The Wire with Manny

This week on the show Casper talked to Auckland city councillor Shane Henderson about the annual budget consultation and public transport costs.

Liam spoke to GreenPeace Plastics Campaigner Juressa Lee about the UN’s work on a plastic treaty.

Casper had a talk with Nick Kim, a Senior Lecturer at Massey University about a recent report on hazardous chemicals in the environment.

Finally, Liam also had a chat with Danny Osborne about actors going into politics.

A report was released by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton which revealed startling gaps in how New Zealand monitors and records hazardous chemicals in the environment.The report found that New Zealand’s regulations can often overlook environmental effects and recommends that a common framework be developed to assess and track chemicals and their environmental impacts. Casper spoke with Nick Kim, a Senior Lecturer in applied environmental chemistry at Massey University about the significance of the findings of the report, and its recommendations.

The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill states that it aims to provide independent monitoring and complaints oversight for Oranga Tamariki, and greater advocacy for children's and young people's issues generally through the creation of a new Children and Young People's Commission.

Jessica Hopkins had a kōrero with Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Chief Executive Karen Orsborn and VOYCE Whakarongo Mai National Care Experience Lead Tupua Urlich about their concerns with the bill. 

On their website, VOYCE says that the bill ignores reports on what independent and effective monitoring of the Oranga Tamariki system should look like. 

Today, the New Zealand Blood Service released a statement detailing how they are preparing for the impact of Omicron. With cases surging at the moment, donor centres and mobile drives are dealing with limited donors due to people not coming in to donate. Joe speaks to Asuka Burge from the New Zealand Blood Service on how they plan on addressing this.