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The Wire

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.

A Liveable Wage w/ Ricardo Menéndez March: March 28, 2022

A Liveable Wage w/ Ricardo Menéndez March: March 28, 2022 A Liveable Wage w/ Ricardo Menéndez March: March 28, 2022, 18.76 MB
Mon 28 Mar 2022

Minimum wage is due to increase, but families are still struggling to afford the basic costs of living. COVID-19 has also made this struggle more difficult, with isolation rules causing families to stretch their incomes to new products and necessities. Charlie spoke with Green MP, Ricardo Menéndez March, about the potential of implementing a living wage for all New Zealand adult workers. 

New Taxation Brackets w/ Nicola Willis: March 28, 2022

New Taxation Brackets w/ Nicola Willis: March 28, 2022 New Taxation Brackets w/ Nicola Willis: March 28, 2022, 15.72 MB
Mon 28 Mar 2022

Inflation rates and living costs continue to rise, and taxes take a large amount of low earner incomes away from the workers. Nicola Willis, Deputy Leader of the National Party, discussed with Charlie National's proposal for restructuring tax brackets and who this would impact the most.

China and Solomon Islands w/ Jason Young: March 28. 2022

China and Solomon Islands w/ Jason Young: March 28. 2022 2022, 19.02 MB
Mon 28 Mar 2022

The proposal of a new security deal between China and the Solomon Islands has caused concern amongst politicians, and Pacific Nations. Jason Young, Director of Victoria University's New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, discusses with Charlie what the deal means for the Pacific, and why the deal is in China's interest.

The Wire with Charlie: March 28, 2022

The Wire with Charlie: March 28, 2022 The Wire with Charlie: March 28, 2022, 102.93 MB
Mon 28 Mar 2022

On today's Monday Wire Charlie speaks to Jason Young, Director of Victoria University's New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, regarding the proposed security deal between China and the Solomon Islands.

Sam discusses how Tikanga Māori should be incorperated into regenarative tourism, he speaks with Professor Katharina Ruckstuhl from the University of Otago.

Nicola Willis, Deputy Leader of the National Party, speaks with Charlie about the potential for restructuring tax brackets and how this would help the 'squeezed middle'.

The need for a living wage introduciton admist COVID-19 economic setbacks, Green Party's MP Ricardo Menéndez March speaks on the issue with Charlie.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Ramari's Whale w/ Dr Emma Carroll: March 25, 2022

Ramari's Whale w/ Dr Emma Carroll: March 25, 2022 Ramari's Whale w/ Dr Emma Carroll: March 25, 2022, 18.48 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

It's not everyday that you find a beaked whale on New Zealand shores but for Tohunga Tohorā, Ramari Stewart, it turned out to be a new species as well.

Dr Emma Carroll from the University of Auckland who worked on the new classification talked about this exciting discovery.

Refugees From Australia Coming Into New Zealand w/ Golriz Ghahraman: Friday, March 25th

Refugees From Australia Coming Into New Zealand w/ Golriz Ghahraman: Friday, March 25th Refugees From Australia Coming Into New Zealand w/ Golriz Ghahraman: Friday, March 25th, 18.92 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

After nine years of refusing the offer, Australia has agreed to send 450 migrants into refuge in Aotearoa.

The system will see 150 refugees a year held in Australian prisons, trapped on Manus Island and Nauru.

In the past two years of the pandemic, New Zealand has not reached its quota for refugees.

To learn more, Liam spoke to Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman about what the resettlement means and what comes next.

 

The Friday Wire: March 25, 2022

The Friday Wire: March 25, 2022 The Friday Wire: March 25, 2022, 105.97 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

Today on the Friday Wire Liam spoke to Green Party MP Golriz Gharahman about Australia agreeing to New Zealand's offer to take in refugees. Liam also had a chat with Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about changes in the Covid-19 Protection framework, as well as Christine Rose from Greenpeace about their new 'Halve the Herd' petition.

Casper had his regular chat with Auckland city councillor Pippa Coom and this week they discussed a motion that passed in the council to back a community alcohol harm reduction bill proposed by Chloe Swarbrick.

