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 new inquiry has recently been opened by the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, asking for submissions on how to improve inter-regional rail in Aotearoa.
The committee is particularly trying to understand how best to implement sustainable practices, and how to revitalise trains between big cities.
This comes after months of campaigning by Save our Trains, an organisation set up after minter-regional rail was minimised and plans to shift the trains to tourist transporters.
To understand what the new inquiry means, Liam spoke to Paul Callister from Save our Trains.
It’s not breaking news that the Cost-of-Living has been messed up across the country.
However, new reports are showing the affects the financial difficulties are having on our physical and emotional health.
The Southern Cross's most recent Healthy Futures Report has shown direct links through several measures, such as people having difficulty sleeping, feeling more stressed, and having more difficulty affording health care.
To learn more Liam spoke to Chief Medical Officer of Southern Cross Insurance Arm Doctor Stephen Child.
The Green Party is calling for bottom trawling on seamounts to stop, following a 'white paper' from Sealord which the party calls greenwashing. Stella spoke to the party’s ocean and fisheries spokesperson, Eugenie Sage, on the matter.
Welcome to The Thursday Wire! Today, Stella speaks to Vice President of the Auckland Branch, Genna Hawkins Boulton from Thursdays in Black about their open letter to the Department of Corrections. She also speaks to Eugenie Sage from The Green Party on their call to ban bottom trawling on seamounts. Finally, Stella speaks to Associate Professor Grant Searchfield on his recently published Tinnitus research.
Tuva’a has his weekly catch up with Andrew Little, and Frances brings us Greendesk, speaking with Predator Free Rakiura's Project Director, Campbell Leckie. And that's it for The Thursday Wire.
A study from the University of Auckland, led by audiologist Grant Searchfield, has had encouraging results regarding mitigating the condition. Stella spoke to Associate Professor Searchfield about the findings.
Thursdays In Black is a student-led grassroots campaign, working towards a world without rape and sexual violence. Last week they published an open letter in response to a decision by the Department of Corrections (which you can find on @thursdaysinblackuoa on Instagram), that allowed a convicted rapist on home detention to attend classes on campus at the University of Auckland, without consultation with the university. Stella spoke to Vice President of the Auckland Branch, Genna Hawkins Boulton, about the letter.
The Commonwealth Games wrapped up earlier this week, boasting the largest women’s sports programme in the competition's history. But with this expanded roster of sports for women to compete in, how can the sports media get their representations of female athletes correct?
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Toni Bruce, a Professor of Sociology of Sport and Sports Media at the University of Auckland.
Parliament grounds have been cleared, and the grass will regrow, but the disinformation networks behind the protests remain. This is how disinformation researcher Byron Clark described the aftermath of March’s parliament occupation.
In a new journal article, Clark reflects on the media’s role in the occupation, from far-right networks such as Counterspin, to mainstream platforms such as Newsroom and Newstalk ZB, and urges journalists not to ignore disinformation networks, but to investigate them and analyse the role they are playing in our contemporary ‘post-truth’ world.
Emilia spoke to Byron Clark about his article, which is linked below
On this week's installation of Eurovision, Emilia Sullivan chatted with our European Correspondent Cameron Adams about Ukraine, Domino’s Pizza leaving the Italian market, and more.
On this week's episode of The Wire for Raapa, Wednesday!
Alex speaks to Brooke van Velden in his weekly chat with the ACT Party deputy leader.
Emilia talks to disinformation expert Byron Clark about the media’s role in the Parliament Occupation earlier this year.
Emilia chats with our European correspondent Cameron Adams about Ukraine, Greece’s spying scandal and Dominos pizza leaving the Italian market.
And she also chats to Toni Bruce from the University of Auckland about the representation of women in sports media.
And Joe speaks with Dr Dalila Gharbaoui from the University of Canterbury about communities in the Pacific who have been impacted by climate change needing the option to stay with dignity.
That's us for the Wednesday Wire! We'll see you next week.
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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