Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news & current affairs show. Your hosts Joe Wickins, Casper McGuire, Emilia Sullivan, Stella Huggins, and Liam Hansen focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Weekdays 12-1pm on 95bFM.
On Thursday 30 March the Auckland Council Planning Committee will receive an internal report on compliance and decide how to better regulate helicopters within the planning system. This follows years of advocacy from residents in Herne Bay and Waiheke who are frustrated by the proliferation of helicopter pads and the significant impact they have on the wellbeing of people and animals nearby. The report suggests compliance is adequate and notes there are few complaints. However, there has been no consultation with residents who make the point that there is no proactive enforcement of compliance. The council relies on complaints to act and discourages feedback by providing no avenues to complain, noting on its website that it does not deal with aviation noise. When people do complain about breaches of consent they are required to know exactly what helicopter is used and the address of the consent holder. This creates an impossibly high bar for most people to meet. However, it was clear from a notified submission in Cremorne St last year which attracted 130 submissions, all in opposition, that feelings in affected neighbourhoods run high and that local residents with experience of living near private helipads want them banned in urban residential areas entirely. Waiheke local board chair Cath Handley and Elena Keith of Quiet Sky Waitemata talk about the issues, why Auckland is an outlier, the changes in approach needed and why they want National Planning Standard 15 for helicopter noise measurement to be incorporated into planning decisions immediately.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or ‘IPCC’ for short, released their latest Synthesis Report earlier this month.
It is the most recent summarisation of all climate reports over the past five years, and states there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.
Despite the implementation of global climate mitigation policies since the previous synthesis report in 2014, the IPCC paints a bleak future where keeping global temperature rise to one-point-five degrees celsius is nearing impossible.
As seen in Aotearoa, the impacts of the floods in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle have been expansive and affected communities across the country.
Firstly to receive a Māori indigenous perspective within Aotearoa, Andre Fa’aoso spoke to Sandra Morrison, Professor in the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato.
To understand the effect that climate change has on the Pacific Islands, Andre also spoke to Dr Christina Tausa, a Political Scientist and Research Manager for the Pacific Ocean Climate Crisis Assessment at the University of Canterbury. Chrisina also spoke about the measures that are being taken in Pacific nations to build their existing climate resilience.
Statistics New Zealand recently released data showing no improvement for children living in material hardship over the past year.
Arno spoke to Molly Grant, a researcher at the University of Auckland conducting a survey of over 5000 children in a project called Growing Up in New Zealand. She has uncovered some of the symptoms of childhood poverty and is calling for policy changes to help urgently increase some of the country’s lowest incomes.
Arno started the interview by asking if New Zealand was “the best place in the world to grow up”, set as a government goal four years ago.
Andre Fa’aoso spoke to Sandra Morrison from the University of Waikato and Christina Tausa from the University of Canterbury about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent Synthesis Report from a Māori and Pasifika perspective.
Arno Cronje talked to Molly Grant, a researcher from the University of Auckland and author of the Growing Up in New Zealand research program on child poverty rates.
Alex Bonham spoke with Cath Handley, Waiheke Local Board chair and Elena Keith from Quiet Sky Waitemata about the impacts of helicopters on the city’s suburbs and islands.
And on the Green Desk, Jack Marshall discussed polyamorous southern elephant seals with a PhD Student at the University of Tasmania, Sophia Volzke.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, the latest figures measuring child poverty rates in Aotearoa show no real improvement.
Stats NZ reports that about one in 10 children experience material hardship. For tamariki Māori, this is 1 in 5 and 1 in 4 for Pasifika children.
News & Editorial Director spoke to Māori paediatrician, lecturer in the school of medicine at the University of Auckland, and Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson on issues affecting Māori tamariki and whānau, Dr Danny de Lore, about this.
They started the interview by summarising the latest child poverty statistics.
A counter-protest against anti-trans speaker Posie Parker took place in Tāmaki Makaurau on Saturday.
It was attended by thousands of trans people and allies, forcing Posie Parker to cancel her speech and planned rally in Wellington the next day.
Caeden Tipler spoke to Mīharo (Ngāti Whātua), a cis woman who organised and spoke at the counter protest. First Caeden asked how she thought it went on Saturday.
