For our monthly catch up with the Labour Party, Rosetta and Milly chat with Barbara Edmonds about Finance Minister Nicola Willis' independent enquiry into monetary policy of The Reserve Bank during Covid-19, the latest political polls, and the unemployement rate reaching a decade-high of 5.4%. Whakarongo mai nei!

Rosetta and Milly continue our weekly coverage of the Auckland Pride Festival, today joined by legendary drag queen Buckwheat - who is performing at the closing event Out Of The Gutter on Feb 28, at Myers Park! Whakarongo mai nei!

Last week, the government officially announced plans to build a liquified natural gas (or, LNG) terminal in Taranaki, with the goal of finishing construction by next year or early 2028.

The terminal is intended to provide a stopgap for New Zealand’s energy network during dry years, where hydro sources may not generate sufficient energy to support the network.

Coming at a cost of over a billion dollars, a new levy on electricity users of two to four dollars per megawatt hour, will be introduced to help fund the terminal.

However, the project has already faced criticism from groups such as Greenpeace, who pointed to the poor economic viability of the terminal and its further investment in fossil fuels during the climate crisis.

To understand more, producer Theo spoke to Greenpeace’s Chief Executive Russel Norman on the ramifications of this plan, and possible alternatives for mitigating dry year risk.

In an epic crossover of bFM Breakfast legends - Mikey Havoc joins Rosetta and Milly in studio for a kōrero about the Push Push reunion, their brand new EP and tour! Catch them at Double Whammy this Friday Feb 20. Whakarongo mai nei!

With the long-delayed opening of the city rail link due to later this year, and the government re-launching their roads of national significance, eyes have turned to a perennial problem. Why do we spend more on building than any other OECD nation yet receive far less bang for buck? 

To solve these problems, the government asked the Infrastructure Commission to write a plan that could be the basis for a bipartisan infrastructure pipeline, the National Infrastructure Plan, to give us steady development and perspective on our infrastructure needs and issues.

And this week, the Employment Relations Amendment bill under ACT MP Brooke Van Veldon has reached its final reading before being put into law. It is set to overhaul our employment system, supporters say it will make it easier for contractors to get the arrangements that they want and increase work, critics say it will push workers into more precarious positions with less protections from exploitation.

For this weeks catch up with the Green Party I spoke to MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the National Infrastructure Plan and Employment Relations Amendment Bill.

To little fanfair the government announced a huge overhaul of key ministries, merging the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the local government functions of the Department of Internal Affairs into a new agency.

Coming on the back of the yet more fast-track approvals reforms, which have cut out community voices like Forest and Bird, and led to criticisms of environmental destruction, the move is a huge overhaul in governance, leaving many critics alarmed that this is yet another move pulling the country away from climate mitigation and adaptation.

To understand why the government's plans to merge these key ministries is alarming them, I spoke to Ora Taiao Co-ordinator Marnie Pricket.

This week on the Wednesday Wire...

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the National Infrastructure Plan and the Employment Relations Amendment Bill.

Producer Theo then spoke to Greenpeace’s Executive Director, Russel Norman, on the government’s decision to pursue the construction of a liquified natural gas terminal in Taranaki.

And after that, Host Manny spoke to Ora Taiao Co-ordinator Marnie Prickett, about the government's plans to merge several key ministries, in a move that has raised their alarm.

It's hump day, so Rosetta and Milly have an absolutely stacked show for you lined up! E whai ake nei, coming up on the show: What's Up with Barbara Edmonds, Auckland Pride chats with Buckwheat, and a kōrero with Mikey Havoc about the Push Push reunion. Plus, we announce the bRave!! Whakarongo mai nei. 

Thanks to eighthirty coffee roasters!

i tēnei wiki, we are talking about the tākoketai/black petrel... also known as the tāiko! a very important manu to ngāti rehui-ngātiwai ki aotea that calls aotea/great barrier island and hauturu-o-toi/little barrier islands it's kāinga!

link to piet's notes here! whakarongo mai nei!