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.
As per usual, we have Dear Science with Alan Blackman today. We talk about Ernest Rutherfod, sex and bloody mozzies.
Jess speaks to Caitlin Wilson, a YWRC Help Centre Co-ordinator, and Dr Mike Webster about new research published by the Human Rights Commission that shows there is still a high prevalence of workplace bullying and harassment in Aotearoa, with two in five people saying they have been bullied at work. Joe also looks at this new research. He speaks to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo on the matter.
Joe also speaks to Rothman Kam, a Senior Lecturer of Food Science & Microbiology at AUT about how Avocado seeds are being used to manufacturer a new snack and his findings can be used to address avocado wastage.
Joe speaks to Greenpeace about the UN Treaty to Protect Sea Life and how the UN is failing to reach an agreement, Anne Daniels from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation about the Primary Health Care rally happening today, Dr Makarena Dudley, a Dementia Researcher from the University of Auckland, about recruiting more Māori participants in their studies. Finally, Joe speaks to Lisa Woods, Campaign Director from Amnesty International Aotearoa about the latest Ombudsman Review of Otago Corrections Facility and it highlights systemic issues in the treatment of inmates
Trishil speaks to Dr Nicki Jackson from Alcohol Health Watch about the Alcohol Harm Minimisation Bill for our regular fornightly segment OurActionStation.
The Office of the Ombudsman has last week released its report on an unannounced inspection of Otago Corrections Facility from October 2020. Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand has highlighted serious concerns about ongoing human rights issues shown in this report.
Joe spoke to Lisa Woods, the Campaign Director at Amnesty International on the matter.
Greenpeace is calling on the New Zealand government to keep pushing for a Global Ocean Treaty as international negotiations falter at the last minute. Despite making good headway, United Nations member states failed to come to a consensus late last week as the fifth, and latest round of negotiations for a global treaty to govern the high seas wrapped in New York.
With the talks suspended, world leaders will need to call an emergency meeting to reconvene and finalise a Treaty, which if done right would deliver ocean sanctuaries that can protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.
Joe spoke to Ellie Hooper, the Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, on the matter.
The Dementia Prevention Research Clinic (DPRC) study is a national, multi-disciplinary, longitudinal research study that aims to improve understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia, in order to develop interventions that delay or prevent progression to dementia. This national cohort (266 participants enrolled to date) provides an opportunity to explore potential risk or protective factors within the ethnic diversity of the Aotearoa, New Zealand population. The numbers affected by dementia in Māori are not yet known, but the number of kaumātua 65 years or older increased by 41% between 2013 and 2018 suggesting a disproportionate increase in the prevalence of dementia for Māori is expected. Ensuring inclusion of Māori is therefore critical, not only to understand their specific risk for already identified modifiable risk factors for dementia, but also because we may identify novel risk factors, and unique protective factors that can be used to promote longer healthy lives.
Joe spoke to Dr Makarena Dudley, one of the co-authors of the study, on the matter.
Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) will be holding public rallies today in five main centres to call on the Government to ensure Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand urgently provides the funding needed to properly value Aotearoa’s Primary Health Care nurses.
Joe spoke to Anne Daniels, The President of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, on the matter.
The Labour Party was one of many to criticise the National Parties policy announcements of minimising welfare for youth and focusing on pushing them into work.
However, the Auckland Action Against Poverty group has called out the government for their own actions of sanctioning those on the benefit.
They claim Labour has cut benefits of around 4000 people who aren't well, are injured or living with a disability in the last 5 years.
To learn more, Liam spoke to Brooke Stanley Pao from the organisation about their frustrations.
The Green party recently made renewed calls to the government to sanction Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine following the seizure of the Madleen, a vessel that aimed to deliver food and medical aid to Gaza.
The vessel, which was en route to Gaza, was intercepted in the Mediterranean by the Israeli Defence Forces before being rerouted to Israel with all those on board, among whom was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently announced the Parent Boost Visa, part of the government’s self-described commitment to supporting parents living overseas to visit and stay with their families here in Aotearoa.
And, over in the United States, 2000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles in response to protests opposing the city’s recent immigration raids.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about all of these issues
Currently, 19 out of 38 OECD countries use incineration as a form of waste management.
