Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
The New Zealand government has recently provisionally approved the Monkeypox, or MPOX vaccine in New Zealand. This comes after two new cases being linked to the Queenstown Winter Pride festival.
The overall risk of MPOX to New Zealand still remains low, despite the World Health Organisation Director-General declaring MPOX outbreak a public emergency of International Concern. Despite this, the virus may still prove deadly without proper vaccination or treatment.
Sasha spoke to Associate Professor Mark Thomas from the University of Auckland Molecular Medicine and Pathology about the recent adoption of an MPOX vaccine.
Facial Recognition Technology is an emergent biometric payment system that intends to simplify the process of paying for groceries, similar to Amazon’s ‘just walk out’ initiative a few years ago.
There are issues to this being actually adopted, mainly with fears of private security being violated in addition with information related to your face being stored within the company’s database. Additionally, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence Deepfakes, scammers could utilise this technology which is inherently linked to your face.
Sasha spoke to Associate Professor Laszlo Sajtos at the University of Auckland Business School about facial technology being at New Zealand’s doorstep.
The government recently announced proposed changes to the Marine and Coastal Area Act, which, among other changes, would require iwi to prove continuous and uninterrupted occupation of a coastal area since 1840 to make a claim. The proposed changes were reviewed by the Waitangi Tribunal, and the resulting report was released yesterday. In their weekly catchup, Wire host Castor asked Katie Nimon about the government’s reaction to criticisms in the report.
They also asked about the government’s policies on Māori wards. Last year the National Party campaigned on putting Māori wards to referendums, with the goal of ‘restoring democracy’. Since asking councils to vote on the issue, all but two of Aotearoa’s local councils have voted to retain their wards. Local government minister Simeon Brown has expressed some discontent at this response, implying that the government may push for binding referendums.
Wire host Castor spoke to National’s Katie Nimon about these issues in their weekly catchup, starting with the Marine and Coastal Area Act.
On Friday the 13th September, Pharmac opened consultation for funding of the medication, Enhertu, for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
This comes following the $604 million funding boost allocated to Pharmac to fund and widen access to various medicines.
Trials have shown that the drug can reduce risks of breast cancer patients death by 27%.
Producer Josef spoke to the Chief Executive of Breast Cancer New Zealand, Ah-Leen Rayner, about the drug's funding, and what more can be done for breast cancer patients.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown recently proposed a second bridge across the Auckland harbour, which would go from Point Chevalier to Kauri Point on the North Shore. The new project would be aimed at reducing congestion, however, many are sceptical that it would have any impact due to the lack of existing infrastructure.
Wire host Castor spoke to senior lecturer of urban planning, Dr. Timothy Welch, about the proposal and potential issues with congestion and transport infrastructure.
For Dear Science, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about the ig Nobel Science prizes.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the Waitangi Tribunal report on the government’s proposed changes to the Marine and Coastal Areas Act and about Māori wards.
They also spoke to Senior Lecturer of Urban Planning, Dr. Timothy Welch, about Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed second harbour bridge.
And on the Green Desk, Jack Marshall spoke to freshwater scientist, Ian Kusabs, about monitoring kōura, New Zealand’s freshwater crayfish.
And producer Josef spoke to CEO of the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner, about Pharmac’s proposal to fund Enhertu for HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.
A group of three lawyers is calling for a first-of-its-kind inquiry into whether New Zealand spy agencies are helping Israel's war in Gaza.
In a letter to the inspector-general of intelligence and security (IGIS) on Thursday, they said the country was in danger of aiding international crimes.
The request has four parts, covering previous investigations that have been undertaken by the watchdog, along with Aotearoa’s connections to countries like the US and UK who have been proven to aid Israel.
Producer Evie spoke to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, Treasa Dunworth, one of three lawyers pushing for this inquiry about what triggered these concerns, and how the inquiry would be undertaken.
The Public Service Association says that the ‘needs not race’ based directive to government agencies is putting all that progress that has been made to improve the lives of Māori at risk.
With the government directing all government agencies that public services must be delivered by need and not race disregards the systemic disadvantages experienced by Māori and Pasifika.
The PSA’s Janice Panoho says that the move will set back Māori for generations at a time when they remain one of the most disadvantaged groups in Aotearoa.
Producer Evie spoke to Panoho about these concerns and what impacts she believes this directive may have.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about updates regarding the Treaty Principles Bill, as well as Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke, being a recipient of the One Young World Politician of the year award.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about a government directive to create a public service that delivers on ‘need not race’, and the draft treaty principals bill being tabled at cabinet for the first time.
Producer Evie also spoke to the Public Service Association’s Janice Panoho about what the government has labelled ‘a colourblind public service’, and some of the concerns that come with us.
Host Joel spoke to Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Caroline Shaw, regarding a new study showing that ‘decarbonising’ transport would have a signficant impact on health; mental and physical.
