Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
If you have been exposed to negative news about vaccine side-effects, you are more likely to be affected by them. This is known as the nocebo effect.
Dr Kate MacKrill, health psychologist at the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, has been studying the nocebo effect in context of Covid-19 vaccinations and has made some startling discoveries.
Her research shows people are markedly more likely to receive negative side effects from vaccines after seeing bad things about them in the media.
Arno started the interview by asking what the nocebo effect is.
Welcome to the Tuesday Wire! This week on the show:
The Tuesday Wire team is joined in the studio by Allan Blackman who talks about accidental scientific discoveries
Beth Speaks to Rhys Jones, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, regarding climate change being a Health and Equity issue
Milly speaks to Emma Powell of Te Puna Aonui regarding the reduction and possible eventual elimination of Family and sexual violence in New Zealand.
Milly also speaks to Rajshri Roy from the University of Auckland regarding a new study revealing that most new type two diabetes diagnosises are coming from an inadequate diet.
The Intergenerational Climate Ambassadors have published an open letter on Action Station calling on MPs to implement a climate resilient Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.
The letter highlights the need for participatory democracy, listening to indigenous voices, and land use planning as key ways to address the climate crisis.
For Get Action! this week, Caeden Tipler interviewed Sophie Handford, councillor, activist, and ambassador for the Intergenerational Climate Ambassadors, on why she helped write the open letter.
On Saturday 15 April, nationwide rallies were held to raise awareness about the nursing shortage and urge politicians to help secure better working conditions.
It was the first time the New Zealand Nurses Organisation had called on all of its 57,000 members to rally at once.
Nicholas spoke to Organization spokesperson Kerri Nuku about the rallies, their five fixes for the nursing crisis, and how the public can support Nurses.
A report from the Child Poverty Action Group has found measures to address child poverty are leaving behind Māori, Pasifika, and disabled children as well as children of solo parents.
The report signalled that despite some progress, child poverty rates in Aotearoa mean we are still failing to uphold the legal rights of the child under the articles of the UN convention.
Caeden spoke to Colleen Brown, disability spokesperson for the Child Poverty Action Group about the report and what it means for Aotearoa.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins talked to ACT’s Karen Chhour about Three Waters and the government’s decision to keep the mandatory seven-day COVID-19 isolation period.
Hanna Thompson spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the Three Waters rebrand and Green MP Marama Davidson not contesting Tāmaki Makaurau.
Caeden Tipler spoke to Colleen Brown about the findings from the new Child Poverty Action Group report.
And on Get Action! Caeden Tipler spoke to Sophie Handford about Climate Resilience Recovery for the regular Get Action! Segment
Nicholas spoke to New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokesperson Kerri Nuku about the nationwide rallies which took place on Saturday and the organisation's five fixes for the nursing shortage.
Chris Hipkins has today announced an overhaul of Three Waters. It has been a contentious piece of legislation due to certain aspects of what it entails. What is not contentious is how bad water infrastructure in Aotearoa New Zealand is. Simon spoke with research fellow at Otago University Marnie Prickett about Three Waters and the need for better water infrastructure. I also spoke with Marnie about the recent report from the ministry of environment that stated just 2% of large lakes in Aotearoa New Zealand were in “good or very good” health. Marnie began by highlighting why our waters are so polluted.
Growing up in New Zealand recently released their latest findings in their longitudinal study on material hardship in Aotearoa New Zealand. Simon spoke with researcher Molly Grant about the findings and also about what needs to be done to alleviate material hardship for young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Molly began by explaining what the research looked into.
On Monday, Cabinet announced it would not be removing the COVID-19 self-isolation requirement of seven days.
This is hoped to continue to contribute to New Zealand having one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the developed world.
Arno spoke to Dr Emily Harvey, a researcher from the University of Auckland who created scientific models to see what would happen if the requirement was removed or not closely followed by most people.
Arno started off by asking what the scope of the research conducted was.
Next, Arno spoke about COVID-19 self-isolation requirements with epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker.
Arno started by asking what his opinion was on the potential removal of self-isolation requirements from law.
On Tuesday, Aucklanders checked the updated property valuations of their house, for many to find declines in value by 10s of thousands of dollars —- on average, by 9% from when they were last done in 2021.
According to the Council. rating valuations were based on market trends and recent sales activity, as of May 1 2024.
