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.
On this week's Dear Science, Frances Wright was joined by AUT Professor Allan Blackman. They began by talking about the serious but hilarious Ig Nobel Prizes and then moved onto research on toilet training cows from the University of Auckland. They finished up by talking about the food scientists who have found the key to perfectly smooth chocolate.
This week celebrates Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, an initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language, which, along with New Zealand Sign Language, is an official language of the country.
This week, Zazi speaks to Dr. Daniel Carl Henare Hikuroa, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, who talks about his journey with Te Reo Māori, how he was introduced to it and why he finds it so important. He also talks about the name of this country, and whether New Zealand best describes the people living within it.
This week Zazi spoke to Brooke about the Māori Party's petition to to change New Zealand's official name to Aotearoa as well as John Tamihere's comments in a Newshub interview yesterday.
Zazi asks Brooke about the Māori Party's petition - whether she supports it, thinks it’s important, or believes official titles don't make much of a difference.
In the second half, Zazi and Brooke talk about comments made by Māori Party's John Tamihere, saying that ACT members contacted him, appalled and apologetic of Seymour’s Māori priority vaccine tweet, posted last week.
The Māori Party's co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer also spoke with Zazi about the Aotearoa petition in today's Wednesday Wire show. If you would like to listen to that interview as well, click the link here.
Yesterday, Te Pāti Māori launched a petition to change the official name of New Zealand to Aotearoa.
The petition is asking Parliament to change New Zealand to Aotearoa and begin the of, alongside whānau, hapū and iwi identifying and officially restoring the original te reo Māori names for all towns, cities and places right across the country by the year 2026.
This week, Zazi talks to Māori Party's co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer about the petition to change New Zealand’s name to Aotearoa, as she helped launch the petition, and is encouraging people to support such a change.
The ACT Party's Brooke van Velden also spoke to Zazi about this petition in today's Wednesday Wire show. If you would like to listen to that interview as well, click the link here.
This week on the Wednesday Wire, we have another jam-packed show, with Zazi Hewlett and Frances Wright producing their fifth show from home and Jemima hosting and bringing us the news.
The show starts off with Frances having her regular segment Dear Science with Allan Blackman. This week Frances and Allan talk about the Ig Nobel prizes; chat about toilet training cows; and discuss food scientists finding the key to perfectly smooth chocolate.
Zazi speaks with Dr. Daniel Carl Henare Hikuroa, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland. Dr. Daniel Hikuroa talks about his journey with te reo Māori, how he was introduced to it and why he finds it so important. He also talks about the name of this country, and whether New Zealand best describes the people living within it.
Frances then talks to Kylie Taffard, Chairperson of Women in Trades NZ, about the trades as career options for women.
Zazi then has her regular catch-up with ACT's Brooke van Velden, this week talking about the Māori Party’s petition to change New Zealand’s official name to Aotearoa, as well as comments made by John Tamihere, saying that ACT members contacted him, appalled and apologetic of Seymour’s Māori priority vaccine tweet, posted last week.
And finally, Zazi speaks with the Māori Party’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, to hear her opinions on the petition to change New Zealand’s name to Aotearoa as well, as she helped launch the petition.
Today on the Wire, Jemima Huston talks to Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu from the University of Otago Wellington about the government’s alert level announcement yesterday and the progress of the vaccination roll out for Pacific and Māori communities.
Joe Wickins speaks to Douglas Ellife on his research surrounding reducing greenhouse emissions
Jemima interviews Joshua Levy, the Vaccination Team Leader at Bargain Chemist in Manukau, about excess vaccines going to waste.
Joe reports about the toll digital work culture has had on teachers during the pandemic.
Finally, on Tomorrow’s World Isla Christensen and Stella Huggins look into how intermittent isolation could be affecting young kiwis.
In another week of level four lockdown, Isla and Stella look into how intermittent isolation could be affecting young kiwis. They chat with Maria Corkin from the University of Auckland about her research on 'technoference' and its influence on child development, executive functioning in kids, and the differences in outcomes depending on input.
Yesterday, the Government announced that Auckland will remain at Alert Level 4 and the rest of the country at Alert Level 2 until at least Tuesday 21st of September at 11:59. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu, University of Otago Wellington Immunologist, Head of Pacific Office and Senior Lecturer in Pathology and Molecular Medicine, about her position on the government’s alert level announcement. They also discuss the progress of the vaccination roll out and whether enough support has been given to Pacific and Māori communities.
Joshua Levy is the Team Leader for the Covid-19 Vaccination Centre at Bargain Chemist in Manukau and has noticed that a number of excess vaccines have been going to waste at his vaccination centre.
Joshua says that if someone doesn't show up to their vaccine appointment the dose set out for them will be disposed of because the Phizer vaccine needs to be used within six hours of being pepared.
News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to Joshua about the ways he thinks we could prevent vaccines from being thrown out. They discuss whether more people should take up walk-in appointments and how the government might set up a database to help people know where vaccines are going spare.
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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