Producer Evie spoke to the University of Auckland’s Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law Treasa Dunworth about her request for an inquiry to be made into whether New Zealand is sharing intelligence to aid Israel in its war on Gaza.
And finally, Host Joel spoke to the National Secretary for Retail and Finance at First Union, Rudd Hughes, about the Woolworths strikes that took place last week, with extra walkouts being planned for the 17th of September.
Last week, workers at Woolworths walked out of their stores,with another strike being planned for tomorrow afternoon over ongoing negotiations between First Union for better pay and working conditions for workers.
On Friday, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the National Secretary for Retail and Finance at First Union, Rudd Hughes, about Tuesday’s walkout.
They started off by asking Huges why there was a walkout of over FORTY stores.
Since its inception in 2008, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (or ETS) has been, according to the government, its primary tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis. As part of the scheme, the government sets a price for carbon units, which companies must pay to offset their emissions. The Climate Change Commission has recently highlighted that the scheme was not stable and susceptible to changes in the market, and did not have sufficient carbon units to last until 2030, requiring urgent reform.
For Green World, Wire producer Liam spoke with Scott Burnett, the Regional Conservation Manager for the top of the South Island and Forest and Bird’s climate spokesperson about why Forest and Bird has called the system broken, what impact this has on Aotearoa and what reforms should be implemented.
Last week, NZ First MP and Government Minister Shane Jones was criticised over using derogatory language towards Indian Immigrants. These comments were condemned by the National Party and Christopher Luxon, who labelled NZ First’s belief system as ‘anti-immigrant’, and saidd Jones was ‘scaremongering’.
That was not the extent of criticism between NZ First and National, however, with tensions between the two sparking after NZ First Leader Winston Peters calling out Luxon for not giving coalition partners prior notice of his confidence vote during a national party caucus meeting last week. In turn, these comments have been dismissed, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Luxon accused NZ First and Peters of putting Labour Governments, like Arderns, into power. Despite all of this, however, Peters has insisted the coalition is as stable as a ‘three-legged stool’.
Last week also saw the Treasury announce that they would revisit their forecasts for the economy ahead of the impending government budget. The Government also announced some changes to the way Infrastructure is run by the government, giving more power to the Independent Infrastructure Commission, increasing their oversight and changing the way that Ministers receive advice and information.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these developments, beginning with Shane Jones’ comments.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the fuel crisis - resulting from the US and Israel bombing of Iran, and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz - drags on. Prices have remained high, hitting low-income households hard, and while fuel stocks in or on-the-way to the country sit comfortably above a month’s cover, approaches to conserving fuel remain front-of-mind for many.
One strategy that New Zealanders have been urged to adopt is switching to public transport, which would put fewer cars on the road. However, access is often dependent on location and affordability.
Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education has reviewed numerous rural school bus routes, cancelling some, cutting off students from ready access to their education.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Alicia Hall from Parents for Climate Aotearoa, on their petition to restore rural school bus routes and make public transport free for children, and students under 25.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party leaders, Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick, hosted their state of the planet address, where they launched their call to electrify the nation.
On top of that, events this week have led the party to criticise the government. The first critique, instigated by the floods that swept the nation, hitting the Coromandel and causing a state of emergency in the Wellington Region, led the Greens to question the government's decreased funding of flood responses as harsh weather increases.
The second critique came with a cabinet paper this week that shows the government is planning on moving ahead with reforms to legislation that will see references to the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiriti o Waitangi redefined, in what the government sez is about ‘standardisation’ but what the Green Party sees as dishonouring Te Tiriti.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we discuss their criticisms of the government but start with a discussion of their electrification policy.
Last week, fuel stocks in the country went down by three or four days across each fuel type. The government recognised this as not enough to change to phase two in the national fuel plan, drawing some concerned comments from the political opposition around the state of our stocks, and when the government plans to actually move up phases.
Following a week that saw both Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon comment on the state of the Strait of Hormuz, and the way the United States has handled the ongoing conflict, Willis also travelled to the US to meet with White House advisors.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these fuel crisis developments, and what the government’s approach going forward may look like.
To start our discussion, however, we spoke briefly about the confidence in Christopher Luxon’s Leadership.
Earlier this week, Councillor Julie Fairey moved a resolution to investigate Auckland Council’s involvement with companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
And this week, Auckland Council launched an AI virtual assistant to report issues such as graffiti, roaming dogs, and noise complaints.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced the signing of a new ‘City Deal’.
The deal will see closer partnership between the central government and Auckland Council, coordinating planning in areas such as infrastructure and transportation.
The deal will see a long-term partnership between the government and council, with regular meetings and cooperation on strategies for innovation and transportation, with reviews of sporting venues such as Eden Park and the Auckland Tennis Centre.
However, the deal has been critiqued by some as being a collection of promises without any new funding.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, he and producer Theo discussed the signing of the Auckland City Deal, and how the Green Party would work with Auckland Council on issues such as transportation and infrastructure.
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