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.
Justin talked to Health, GCSB, and SIS Minister Andrew Little about the Covid-19 case in Middlemore Hospital, follow-up to the Lynnmall terror attack, and mental health support for Auckland.
A further $20 million is being put into student hardship funds by the Government.
A new satellite could help New Zealand monitor its methane emissions.
Neighbourhood Watch reports on the Covid outbreak in rural New South Wales, vaccine passports, and New South Wales' plan to reopen the economy.
Neighbourhood Watch reports on the Covid-19 outbreak in the community of Wilcannia in rural NSW, potential vaccine passports for international travel, and the NSW government's plan to reopen the economy.
Justin talked to Health, GCSB, and SIS Minister Andrew Little on the positive Covid-19 case in Middlemore Hospital, follow-up efforts to the Lynnmall terror attack, and support for mental health services under Auckland's Level 4 lockdown.
Level Four lockdown is difficult for everyone, but especially for students. Needing to study from home puts additional pressure on students, and there is not enough support out there for students, both mentally and financially. Conor speaks to Ishie Varma, Welfare Vice-President with AUSA, on the support options for students and the struggles they are facing.
In this final piece investigating Climate Change in New Zealand, Conor looks beyond Earth into space - to New Zealand's MethaneSAT space mission. He speaks to two familar voices, NIWA's Dr. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher and the University of Auckland's Professor David Noone about the topic, going into detail about what the mission is and it's overall goals. They also speak about international connections and putting New Zealand on the world stage, scientifically.
For the first piece with Dr. Mikaloff-Fletcher, click here.
For the second piece with Professor David Noone, click here.
Earlier this week, on Monday morning, the Leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, tweeted out the vaccine access code for Māori people, that allows them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at Whānau Ora locations, without needing to book in advance.
The code was sent by Māori health provider Te Whānau o Waipareira through email, as part of a push to lift Māori vaccination rates that are less than two thirds of the non-Māori rate.
David Seymour has been under scrutiny since tweeting this post. However, he stands by his tweet, and believes that the access code divides New Zealanders against one another. Other politicians, including those from the Māori and Green party disagree, and say that this decision from David Seymour to tweet the access code has resulted in putting people’s lives at risk.
Zazi spoke with Green Party’s Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere to get her perspective on the tweet.
Zazi began by asking Dr. Kerekere what her reaction was to David Seymour’s tweet.
ACT Party's Brooke van Velden also spoke with Zazi about Seymour's tweet in today's Wednesday Wire show. If you would like to listen to that interview as well, click the link here.
This week on Dear Science, Frances Wright talked to AUT Professor Marcus Jones about US President Biden's COVID origins report, how arctic warming links to cold winters and about the Mars rover ‘Perseverance’ collecting its first rock sample to bring back to earth.
While the rest of the country moves to alert level 2 this week Aucklanders remain home in their bubbles under level 4. With the reduction of cars on the road, native birdsong has become easier to hear and a welcome silver lining of the lockdown for many. For a bit of Covid news relief on the Wire this week, Frances Wright spoke with Professor Jacqueline Beggs from the University of Auckland about New Zealand's native birds, focussing on the beloved kererū which won Bird of the Year in 2018 and are known to occasionally fill themselves up with fermented fruit and fall out of trees…
Frances and Professor Beggs spoke about how kererū survive in urban environments and what we can do to encourage them, and other native birds, into our gardens.
This week on the Wednesday Wire we had a packed show, beginnning with Zazi's her regular talk with ACT Party’s Brooke van Velden. This week they talked about the leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, tweeting out a priority vaccine code for Māori on Monday. Zazi then spoke with Green Party’s Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere to get her perspective on David Seymour’s tweet as well. Next up, Frances talked to Professor Jaqueline Beggs of the University of Auckland about the kererū and native birds in our backyards. Zazi then spoke with Trustee and spokesperson for the Autistic Collaboration Trust, Yawn Bettin, about a submission made to the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill on behalf of the Autistic community. Finally, Frances had her regular segment Dear Science with AUT Professor Marcus Jones. This week they talked about the US COVID origins report, arctic warming linking to cold winters, and about NASA confirming the Mars rover collected its first rock sample.
Earlier this week, on Monday morning, the Leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, tweeted the vaccine access code for Māori people that allows them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at Whānau Ora locations, without needing to book in advance.
The code was sent by Māori health provider Te Whānau o Waipareira through email, as part of a push to lift Māori vaccination rates that are less than two thirds of the non-Māori rate.
David Seymour has been under scrutiny since tweeting this email. However, he stands by his tweet, and believes that the access code divides New Zealanders against one another. Other politicians, including those from the Māori and Green party, disagree, and say that this decision from David Seymour to tweet the access code has resulted in putting people’s lives at risk.
Zazi spoke with ACT Party’s Brooke van Velden to hear her opinion on the tweet and hear whether she believes it was harmful.
The Green Party's Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere also spoke with Zazi about Seymour's tweet in today's Wednesday Wire show. If you would like to listen to that interview as well, click the link here.
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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