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.
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.
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.
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.
Today on The Wire, our regular interview with Labour’s Andrew Little is back. Tuva’a speaks to Little about the latest report from the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.
A 2020 report from UNICEF revealed that over a third of fifteen year olds in New Zealand struggle with basic reading and writing. Emilia spoke to Dr. Nina Hood, founder of the Education Hub and co-author of this report, and started by asking what were the biggest concerns her report highlighted?
The Indonesian Government plans to develop a gold mine in a conflicted region of Papua. Joe speaks to Veronica Koman, the Strategic Advocacy Campaigner for Amnesty International, speaking about the situation in Papua.
Emilia also looks at the Reimagining Tamaki Makaurau report with co-author Dr. Anne Bardsley. And Joe speaks to NZEI Te Riu Roa about the vaccine mandate lifts and how collaborative health and safety processes are essential for schools.
A 2020 report from UNICEF revealed that over a third of fifteen year olds in New Zealand struggle with basic reading and writing.
Not-for-profit think-tank The Education Hub has compiled research from multiple studies to paint the picture of how dire the situation is in New Zealand schools right now in a report titled "Now I Don't Know My ABC: The Perilous State of Literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand".
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Dr. Nina Hood, founder of The Education Hub and co-author of the report.
Yesterday the government announced a change with vaccine mandates, passes and tracking. NZEI Te Riu Roa has said they’re supporting members with adapting to the changes to ensure the health and wellbeing of tamariki and staff within school and ECE environments.
Joe spoke to Liam Rutherford, the President of NZEI on the matter.
The Indonesian Government plans to develop a gold mine in a region of Papua.The Sugapa district of the Intan Jaya regency is one of the biggest gold ore reserves in Indonesia, known as Wabu Block. The area is also a conflict hotspot. Between 2020 and 2021, 12 Indigenous Papuans were killed by Indonesians security forces occupying the area.
Joe spoke to Veronica Koman, the Strategic Advocacy Campaigner for Amnesty International, speaking about the situation in Papua.
Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures released its report yesterday, titled "Reimagining Tāmaki Makaurau", which intends to provoke discussion about the potential for Auckland by the year 2070 and explains why Auckland's structures for governance, management, planning, and funding need to be rethought.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Dr. Anne Bardsley, Deputy Director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures and co-author of the report.
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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