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.
Mayor Brown' draft for the annual 2023/24 budget includes drastic cuts for the arts. The plan is to stop regional grants for arts, events, community recreation and heritage. 8 million in total. And the removal of 20 million from community and social development programmes, which includes art events, education programmes and community programmes.
Daniel spoke with Lauren Whitney general manager of New Zealand comedy trust, an organisation that produces the New Zealand international comedy festival and supports the comedy industry.
Daniel also spoke with Mark Harvey who is part of Arts Makers Aotearoa, which was formed by a group of arts makers who are concerned about the lack of support for the arts in this country and he is also part the creative arts industries faculty at the university of auckland
Lastly Daniel spoke with Cat Ruka the executive director of Basement Theater.
We spoke about the impact of these plans on the city of auckland and the consequences these plans will have for individual and community wellbeing and mental health. And what is exactly the intrinsic value of art?
It's the best of The Wire! We have a few new pieces, and take a look back at some of our favourites from 2022.
We take a look back at Tuva’as live and in person chat with Health Minister Andrew Little from June of this year,
I’ll also be replaying my chat with Taylor McGregor from Save our Venues about the importance of small music videos and the struggles this year has seen them put through,
Hanna is speaking to 0800 What’s Up about mental health support during the holiday season,
We also have a Tomorrow's World about Blood Transfusion,
And lastly I’ll be talking to Cameron Adams for our last Eurovision of 2022!
With the Russia-Ukraine war, a continent wide economic crisis, and political turmoil throughout many prominent countries - it’s been a very eventful year for Europe.
We’ve had bFM correspondent Cameron ADams keeping us updated on the happenings of Europe for nearly all of 2022, and he’s come on for the last time this year to discuss what’s been happening this week, and to take a look back at all that’s happened over the past twelve months.
While the rest of the country closes shop over the holiday season, mental health helplines remain open - including on public holidays. 0800 What's Up, a helpline and chat service for rangatahi, are keeping their phone lines running to meet not only existing needs, but also to address the additional distress the holiday season can bring for some.
Hanna spoke to Ban, What's Up's Team Leader, about the services they provide, why they are continuing to provide help over the holidays, and how the crisis in mental healthcare exerts pressure on helplines.
With widespread flooding affecting Tāmaki Makaurau, pet insurance specialist PD Insurance is advising those with cats and dogs to take special precautions to protect their furry family members.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Chief Operating Officer Michelle Le Long about what advice they have for pet owners.
The holiday season is approaching us, but one thing that’s not on anyone's Christmas wish list is Covid-19.
Health officials have warned that over the summer, Covid-19 case numbers could peak at more than 11,000 a day with a hundred hospitalisations each day.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker about how people can minimise the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19 this summer.
She started off their interview by asking what is expected to cause this influx in case numbers?
For their final interview this year, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to ACT's Brooke Van velden about the Government's expansion to the immigration fast track list. They also discussed Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenksy addressing Aotearoa’s parliament and what we can expect from the ACT Party next year.
Then she spoke to Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker about how people can minimise the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19 this summer.
And for our Best of the Wire special, we recapped the year that was in news and current affairs. This year, Emilia Sullivan spoke to Geoff McLay from Victoria University Law School about the Supreme Court hearing arguments in a case against Aotearoa’s seven largest polluting companies. On Eurovision, our Europe Correspondent, Cameron Adams, spoke to Emillia about Russia’s mobilisation and so-called annexation referendums in Ukraine. And on The Green Desk, Frances spoke to Gabrielle Feather, a PhD student at the University of Tasmania about the changing climate and its connection to mental health.
Menstruation tracking apps: who's using them? For what, and when? Do they accommodate a diverse range of experiences and bodies? How do these apps perpetuate a narrow definition of what a 'normal' body is? Sarah Riley from Massey University speaks to Stella about her research on the topic, from a clinical health perspective.
For Tomorrow's World, Stella Huggins speaks to Professor in Critical Health Psychology at Massey University, Sarah Riley about Menstruation Tracking Apps.
And the Wire team brings you the best of the Monday Wire, recapping the year that was in news and current affairs.
This year, Stella Huggins spoke to former Auckland Deputy Mayor, Penny Hulse about an ongoing review on the future of local government.
We revisit Aotearoa becoming the first country in the world to have explicitly legalised drug checking. Spike Keith spoke to Know Your Stuff’s Brin Ryder about drug testing services at summer festivals.
Spike also interviewed the NZ Drug Foundation’s Sarah Helm about their findings that overdose deaths in the past five years have increased by 50%.
And finally, we look back at Stella's interview with Chris Wilson, a Senior Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, about his report on his colleague James Halpin, infiltrating Action Zelandia, a far-right extremist group in Aotearoa.
Biogen has announced that SPINRAZA (nusinersen) – a first-of-its-kind medicine – is the first medicine funded by Pharmac for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the number one cause of genetic death in Kiwi children under two.
SMA is a rare genetic disease that can have a devastating and life-changing impact. In its severe forms, SMA can cause paralysis and difficulty with the most basic functions of life, like breathing and swallowing,3 with babies and children possibly unable to hit major motor milestones like rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, or walking.
Joe spoke to Fiona Tolich a long-term campaigner and advocate for SMA, and a Trustee of Patient Voice Aotearoa, about how significant this is.
Nicola Willis recently took over responsibility for grocery regulation after recently appointed consumer affairs minister Scott Simpson identified a conflict of interest. Willis says she is interested in introducing a competitor to the New Zealand supermarket duopoly, though whether this competitor will come from overseas or internally remains to be seen.
