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.
On Monday, the government announced its first emissions reduction plan to meet Aotearoa's climate goals. The $2.9 billion plan targets transport emissions, agriculture emissions, and more sustainable energy alternatives over the next four years. But is it enough?
On the Wire, Jack and Christina spoke to three experts: Robert McLachlan from Massey University’s School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Simon Kingham from the University of Canterbury, and John Burnell from GNS Science.
Christina was joined in studio by AUT Professor Marcus Jones for Dear Science. This week, they spoke about the first photograph of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, how naming species may be contributing to a gender bias, and coronavirus "ghosts", which can linger in our gut long after catching COVID-19.
This week, Jack Horsnell joined the Tuesday Wire team for his first producing shift! Christina and Jack spoke to Robert McLachlan, Simon Kingham, and John Burnell in a report on the government's Emission Reduction Plan and whether it is enough to meet our climate goals.
Jack also spoke to Dr. Greg Treadwell about the rise of citizen journalism.
Christina spoke to Professor Emeritus Innes Asher from the Child Poverty Action Group about eradicating child poverty ahead of the 2022 Budget.
And finally, Aneeka had her regular catch up with the National Party's Dr. Shane Reti. This week they talked about the allied health workers' strike.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, we immediately saw online content created by ordinary people being used to keep the world updated on the war's progress. These people have been labelled as citizen journalists and are still on the frontlines of the conflict producing self made news content. Documenting firefights, shelling’s and war crimes the role of citizen journalists is becoming increasingly important, with content produced by them receiving a lot of attention.
Jack spoke to the head of Journalism at the Auckland University of Technology, Dr Gregory Treadwell, to learn about the role that citizen journalists play.
For years, the government has promised to eradicate child poverty and tackle wealth inequality. But ahead of the Budget 2022, there have been no indications of how the government will address these issues. Christina spoke to Emeritus Professor Innes Asher from the Child Poverty Action Group about the need for action.
On this week’s regular segment in collaboration with OurActionStation, we’re discussing climate accountability. Bernard Schofield, creator of the Climate Accountability Now petition, spoke with Charlie today about what petition signers expect the government. With the climate crisis constantly overshadowing the future, the petition hopes that with correct access to climate information New Zealander’s will take more action to prevent negative climate impact.
This week on the Monday Wire! Today, Joe fills in for Charlie as host while she is away.
Charlie spoke to Action Station on their regular segment, discussing climate accountability this week.
Producer Trishil speaks to Larry Green from Gaspy and Dr Selena Sheng from the Business School at the University of Auckland about consistently rising fuel prices. He also speaks to Rich Rowley from Brain Badge and Dane Dougan from Autism NZ about Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Joe talks to Cass Thompson, an Organiser from the PSA, who joins us from the Health Worker's Strike today. She speaks about the impact this strike has on the health system and why it is so important. He also speaks to Ricardo Menendez March, the Immigration spokesperson from The Green Party about proposed changes to immigration and how it entrenches discrimination towards low wage migrants.
Around 40% of New Zealanders are neurodivergent in different ways. Some are on the Autism Spectrum, others have ADHD (inattentive or hyperactive; combined type), dyslexia, etc.
Despite this wide diversity of individuals, a lot of individuals are not reflected within the Workplace. The brain badge was assembled as a means to work with businesses to facilitate the differences that neurodiverse individuals have in a neurotypically wired world.
Trishil spoke to Brain Badge advisor Rich Rowley on the matter, hearing about his personal story along the way
This week members of the Public Service Association start their industrial action. The action is said to involve a 24-hour strike and wants the DHB’s to take on recommendations made by the Employment Relations Authority.
Joe spoke with Cass Thompson, an organiser from the PSA, who is attending the Health Worker's Strike today. She speaks about the impact this strike has on the health system and why this strike is so important.
Despite the temporary removal of the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax, Fuel Prices are reaching their highest recorded costs. As of today, the most expensive fuel station in Auckland is offering prices up to $3.15 per litre.
Trishil spoke to Larry Green, developer of fuel comparison app Gaspy, and Dr Selena Sheng from the University of Auckland Business School to discuss these trends, as well as future predictions
Last year, Auckland Council removed 30% of bins from public places with the hopes of saving about $9.5 million over an eight year period. While the council didn’t foresee an increase in littering, last week Stuff published an article sharing the frustrations of residents who observed a growing litter problem in council parks.
