The Wire with Manny

This week on the Wednesday Wire... 

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, News Director Castor spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about cost of living, the government being sued over its environmental policy, and the second phase of the government’s COVID 19 inquiry. 

They also spoke to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter, about the government’s newly announced funding boost for the health sector and how far it will go to address issues. 

Tuesday Wire host Alex spoke to founder of Kick Back, Aaron Hendry, about the National Day of Action at the end of March in protest against the government’s new move-on orders.

Producer Theo spoke to Auckland Law School’s Associate Professor Vernon Rive on climate litigation and the current case before the Wellington High Court. 

And Producer Toby spoke to Emeritus Professor Dr. Basil Sharp about surging petrol prices, and what New Zealand can learn from our response to the energy crisis of 1979.

Community groups across Aotearoa are organising a National Day of Action to protest against the move-on orders proposed by the government. The Day of Action will be on Sunday, 29th of March, criticising the targeting of people who are already struggling on the streets.

The proposed changes would see police officers empowered to force homeless people to relocate, for behaviours such as begging or seeking to inhabit a space. Multiple groups have opposed the changes, claiming they punish people unfairly for something largely outside of their control. 

To discuss the move-on orders and the day of action, Wire host Alex spoke to founder of Kick Back, Aaron Hendry. 

Last week, amid negotiations between the Public Service Commission and the NZEI Te Riu Roa union over pay for primary school teachers, the government moved to offer pay rises to primary school teachers on individual agreements. The move has been criticised by the union as undermining negotiations, but the government has defended the move as simply offering those teachers what the union has already turned down.

Last week also saw the release of Phase two of the Royal Comission Inquiry into the COVID-19 response. The results were, by and large, positive towards the response, but with key points of debate still remaining.

This week, Wire Host Alex spoke to National MP Ryan Hamilton about all of these topics, beginning by discussing the pay offer for Primary School Teachers.

In 2023, New Zealand enacted a world first ban on live animal exports by sea. Part of the National and ACT coalition agreement included plans to reverse the ban. However, last week, the government announced it would not go ahead with repealing the ban, with Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard saying that a consensus within cabinet could not be achieved before this year’s general election. 

Wire producer Liam spoke to Debra Ashton, Chief Executive of SAFE For Animals, about the impact of the government’s decision and the future for live exports and animal welfare.