With the process leading to a range of negative impacts, such as air pollution, Co2 emissions and respiratory illnesses, Aotearoa has luckily remained incinerator free.
However, calls have been made by some activists to strengthen New Zealand’s legislation to ensure that incineration facilities are not opened up in Aotearoa.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Sue Coutts from Zero Waste Network New Zealand to discuss a petition calling on the government to keep New Zealand Incinerator-free.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
These past few weeks in politics have seen various issues that we spoke about in our weekly catchup with the National Party.
First up, at the Aotearoa Music Awards, National MP Chris Bishop was heard making disdainful remarks such as “what a load of crap” during a performance by singer Stan Walker.
Second, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngārewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recently suspended from parliament for 21 days for their haka protesting the Treaty Principles Bill. The penalty is far harsher than any previous penalty for an MP, raising questions about whether it is justified or sets a dangerous precedent.
Finally, the government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues in our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, starting with Chris Bishop’s comments at the AMAs.
The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP’s haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country’s history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days.
The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate.
During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden.
For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what’s next for the party.
They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters’ comments regarding Waititi’s moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did.
But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.
As per coalition agreements, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about Seymour’s new position, and what this means for the party.
They also discussed accusations Seymour made regarding submissions to the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In an interview with Guyon Espiner, Seymour claimed that 99.5% of the submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill were driven by ‘bots’ and were ‘fake’ submissions.
Seymour later clarified to RNZ that by bots, he was meaning “online campaigns” creating “non-representative samples” that do not represent the public’s opinion.
The Ministry of Regulations received roughly 23,000 submissions on the bill. Of the submissions. Of the submissions, 0.33% were fully or partially supporting the bill, with 88% being against the bill.
Finally, they discussed the recommended suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs’ Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke standing.
But they, we discussed David Seymour as Deputy Prime Minister.
Auckland Transport are seeking community feedback on a proposal for a new T3 transit lane on Mount Smart Road to relieve congestion during peak times heading towards the Royal Oak roundabout.
Between better public transport systems, a ‘time of use’ charge, and different ways of managing Auckland traffic, Producer Sara asks Councillor Julie Fairey about how Auckland Council hopes to reduce peak-time congestion as the city’s population grows.
She also talk to Julie Fairey about the recent allocation of funds to community-led projects through Ngā Hapori Momoho. This year, the grant which aims to “improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection” has approved funding for eleven community groups, six of which are either Māori organisations or delivering ‘strong Māori outcomes’.
Sara begins with questions about Auckland central congestion.
*unfortunately the audio quality on Julie's end is poor
Last week the government announced a series of changes to 16 national direction instruments under the Resource Management Act that would change the way councils implement local plans and rules.
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, described the changes as removing ‘unnecessary regulations’ for primary industries and investment, with the main changes being: removing freshwater management regulations for councils, removing regulations for the construction of mines and quarries and removing restrictions on non-intensive grazing of beef, cattle and deer in wetlands.
In that same week, Associate Education Minister, David Seymour made a series of changes to the pay parity scheme impacting primary school teachers, where education centres would not need to factor additional and higher qualifications when working out teacher’s starting salaries.
And, just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety minister Brooke van Velden recently announced that she’d be making a series of changes to WorkSafe in order to shift regulators priorities from enforcement to advice.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.
The Budget for 2025 came out two weeks ago, with news for the nation on how funds will be allocated over the coming year. The budget held big news for defence spending, $12 billion over the next four years, including $9 billion of new spending.
The funding is planned to go towards various technologies and equipment for different branches of the military, including replacements for two Air Force Boeing 757 planes and new helicopters to be operated from Navy ships. Defence Minister Judith Collins also announced plans to acquire new killer drones with increased lethality, raising some human rights concerns.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the defence spending announcements, concerns over killer drones, and if this money is best spent on more military equipment.
From 9th June, the United Nations Ocean Conference is being held in France, which is co-hosting the event with Costa Rica.
More than 50 world leaders are expected to attend, with 1500 delegates from almost 200 countries.
The conference follows the world’s first deep-sea mining application for the international seabed, which was submitted to the United States government as opposed to the United Nations regulator.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga), seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace, about the conference.
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