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.
Aneeka's back covering the Friday Wire with Liam, who've put together a jammed pack show! Today:
Liam spoke to City Councillor Pippa Coom about the Climate Action Target Rate and a new cycle plan on our regular city counselling segment.
Aneeka spoke to Melissa Woolley, Assistant secretary of the public service association about current pay negotiations for care and support workers and why their organisation believes they will fail.
Liam also talked to Janryll Fernandez about the Fillipino Election.
Aneeka spoke to Dr Sanjana Hathotuwa, a research fellow at the misinformation project and Sri Lankan Political Activist about the Sri Lanka’s Economic crisis and political corruption.
And finally Liam had a chat with Debbie Ward from CCS Diability Action about the recent passing of the Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination Amendment Bill.
The Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination Amendment Bill has recently passed it’s third reading.
After seven years of campaigns, the bill now means that disabled folks with support dogs are now free from being denied service from transport, hospitality and landlords.
Liam had a chat with Debbie Ward from CCS Disability Action about the changes, first asking about what the new bill means for disabled folks across Aotearoa.
The Philippines is a few days away from their presidential election, with issues such as the covid recovery and inequality defining the race.
The frontrunner is Ferdinand Marcos Jr, also known as Bongbong Marcos, who is the son of a former dictator well known for his corrupt leadership.
Marcos’ primary opponent is Leni Robredo, renowned for leading a ‘pink revolution’ towards gender equality
To learn more, Liam spoke to Janryll Frenandez, a New Zealand-based Filipino public relations professional and is currently a post graduate student of public management at Victoria University of Wellington.
Because today is International Midwives Day, Joe will be looking at why they are so important and stand up so well during times of crisis. Joe spoke to Jackie Anderson, the Midwifery Advisor at the New Zealand College of Midwives on the matter.
On Tuesday, a draft majority opinion from the U.S Supreme Court was leaked, revealing that the court’s five conservative judges have made the decision to overturn Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court case that established the constitutionality of abortion in the United States.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to John Ip, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Law School and Ella Shepherd, spokesperson for ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa about what overturning Roe vs. Wade would mean.
This week on the Thursday Wire, Emilia will be speaking to Professor John Ip from the University of Auckland Law School about the leaked U.S Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade. She also speaks to Ella Shephard from ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa about what this decision means for people in America
Emilia also speaks to Viv Whyte from Thursdays in Black UoA for Rape Awareness Week.
Because today is International Midwives Day, Joe will be looking at why they are so important and stand up so well during times of crisis. He speaks to Jackie Anderson, the Midwifery Advisor at the New Zealand College of Midwives on the matter.
This piece contains themes of sexual assault and rape.
It’s Rape Awareness Week this week, and we’re talking to Thursdays in Black once again to chat about the updates regarding the Uni’s cases of sexual assault and whether the Uni has done enough to reduce campus rape culture. Emilia Sullivan was joined by Liv Whyte in the studio, who is the national coordinator for Thursdays in Black country-wide.
Thursdays in Black is encouraging everyone to wear black on Thursdays in solidarity with survivors and as a symbolic objection to rape culture. Remember you can go to Thursdays in Black’s ‘Korero and Kai’ event tonight (Thursday) in Kate Edgar Workshop 101 at 5:30pm here at the University of Auckland, or you can watch online if you’re unable to make it.
In 2021 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study showed New Zealand students’ maths knowledge in year 9 fell below all other English-speaking countries. Kiwi student performance was the lowest ever recorded. Recent testing has indicated that New Zealand teens might fail their upcoming compulsory NCEA standards. This morning Stella spoke with Heather Lewis, the National Leader of Mathematics Interventions at Cognition Education about why we aren’t so great at maths as a country.
Alex speaks with Ellen Rykers of Forest and Bird about kororā conservation in New Zealand, with a specific focus on the Hauraki Gulf. This comes after Forest and Bird announced legal action to stop development at Putiki Point.
Alex speaks with Andrew King, Oresident of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation, about how the property “slow down” might affect the rental market, and the improvements to tenancy structures and property ownership laws that his organisation suggests
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
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.
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.
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
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:
These past few weeks in politics have seen various issues that we spoke about in our weekly catchup with the National Party.
First up, at the Aotearoa Music Awards, National MP Chris Bishop was heard making disdainful remarks such as “what a load of crap” during a performance by singer Stan Walker.
Second, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngārewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recently suspended from parliament for 21 days for their haka protesting the Treaty Principles Bill. The penalty is far harsher than any previous penalty for an MP, raising questions about whether it is justified or sets a dangerous precedent.
Finally, the government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues in our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, starting with Chris Bishop’s comments at the AMAs.
As per coalition agreements, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about Seymour’s new position, and what this means for the party.
They also discussed accusations Seymour made regarding submissions to the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In an interview with Guyon Espiner, Seymour claimed that 99.5% of the submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill were driven by ‘bots’ and were ‘fake’ submissions.
Seymour later clarified to RNZ that by bots, he was meaning “online campaigns” creating “non-representative samples” that do not represent the public’s opinion.
The Ministry of Regulations received roughly 23,000 submissions on the bill. Of the submissions. Of the submissions, 0.33% were fully or partially supporting the bill, with 88% being against the bill.
Finally, they discussed the recommended suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs’ Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke standing.
But they, we discussed David Seymour as Deputy Prime Minister.
The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP’s haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country’s history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days.
The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate.
During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden.
For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what’s next for the party.
They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters’ comments regarding Waititi’s moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did.
But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.
Auckland Transport are seeking community feedback on a proposal for a new T3 transit lane on Mount Smart Road to relieve congestion during peak times heading towards the Royal Oak roundabout.
Between better public transport systems, a ‘time of use’ charge, and different ways of managing Auckland traffic, Producer Sara asks Councillor Julie Fairey about how Auckland Council hopes to reduce peak-time congestion as the city’s population grows.
She also talk to Julie Fairey about the recent allocation of funds to community-led projects through Ngā Hapori Momoho. This year, the grant which aims to “improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection” has approved funding for eleven community groups, six of which are either Māori organisations or delivering ‘strong Māori outcomes’.
Sara begins with questions about Auckland central congestion.
*unfortunately the audio quality on Julie's end is poor
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