Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
A recent report called ‘State of the City’ examines Auckland City in a global context, comparing it to developed cities in other countries. The report draws both comparisons and highlights potential areas of improvement.
The report was commissioned by the Committee for Auckland, in partnership with Deloitte and Auckland Council’s economic and cultural agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
Arno spoke with Greater Auckland editor Matt Lowrie to find out more about the findings in the report. Arno started by asking how Matt viewed Auckland prior to reading the report.
In the upcoming election there have been many discussions on all sides in regard to tax policy. A Newshub-Reid research poll in May found that a majority of Kiwi’s support implementing a wealth tax, although Labour, National and ACT have been reluctant to touch the subject with Labour still making no major tax reform announcements in the run-up to the election.
Union’s in Tamaki Makaurau have become vocal and have organised a protest advocating for tax reform targeted at New Zealand’s wealthiest. To talk more about the protest that is happening next week, Andre Fa'aoso spoke to protest organiser with Unite Union Joe Carolan.
Andre Fa’aoso spoke to Professor Boyd Swinburn, co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa about political parties' positions on tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food policies and how they should weigh-in on voters' decision making come election day.
Andre Fa’aoso also spoke to Joe Carolan about a Tax the Rich protest that is being held in Tamaki Makaurau next Saturday.
Arno spoke to Greater Auckland’s Matt Lowrie about the new State of the City report. Arno also spoke to Sarah Helm from the NZ Drug Foundation about laced MDMA in the Hawke’s Bay area
Nicholas, spoke to Jessica Walker from ConsumerNZ about new Unit pricing regulations for supermarkets
This is the last Wednesday Wire with Andre as he heads off to America to begin his studies at Yale University, so enjoy!
The Government has just announced that they will honour an independent arbitration panel’s recommendations, regarding a pay offer agreement with the Post Primary Techer’s association.
As part of the pay offer the base salary of secondary teachers will rise 14.5 per cent.
However, the latest offer will mean cuts to other parts of the ministry of Education's budget, including deferring planned school infrastructure projects.
Nicholas spoke to PPTA acting President Chris Abercrombie to discuss the association's thoughts on this pay offer.
On Tuesday, Health Coalition Aotearoa held a forum in Wellington for political parties to front their health policies over tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food. Political parties present at the forum were Labour’s Ayeesha Verrall, the Green’s Chlöe Swarbrick and National’s Shane Reti to share their party’s policy positions.
To talk more about how important parties’ health policies are in voters' decision making in the upcoming election, Andre Fa'aoso spoke to Professor Boyd Swinburn, co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa.
The National Party is yet to announce a full Fiscal Plan to account for spending they have promised if they win the election. Figures released by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions have shown a large gap between National's promised spending and the available budget, and workers unions such as Etū are fearing that funding cuts are in store for essential sectors. Rosetta spoke to Rachel Mackintosh, assistant national secretary for Etū, about these fears, and where this leaves working-class voters in the upcoming election.
Last week, Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono placed his Restoring Citizenship Removed by the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act of 1982 Bill in the parliamentary ballot. Rosetta had a chat to him about what the bill means for our Pasifika community, and what more needs to be done to amend dawn-raid injustices.
Te Pāti Māori have announced their tax policy for the election, seeking to modify income tax brackets to reduce the tax burden on low- and middle-income whānau, introduce a wealth tax, raise the company tax rate, introduce a land banking and vacant house tax, and crack down on tax evasion.
Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about the proposed reforms, the social policies they could fund, enforcement, the critique that progressive tax reform would hurt the economy, and coalition negotiations when Labour is ruling out new taxes.
Spike speaks to ACT's Karen Chhour about the party's new 2 rate tax policy along with the Green Party's free dental care policy, and 95bFM's Water Reporter Marnie Prickett on the new freshwater farm policy rollout, and the pushback it's receiving from farmers and agriculture industry groups.
Hanna speaks to Te Pāti Māori candidate Takutai Kemp about the party's proposed tax reforms and policy going into October's election.
Caeden speaks to Urs Signer from Climate Justice Taranaki about their petition to stop oil and gas drilling in Taranaki.
Andre speaks to Otago professor Janet Hoak about the new WHO report on Aotearoa's "world leading" tobacco reduction policy, and the future of Smokefree 2025.
3,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to stop handing out oil and gas permits for onshore drilling in Taranaki.
The government is still handing out block offers on the 1565.5 km² onshore Taranaki land which allows drilling.
Caeden spoke to Urs Signer, member of Climate Justice Taranaki, on the support for the ban, the impact of drilling on communities in Taranaki, and why a ban is so important in the context of the current climate crisis.
From Dec 27 to Jan 18, all train lines across Tāmaki will be shutting down for summer maintenance, a closure which is expected to be the last of its kind ahead of the opening of the City Rail Link.
The current measles outbreak in Tāmaki is being continually monitored, with exposure sites being updated daily on info.health.nz. The public are encouraged to track whether they’ve been in possible contact with the virus, and get up to date on any vaccinations to limit possibilities of transmission.
Auckland Council are supporting arts initiatives across the summer months, with Music in the Park kicking off in early January, and Movies in the Park following in February.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about these topics, and also asked for comment following the attack by two gunmen at Bondi Beach earlier this week.
Yesterday, the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project, or NHDP, showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September. The report also found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
As well as this, Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has taken effect. And according to an interim report into social media harm, a social media ban for children in New Zealand is worth exploring further.
And last week the Government announced the replacement of the Resource Management Act, or RMA. The coalition said its replacement will slash red tape and supercharge growth.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s new RMA reforms and a potential social media ban in New Zealand.
But first they discussed the latest report on Auckland homelessness.
The Parliament’s Workforce and Education Committee has released an interim report on an inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders face online. The government has recently announced an overhaul of the Resource Management Act and introduced two new bills in its place, the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.
For our weekly catch-up with the National Party, Producer Vihan spoke to MP Carl Bates, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Workforce and Education Committee, about the new findings of the interim report, the new Natural Environment Bill, and the Fast Track Approval Amendments Bill.
The government has announced the overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which will be replaced by two different bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. The RMA is set to be fully replaced by 2029.
The RMA, which has been in effect for 34 years, is polarising across the political spectrum.
In announcing the reforms, RMA Reform Minister, Chris Bishop, says that “pretty much everything” will be quicker and less costly under the new regime.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about this overhaul of the RMA.
They also discussed The Education and Workforce Committee’s interim report on the harms young people experience online, with a majority recommending a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds.
But first, they discussed the overhaul of the RMA.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
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