The Wire with Max

Producer Conor Head-McCarthy talked to Democracy for Myanmar Working Group New Zealand's Tin Ma Ma Oo about the group's petition calling for the New Zealand government to recognise a government in exile as the official government.

Justin spoke to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation's lead advocate David Wait about the nurses walking out of the job mid-August and early September

Justin also talked to Health Minister Andrew Little about the strikes.

Neighbourhood Watch reports on Covid-19 in Australia, former federal minister Christian Porter being temporarily promoted, and telecomm company Telstra making payphones free to use.

Conor also talked to AUT's Head of Radio Matt Mollgaard about the recent report into media company Mediaworks' culture.

National leader Judth Collins has backed calls on a referendum for calling New Zealand Aotearoa. This comes after MP Stuart Smith posted a column on Tuesday saying New Zealanders should be consulted on the use of it by Government. On the Wire this Wednesday, Fances Wright spoke to Professor Pare Keiha from AUT about the the significance of calling New Zealand Aotearoa, and his hope for the future of the word as a natural and cultural identifier.

This week Zazi spoke to Brooke about the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill and the Auckland cycle bridge. 

On the 30th of July, the Government announced The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, following through with Labour's election promise to ban gay conversion therapy. To begin with, Brooke spoke about the Party’s stance on this bill, why they have hesitations, and what they would like the next step to be in terms of developing the bill further.

In the second half, Zazi and Brooke talk about the Auckland cycle bridge, its Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), and whether Brooke believes that catering to cyclists is important. 

New Zealand’s increase in coal imports has been a major topic of discussion over the past two weeks, with last week's announcement informing New Zealand that we are likely to import more coal this year than in any year prior. The government estimates an additional 150,000 tonnes of coal being imported by the shipload, which is 14% more than last year's one million tonnes. 

Last week Frances Wright spoke to Forest and Bird’s regional manager for the top of the South Island, Debs Martin, and this week Zazi spoke with Gavin Evans, who is the Group Editor at Freeman Media, producing Energy News, Inside Resources and Capital Letter. Gavin and Zazi also spoke about New Zealand’s coal. Gavin discussed why New Zealand hasn't moved away from coal as of yet, if it will have any major effects on climate change and global warming, and where New Zealand stands with coal in comparison to other countries around the world.