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.
For our weekly catch-up Caeden speaks to Minister Andrew Little about Labour’s policies to combat the cost of living crisis and an open letter calling to scrap the acceptable standards of health criteria for visa applications.
For City Counselling, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson about the council deciding on whether to establish seats for Māori representatives and on-street parking prices increasing across the city.
Beth speaks with Professor of Tax Law at the University of Auckland Craig Elliffe, about the economic viability of a Wealth tax in Aotearoa.
She also speaks to co-leader of the Green Party Marama Davidson about the Greens’ Income Guarantee Plan.
Olivia speaks to Massey University Business School’s Māori Economist Mathew Roskruge about Labour's pledge to make financial literacy compulsory at schools.
She also speaks to Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa Rebecca Ingram about the role of Aotearoa’s tourism industry in our economy.
In the lead up to the election, political parties have been proposing different measures to address the cost of living crisis.
If re-elected, Labour has promised to scrap goods and services tax from fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables from 1 April next year, claiming it would save an average household about $4.25 per week.
First, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, and asked him what impact they believe this policy would have for low to middle income workers and their whanau.
She also asked Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson to weigh in on how effective they believe this policy would be in alleviating cost of living pressures.
To hear from an economist's perspective she spoke to Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, who has been a vocal opponent of the policy. I started off the interview by asking him why he believes the policy would not benefit consumers.
Lastly, she spoke to Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta, who gave her thoughts on the policy and suggested potential alternatives.
Last week, the University of Auckland held its annual Three Minute Thesis competition.
Mahdhi spoke with the winner of the competition and University of Auckland biologist Cam Hoffbeck about her research into the unique gut microbiome of Tuatara and its implications for the species future against the context of a changing climate.
News and Editorial Jessica Hopkins spoke to New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson, economist Brad Olsen, and Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta about addressing the cost of living crisis.
Milly spoke to the Co-Director of the Public Health Communication Centre and Professor in Public Health at the University of Otago Nick Wilson about new research which found that political parties tend to be short-sighted in their policies when it comes to global catastrophic risks.
Mahdhi chatted to biologist and winner of the University of Auckland’s Three Minute Thesis competition Cam Hoffbleck about her research into the unique gut microbiome of Tuatara.
Arno spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March about wealth inequality, the Green’s economic policies, and a proposed wealth tax to provide free universal dental care.
Nicholas spoke with New Zealand Student’s Association’s National President Ellen Dixon about what a universal Study Wage would look like and the potential economic realities surrounding its implementation.
Research from Allianz has shown that young people and students are feeling the worst effects of the cost of living crisis.
Recently there has been a push to implement a universal study wage, spearheaded by the student associations of Otago and Victoria Universities, with support from the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association .
Nicholas spoke with New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations National President Ellen Dixon about the potential benefits and costs of a universal study wage, as well as political support for the idea.
In her weekly catch up with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti, Milly speaks to him about Nationals propsal to ban phones in schools nationwide, how the National Party views Labour's decision to remove GST from fruit and vegetables, as well as discussing in depth National's most recent health announcement with the decision to fund 13 Cancer Treatment Drugs if elected.
This week on the Wire Lou spoke to Emma Willis, associate professor of Drama at the University of Auckland, about the importance of theatre education funding.
This week on the Tuesday Wire, the team are joined in studio by Davide Mercadante to speak all things science, Milly speaks to Adele Gautier from the Breast Cancer Foundation about Nationals latest cancer treatment announcement, Milly has her weekly catchup with Dr Shane Reti talking about cancer treatment funding, GST off fruit and vegetables and banning phones in schools nationwide, Lou also speaks to Emma Willis associate professor of Drama at the University of Auckland about theatre education funding.
This week on the Tuesday Wire Milly speaks to Adele Gautier from the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand on how the organisation feels about National's decision to fund 13 new cancer treatments, none of which include any of the 14 available Breat Cancer Treatments.
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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