Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Jessica Hopkins, Castor Chacko, Nicholas Lindstrom, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Amnesty International has condemned the recent execution of Kenneth Smith in the US State of Alabama, and is calling for a complete moratorium on use of the death penalty.
As part of its Write for Rights Campaign, where every year people from 170 countries take action by writing letters, signing petitions, and more to call on governments to challenge injustices, Amnesty International is calling for another looming death penalty case in Alabama to be stopped.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Amnesty International Aotearoa, Senior Campaigner, David Vega about this.
News and editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Amnesty International Aotearoa Senior Campaigner, David Vega about their opposition to recent executions in the US state of Alabama.
Lawyer Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, English, Scottish, Irish descent) about her new educational resource, ‘Understanding Te Tiriti – a handbook about Te Tiriti o Waitangi’.
She chatted to the co-founders of Petitions for Peace, a platform that allows people to sign multiple petitions at once, urging for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
For Get Action! she interviewed community organiser and advocate in healthcare, education, and social work, and founder of Paid Placements Aotearoa, Bex Howells about her calls to address long-term workforce shortages by funding student placements.
And she spoke to Head of Operations at PD Pet Insurance Sheryl Atkins about pet oral health and how pet owners can save money.
‘Understanding Te Tiriti – a handbook about Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ is a new guide created by lawyer Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, English, Scottish, Irish descent).
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Smail about the handbook and what she hopes people take away from it.
She started off by asking Smail about her background as a legal counsel in the Waitangi Tribunal and in creating educational resources about Te Tiriti.
New ESR data has shown cases of meningococcal disease in Kiwi teens and young adults has increased by 88% compared to last year.
The data also shows Maori and Pasifika toddlers, as well as Maori youth, make up the majority of the increased numbers.
The Wire producer Sofia spoke to the Head nurse of Havelock North High School Caryn Williams about the growing concerns of meningitis in Aotearoa and the accessibility of vaccines.
In 2018, the Women in Urbanism organisation conducted a survey that found more than 75% of women experienced harassment while using public transport, cycling, or walking.
The current urban space, which is typically masculine in its design, has been found to not accommodate the different ways in which Women navigate around cities.
Current chair of Women in Urbanism Aotearoa, Emma McInnes spoke to producer Sofia about a new survey being conducted regarding issues identified by wāhine in urban space.
The survey, which closes on the 16th of February, seeks information and experiences from women, non-binary, and marginalised groups that can ultimately be turned into data used for better change.
The Tuesday Wire team is joined by Dr Allan Blackman for Dear Science. The team discusses new developments in genetic editing, the scientific ramifications of the Dunning-Kruger effect and the dangers of eating salad in space.
Nicholas catches up with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti about the extent of his party’s support for the "Treaty Principle's" bill and the interim ruling made by the International Court of Justice regarding South Africa’s case against Israel.
Nicholas also spoke to Dr Treasa Dunworth for an in-depth analysis of the ICJ's interim ruling in South Africa's case against Israel.
Sofia speaks to Head nurse of Havelock North School Caryn Williams about the growing concerns of meningitis in Aotearoa.
They also spoke to Emma McInnes current chair of Women in Urbanism about a new survey being conducted regarding issues identified by wāhine in urban space.
The Tuesday Wire team is joined by Dr Allan Blackman for Dear Science.
The team discusses new developments in genetic editing, the scientific ramifications of the Dunning-Kruger effect and the dangers of eating salad in space.
The International Court of Justice has released an interim ruling in South Africa’s case against Israel.
South Africa has accused Israel of being in breach of their obligations under the United Nations Convention on Genocide.
The ICJ has ruled that they have jurisdiction to preside over the claims made by South Africa and in the interim have ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide and punish comments that incite genocide against Palestinians.
For an in-depth analysis of the court's ruling and its ramifications Nicholas spoke to expert in international law Dr Treasa Dunworth.
Two recent events have caused backlash against Eden Park. The confiscation of Palestinian flags from pro-Palestine protestors at the park, and the hosting of a Hindu Nationalist Rally attended by prominent New Zealand MPs.
Caeden spoke to GP, filmmaker, and activist Dr Sapna Samant about why these actions got backlash, and the consequences of ignoring Hindu Nationalism in Aotearoa New Zealand.
On Wednesday Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni dominated political headlines with news that she is believed to be a contestant on this year's season of Celebrity Treasure Island.
The last MP to compete on a reality TV show was David Seymour, who competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018. This appearance resulted in a now infamous video of Seymour twerking in 80s getup.
Last years Celebrity Treasure Island also drew headlines for including famous political figures, notably Tame Iti.
Political news this week has also included an announcement from Paul Goldsmith that the Government is looking at stopping election day voter enrolment due to the administrative burden.
Caeden asked about both these topics for our weekly catch-up with Carmel Sepuloni. They started by asking if she would appear in Celebrity Treasure Island.
On the 19th of December 2022, Farzana Yaqubi, a 21 year old law student at AUT, was murdered by a man who had been repeatedly stalking her and sending her threatening messages on social media. In the months leading up to her murder, Farzana made multiple police reports with evidence of her experienced stalking, urging law enforcement to intervene. However, her reports were effectively disregarded and treated as low priority, as there are no official laws in Aotearoa that criminalise stalking.
Farzana’s murder triggered a call to the government from numerous women’s rights advocates across the motu to come up with more effective legislation to criminalise stalking and establish more effective preventative measures in law enforcement.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Leonie Morris from the Auckland Women’s Centre, to discuss a petition calling for the official criminalisation of stalking.
If you're interested, you can sign the petition here:
For Dear Science this week Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about an orangutan treating its own injury, beluga whales changing the shape of their foreheads, and the development of skin burn healing bandages from plant based materials.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party’s Carmel Sepuloni I ask about MPs getting a pay raise, recent polling results that showed an increase in support for Labour, and a new policy from Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka which would prioritise whānau with tamariki for social housing.
Weekly Palestine protests have taken place in Britomart since last October, and an action in support of Palestine with several hundred students took place at the University of Auckland last night.
For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden asked Councillor Shane Henderson for his stance on the Palestine protests, as well as Council’s view more generally.
They also ask about the community impacts of half priced public transport for under 25s, which ended on May 1st.
The government recently made a series of changes to the licensing requirements for early childhood centres to be able to operate.
These include repealing the network approval provisions for people looking to establish early learning centres and removing the Person Responsible Staff requirements to have a full teaching licence.
The government justified these reforms by saying regulation cuts would make it easier for early childhood centres to operate, thus addressing Aotearoa’s teacher shortage.
However, many Kaiako working in early childhood education have said deregulation does not address the root causes of the teacher shortage, and that more focus is needed on addressing pay inequality for teachers within the sector.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Early childhood Kaiako and member of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Hayley Cross, to discuss a petition from the union to the government calling for pay parity in early childhood education.
The coalition government has made changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, including allowing landlords to charge an additional bond of up to two weeks rent on top of the standard bond of up to four weeks, if a tenant wishes to have a pet on the property.
No-cause evictions have also been reintroduced, allowing landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason, provided they give them 90 days notice.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about these changes.
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