Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Aotearoa is currently dealing with the devastating effects of two consecutive extreme weather events—flooding followed by a cyclone.
This week, News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins asked Karen about the government’s initial cyclone emergency support, which includes funding for people, businesses, and councils affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, emergency repairs to get essential transport networks operating again, and appointing lead cyclone recovery ministers for affected areas and Grant Robertson as the lead Cyclone Recovery Minister.
Then, she asked Chhour about Auckland Pride’s calls for gender-affirming healthcare to be more accessible for Irawhiti and trans people.
A global climate strike is set to take place on Friday, 3 March.
In Aotearoa, Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau have teamed up with School Strike for Climate and other Fridays for Future groups across the moto to demand climate action.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Sophora from Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau about this kaupapa.
To start off our interview, she asked Sophora about the Fridays for Future movement, and how it started.
On The Wire for Rāapa Wednesday, News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Sophora from Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau about a youth-led global climate strike happening on 3 March.
For their regular catch up, the ACT Party’s Karen Chhour discusses the government’s initial cyclone emergency support and calls to make gender-affirming healthcare more accessible for Irawhiti and transgender people.
And Producer Troy Matich interviews Maggie Shui, and Eleanor about the new Re: docuseries, Dating While Asian.
The devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle have compounded discussions that were already underway after the intense flooding in Auckland two weeks earlier.
One topic on the minds of many is infrastructure. Casper had a chat about this with National’s Shane Reti – why it failed so bady, what do we need to do to fix it and whether it's time for New Zealand to change our approach to building for extreme weather.
Forestry slash has been blamed for a lot of the damage caused by the cyclone and Milly spoke with Tairāwhiti farmer and national board member for Federated Farmers, Toby Williams, about the issue.
Casper had a chat with Gary Taylor, CEO of the Environmental Defence Society on the topic of managed retreat.
Managed retreat is a phrase that’ll come up a lot as National and Labour work on bipartisan legislation that will create the foundations of a multi-government strategy.
This week, on Casper's final Tuesday Wire show, Joel Rindelaub chatted about animals that do drugs for Dear Science. Casper talked to National’s Shane Reti about infrastructure resilience and Gary Taylor from the Environmental Defence Society about managed retreat.
Milly spoke with Toby Williams from the Federated Farmers regarding the issue of forestry slash. She also talked to Tony Mitchell from Bike Auckland about Auckland cycleway plans.
Auckland Transport has come under fire for pausing the works on cycleway work in Auckland. Due to local government and mayoral changes, many cyclists have been left with disconnected routes, with approved plans that have been left on pause.
Milly had a chat with Tony Mitchell from Bike Auckland about the issue.
Several important conferences concerning trade deals between New Zealand and other countries, particularly Australia, are coming up this month and in July. Economic trade agreements are to be discussed and debated, and this is of major importance to New Zealand, a country that relies both on import and export to have a functioning economy.
Arno spoke to Professor Jennifer Curtin, director of the Public Policy Institute at the University of Auckland, to find out more about trade agreements. Arno started by asking what outcomes or information Professor Curtin hoped to see from the upcoming Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School event.
From Dec 27 to Jan 18, all train lines across Tāmaki will be shutting down for summer maintenance, a closure which is expected to be the last of its kind ahead of the opening of the City Rail Link.
The current measles outbreak in Tāmaki is being continually monitored, with exposure sites being updated daily on info.health.nz. The public are encouraged to track whether they’ve been in possible contact with the virus, and get up to date on any vaccinations to limit possibilities of transmission.
Auckland Council are supporting arts initiatives across the summer months, with Music in the Park kicking off in early January, and Movies in the Park following in February.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about these topics, and also asked for comment following the attack by two gunmen at Bondi Beach earlier this week.
Yesterday, the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project, or NHDP, showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September. The report also found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
As well as this, Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has taken effect. And according to an interim report into social media harm, a social media ban for children in New Zealand is worth exploring further.
And last week the Government announced the replacement of the Resource Management Act, or RMA. The coalition said its replacement will slash red tape and supercharge growth.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s new RMA reforms and a potential social media ban in New Zealand.
But first they discussed the latest report on Auckland homelessness.
The Parliament’s Workforce and Education Committee has released an interim report on an inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders face online. The government has recently announced an overhaul of the Resource Management Act and introduced two new bills in its place, the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.
For our weekly catch-up with the National Party, Producer Vihan spoke to MP Carl Bates, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Workforce and Education Committee, about the new findings of the interim report, the new Natural Environment Bill, and the Fast Track Approval Amendments Bill.
The government has announced the overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which will be replaced by two different bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. The RMA is set to be fully replaced by 2029.
The RMA, which has been in effect for 34 years, is polarising across the political spectrum.
In announcing the reforms, RMA Reform Minister, Chris Bishop, says that “pretty much everything” will be quicker and less costly under the new regime.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about this overhaul of the RMA.
They also discussed The Education and Workforce Committee’s interim report on the harms young people experience online, with a majority recommending a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds.
But first, they discussed the overhaul of the RMA.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
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