Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Sam Clark spoke to Wendy John, Co-founder and project manager of Nga Ringa o Te Auaunga/Friends of Oakley Creek about a new restoration project that focuses on removing harmful weeds. Wendy John says Te Auaunga is relatively healthy for an urban creek, but there’s still lots of work to be done. She says Te Auaunga is a ‘combined sewer/stormwater catchment’ – which means wastewater flows into the creek when there’s heavy rain and storms.
The restoration sessions are every Tuesday 9:30am-12pm. https://www.facebook.com/OakleyCreek
Sam Clark speaks to Dr Paul Winton, founder of the 1.5 Project, a foundation that advocates for stronger climate action in Aotearoa. Winton explains what the Climate Change Commission’s proposal is missing and how the problem in Aotearoa is the cows and the cars. Winton says we need to treat climate action like we treat Covid-19 - a clear message from central and local government to raise awareness.
After a court case saw one New Zealand farmer get home detention for starving 28 cows to death, cattle laws in New Zealand come under question of how well they deal with cattle welfare. Charlie speaks with Oska Rego from the New Zealand Animal Law Association about the current agricultural cattle laws, and how these can be improved in the future.
Microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time. With these particles entering every part of our enviornment, and even our blood, how can we regulate this pollution? Olga Pantos from the Institute of Encironmental Science and Research talks to Charlie about the composition of microplastics, her monitorisation study, and how these particles find thier way into our bodies.
Welcome back to another Monday Wire, on today's show:
Isla and Stella bring you "Tomorrow's World". They look at AI and machine learning with Krithik Ramesh, who won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair at 16.
Charlie speaks to Olga Pantos from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research about how microplastics affect our lives, and how they're monitored. She also speaks to Oska Rego from the New Zealand Animal Law Association about the current state of New Zealand's cattle laws and what can be done to improve them.
Sam speaks to Dr Paul Winton about the 1.5 Project, how you can reduce your carbon emissions, and further climate action. He also speaks to Wendy Johns from Friends of Oakley Creek about the restoration of Te Auaunga Oakley Creek.
Aotearoa is continuously inching closer to building Puketaha, a mainland kakapo sanctuary near Wellington.
The project was initially proposed by Zealandia founder Jim Lynch a few years ago, with plans to build a large fence around Wainuiomata.
The project is continuing to grow in likelihood and feasibility, so Liam spoke to project leader and greater Wellington regional councillor Thomas Nash about what steps have recently taken place.
In the midst of their invasion of Ukraine, Russia has signed a decree requiring several G7 countries to pay for Russian fuel supplies via roubles.
Multiple countries have declined this decree despite their reliance on Russian fuel, with Germany especially calling the move blackmail.
Putin is now threatening to halt all fuel supplies to Germany, with more supplies from Russia such as other forms of food and fuel.
To learn more, I spoke to University of Otago's James Headley about what’s going on, first asking him why Europe was so reliant on Russia's fuel supplies.
A recent international study has found that New Zealand had the highest death rate from melanoma in 2020.
High amounts of UV exposure, as well as traditionally outdoors lifestyles, especially in childhood, lead to an increased risk for melanoma.
Casper spoke to the medical director of the Cancer Foundation, George Laking, about New Zealand’s high rates of melanoma and how they can be addressed by prevention and early recognition. Casper began by asking him why melanoma poses a great risk to New Zealanders in particular.
It's another Friday Wire, and Casper McGuire is making his debut as a host!
Today on the show:
Jess spoke to Susan Saint John, economic spokesperson for Child poverty action group to discuss today's increase to the Working for Families tax credit increase by the government.
Casper had his regular chat with Auckland city councellor Shane Henderson and this week we talked about the council’s newly proposed parking strategy.
Liam spoke with University of Otago Professor James Headley about Russia’s threats to cut Germany’s fuel supplies.
Jess spoke to Dr Lida Ayoubi, Senior Law Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, asking her what the current immigration policy is in Aotearoa for disabled people.
Casper also talked to Dr George Laking, the medical director of the New Zealand Cancer Society, about a recent melanoma study.
Jess spoke to Justin Hodgkiss is co-director of the MacDairmid institute about the future of solar panel technology.
And finally Liam spoke to Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Thomas Nash about the Puketaha Kakapo Sanctuary.
