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 Chip Packet Project is an Auckland-based non-profit, reusing chip packets to create survival blankets.
The blankets have helped at least 69,000 people who are homeless or affected by natural disasters like flooding.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to architect and director of academic reviews at University of Auckland, Professor Diane Brand, about her involvement in the project, and the urgent need to address Aotearoa’s homelessness crisis.
Lifewise is an organisation that helps people out of homelessness by providing stable housing and wrap-around support for issues like addiction, mental health, and disability.
Their program Housing First houses nearly 500 people across Aotearoa, and has a retention rate of over 90%.
Lifewise is calling on the government to form a ten-year plan that will help address the housing shortage and alleviate homelessness.
Arno spoke to Lifewise COO Ann-Marie Searchfield to find out more.
Arno then spoke to The Salvation Army director Ian Hutson.
The Salvation Army provides emergency, transitional and social housing across New Zealand.
They recently met with several parties to iron down a plan to build more state houses.
New Zealand’s Housing shortage has put a strain on Renter and Landlord relationships for decades.
The Labour Government’s renters’ rights reforms have meant new standards for healthy homes and protections for Tenants.
However, National’s promise to reinstate "No-Cause" Evictions could potentially undermine housing security for renters who make up a third of our country's population.
Nicholas spoke to Éimhín O'Shea from Renters United about what no-cause evictions would mean for renters as well as their recently released scorecards, which provide grades for each political party's housing policy thus far.
For our regular interview, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to the Green Party’s James Shaw about the National Party’s foreign buyers tax policy, and the renters advocacy group, Renters United, scorecards ranking the major political parties on their policies for renters.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Green Party Co-Leader James Shaw about the National Party’s foreign buyers tax policy, and the renters advocacy group, Renters United, scorecards ranking the major political parties on their policies for renters.
She also spoke to architect and director of academic reviews at University of Auckland, Professor Diane Brand, about the Chip Packet Project and addressing homelessness.
Nicholas spoke to Eihmin O’Shea from Renters United about National’s No Cause Evictions Policy and their recently released political party scorecards.
Arno interviewed Lifewise COO Ann-Marie Searchfield and Salvation Army Director Ian Hutson about reducing homelessness and the housing shortage.
As home ownership is on a constant decline, the elderly are often left out of the discussion. Though with 8.1% of those above 65 homeless, and a prediction that half of New Zealanders will enter retirement without a home by 2053, the issue is both prevalent and alarming.
Josh Black spoke to Ollie Neas, a journalist who wrote about this in his piece "Where Will You Live When You’re Old?" for North and South, to learn more.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT party Rawan spoke to MP Simon Court about some of ACT’s policies to battle the housing crisis.
They started off by discussing their incentive for councils to increase the building of residential housing, looking at why it's important and how it will work. This incentive aims to take a 50% GST from the revenue of new residential buildings and give it back to councils.
Simon then discussed ACTs plans to scrap the Resource Management Act, taking out what they believe to be an excess of consents and regulations and focus more on development. He also talked about the reforms they plan to make to the business ACT and how this links into the housing crisis
University of Auckland Professor of Criminology Alice Mills recently conducted a study looking at the state of housing for those leaving prison.
Rawan spoke to Professor Mills about the lack of support that is available and how this can harm the rehabilitation of prisoners and their whanau. This included the strong correlation the study found between the lack of stable housing and prisoners ending up back in prisons.
They also discussed the impact on Maori and the even more severe lack of support for those communities and what support needs to be developed.
University of Auckland Professor of economics, Susan St John, recently released an article discussing the state of low income households in the upcoming election.
Rawan spoke to her about her article and research that looked at the In Work Tax Credit (or IWTC) and the areas in which it was failing low income households.
They also discussed the policies that Aotearoa’s two major party’s, Labour and National, have pledged. This included their promise to increase low income households to $50,000 by 2026 as well as Labour’s forgotten promise to review and change the IWTC system
This week on The Wire we are continuing with our election coverage, where we speak to politicians, academics, activists, experts, and more about different policy areas leading up to the election. This week we are focusing on housing.
Rawan spoke with ACT MP Simon Court about the party’s housing policies, including their council housing incentives, their building act reforms, and their plan to scrap the Resource Management Act.
She spoke with University of Auckland Professor of Economics Susan St John about what this election could mean for low-income households.
She also spoke with Associate Professor of Criminology Alice Mills on her research looking at housing support for ex-prisoners.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Stop the Space Waste organiser Sam Murphy and Aerospace New Zealand President Mark Rocket, about the aerospace industry in Aotearoa.
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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