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.
The Office of the Children's Commissioner released a report today calling for changes to the state care and youth justice systems. Jemima spoke to Children's Commissioner, Andrew Becroft, about why he wants to phase out youth justice residences and replace them with community group homes that align well with a kaupapa Māori approach.
This week on the Monday Wire, Jemima speaks with co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw, about the party's campaign to overhaul the welfare system. We have our regular segment with the Southern Cross where we discuss President Rodrigo Duterte killing people in the Philippines, an Air Nuigini plane crash and the assault and arrest of Papuan students. Damian speaks to James Ireland from Auckland Transport and Dr Nikki Jackson from Alcohol Healthwatch about AT removing all alcohol advertising from their services and facilities. Jemima talks to Children's Commissioner, Andrew Becroft, about his call to phase out youth justice residences and replace them with community group homes in line with kaupapa Māori. Finally, we have a follow up report from Oscar about the opening of Samoa House Library.
Following the completion of Auckland's new bus netwroks, Auckland Transport has recently removed all alcohol advertising from its infrastructe and networks. Producer Damian Rowe spoke to Auckland Transport's media advisor James Ireland and executive director for alcohol healthwatch Dr Nikki Jackson about the implications of this decison to ban the booze ads on the bus.
Following Lachlan Balfour's interview with Kathryn Aucamp about the Samoa House library, 95Bfm producer Oscar Perress attended the opening of Samoa House and talked to host and guests about the importance of having creative spaces following the closure the fine arts and creative industry libraries at Auckland University.
Journalist Alison Mau has built a glittering career on fighting for the underprivileged and underrepresented. A former television news-anchor, she’s since hosted and reported for shows such as Fair Go, Breakfast and Seven Sharp, and more recently co-hosted RadioLive’s drive programme.
Since February of this year, she’s led a team of journalists at Stuff.co.nz, investigating sexual harassment nationwide as part of the #MeToo movement. Stewart Sowman-Lund spoke with Ali to talk about her work looking into abuses of power, and starting by asking her whether the ongoing Kavanaugh trial in America is the sort of story that inspires her to keep investigating stories affecting women.
Recent research by BPAC and The University of Otago reports on patterns of medicines prescribed to children in New Zealand between 2010 and 2015. Amongst the many findings, an increase of Fluoxetine prescriptions for children over the age of 12 drew much attention. David Woods was involved in the research and is a Professional Teaching fellow at the University's school of Pharmacy. He spoke on the purpose of the research and put some findings into context.
Eleven thousand calls were made to the Ministry of Social development benefit fraud hotline resulting in just over 400 convictions. The ministry can investigate people without their knowledge, often asking associates personal questions about the person’s life. Over 3000 of these calls were accusations a person was in a relationship in the nature of marriage, which can result in their individual benefits being stopped if the Ministry finds they are dependant on the other person. Lachlan spoke with Ricardo Menéndez March from Auckland Action Against Poverty about the system and its flaws.
In the wake of controversial statements by Fraser High School Principal Virginia Crawford, we look at how the media reported on the eventual walkout by a disputed number of students.
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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