For their weekly catchup, Hanna and Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp discussed the proposed 'slash-and-burn' budget for Auckland Council and new data from Stats NZ showing no annual change in the rate of child poverty.
Hanna spoken to the Tāmaki Makaurau candidate about the disproportionate impact proposed cuts will have on rangatahi and Māori, and on the tendency for government to consult without actioning on feedback received.
They then discussed why child poverty is such a stubborn issue in Aotearoa, the need for a transformative rather than incremental policy response, devolving funding to whānau, hapū and iwi, and the artificiality of separating child poverty from poverty.
Hanna Thompson spoke to Te Pãti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the Auckland Council budget, which proposes sweeping cuts to essential services, and the latest figures measuring child poverty rates in Aotearoa.
News & Editorial Director asked ACT’s Karen Chhour about the recent child poverty statistics and ACT’s response to trans-rights protests over the weekend.
She also discussed child poverty rates with Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson Dr Danny de Lore.
Caeden Tipler interviewed Mīharo, who organised and spoke at the counter-protest for trans rights on Saturday.
For their weekly catch-up, News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to ACT MP Karen Chhour about the latest figures measuring child poverty rates in Aotearoa, which show no statistically significant improvement.
Then, they discussed the ACT Party’s response to those protesting against Posie Parker and anti-trans hate.
For this week's City Counselling segment Simon spoke with Waitakare Councillor Shane Henderson. Shane has been out in the community discussing the budget and getting feedback on the proposed cuts from residents in Waitakere. Simon started by asking Shane how the feeling is in the Waitakere community towards the budget.
In this week’s chat with the co-leader of the Green Party, Emilia spoke with James Shaw about this week’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shows we only have a small window remaining to avoid the planet warming 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and how his party thinks our progress on emissions reductions has gone.
This week on Dear Science Joel brings the listeners a fungi special, making a better name for fungi than the hit TV series The Last of Us has. From being forest farmers, food sources and carbon soakers, to in our everyday medicines keeping us alive, Joel delves in to the special world of fungi and all they have to offer!
In their first weekly interview of this year, Emilia Sullivan chats with Green Party co-leader James Shaw about Chris Hipkins’ so-called policy bonfire, the debate around mitigation and adaptation policies, and the importance of amplifying the youth voice in politics.
This week on Dear Science, Beth and Milly talk to Allan Blackman about all things cutting-edge. New research reveals that too much of a good thing can be bad, with scientists proving that oxygen in high amounts can cause cell damage. A new discovery in the world of insulin has shown that the medicine used to treat type one diabetes could be made even more effective, and finally, scientists edge closer to a new room temperature superconductor - however not without some doubts.
This week on the Thursday Wire's weekly catch-up with Labour's Andrew Little, Spike asks about the Defence Force's ongoing support for regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, and public servants' political neutrality code of conduct.
This week on Dear Science Milly and Beth are joined by Joel Rindelaub the day after his birthday to talk all things science! Sleep masks are proven to work in a study exploring human sensitivity to light, then it's out to space where the James Webb telescope has made some more puzzling discoveries: this time it's galaxies that are far bigger than we thought they would be, and finally finishing off with the fact than anyone can be good at maths, we just need good teachers + tutors + working hard.
Simon speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about the damage to the communities on the west coast as well as why he described the upcoming Auckland City Budget as the most important in 10 years.
This week for Dear Science, Milly and Beth are joined by Allan Blackman in the studio to talk about the controversial Theraputic Products Bill, which passed in a landslide vote in parliment however, has been met with thousands of submissions against. Allan also shares some fantastic news about a 19-month-old whose life has been saved by a revolutionary genetic intervention, as well as an exciting prospect of medicines being able to counteract poisoning by smoke inhalation.
When you think of the word 'slash', the guitarist of Guns and Roses may come to mind. Today we are talking about a different type of slash. However, coincidently Slash did release a song last year titled 'The River Is Rising', which is what our slash has to do with. Slash is the name of the forest waste and excess timbre left from harvests.
Isla and Stella chatted with environmental scientist Elliot Stevens about the future direction of slash and catchment management following the events of cyclone Gabrielle which saw slash washed up in flood waters.
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