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.
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.
Biogen has announced that SPINRAZA (nusinersen) – a first-of-its-kind medicine – is the first medicine funded by Pharmac for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the number one cause of genetic death in Kiwi children under two.
SMA is a rare genetic disease that can have a devastating and life-changing impact. In its severe forms, SMA can cause paralysis and difficulty with the most basic functions of life, like breathing and swallowing,3 with babies and children possibly unable to hit major motor milestones like rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, or walking.
Joe spoke to Fiona Tolich a long-term campaigner and advocate for SMA, and a Trustee of Patient Voice Aotearoa, about how significant this is.
Joe speaks to Fiona Tolich, long-term campaigner and advocate for SMA, about Pharmacs funding of SPINRAZA, a first-of-its-kind medicine for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the number one cause of genetic death in Kiwi children under two.
Daniel speaks to Merewalesi Yee, who is a PhD student at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia about her project that seeks to advance the understanding of human migration in Fiji caused by climate change. He also speaks to Leba Gaunavinaka who is a climate change adaptation specialist at the Fijian Ministry of Climate Change about relocating Fijian communities whose land is inhabitable due to climate change.
David chats to Shane Henderson for our regular segment, City Counselling. They look at Auckland Council Group’s Annual Budget 2023/2024. David also speaks to Lachlan Keating from Deaf Aotearoa about creating NZ Sign Language videos for the 2023 census.
For years, politicians and scientists have been talking about a future of migration caused by climate change. In Fiji this migration has already begun. The question is now how to exactly do it.
Daniel spoke with Merewalesi Yee who is pursuing a PHD at the university of Queensland in Brisban Australia. Her project seeks to understand human migration in Fiji caused by climate change and the role of mobility in climate change adaptation.
Leba Gaunavinaka is a climate change adaption specialist at the Fijian ministry of climate change. She helped creating the plan that tries to tackle one of the most urgent problems of the climate crisis: how to relocate communities whose land is soon inhabitable.
The COP15 Biodiversity summit in Montreal, Canada is set to begin today.
The conference of parties is set to specifically target issues of biodiversity and how it links to improving our climate.
The conference was initially meant to take place in China a couple years ago, but was delayed and eventually relocated due to covid restrictions.
To learn about the conference's big issues, Liam spoke to Stephen Hartley, from Victoria University of Wellington about the current state of Biodiversity and what this conference should aim to achieve.
SAFE is urgently-renewing calls for a Commissioner for Animals, following the Ministry for Primary Industries’ investigation into heat stress-related deaths of several pigs on a livestock truck earlier this year.
The deaths occurred aboard a livestock truck and trailer operated by Te Awamutu company Osbourne’s Transport
Joe spoke to Will Appelbe, Head of Investigations at SAFE for Animals to get some insight into the issue.
Delicious Revolution has kicked off an ambitious nationwide crowdfunding campaign to plant 20,000 sunflowers in support of Starship children’s hospital.
Director of new Auckland-based start-up, Delicious Revolution, Levi Brinsdon-Hall has teamed up with the Starship Foundation to create an immersive sunflower installation across four different gardens at the Greenlane Clinical Centre, a location where many Starship children receive treatment. His vision is to bring joy to patients, staff and the community.
Joe chats with Levi Brinsdon-Hall about the project.
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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