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.
In the lead up to the 2023 General Election, The Wire will be speaking to ACT Party MP Karen Chhour about the political hot potatoes of today and tomorrow.
For their first interview, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins asked Chhour about why she got into politics and ACT’s thoughts on the inquiry into the Auckland floods.
This week on the Tuesday Wire, Milly speaks to Dr Jan Eldridge from the University of Auckland about a unique binary star system created by a weak supernova. She talks with Jan about what this binary star system means and what makes it so special.
With the election coming up this year we’re starting to see the formation of concrete policy platforms with one major topic this election being the cost of living.
Prime Minister Hipkins calls their approach a focus on ‘bread and butter issues’ whereas National has come out with a 5-point plan to ‘get inflation under control’.
Casper discussed this plan with National's Shane Reti, beginning by asking him to explain the first point, a proposal to end the reserve bank’s dual mandate.
This week on the Tuesday Wire, Milly speaks to Elizabeth Kerekere from the Green Party about perpetual land leases, an outdated law that has some big consequences for Maori land owners.
This week on the Tuesday Wire, Joel Rindelaub joins Casper and Milly in the studio for Dear Science, Casper has his weekly catch up with Shane Reti on National's five-point plan to tackle the cost of living crisis. Elizabeth Kerekere from the Green party talks to Milly about perpetual land leases, with the greens taking action to halt the outdated law at some point this year. Casper gains insight on the Liberal and Realist approaches to the war in Ukraine, speaking with Robert Patman from the University of Otago. Jan Eldridge and Milly speak about a rare binary star system, the topic of a recently published paper.
With Germany and the US agreeing to send main battle tanks to Ukraine, attention is being brought to the major foreign policy approaches that ideologicaly inform such decisions.
To get a sense of two dominant international relations theories in play in these decisions I spoke to Robert Patman, professor of international relations at the University of Otago.
David brings us City Counselling with Shane Henderson as they talk about clean up efforts in West Auckland after last week’s floods.
Joe looks into Acute Mental Health units remaining in the shadows, he speaks to Associate Professor Ruth Cunningham from the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington on the matter. Joe also looks into mammogram coverage targets missing for the third year in a row, he speaks to Adele Gautier, Research manager at The Breast Cancer Foundation on this issue.
Joe also speaks to Alexandra Xanthaki a UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, United Kingdom, about the commending of the IOC for considering admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral contestants.
Daniel looks into ChatGPT and how AI impacts humanity, he speaks to Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts in Boston on the topic. He also speaks to Kyle Lewis, founder and researcher at Think Tank Autonomy about a 4 day work week.
Acute mental health care units remain in the shadows, neither fully integrated into general hospitals nor part of the community, researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington, say. Joe spoke to the lead researcher of this study, Associate Professor Ruth Cunningham on this matter.
Launched by OpenAI in November 2022, ChatGPT can do a lot of things. It can write coherent paragraphs of arguments and stories. It can write movie scripts, poems, make lectures for teachers, write essays and lyrics for songs. Recent research shows it Can even write scholarly articles that would be accepted by journals. Then there is also Dall-E an AI system that generates images and artwork
How should we value these technologies? What will be the effects of such technologies on our creative process?
Daniel talked with Nir Eisikovits, professor in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts to reflect on these questions.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 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
With the rise of fast fashion outlets like Shein and Temu alongside the wider mainstream options available that contribute substantial amounts of clothing waste to landfill, experts are calling for an urgent response on a governance, business, and individual level.
Wire Host Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald about the problem, and the industry response to sustainability, as well as University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the importance of ethical consumption.for individuals.
First, is the interview with Fitzgerald, where she begins by talking about the organisation Mindful Fashion.
Following this, Sara spoke to Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the research he has undertaken around consumerism.
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