The Wire with Manny

NZ Fire and Emergency Strike action has continued this month, with the planned strike coinciding with the substantial blaze last Friday at The Pita House in Pakuranga. Volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene in half an hour, with a statement from the emergency service saying employed responders would have otherwise been at the scene in four minutes. 

Tāmaki has also been hosting the ASB Classic, with the final taking place earlier this week, crowning Ukrainian Elina Svitolina as winner. 

I spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics, as well as his focus areas for council mahi in 2026.

Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot on X AI, has come under fire for allowing users to edit images of real people to show them in revealing outfits. 

These include potentially pornographic and non-consensual images involving women and children. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Cassandra Mudgway, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury, about this issue and what regulation should look like. 

A new analysis by the Public Service Association shows that the government’s funding cuts to Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand have forced the national health body to conduct over 30 restructures over the last two years, resulting in 2,100 job cuts, along with 640 healthcare workers taking voluntary redundancy.

Producer Vihan spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor of Nursing, Andrew Jull, about what this actually means for nurses and patients alike, and what the wider public could do to support healthcare workers.

In November last year, feral cats were added to the list of predators to be eliminated in the New Zealand wide ambition ‘Predator Free 2050’.

The decision recognises the long-held concerns of conservationists that the uncontrolled wild cat population is endangering native animals including birds.

Courtney Addision, a Senior Lecturer in Science in Society at the Victoria University of Wellington, published an article in the Conversation voicing concerns about the move — including the distinction between feral, stray and domestic cats, as well as how welfare considerations need to be visited in approaching this species.

For Green World this week, Wire Host Sara spoke to Addison about the issue, in the context of wider environmental and ethical implications going forward.