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.
Russia has recently announced their annexation of Ukrainian territory, but the move has been deemed illegal, and condemned by many actors. Aotearoa has joined the chorus of condemnation this week. Stella speaks to Geoffrey Miller, a geopolitical analyst from The Democracy Project, about the significance of our nation’s response.
Today, Stella hosts The Green Desk, as Frances is away. She speaks to one of the authors of a global study about the role that termites may play in climate change. Cate Macinnis-Ng is an associate professor in the school of biological sciences at the university of auckland, and has a particular research interest in plant responses to climatic conditions and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity more broadly.
It was announced this week that Auckland’s rail network is undergoing a rebuild, which will see major rail lines temporarily close. Buses are expected to replace these services, but AT and other transport agencies are urging Immigration and Transport Minister Michael Wood to allow bus driver shortages to be filled by overseas workers. News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Auckland Transport Metro Services Manager Derek Koper.
University of Auckland post-doctoral candidate Annie West published a study last week that identified Kākāpō as having a markedly less diverse gut microbiome than other herbivores. Stella speaks to her about the research.
Tāmaki Makurau's rail network is undergoing a major rebuild, which will see rail lines across the city temporarily close over the coming years.
These services are expected to be replaced by buses.
Three regional transport agencies, including Auckland Transport are calling on immigration minister Michael Wood to urgently review immigration settings to address the country's bus driver shortage.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Louisa Jones from First Union who is concerned that failure to address existing conditions for bus drivers could discourage people from using public transport.
Staff from all 8 of Aotearoa’s universities have voted to strike tomorrow, demanding a pay rise of 8 per cent to match inflation.
87 per cent of Tertiary Education Union members voted in favour of the strike action, which comes just weeks before students are set to begin exams, citing difficulties keeping up with the cost of living, and "unmanageable workloads" caused by persistent cost cutting and underinvestment in staff.
Emilia spoke to Dr Sean Sturm, a University of Auckland lecturer who is a bargaining team representative at the Tertiary Education Union
On this week’s installation of Eurovision, I chat with our European Correspondent Cameron Adams from Berlin about Ukraine, elections in Bosnia, and more.
Casper speaks to David Seymour in our weekly chat with the ACT Party, this week, they chat about the ACT party's calls to reduce or scrap mandatory covid isolation periods, as well as their party fundraiser for Ukraine.
Emilia chats to Dr Sean Sturm from the Tertiary Education Union about their decision to strike for better pay.
She also chats with our European correspondent Cameron Adams in this week's installation of Eurovision
And News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Louisa Jones from First Union about bus driver shortages across Aotearoa.
That's us for the Wednesday Wire! See you next week.
Last week, a 1News Kantar Public Poll found 50% of Kiwis don’t want Aotearoa to become a republic. Just 27% said they were in favour of ditching the monarchy, a drop from last November, when the same question was asked.
To discuss this poll and whether it’s time for Aotearoa to become a republic, Christina spoke with Lewis Holden, chair of the New Zealand Republic campaign.
On Breakfast this morning, bFM Breakfast farewelled Auckland Mayor Phil Goff as he prepares to retire from politics.
The Wire team revisited his very first interview on bFM with Mikey Havoc all the way back in 2017. Rachel then asked Phil Goff about what he was able to achieve during his tenure.
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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