Emma Carrol from the University of Auckland talked to Jess about the discovery and naming of a new whale species as well as New Zealand vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris also from the University of Auckland about the current state and future of vaccinations.

Changes to the Covid-19 Protection Framework w/ Michael Plank: Friday, March 25th

Changes to the Covid-19 Protection Framework w/ Michael Plank: Friday, March 25th Changes to the Covid-19 Protection Framework w/ Michael Plank: Friday, March 25th, 15.01 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

Last Wednesday, Jacinda Ardern announced the latest changes to the Covid-19 Protection Framework.

These include changing of capacity levels at level Red and Orange, and letting go of many vaccine mandates.

As Auckland passes its peak in cases, discussions have begun taking place around the possibility of Tāmaki Makaurau moving down to Orange before the rest of the country. 

To learn more, Liam spoke to professor Michael Plank from the university of Canterbury about the changes.

 

Greenpeace's "Halve the Herd" Petition w/ Christine Rose: Friday, March 25th.

Greenpeace's "Halve the Herd" Petition w/ Christine Rose: Friday, March 25th. , 17.94 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

Greenpeace has recently launched their ‘Halve the Herd’ petition, calling for the minimization of New Zealand's cow population.

As agriculture continues to be the largest emitter of carbon emissions in the country, our dairy herd has doubled in the past thirty years. 

To learn more about the petition, Liam spoke to lead agricultural campaigner of Greenpeace NZ Christine Rose.

 

The Future of Vaccines w/ Helen Petousis-Harris: March 25, 2022

The Future of Vaccines w/ Helen Petousis-Harris: March 25, 2022 The Future of Vaccines w/ Helen Petousis-Harris: March 25, 2022, 12.74 MB
Fri 25 Mar 2022

With more Covid restrictions such as vaccine passes lifting in April, vaccinologist Professor Helen Petousis-Harris from the Univerity of Auckland's Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care talked about the future of vaccines in Aotearoa.

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025 AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025, 19.24 MB
Thu 3 Apr 2025

Auckland Transport has announced another parking fare increase, pushing up parking across AT-managed lots 50 cents per hour. 

They justified the increase as necessary to cover ‘rising operational costs’ and to cover the Auckland Council’s increased resource commitment to supporting Aucklanders with “issues like blocked driveways, footpaths, and clearways”.

As well, Auckland Council have voted to endorse the redevelopment of Eden Park, in favour of a new waterfront stadium — bringing the latest development in a long-standing discussion about the best approach to attract tourism and financial productivity to Auckland.
All they need now is the government to pitch in $100 million dollars to fund the project.

Producer Sara started her interview with Shane Henderson by asking why raising parking prices was the preferred option for covering council operational costs

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025, 25.71 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

Just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, Brooke Van Velden, announced sweeping changes to health and safety regulations for businesses that she described as “low-risk”.

Some of the changes involved: narrowing the focus of the Health and Safety at Work Act to risks only causing death, serious injury or illness, creating a hotline for the public to report “overzealous” road cone placement and reducing "tick-box and safety activities" such as psychosocial harm policies for small businesses. 

Around this same period of time, Greens MPs Tamatha Paul and Benjamin Doyle received intense media and political scrutiny for comments they made at a university panel and on social media respectively, with the backlash towards Doyle forcing them to abstain from parliament this week.

The Greens recently issued a call to the government to scrap their proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, which involve recognising qualifications other than early childhood teaching qualifications, removing up to 74% of ECE licensing criteria and removing requirements for regular updates and family.

In their weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the party’s take on all of these issues.

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025 The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025, 11.36 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

BirdCare Aotearoa is a wild, native bird hospital that works to rehabilitate sick and injured birds back into the wild.

For their upcoming event: ‘Bird Heros,’ a part of EcoFest 2025 on the 6th of April, the workshop will look at the best practices on rescuing wild native birds, and will include a tour of their bird hospital, which is not usually open to the public.

For this week's Green Desk, Producer Leilani spoke to the Hospital Manager at BirdCare Aotearoa, Pooja Dorle, about the rehabilitation processes of birds within their hospital ahead of their next workshop.

