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The Wire

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.

Conservation Mining w/ Catherine Delahunty: September 27, 2022

Conservation Mining w/ Catherine Delahunty: September 27, 2022 Conservation Mining w/ Catherine Delahunty: September 27, 2022, 19.95 MB
Tue 27 Sep 2022

A members bill put forwarded by Green party MP Eugenie Sage that would have prevented further mining on conservation land has failed without support from the Labour party.

Previous Labour party policy was to have no new mining, but they have now proposed a review of DOC land instead of an outright mining prohibition.

Casper spoke to Coromandel Watchdog chair Catherine Delahunty about the bill, why many believed it to be important and how it's failure may contradict Labour’s promises.

 

The Wire w/ Casper: September 27, 2022

The Wire w/ Casper: September 27, 2022 The Wire w/ Casper: September 27, 2022, 91.78 MB
Tue 27 Sep 2022

This week on the Tuesday Wire, Allan Blackman joined Casper and Christina in studio to talk science news for the Dear Science segment.

Casper spoke to Dr Shane Reti from the National party, as he does each week, this time discussing the possibility of expelling the Russian ambassador to New Zealand.

To kick off Mental Health Awareness Week, Christina spoke to Netsafe’s Youth Ambassador Andre Fa’aoso about their campaign with Bodyright to promote body positivity.

And Casper had a chat with Catherine Delahunty, the chair of the Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, about mining on conservation land.

The Wire w/ Liam: September 23rd, 2022

The Wire w/ Liam: September 23rd, 2022 The Wire w/ Liam: September 23rd, 2022, 100.45 MB
Fri 23 Sep 2022

Today on the Friday Wire:

Liam spoke to Pippa Coom on their regular City Counselling Segment, chatting about her final report of this council term and the upcoming local elections. 

David spoke to Rebekah Graham from Parents of Vision Impaired about food insecurity amongst some of our country’s poorest people.

Liam also had a chat with Steve Thomas from Arts on Tour about arts funding in Aotearoa New Zealand.

David talked to Corrine Sales from Victoria University of Wellington about the Ukrainian language.

And finally Liam had a chat with the University of Canterbury’s Michelle LaRue about her research using satellites to understand wendell seal populations.

Ukrainian Language w/ Corinne Seals: 23rd September, 2022

Ukrainian Language w/ Corinne Seals: 23rd September, 2022 Ukrainian Language w/ Corinne Seals: 23rd September, 2022, 21.81 MB
Fri 23 Sep 2022

Vladimir Putin claims Russia and Ukraine are one people, denying the country its own history and culture.

Ukrainian language and culture is seeing a renaissance in the face of Russian aggression.

David spoke to Victoria University of Wellington Applied Linguistics Professor Corinne Seals about how Ukrainians are embracing their own identity. 

Food Insecurity w/ Rebekah Graham: September 23rd, 2022

Food Insecurity w/ Rebekah Graham: September 23rd, 2022 Food Insecurity w/ Rebekah Graham: September 23rd, 2022, 12.94 MB
Fri 23 Sep 2022

Food insecurity impacts thousands of New Zealand families every week.

However, the myth that people aren’t making the right life choices still exists.

David spoke to Rebekah Graham from Parents of Vision Impaired about the issue.

Spying Seals From Space w/ Doctor Michelle LaRue: September 23rd, 2022

Spying Seals From Space w/ Doctor Michelle LaRue: September 23rd, 2022 Spying Seals From Space w/ Doctor Michelle LaRue: September 23rd, 2022, 22.62 MB
Fri 23 Sep 2022

A years-long research project  has recently concluded, providing an understanding of the number of Weddell seals in Antarctica. 

The project involved the usage of satellites, which researchers made public and asked volunteers to count the number of seals in the continent.

In their final report of the findings, researchers discovered that the number of seals was much lower than initially thought.

Liam had a chat with Dr Michelle LaRue, an associate professor of Gateway Antarctica at the University of Canterbury, about the findings.

 

Arts Funding Cuts w/ Steve Thomas from Arts On Tour NZ: September 23rd, 2022

Arts Funding Cuts w/ Steve Thomas from Arts On Tour NZ: September 23rd, 2022 Arts Funding Cuts w/ Steve Thomas from Arts On Tour NZ: September 23rd, 2022, 19.3 MB
Fri 23 Sep 2022

Various art groups from throughout New Zealand have recently had their funding cut back by Creative NZ, in the midst of the government entities extension of their Kahikatea Scheme.

This includes the Shakespeare globe theatre, an artist residency at the home of painter Colin McCahon, and the Arts On Tour NZ .

The scheme has brought in important new talent for funding, but the letting go of groups who’ve received funding in the ast has raised questions about expanding arts funding.

To learn more, Liam had a chat with Steve Thomas, the artistic director of Arts on Tour, about how they’re planning to adapt.

