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.
Biosecurity New Zealand is implementing tougher border control protections to stop foot and mouth disease from entering the country and infecting our bovine population.
David spoke to the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O'Connor on the matter.
Researchers sampled almost 140 kākā nestlings born in Wellington over two seasons, finding that more than a third had detectable levels of lead in their blood, something that’s usually rare in wild populations.
Joe spoke to co-author of the study Professor Brett Gartrell, a Professor in Wildlife Health at Massey University, on the subject.
A recent survey of New Zealand workplaces revealed more than a third have no workplace well-being plan in place. Yet it is necessary, now more than ever, for organisations to understand what a healthy work environment looks like and to provide it for their employees.
The 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act requires workplaces to look after the physical and mental health and well-being of their staff. This means looking at work through a health and safety lens and understanding the risks that affect people’s well-being at work.
Joe spoke to Dougal Sutherland, a Clinical Psychologist from Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, on the matter
The Green Desk is back! This week Frances spoke with Megan Williams, a sustainability advocate from the TIA, about the Sustainability Tourism Commitment.
Tuva’a speaks to Labour Party’s Andrew Little about the state of the health workforce.
Joe speaks to Dougal Sutherland a Clinical Psychologist from Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington about the importance of workplaces to have well-being plans. Joe also speaks to Professor Brett Gartrell, a Professor in Wildlife Health at Massey University about traces of lead being found in Wellington kākā nestlings.
David speaks to Hon Damien O’Connor about Foot and Mouth Disease
And for this weeks Green Desk, Frances spoke with Megan Williams, a sustainability advocate from the TIA, about the Sustainability Tourism Commitment.
Aotearoa’s Uni students are spending over half of their income on rent, are regularly not able to afford basic necessities, and skip class because transport to campus is too expensive.
The People's Inquiry into Student Wellbeing was released on Monday, and gave us a stark look at the dire conditions students are in while navigating their degrees.
The Green Party is calling upon the government to lift student incomes and put rent controls in place to reverse the normalisation of student poverty in Aotearoa as we creep further into a cost of living crisis.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Chlöe Swarbrick, the Green Party’s Tertiary Education Spokesperson about the issue.
Aneeka chats with our European correspondent Cameron Adams about heat waves, Ukraine, and Russia on this week's Eurovision.
Alex speaks to ACT Party deputy leader Brooke van Velden about the rise in construction costs and ACT’s call for a short term monetary policy remit to address inflation.
Emilia speaks to Jo Cribb from MindTheGap about data released yesterday that showed a major pay gap between Pasifika and non-Pasifika
And Emilia also speaks to Green Party’s Chlöe Swarbrick about student poverty.
Research released yesterday showed that there is a big pay gap between Pasifika and non-Pasifika in New Zealand, and most of it can’t be explained even after accounting for things like differences in occupation and educational achievement.
The research, conducted by AUT and published by the Human Rights Commission was the first time the pay gap had been looked at closely in terms of ethnicity, and the findings were dismal.
For every dollar a Pākehā man earns, a Pākehā woman earns 89c; a Pasifika man 81c; and a Pasifika woman earns 75c, according to non-profit organisation MindtheGap.
Emilia Sullivan spoke with MindTheGap founder Jo Cribb about this concerning new data.
Here is Mindthegap's petition to the government to mandate pay gap reporting: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/close-the-gender-and-ethnic-pay-gaps-make-pay-gap-reporting-mandatory-for-businesses-in-new-zealand
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently spoke to media saying that the government would announce reforms to the Holidays Act that would impact sick leave entitlements for part time workers.
Under the suggested changes, sick leave entitlements would be processed under an accrual system, meaning that part-time workers working half the hours of their full-time counterparts may only earn half of their previously entitled sick leave.
In that same week, a directive was recently given to Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts to perform elective surgeries.
And earlier this week Associate Education David Seymour announced a review of the funding for early childhood education.
For our weekly Catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Last week, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced plans to double the tourism value by 2034, with increased funding to support the country in reaching this goal. The funding is primarily targeted at increasing the marketing of New Zealand tourism overseas, which has been met with mixed reactions from tourism operators in Aotearoa, many of whom have been struggling with existing tourist numbers.
Also this past week, the New Zealand government imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers for ‘inciting extremist violence’ against Palestinians. While the move has received cross-party support, opposition parties such as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have criticised the government for not taking further action against Israel.
In our weekly catchup with National's Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the new tourism funding.
This week on Dear Science our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about characterising liquid carbon, a New Zealand led cleanup in Antarctica, and plants making their own pesticide.
The ACT Party has recently announced that candidates standing in local elections, if elected, will oppose attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
ACT Local Government spokesperson, Cameron Luxton, says council’s should “focus on what they can control,” and not “costly symbolic declarations”.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move.
We also discussed the government’s sanctions on Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
New Zealand has joined countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway, in banning Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over allegedly “inciting extremist violence" against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and “undermin[ing] peace” for a two-state solution.
Finally, we discussed changes being made to the proposed anti-stalking laws.
But first, we discussed ACT candidates opposing attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
Los Angeles is approaching a week of protests against ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Over 200 protestors have been arrested since the protests began, and restrictions have been placed on protestors, including a curfew.
The White House has sent 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city already, and another 2,000 are expected to be deployed. This is despite California Governor Gavin Newsom attempting to stop their deployment.
For International Desk, I spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the protests.
New Zealand and key allies have imposed sanctions on two “extremist” Israeli politicians for their role in “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank.
However, opposition parties, including Labour as well as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are calling for further action to be taken against Israel.
It comes after Israel kidnapped 12 pro-Palestine activists on international waters, who were intending to break the aid blockade and reach Gaza.
And earlier this week, the National Business released their annual rich list.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
On Tuesday, Aucklanders checked the updated property valuations of their house, for many to find declines in value by 10s of thousands of dollars —- on average, by 9% from when they were last done in 2021.
According to the Council. rating valuations were based on market trends and recent sales activity, as of May 1 2024.
Wayne Brown said in response to the decreased values, “The economy's been faltering for a while, and It's really driven by government policies rather than Auckland's policies,”
Also, as we get closer to 2026 and the completion of the City Rail Link, Aucklanders have expressed various concerns about the standard of completion, including incorporation of public feedback.
I discuss the incorporation of the wider neighbourhood in Mt Eden at the Maungawhau station and the dismissal of public perspectives at the K Road station
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:
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
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