Also in politics this past week are US president Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have had massive economic impact in the US and internationally. While New Zealand is minimally affected by the tariffs, our economy only recently exited a recession, so we may be in a position of vulnerability to further economic instability.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with plans to address the supermarket duopoly.
You can find the press conference referenced by Tom Rutherford here.
Three Te Pāti Māori MPs, Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Rawiri Waititi, did not attend the Privileges Committee over their contempt of the House, following their haka in Parliament protesting the Treaty Principles Bill.
The party instead are planning on holding their own hearing regarding the matter.
Privileges Committee chairwoman Judith Collins, called the no-show “unprecedented” and has given the MPs “one final chance” to attend the hearing.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party’s action, and why they are going about the hearing in their own manner.
We also spoke about the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act passing its final reading.
But first, we discussed the party not attending the Privileges Committee.
After months of hearings, submissions and debate, the Justice Select Committee has released its report into the Treaty Principles Bill, recommending that the bill not proceed.
The report found that of all submissions, nearly 90% were opposed, around 8% in support and just over 3% were unstated.
Despite this final damning backlash against the bill, David Seymour and the ACT party maintain that there is a place for the bill in Aotearoa, saying submissions often don’t reflect the majority view of the country.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie spoke to ACT’s Simon Court about the report, and what the ACT party intend to do next.
They also spoke about the tariffs imposed on trade by Donald Trump last week, and how the government expects them to impact New Zealand.
Finally, they spoke about an unfolding situation concerning ACT MP and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard. An RNZ investigation late last week found a potential conflict of interest between the minister and his sister who is the executive director of a dairy company. The investigation found that her company had lobbied against the minister's office introducing tougher regulations on baby formula.
Auckland Transport has announced another parking fare increase, pushing up parking across AT-managed lots 50 cents per hour.
They justified the increase as necessary to cover ‘rising operational costs’ and to cover the Auckland Council’s increased resource commitment to supporting Aucklanders with “issues like blocked driveways, footpaths, and clearways”.
As well, Auckland Council have voted to endorse the redevelopment of Eden Park, in favour of a new waterfront stadium — bringing the latest development in a long-standing discussion about the best approach to attract tourism and financial productivity to Auckland.
All they need now is the government to pitch in $100 million dollars to fund the project.
Producer Sara started her interview with Shane Henderson by asking why raising parking prices was the preferred option for covering council operational costs
Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested by the International Criminal Court and will be tried in the Hague for crimes against humanity.
This comes as the ICC faces criticism for other, more controversial current arrest warrants, including those against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria from Curtin University in Perth about Duterte’s arrest and broader issues facing the ICC.
Last week, Green Party MP Tamatha Paul made comments about the police and the expansion of beat patrols in Wellington, saying they make a lot of people feel “less safe.”
The comments have been criticised by MPs across National, Act, New Zealand First, as well as Labour.
And Finance Minister Nicola Willis is seeking specialist external advice on what ways the supermarket duopoly could be restructured.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these issues.
Just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, Brooke Van Velden, announced sweeping changes to health and safety regulations for businesses that she described as “low-risk”.
Some of the changes involved: narrowing the focus of the Health and Safety at Work Act to risks only causing death, serious injury or illness, creating a hotline for the public to report “overzealous” road cone placement and reducing "tick-box and safety activities" such as psychosocial harm policies for small businesses.
Around this same period of time, Greens MPs Tamatha Paul and Benjamin Doyle received intense media and political scrutiny for comments they made at a university panel and on social media respectively, with the backlash towards Doyle forcing them to abstain from parliament this week.
The Greens recently issued a call to the government to scrap their proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, which involve recognising qualifications other than early childhood teaching qualifications, removing up to 74% of ECE licensing criteria and removing requirements for regular updates and family.
In their weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the party’s take on all of these issues.
BirdCare Aotearoa is a wild, native bird hospital that works to rehabilitate sick and injured birds back into the wild.
For their upcoming event: ‘Bird Heros,’ a part of EcoFest 2025 on the 6th of April, the workshop will look at the best practices on rescuing wild native birds, and will include a tour of their bird hospital, which is not usually open to the public.
For this week's Green Desk, Producer Leilani spoke to the Hospital Manager at BirdCare Aotearoa, Pooja Dorle, about the rehabilitation processes of birds within their hospital ahead of their next workshop.
Fellow Green Desk Producer Liam, and News and Editorial Director Joel, went to the previous workshop over the weekend, and spoke to the Chair of the organisation, Kevin Furgeson, and volunteer Marina, and had a tour of their facilities. Thanks EcoFest!
BirdCare Aotearoa also has a fundraiser running to shed light on seabirds affected by street lights and brightly lit buildings across the city, affecting their migration patterns and causing birds, such as the protected Petrels, Shearwaters, and Prions, to fall and injure themselves. To support their clinical rehabilitation practices, you can support their campaign on givealittle.
For a number of years, Aotearoa has been dealing with a shortage of psychologists and similar professionals to deal with the growing mental health needs of the wider population, with estimates suggesting that an additional 1,000 more psychologists are needed to fill gaps in the profession.
In response to the country’s growing mental health needs, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a new Associate Psychologist role, consisting of recent post-graduates, to work alongside fully trained Psychologists.
However, a number of Psychologists and experts have criticised the introduction of this new role, saying that these associate Psychologists may be expected to take on the responsibilities of clinical Psychologists despite being underqualified.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Dr Kumari Valentine, a clinical psychologist based in Dunedin, who’s launched a petition calling on the government to roll back the introduction of the new Associate psychology role and look to other methods of filling gaps in the Psychology profession.
If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:
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