 

Concerns surrounding Alzheimer's Post-Diagnostic Care w/ Catherine Hall: September 22, 2022

Concerns surrounding Alzheimer's Post-Diagnostic Care w/ Catherine Hall: September 22, 2022 Concerns surrounding Alzheimer's Post-Diagnostic Care w/ Catherine Hall: September 22, 2022 , 17.08 MB
Thu 22 Sep 2022

Alzheimers NZ is appalled that as many as 30,000 New Zealanders with dementia and around as many care partners can’t get the post-diagnostic community support they need. The latest World Alzheimer Report, which was released last night, by Alzheimer’s Disease International, says the lack of post-diagnostic care for people living with dementia is a global problem.

Joe spoke to Alzheimer NZ Chief Executive Catherine Hall on the matter.

The Wire w/ Joe: September 22, 2022

The Wire w/ Joe: September 22, 2022 The Wire w/ Joe: September 22, 2022, 108.43 MB
Thu 22 Sep 2022

This week on The Wire for Rāpare Thursday!

As per usual, Tuva’a brings us our regular chat with Labour's Andrew Little.

Joe speaks to Mohamed Elkharboutly from Massey University about traditional knowledge being the key to building cyclone-resistant homes in Fiji. Joe also talks to the Chief Executive of Alzheimers NZ, Catherine Hall, about global research indicating concerns in Alzheimers post diagnostic care.

Frances brings us Greendesk! She speaks to CEO Heather Saunderson from Keep New Zealand Beautiful about Clean Up Week.

Joe also speaks to SAFE for Animals CEO Debra Ashton about new data revealing the failure of the international live export trade to protect New Zealand’s animals.

That's us for the Thursday Wire!

 

Live Export Trade failing to protect Aotearoa's animals w/ Debra Ashton: September 22, 2022

Live Export Trade failing to protect Aotearoa's animals w/ Debra Ashton: September 22, 2022 Live Export Trade failing to protect Aotearoa's animals w/ Debra Ashton: September 22, 2022, 16.47 MB
Thu 22 Sep 2022

Information obtained through an Official Information Act requests has revealed that as many as ten times more animals could be dying shortly after live export voyages compared with during the journey.

Joe spoke to SAFE for Animals CEO Debra Ashton on this matter.

 

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025 AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025, 19.24 MB
Thu 3 Apr 2025

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

Tamatha Paul’s comments on the police and the government’s announcement on the supermarket duopoly w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 3 April, 2025

Tamatha Paul’s comments on the police and the government’s announcement on the supermarket duopoly w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 3 April, 2025 Tamatha Paul’s comments on the police and the government’s announcement on the supermarket duopoly w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 3 April, 2025, 8.39 MB
Thu 3 Apr 2025

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.

International Desk: The impact of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court w/ Dr Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria: 3 April, 2025

International Desk: The impact of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court w/ Dr Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria: 3 April, 2025 International Desk: The impact of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court w/ Dr Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria: 3 April, 2025, 14.4 MB
Thu 3 Apr 2025

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.

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025 Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025, 28.55 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

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:

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025 The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025, 11.36 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

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.

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025, 25.71 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

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.

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025 Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025, 32.04 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

This week on Dear Science our expert Dr. Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about various April Fools pranks in the world of science, including the 'Sheep Albedo Hypothesis' from here in Aotearoa. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025 Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025, 18.03 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

Last week the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul made comments about police presence in Wellington, particularly how increased police activity made some feel unsafe. She also noted some discriminatory and harmful behaviour from police officers towards Wellington’s homeless population. These comments, presented at a panel hosted by the University of Canterbury’s Greens and Peace Action Ōtautahi, were Paul restating feedback she had received from her constituents in Wellington central. 

The response to Tamatha Paul’s comments was extremely critical from all sides of the political spectrum, involving feedback such as “insane” from prime minister Christopher Luxon, “unwise” and “stupid” from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and “just weird” from ACT leader David Seymour. The comments and their responses lead to a series of articles across all major New Zealand news networks. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the substance of Tamatha Paul’s comments and whether the seemingly disproportionate reaction is appropriate.

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025 Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025, 6.86 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

On Sunday, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced plans to combat the supermarket duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths. This could include breaking-up or restructuring the current chains, with Cabinet also announcing a formal request for information, or RFI, into the matter.

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel,  spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this announcement, and whether she, and the party, thinks this will be enough to address food accessibility in Aotearoa.

We also discussed the comments made by Green MP, Tamatha Paul, about the police, and whether she believes these comments have become sensationalised.

Finally, we discussed the party’s calls for mandatory police body cameras.

But first, they started off by asking Kemp about how the party are feeling about Nicola Willis’ most recent announcements into the supermarket duopoly.

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025 RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025, 7.25 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

Last week, the government announced its plans for reforming the Resource Management Act, or the RMA, introducing two acts to replace the current RMA. The plan is to bring the two acts before the select committee next year, passing them just before the next election. 

For our weekly catch up News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about this reform, working with the opposition, and the lack of a Treaty clause.

We also talked about concerns that the health and police system in Aotearoa are failing, following an 11-year old being misidentified as a 20-year old by police and being administered antipsychotic drugs.

But first, we touched on the RMA reform.