Today the government increased Working for Families Tax Credits in response to inflation. Susan Saint John, economic spokesperson for Child Poverty Action Group, talked about the changes.
Last week, the council’s Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Committee said they would be seeking to implement a number of recommendations that improve emergency readiness for disabled populations.
Following a hui last year where community members were invited to bring forward issues relating to future planning for natural disasters, Sara was interested to hear about how the council is taking suggestions on board.
As well, Auckland Council has been considering proposals to mitigate flood risks around the Wairau catchment, including one which would see the reduction of the size of the Takapuna Golf Course, to convert the space into a flood catchment.
Producer Sara spoke to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson on both of these topics, firstly by asking him to discuss the desired outcomes relating to emergency preparedness for disabled people, and the council’s first steps to implementation
Zohran Mamdani has all but won the Democratic Primary in New York City after key competitor Andrew Cuomo conceded the race.
Mamdani will now be the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor.
His campaign was built on cost-of-living, where Mamdani presented himself as an authentic, Democratic Socialist, grassroots campaign leader.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to 95bFM reporter and South Asia correspondent Sanat Singh about Momdani’s win, what this means for the communities he represents, and where to from here.
A reported 131,000 submissions were made on the Regulatory Standards Bill.
The Bill, proposed by the ACT party, includes a set of principles outlining “responsible regulation.” Notably, it does not include any mention of either version of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Last weekend, hundreds of Destiny Church members marched on Queen Street in a rally that they called “in defence of faith, flag, and family.”
And the Labour Party has criticised the framing of a poll question by the Taxpayers Union/Curia on whether or not Cook Islanders should retain automatic New Zealand citizenship.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Recently the Green Party commissioned independent legal advice to look into the government’s $200 million investment in new gas fields that was carried out last month and found out that the investment was in breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS).
NZ First MP Shane Jones recently announced that he’d be drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement, which would prevent hapū from negotiating separate commercial redresses and remove any reference to hapū sovereignty from the settlement terms.
And the Green party recently issued a call to the New Zealand government to condemn the US strikes on Iranian Nuclear facilities, almost a week after Iran and Israel had both been trading missile strikes between each other.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke with MP Hūhana Lyndon to get the party’s take on all of these issues
Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the nationwide census moving forward. The census is the largest statistical survey done in Aotearoa, and provides the bulk of population data used in research and decision-making. Reti says the census is “no longer financially viable” and will be replaced with a combination of smaller annual surveys and administrative data.
While the change looks good on paper, there are concerns around how the change in data collection could affect representation of marginalised and minority groups. Census data tends to be more protected from bias than administrative data and smaller surveys, meaning there are more opportunities for misrepresentation. Some statisticians are particularly concerned about the potential exclusion of marginalised rural communities.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about the census decision and its implications on marginalised and minority groups.
Associate Health Minister, David Seymour, has recently announced changes to Psilocybin and Melatonin availability.
Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, will be available for certain patients suffering from poor mental health outcomes. Melatonin, which is used for insomnia and jetlag, is set to be available over the counter.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move, and the potential accessibility concerns with accessing these medications.
They also discussed taxpayers set to be funding newly-funded cancer medicines for private facilities.
Finally, they discuss opposition parties criticised Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, over a lack of transparency regarding the effectiveness of boot camps for youth offenders, especially as boot camps have received a boost of $30 million, despite the pilot programme still being ongoing.
But first, they discussed Psilocybin and Melatonin.
Last Saturday, over 2,000 protests took place across all 50 American States against President Donald Trump.
The protests coincided with Trump’s birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and they served as a direct response to the military parade in Washington, DC.
The organisers of the protests say they aimed to reject “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Jeremy Pressman, Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut about the protests and the backlash towards them from the Trump administration.
Housing intensification is a key priority for Auckland Council as Auckland's population is forecast to reach 2.3 million by 2050.
But as planning for growth continues, some Auckland residents have expressed concern about the approval of developments in areas on flood plains or particularly prone to natural disasters.
With Kāinga Ora selling homes as ‘high risk investments’ in areas which were impacted by flooding in recent years, and 15 percent of all granted consents for new builds by Auckland Council being on floodplains, I spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about how the council is taking into account these issues for the coming years.
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