Illegal dumping has also been on the rise across Auckland.
With more than 1300 reports per month, the cost of retrieving illegally dumped items is about $2.7 million every year and rising.
Also Mayor Wayne Brown has announced that he wants to see Auckland become the “premier tech city” of New Zealand to boost our global influence and reputation—-- calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute here, which he says could play a key role in guiding new start-ups, so ideas don’t ‘die on the vine’.
Beginning with the problem of rubbish in Auckland, Producer Sara started by asking Julie Fairey if she believed the removal of bins was to blame for increased littering
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
Yesterday the debate in the privileges committee regarding the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi was adjourned until after the upcoming budget announcement.
The Privileges Committee Report and recommended punishments for the three Te Pāti Māori MPs were issued last week for the Haka they performed during a parliamentary session in November 2024 in opposition to the ACT party’s Treaty Principles Bill.
In that same week, the Green party recently issued a call to the government to scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
And the government recently passed the Social Security Amendment Bill, which the government says would support people into employment and off benefits, however, opponents of the bill have said it could harm beneficiaries and lower income New Zealanders.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Just under two weeks ago the government passed the pay equity amendment bill under urgency. This bill would change existing pay equity legislation to make it more restrictive, which the government says will save billions of dollars.
The process was originally introduced to address issues of pay inequity between sectors. While the Equal Pay Act mandates that people working the same job are paid the same regardless of gender, Pay Equity is meant to ensure industries dominated by women are not paid less than similar industries dominated by men. The process has worked by allowing applicants to compare their positions with positions in other sectors with similar workloads, skills, or experience.
The government’s changes will limit the criteria for comparators, allow only industries with over 70% women in the workforce as opposed to the previous 60%, and removing the ability for the authority to award back pay, among other changes.
These changes have been met with criticism from rights organisations, advocacy groups, and opposition parties. In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government’s reasoning behind the Pay Equity Amendment Bill.
The Waitangi Tribunal review into the controversial regulatory standards bill has found that the Crown would be in breach of Treaty principles if it were to introduce the regulatory standards bill to Parliament without more consultation with Māori.
Because of this the tribunal has called for an immediate halt to be put on the bill.
Despite this, the bill is set to be introduced to Parliament today.
The recommendation came after following a one day urgent hearing from the Waitangi Tribunal last week, which was pushed forward from June 6, after it was revealed the bill would be introduced to Parliament today.
Critics of the bill fear it will work against Māori rights and interests. However, the ACT Party, fronted by Minister for Regulation, David Seymour simply say the Tribunal is ‘incorrect’.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court to unpack this further. Discussing why they contest the tribunal’s review, and where they plan to take the bill from here.
We also spoke about the government launching a review into the Waitangi Tribunal, which is heavily backed by ACT - David Seymour saying the tribunal needs to be ‘put in its place’.
Last week, the Privileges Committee recommended Te Pāti Māori co-leaders, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, be “severely censured” with a 21-day suspension, with Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clarke facing a 7-day suspension for their haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Telling RNZ, Judith Collins - the chairperson of the Privileges Committee, says the ruling was unprecedented because the “situation was unprecedented” and said the decision was not taken lightly.
Te Pāti Māori’s lawyer says the punishment given to the MPs is an “absolute disgrace”.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about this, and how she is feeling heading into the debate of the report tomorrow.
We also discussed the Waitangi Tribunals recommendations regarding the Regulatory Standards Bill.
But first, we discussed the Privileges Committee's recommendations.
In 2014, Victoria University of Wellington made an official promise to divest $650,000 worth of investments in fossil fuel companies which, at the time, comprised of 2.1% of the University’s total investments.
However, more than 10 years on, a student-led investigation found that the university still held significant investments in companies like Exxon Mobil and SHELL through third-party investment managers.
A year after a successful petition by Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling on the university to divest funding from Israeli companies, a group of students from Climate Action Victoria University of Wellington have made renewed calls to the university to divest from fossil fuel companies.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Hugh Acton, a member of Climate Action Victoria of University of Wellington, who’s launched a petition calling on the university to disclose their investments in companies involved in fossil fuel production and to divest from them immediately.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.
In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025.
However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.
And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
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