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.
With the government having implemented funding for paid internships for those going into trades, there has been a significant increase in the number of apprentices. There has been an overall 50% increase and a doubling in the number of women. To understand more about the impact of this, James talked to interim Chief executive of BCITO, Greg Durkin, and started off by asking about the impact of this scheme on the industry.
Lyric covers the Pike River disaster and its 10 year anniversary, where she talks to Anna Osboune, the wife of one of victims and Richard Wagstaff from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
James talks to Willow-Jean Prime about her role as co-chair of the Labour Māori caucus and what her plans are.
James also talks to Greg Durkin, the interim CEO of BCITO, about the increase of apprenticeships and what this means for the trades industry.
James finishes off the show with the week that was, where he goes over the biggest events of this week.
After 8 years of negotiations New Zealand has finally signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP trade deal, with the Association of South East Asian Nations, plus China, Japan, Australia and South Korea.
Some things to note are:
The RCEP was signed with 15 Asia and Pacific nations, almost a third of the worlds population.
This was negotiated behind closed doors, which means New Zealanders didn't know what was being agreed on until it was already signed and didn't get the opportunity to have much of a say. This is the same problem that many kiwis had with the TPPA trade agreement.
India is not part of the deal, they pulled out. If they were it would be very economically positive for New Zealand. But the rest of the countries we already have Free Trade Ageements with, so many are asking what the point of signing onto something that could restrict us, when we might only get 0.3% increase of GDP out of it.
Ayana spoke with Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor and It's Our Future Spokesperson Edward Miller about the impact of the trade deal on New Zealand.
Yesterday a study was released which has looked at the impact of lockdown on parents and their ability to parent. A number of different areas were of interest. With a survey having been conducted across 15 different countries, Dr Cara Swit from the university of Canterbury surveyed a number of parents across New Zealand. She found 10.5% of parents suffered from severe burnout, however 83.7% of parents said it had a positive impact on their parenting. To understand more about this study and more about parental burnout, James started off by asking Dr Swit about the study.
With COVID still here and Christmas quickly approaching while cases continue to rise across the globe, the government announced this morning a new order that will be put in place. This order is in relation to border testing, where a number of changes will take place. They are:
· Increasing the frequency of testing for ship pilots and some other port workers who carry out work on affected ships, from fortnightly to weekly,
· Increasing testing frequency for some workers who carry out work on aircraft that have arrived from outside of New Zealand, from fortnightly to weekly.
· Mandatory fortnightly testing for port workers not already covered,
· Mandatory fortnightly testing for airport airside and landside workers not already covered who interact with international arriving or transiting passengers
James spoke to minister in charge of the COVID-19 response, Chris Hipkins, about these changes, and started off by asking about the impact of testing weekly instead of fortnightly
While Justin writes his Dissertation, James takes over the Thursday wire this week to bring you a range of pieces with his producer, Ayana.
The show starts off with an interview with COVID-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins , where he talks to James about a new order t increase border testing.
Ayana brings us an extensive piece on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade deal, where she talks to Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor and It's Our Future Spokesperson Edward Miller.
The show finishes off with James talking to Dr. Cara Swit about parental burnout during the first lockdown and during life in general.
Karanama Ruru chats to Nick Thomson, Director of the Commission for Financial Capability, about their free financial education programme called Sorted in Schools being implemented in schools across Aotearoa.
Today on the Wednesday Wire, Felix speaks to Marcus Jones on Dear Science about covid vaccines, quantum computers and disappointment in the search for life on venus.
Bronnie spoke to deputy leader of the Act party - Brooke Van Velden about the party’s criticisms of both the government’s response to COVID-19 and the housing crisis.
Felix reported on Facebook’s role in democracy and some of the controversies they’ve faced recently.
Karanama spoke to Nick Thomson, Director of Financial Capability for the Commission for Financial Capability, about the Sorted in Schools programme.
Bronwyn speaks Act Deputy Leader Brooke Van Velden about their criticism's of the Government's COVID-19 response, compulsory mask wearing and contact tracing. They also talk about the misdignosis of the housing crisis and RMA reform to address it.
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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