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.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich and Associate Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Auckland, Dr Neal Curtis about Liz Truss resigning after just six weeks as UK Prime Minister.
Victoria University student and disability advocate Alice Mander talks about the panel set to lead a review of Aotearoa’s electoral law.
And for our Bird of the Year special, Jessica interviewed Forest and Bird's Ellen Rykers and several campaign managers about the competition.
Forest and Bird’s annual Bird of the Year competition, Te Manu Rongo-nui o te Tau, is underway, with 71 candidates vying to be 2022’s top bird.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Ellen Rykers from Forest and Bird about why Bird of the Year is so important for raising awareness about Aotearoa’s diverse bird species, 80% of which are facing extinction.
And to help you make your decision, Jessica spoke to several campaign managers about why their bird should get your vote, and why Bird of the Year is important to them.
Welcome to the Thursday Wire! This week on the show...
Stella speaks to Sabrina Manu from Amnesty International and one of the winners of the Gary Ware Legacy Award about their work on a documentary about human trafficking in Aotearoa.Tuva’a has his weekly catch up with Labour’s Andrew Little, and Stella speaks to Juressa Lee from greenpeace Aotearoa about their calls for the UN to drop sponsors like Coca Cola from COP27 climate change talks. On Greendesk this week, Joel Armstrong speaks to Professor Craig Stevens from NIWA and University of Auckland about the state of Aotearoa's Marine environment. Finally, Stella speaks to Ariel Macaiah Heswall about her research into light pollution’s effects on seabirds.
The Gary Ware Legacy Award, run by Amnesty International focuses on facilitating our rangatahi to advocate for human rights. Applications for the next round are open currently! Stella spoke to Sabrina Manu from Amnesty about their work in the space of empowering youth, and a past recipient of the award about her project being created with the grant.
Ahead of COP27, set to begin 6 November, Coca-Cola has been announced as a corporate sponsor. Greenpeace is among those calling for the UN to drop Coca Cola as a sponsor.
Stella spoke to Juressa Lee, Greenpeace Aotearoa plastics campaigner, about their organisations’ calls for the UN to drop Coca Cola as a sponsor for the event.
Today on Green Desk, Joel Armstrong spoke to Professor Craig Stevens from NIWA and the University of Auckland about the state of Aotearoa's marine environment.
A new study from UoA by PhD student Ariel-Micaiah Heswall has tracked collisions that seabirds have as a result of light pollution in Auckland. Stella spoke to Ariel this morning, about her findings.
News and Editorial Director Jess Hopkins speaks to Brooke van Velden in our weekly chat with the ACT Party.
Joe looks at a recent study which shows ocean warming rates being predicted to quadruple by 2090 if we don’t mitigate climate change. He spoke to Dr Kevin Trenberth, from the University of Auckland, who co-authored the study. Joe also speaks to Ariel-Micaiah Heswall from the University of Auckland about the toll light pollution takes on Seabirds.
We have Eurovision with our European Correspondent Cameron Adams, who tells us about The War in Ukraine, Liz Truss and Swiss Chocolate Bunnies. Cameron also speaks to Radical Aid Force, an aid group operating in Ukraine.
A new comprehensive review of global ocean temperature data has allowed researchers to paint a clear picture of ocean warming since the 1950s, and predict future warming scenarios.
They found that if we don’t take action, the rate of ocean warming will be four times larger than the current level by 2090, with dire consequences for all life on Earth.
However, Authors also point out that if the world succeeds in limiting global surface temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, as per the Paris Agreement, the acceleration of ocean warming will stop at around 2030, highlighting the need for urgent action to mitigate climate change
Joe spoke to Dr Kevin Trenberth, from the University of Auckland, who co-authored the study on the matter
Last year, Auckland Council removed 30% of bins from public places with the hopes of saving about $9.5 million over an eight year period. While the council didn’t foresee an increase in littering, last week Stuff published an article sharing the frustrations of residents who observed a growing litter problem in council parks.
Illegal dumping has also been on the rise across Auckland.
With more than 1300 reports per month, the cost of retrieving illegally dumped items is about $2.7 million every year and rising.