Wayne Brown said in response to the decreased values, “The economy's been faltering for a while, and It's really driven by government policies rather than Auckland's policies,”
Also, as we get closer to 2026 and the completion of the City Rail Link, Aucklanders have expressed various concerns about the standard of completion, including incorporation of public feedback.
I discuss the incorporation of the wider neighbourhood in Mt Eden at the Maungawhau station and the dismissal of public perspectives at the K Road station
New Zealand and key allies have imposed sanctions on two “extremist” Israeli politicians for their role in “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank.
However, opposition parties, including Labour as well as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are calling for further action to be taken against Israel.
It comes after Israel kidnapped 12 pro-Palestine activists on international waters, who were intending to break the aid blockade and reach Gaza.
And earlier this week, the National Business released their annual rich list.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
Los Angeles is approaching a week of protests against ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Over 200 protestors have been arrested since the protests began, and restrictions have been placed on protestors, including a curfew.
The White House has sent 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city already, and another 2,000 are expected to be deployed. This is despite California Governor Gavin Newsom attempting to stop their deployment.
For International Desk, I spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the protests.
The Green party recently made renewed calls to the government to sanction Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine following the seizure of the Madleen, a vessel that aimed to deliver food and medical aid to Gaza.
The vessel, which was en route to Gaza, was intercepted in the Mediterranean by the Israeli Defence Forces before being rerouted to Israel with all those on board, among whom was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently announced the Parent Boost Visa, part of the government’s self-described commitment to supporting parents living overseas to visit and stay with their families here in Aotearoa.
And, over in the United States, 2000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles in response to protests opposing the city’s recent immigration raids.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about all of these issues
Currently, 19 out of 38 OECD countries use incineration as a form of waste management.
With the process leading to a range of negative impacts, such as air pollution, Co2 emissions and respiratory illnesses, Aotearoa has luckily remained incinerator free.
However, calls have been made by some activists to strengthen New Zealand’s legislation to ensure that incineration facilities are not opened up in Aotearoa.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Sue Coutts from Zero Waste Network New Zealand to discuss a petition calling on the government to keep New Zealand Incinerator-free.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
These past few weeks in politics have seen various issues that we spoke about in our weekly catchup with the National Party.
First up, at the Aotearoa Music Awards, National MP Chris Bishop was heard making disdainful remarks such as “what a load of crap” during a performance by singer Stan Walker.
Second, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngārewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recently suspended from parliament for 21 days for their haka protesting the Treaty Principles Bill. The penalty is far harsher than any previous penalty for an MP, raising questions about whether it is justified or sets a dangerous precedent.
Finally, the government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues in our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, starting with Chris Bishop’s comments at the AMAs.
As per coalition agreements, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about Seymour’s new position, and what this means for the party.
They also discussed accusations Seymour made regarding submissions to the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In an interview with Guyon Espiner, Seymour claimed that 99.5% of the submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill were driven by ‘bots’ and were ‘fake’ submissions.
Seymour later clarified to RNZ that by bots, he was meaning “online campaigns” creating “non-representative samples” that do not represent the public’s opinion.
The Ministry of Regulations received roughly 23,000 submissions on the bill. Of the submissions. Of the submissions, 0.33% were fully or partially supporting the bill, with 88% being against the bill.
Finally, they discussed the recommended suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs’ Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke standing.
But they, we discussed David Seymour as Deputy Prime Minister.
The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP’s haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country’s history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days.
The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate.
During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden.
For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what’s next for the party.
They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters’ comments regarding Waititi’s moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did.
But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.
Auckland Transport are seeking community feedback on a proposal for a new T3 transit lane on Mount Smart Road to relieve congestion during peak times heading towards the Royal Oak roundabout.
Between better public transport systems, a ‘time of use’ charge, and different ways of managing Auckland traffic, Producer Sara asks Councillor Julie Fairey about how Auckland Council hopes to reduce peak-time congestion as the city’s population grows.
She also talk to Julie Fairey about the recent allocation of funds to community-led projects through Ngā Hapori Momoho. This year, the grant which aims to “improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection” has approved funding for eleven community groups, six of which are either Māori organisations or delivering ‘strong Māori outcomes’.
Sara begins with questions about Auckland central congestion.
*unfortunately the audio quality on Julie's end is poor
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