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.
Lillian speaks to the Minister about two government announcements from yesterday, the first being an extension of temporary working visas, and the second being a hold on incoming flights to the country. They also touched on a tool the Minister has been working on during her time in government. Just for some more information around the visa extensions, given this is not Martin’s portfolio she indicated she may not have all the details. Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced yesterday that the Government is "making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised".
So this means,
- Extending all existing employer-assisted temporary work visas for people in New Zealand and whose visas are due to expire before the end of 2020 by six months, benefiting around 16,500 workers
- Shifting the stand down by 6 months to February 2021. So this affects migrant workers who are subject to the 12 month stand-down period and were going to have to leave New Zealand this year will now be able to stay for the duration of the extension, and that affects 600 workers. The stand-down period being the amount of time one has to leave the country before applying to come back and work. The government states that, The stand-down period was introduced in 2017 to prevent lower-skilled, lower-paid foreign workers from becoming well settled in New Zealand without a pathway to residence. Just a note here because of the way in which lower-skilled as a term has negative connotations, the Government is continuing to work on a number of changes, which were announced pre-COVID-19. These changes include a different way to define lower-skilled/lower-paid employment and a new process for employer-assisted work visas expected to be fully in place by mid-2021.
- Finally, the last part of the announcement was ensuring New Zealanders needing work continue to be prioritised.
So back to Tracey Martin, Lillian started by asking her how this will work.
EDIT: Minister Iain Lees-Galloway's response 08/07/2020:
“Temporary work visas are there to fill temporary gaps in the labour market and that is clear when people apply for temporary visas. Work to residency is only available for more skilled jobs where there is a longer term skills shortage.
“The extension to visas announced yesterday is to give people breathing space to work out what is best for them. The New Zealand labour market is changing as more New Zealanders lose their jobs and as always, immigration is there to fill the gaps in our labour market. As the gaps close, there may be fewer opportunities for temporary migrant workers.
“We value the contribution our migrant communities make to New Zealand and it’s great that many do become residents and citizens. However, like in most countries around the world, temporary immigration is for temporary work opportunities. That’s a choice people make for themselves.
[on the low-skilled issue] “Last year we introduced changes to the employer assisted temporary work visas that includes introducing the use of pay rates as a proxy for skills. In the vast majority of cases higher skilled roles are paid above the median wage so the median wage is being used to assess the skill level, instead of complicated skills assessments under ANZCO.”
Felix Walton speaks to University of Auckland Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris about the recent coverage of a case of bubonic plague in China, whether the plague is actually still a threat, and how it capitalizes on Corona-Panic.
On Dear Science today with Marcus Jones we touch back on some coronavirus news, we also hear about some concerns being raised after scientists collect DNA in China for a crime related database, and lastly, scientists are moving to strip names of racist people who have been commemorated in prizes and awards.
Lillian speaks to Anjum Rahman of the Islamic Women’s Council about their submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry about the terror attacks last year.
Felix speaks to Helen Petousis-Harris from the University of Auckland about the bubonic blague
NZ First’s Tracey Martin discusses the two government announcements yesterday regarding temporary visa changes and border closures, as well as a new learning support tool she has developed.
The Islamic Women’s Council has been a solid and consistent voice not only in the aftermath of the terror attacks last year, but for years before - attempting to draw attention to the threats the Muslim community faced. Their voice was heard immediately after the attacks pointing to the amount of times they had tried to communicate information about these threats to officials but to no avail. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attack is almost finished, and the Council submitted their 127-page submission yesterday. They have also released this publicly which doesn’t normally happen. The submission includes details around meetings between Muslim groups and govt agencies, where no minutes were taken, and recommendations were ignored, it also addresses an online threat made against a Hamilton mouse on March 15th, the same day the terror attacks happened, that was never followed up by police. Lillian spoke to co-founder Anjum Rahman to find out more.
A discussion on 'fake news' with Associate Professor Neal Curtis of the University of Auckland’s Media Studies and Communications department. Lillian speaks to Neal about the implications of the concept on a functioning fourth estate.
This week, 95bFM Reporter Oscar Perress speaks to Councillor Tracy Mulholland about her transition from the Whau Local Board to Whau Ward Councillor, as well as how she maintains her community involvement amongst all her other responsibilities.
Hanna spoke to Dr Jaimie Veale, president of the Professional Association of Transgender Health Aotearoa and principle investigator for the Counting Ourselves Study, about Statistics NZ's recent announcement that it would now be including questions on sexuality and gender identity in the 2023 census.
A report released by the Human Rights Commission has revealed that 44 percent of New Zealanders have experienced being paid less than someone who does the same job as them. To find out more about pay disparity in New Zealand, Zoë Larsen Cumming interviewed the president of the National Council of Women in New Zealand, Lisa Lawrence.
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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