Fellow Green Desk Producer Liam, and News and Editorial Director Joel, went to the previous workshop over the weekend, and spoke to the Chair of the organisation, Kevin Furgeson, and volunteer Marina, and had a tour of their facilities. Thanks EcoFest!

BirdCare Aotearoa also has a fundraiser running to shed light on seabirds affected by street lights and brightly lit buildings across the city, affecting their migration patterns and causing birds, such as the protected Petrels, Shearwaters, and Prions, to fall and injure themselves. To support their clinical rehabilitation practices, you can support their campaign on givealittle.

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025 Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025, 28.55 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

For a number of years, Aotearoa has been dealing with a shortage of psychologists and similar professionals to deal with the growing mental health needs of the wider population, with estimates suggesting that an additional 1,000 more psychologists are needed to fill gaps in the profession.

In response to the country’s growing mental health needs, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a new Associate Psychologist role, consisting of recent post-graduates, to work alongside fully trained Psychologists.

However, a number of Psychologists and experts have criticised the introduction of this new role, saying that these associate Psychologists may be expected to take on the responsibilities of clinical Psychologists despite being underqualified.

For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Dr Kumari Valentine, a clinical psychologist based in Dunedin, who’s launched a petition calling on the government to roll back the introduction of the new Associate psychology role and look to other methods of filling gaps in the Psychology profession.

If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025 Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025, 18.03 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

Last week the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul made comments about police presence in Wellington, particularly how increased police activity made some feel unsafe. She also noted some discriminatory and harmful behaviour from police officers towards Wellington’s homeless population. These comments, presented at a panel hosted by the University of Canterbury’s Greens and Peace Action Ōtautahi, were Paul restating feedback she had received from her constituents in Wellington central. 

The response to Tamatha Paul’s comments was extremely critical from all sides of the political spectrum, involving feedback such as “insane” from prime minister Christopher Luxon, “unwise” and “stupid” from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and “just weird” from ACT leader David Seymour. The comments and their responses lead to a series of articles across all major New Zealand news networks. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the substance of Tamatha Paul’s comments and whether the seemingly disproportionate reaction is appropriate.

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025 Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025, 32.04 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

This week on Dear Science our expert Dr. Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about various April Fools pranks in the world of science, including the 'Sheep Albedo Hypothesis' from here in Aotearoa. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025 Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025, 6.86 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

On Sunday, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced plans to combat the supermarket duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths. This could include breaking-up or restructuring the current chains, with Cabinet also announcing a formal request for information, or RFI, into the matter.

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel,  spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this announcement, and whether she, and the party, thinks this will be enough to address food accessibility in Aotearoa.

We also discussed the comments made by Green MP, Tamatha Paul, about the police, and whether she believes these comments have become sensationalised.

Finally, we discussed the party’s calls for mandatory police body cameras.

But first, they started off by asking Kemp about how the party are feeling about Nicola Willis’ most recent announcements into the supermarket duopoly.

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025 RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025, 7.25 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

Last week, the government announced its plans for reforming the Resource Management Act, or the RMA, introducing two acts to replace the current RMA. The plan is to bring the two acts before the select committee next year, passing them just before the next election. 

For our weekly catch up News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about this reform, working with the opposition, and the lack of a Treaty clause.

We also talked about concerns that the health and police system in Aotearoa are failing, following an 11-year old being misidentified as a 20-year old by police and being administered antipsychotic drugs.

But first, we touched on the RMA reform.

NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025

NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025 NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025, 8.99 MB
Thu 27 Mar 2025

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”

The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.

And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics. 

International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025

International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025 International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025, 11.23 MB
Thu 27 Mar 2025

Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat with top United States security officials who were discussing military plans for strikes on Yemen.

The group chat discussed operational details, and officials, including the Vice President JD Vance, seemed unaware of Goldberg’s presence. 

Jeffrey Goldberg initially left out some of these sensitive details in his article on the group chat but has released more specific information after the Trump administration downplayed the situation and said no classified information was shared.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about this issue.