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.
David brings us City Counselling, our regular segment with Auckland Councillor with Mike Lee. This week they discussed the Auckland Council’s draft proposal for the 2023/2024 budget.
Daniel looks at cuts in Art Funding but with a focus on the comedy and theatre community. He spoke to Lauren Whitney, the General Manager of the New Zealand Comedy Trust, Mark Harvey who is part of Arts Makers Aotearoa and Cat Ruka, the Executive Director of Basement Theater
We bring you The Best of The Wire from 2022 as well, where we recap the year that was in news and current affairs. We revisit our interviews with Dr Nic Rawlence, from the paelogenetics lab at the University of Otago, about all the fossil related chats we’ve had throughout the duration of this year.
David speaks to Professor Corinne Seals, an Applied Linguistics Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, about the Ukrainian language and culture seeing a renaissance in the face of Russian aggression.
And our youngest reporter, Iris Butler, interviews the Hamilton City Council about Lime scooters in the Waikato River.
Mayor Brown' draft for the annual 2023/24 budget includes drastic cuts for the arts. The plan is to stop regional grants for arts, events, community recreation and heritage. 8 million in total. And the removal of 20 million from community and social development programmes, which includes art events, education programmes and community programmes.
Daniel spoke with Lauren Whitney general manager of New Zealand comedy trust, an organisation that produces the New Zealand international comedy festival and supports the comedy industry.
Daniel also spoke with Mark Harvey who is part of Arts Makers Aotearoa, which was formed by a group of arts makers who are concerned about the lack of support for the arts in this country and he is also part the creative arts industries faculty at the university of auckland
Lastly Daniel spoke with Cat Ruka the executive director of Basement Theater.
We spoke about the impact of these plans on the city of auckland and the consequences these plans will have for individual and community wellbeing and mental health. And what is exactly the intrinsic value of art?
With the Russia-Ukraine war, a continent wide economic crisis, and political turmoil throughout many prominent countries - it’s been a very eventful year for Europe.
We’ve had bFM correspondent Cameron ADams keeping us updated on the happenings of Europe for nearly all of 2022, and he’s come on for the last time this year to discuss what’s been happening this week, and to take a look back at all that’s happened over the past twelve months.
It's the best of The Wire! We have a few new pieces, and take a look back at some of our favourites from 2022.
We take a look back at Tuva’as live and in person chat with Health Minister Andrew Little from June of this year,
I’ll also be replaying my chat with Taylor McGregor from Save our Venues about the importance of small music videos and the struggles this year has seen them put through,
Hanna is speaking to 0800 What’s Up about mental health support during the holiday season,
We also have a Tomorrow's World about Blood Transfusion,
And lastly I’ll be talking to Cameron Adams for our last Eurovision of 2022!
While the rest of the country closes shop over the holiday season, mental health helplines remain open - including on public holidays. 0800 What's Up, a helpline and chat service for rangatahi, are keeping their phone lines running to meet not only existing needs, but also to address the additional distress the holiday season can bring for some.
Hanna spoke to Ban, What's Up's Team Leader, about the services they provide, why they are continuing to provide help over the holidays, and how the crisis in mental healthcare exerts pressure on helplines.
With widespread flooding affecting Tāmaki Makaurau, pet insurance specialist PD Insurance is advising those with cats and dogs to take special precautions to protect their furry family members.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Chief Operating Officer Michelle Le Long about what advice they have for pet owners.
For their final interview this year, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to ACT's Brooke Van velden about the Government's expansion to the immigration fast track list. They also discussed Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenksy addressing Aotearoa’s parliament and what we can expect from the ACT Party next year.
Then she spoke to Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker about how people can minimise the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19 this summer.
And for our Best of the Wire special, we recapped the year that was in news and current affairs. This year, Emilia Sullivan spoke to Geoff McLay from Victoria University Law School about the Supreme Court hearing arguments in a case against Aotearoa’s seven largest polluting companies. On Eurovision, our Europe Correspondent, Cameron Adams, spoke to Emillia about Russia’s mobilisation and so-called annexation referendums in Ukraine. And on The Green Desk, Frances spoke to Gabrielle Feather, a PhD student at the University of Tasmania about the changing climate and its connection to mental health.
The holiday season is approaching us, but one thing that’s not on anyone's Christmas wish list is Covid-19.
Health officials have warned that over the summer, Covid-19 case numbers could peak at more than 11,000 a day with a hundred hospitalisations each day.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker about how people can minimise the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19 this summer.
She started off their interview by asking what is expected to cause this influx in case numbers?
For Tomorrow's World, Stella Huggins speaks to Professor in Critical Health Psychology at Massey University, Sarah Riley about Menstruation Tracking Apps.
And the Wire team brings you the best of the Monday Wire, recapping the year that was in news and current affairs.
This year, Stella Huggins spoke to former Auckland Deputy Mayor, Penny Hulse about an ongoing review on the future of local government.
We revisit Aotearoa becoming the first country in the world to have explicitly legalised drug checking. Spike Keith spoke to Know Your Stuff’s Brin Ryder about drug testing services at summer festivals.
Spike also interviewed the NZ Drug Foundation’s Sarah Helm about their findings that overdose deaths in the past five years have increased by 50%.
And finally, we look back at Stella's interview with Chris Wilson, a Senior Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, about his report on his colleague James Halpin, infiltrating Action Zelandia, a far-right extremist group in Aotearoa.
Menstruation tracking apps: who's using them? For what, and when? Do they accommodate a diverse range of experiences and bodies? How do these apps perpetuate a narrow definition of what a 'normal' body is? Sarah Riley from Massey University speaks to Stella about her research on the topic, from a clinical health perspective.
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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