Also Mayor Wayne Brown has announced that he wants to see Auckland become the “premier tech city” of New Zealand to boost our global influence and reputation—-- calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute here, which he says could play a key role in guiding new start-ups, so ideas don’t ‘die on the vine’.
Beginning with the problem of rubbish in Auckland, Producer Sara started by asking Julie Fairey if she believed the removal of bins was to blame for increased littering
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
Yesterday the debate in the privileges committee regarding the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi was adjourned until after the upcoming budget announcement.
The Privileges Committee Report and recommended punishments for the three Te Pāti Māori MPs were issued last week for the Haka they performed during a parliamentary session in November 2024 in opposition to the ACT party’s Treaty Principles Bill.
In that same week, the Green party recently issued a call to the government to scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
And the government recently passed the Social Security Amendment Bill, which the government says would support people into employment and off benefits, however, opponents of the bill have said it could harm beneficiaries and lower income New Zealanders.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Just under two weeks ago the government passed the pay equity amendment bill under urgency. This bill would change existing pay equity legislation to make it more restrictive, which the government says will save billions of dollars.
The process was originally introduced to address issues of pay inequity between sectors. While the Equal Pay Act mandates that people working the same job are paid the same regardless of gender, Pay Equity is meant to ensure industries dominated by women are not paid less than similar industries dominated by men. The process has worked by allowing applicants to compare their positions with positions in other sectors with similar workloads, skills, or experience.
The government’s changes will limit the criteria for comparators, allow only industries with over 70% women in the workforce as opposed to the previous 60%, and removing the ability for the authority to award back pay, among other changes.
These changes have been met with criticism from rights organisations, advocacy groups, and opposition parties. In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government’s reasoning behind the Pay Equity Amendment Bill.
The Waitangi Tribunal review into the controversial regulatory standards bill has found that the Crown would be in breach of Treaty principles if it were to introduce the regulatory standards bill to Parliament without more consultation with Māori.
Because of this the tribunal has called for an immediate halt to be put on the bill.
Despite this, the bill is set to be introduced to Parliament today.
The recommendation came after following a one day urgent hearing from the Waitangi Tribunal last week, which was pushed forward from June 6, after it was revealed the bill would be introduced to Parliament today.
Critics of the bill fear it will work against Māori rights and interests. However, the ACT Party, fronted by Minister for Regulation, David Seymour simply say the Tribunal is ‘incorrect’.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court to unpack this further. Discussing why they contest the tribunal’s review, and where they plan to take the bill from here.
We also spoke about the government launching a review into the Waitangi Tribunal, which is heavily backed by ACT - David Seymour saying the tribunal needs to be ‘put in its place’.
Last week, the Privileges Committee recommended Te Pāti Māori co-leaders, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, be “severely censured” with a 21-day suspension, with Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clarke facing a 7-day suspension for their haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Telling RNZ, Judith Collins - the chairperson of the Privileges Committee, says the ruling was unprecedented because the “situation was unprecedented” and said the decision was not taken lightly.
Te Pāti Māori’s lawyer says the punishment given to the MPs is an “absolute disgrace”.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about this, and how she is feeling heading into the debate of the report tomorrow.
We also discussed the Waitangi Tribunals recommendations regarding the Regulatory Standards Bill.
But first, we discussed the Privileges Committee's recommendations.
In 2014, Victoria University of Wellington made an official promise to divest $650,000 worth of investments in fossil fuel companies which, at the time, comprised of 2.1% of the University’s total investments.
However, more than 10 years on, a student-led investigation found that the university still held significant investments in companies like Exxon Mobil and SHELL through third-party investment managers.
A year after a successful petition by Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling on the university to divest funding from Israeli companies, a group of students from Climate Action Victoria University of Wellington have made renewed calls to the university to divest from fossil fuel companies.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Hugh Acton, a member of Climate Action Victoria of University of Wellington, who’s launched a petition calling on the university to disclose their investments in companies involved in fossil fuel production and to divest from them immediately.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.
In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025.
However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.
And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
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