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.
New Zealand's Climate Change Commission has just released a draft report recommending future steps to reduce carbon emissions. The report lays out New Zealand's current emissions and the steps needed to meet the 2050 zero-carbon goal. Noah spoke to MP Stuart Smith, the National Party's spokesperson for Climate Change, about the report.
The whole Tuesday Wire is in studio today! Woohoo!
Noah looks into the Climate Change Commission’s achievable and affordable roadmap for meeting Aotearoa's emission reduction targets. He speaks to the Electricity Networks Association about how the electricity industry will be impacted by climate action. Noah also speaks to National Party Climate Change Spokesperson Stuart Smith about what climate action the government should be taking.
Hanna speaks to Dr Sander Paul Zwanenberg from the Information Science Department at the University of Otago about the private ownership of social media platforms and the issues of power that surround this.
Monday Wire Host Zoë Larsen-Cumming speaks to Green Party co-leader James Shaw about the conditions and abuses of human rights at Waikeria Prison as well as the latest government action on the climate crisis.
Zoë also speaks to PhD Student Scott Claessens who, with his prominent female colleagues, has researched why human females are the one primates who do not show physiological signs of ovulation.
This week it is Zoë Larsen Cumming's first chat with Green Party co-leader James Shaw for 2021!
The pair discuss the awful conditions at Waikeria Prison that resulted in protests towards the end of 2020 and into the start of this year. James explains why politicians did not "wade in" during the protests. They also go over US President Joe Biden's promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement and the Climate Change Commission's report released on Monday.
Human females are one primates species who don't show physiological signs of ovulation. Since the 70s and 80s scientists believed this was to optimise male to female interaction, however recent research suggests it is actually to reduce competition with other human females. To find out more, Zoë Larsen Cumming spoke to PhD student Scott Claessens who, alongside his prominent female colleagues, participated in this research.
Jade talks to Virginia residents Kat Vlasova and Jessica Lewis as well as Washington, DC resident Charles Yook on how vaccine implementation is going in the states and the problems associated such as vaccine hoarding and lack of information.
Currently in the United States the stock market is having troubles with a subreddit coming together to put a hedgefund in billions of dollars of debt through shorting stocks and buying stocks. To understand how this happened and what the conciquences might be, James talks to LEighton Roberts, the co-founder and CEO of sharsies about what was currently happening.
Currently on Cooks Beach officials are having to capture red eared slider turtles in an effort to control their numbers. The species are not antive and are in the top 100 most invasive species in the world. To understand more about the issue, James talks to Donna Moot from turtle rescue in Christchurch.
This week on The Wire, James is joined by Jade in studio for a show with a full range of topics.
James starts off by talking with Leighton Roberts, the CEO and co-founder of Sharesies about gamestop and how their shares have been all over the place due to shorting.
James also talks ot Donna Moot from turtle rescue about red eared sliders on Cooks beach.
National's Police spokesperson Simeon Brown speaks on community COVID-19 checkpoints at Te Tai Tokerau.
University of Auckland politics lecturer Dr Lara Greaves talks about the National Party now looking to contest the Maori electorates at the next election.
Green Party's transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter talks about the government's plan on decarbonising the country's public transport fleet to achieve its climate change goal.
The Thursday Wire reports on the Australian government's proposed changes to force tech companies to pay for showing news content.
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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