearoa needs to invest in infrastructure to futureproof the economy, Retail NZ says more support is needed to help businesses get through the long and often disruptive construction periods.

Producer Amani spoke to Retail NZ’s Chief Executive Carolyn Young to find out more on this.

This description has been edited to add clarification that the work in the report was undertaken as a part of the New Zealand Institute of Economics's (NZIER) Public Good Programme, and has not been funded by Retail NZ.

Donald Trump has plunged markets and economies into turmoil after announcing sweeping trade tariffs across all of the USA’s global trade partners. 

The tariffs start at a minimum of 10%, and for some countries reach over 40%. Nations like China have already begun to retaliate, imposing reciprocal tariffs on the US. Aotearoa, which had the baseline 10% tariff put on its trade with the US, has chosen not to fight back - instead joining a number of neutral countries with no response.  

Since the tariffs were imposed this weekend, share markets have dropped to levels not seen since covid lockdowns. 

Producer Evie spoke to Senior Economics Lecturer at the University of Otago, Murat Ungor about what the potential impact of these tariffs could be on Aotearoa and its economy.

This week on the Monday Wire:

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about Te Pāti Māori MPs not attending the Select Committee over their contempt of the House due to their haka in Parliament over the Treaty Principles Bill and their plans to hold their own hearing, and the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act passing its final reading.

For our weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the justice select committee releasing its report recommending the bill be scrapped, the tariffs imposed on New Zealand trade by the US last week, as well as ACT MP Andrew Hoggard facing criticism over potential conflicts of interest.

Evie spoke to Senior Economics Lecturer at the University of Otago, Murat Ungor about the impact of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on Aotearoa and its economy.

Joel spoke to the spokesperson for Toitū te Tiriti and Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, Eru Kapa-Kingi, and Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland and Chair of Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu, Margaret Mutu, about the Justice Select Committee calling for the Treaty Principles Bill to be thrown away, with an analysis by Newsroom showing 90% of submissions were against the bill.

And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss non-linear careers.

Whakarongo mai!