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.
Neighbourhood Watch reports on the 2021 Australian of the Year and sexual abuse survivor advocate Grace Tame saying she was threatened to not badmouth Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the federal parliament passing the government’s controversial religious discrimination bill.
On their weekly chat, Justin and Health and Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little talked about the government’s overseas recruitment campaign for specialist nurses, an academic paper calling for the community isolation programme to be revamped under the Omicron wave, and the Greens’s proposal over the Waitangi weekend to revisit all past treaty settlements and return stolen land.
A survey involving 1200 Construction Workers was published recently, showing the mental toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the workforce. Joe speaks to Victoria McArthur, the CEO of Mates in Construction, about the mental health of Construction Workers over the course of the pandemic.
A group is campaigning for the government and Kiwirail to restore intercity rail services after the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington, as well as the Coastal Pacific Service between Picton and Christchurch were cancelled.
Kiwirail said it is now planning to create multi-day experiences that showcase the best of New Zealand, both on and off the track.
But the Save Our Trains campaign says it wants a comprehensive national strategy for future passenger rail services built around concerns for climate action, accessibility, and economic development.
Paul Callister is a spokesperson for the campaign and a senior associate at the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University.
Two years into the global pandemic, the world has faced a lot of changes: from new variants of the coronavirus running rampant, to the rollout of vaccines to protect us against Covid-19. We have seen nations mobilise to tackle the virus but we have also seen a small minority of people pushing back against the health measures that have been enacted. And in our digital age, it is no surprise that social media is fuelling the spread of fear and misinformation alongside the virus.
So why exactly does a global crisis invoke such strong reactions?
Christina Huang spoke to Associate Professor Danny Osborne from the University of Auckland Social psychology department about the recent antivaccination protests, anti-government attitudes and how our mindset towards the pandemic has shifted over the past two years.
Today on the Wire, we start with Dear Science. Christina Huang asks AUT Professor Marcus Jones about how Omicron affects children, the concerning rise in methane levels in the atmosphere, astronomers taking a stand against an the massive number of satellites in space.
Christina speaks to the National Party’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop live about the party's ten point plan to tackle Omicron.\
Aneeka Moheed reports on her conversation with Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon about his call for compulsory Te Reo Māori classes to be introduced in schools.
Christina talks to Associate Professor Danny Osborne from the University of Auckland Social psychology department about the recent antivaccination protests, anti-government attitudes and how our mindset towards the pandemic has shifted over the past two years.
Finally, Jemima speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about the first three months of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the second reading of the bill that would ban conversion therapy in Aotearoa.
This week News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston interviews ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden , about how the first three months of assisted dying being an option for New Zealanders suffering with terminal illnesses has gone. They also touch on the second reading of the bill that would ban conversion therapy that took place in Parliament yesterday.
With Omicron spreading in the community, there is much discussion on how to best deal with the new variant. Christina speaks to the National Party’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop live on air about the party's ten-point plan to tackle Omicron.
Over the weekend Australia announced that it would be opening its borders to all fully vaccinated tourists from February 21st. This is quite different from New Zealand’s five step gradual reopening plan that will take place over the next few months.
News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston talks to Professor Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about the difference in New Zealand and Australia's border reopening strategies, and how Australia's border reopening to all vaccinated people will impact Aotearoa.
Today on the Wire, Emily Bell speaks to University of Auckland Māori Studies Professor Margaret Mutu about the significance of Waitangi Day.
Jemima Huston talks to Professor Michael Plank about why Australia has opened its borders to all fully vaccinated travellers, when New Zealand has decided to reopen gradually with a five-step process.
Emily interviews the CEO of the Bus and Coaches Association NZ Ben McFadgen about how the pandemic has impacted the bus and coach industry.
Jemima catches up with with promoter rep and freelance tour manager Sarin Moddel about her feelings on the government's $121 million covid relief funding announcement for the arts and culture sector.
Finally, Jemima speaks to Dr Roshini Peiris-John, Associate Professor at the School of Population Health in Auckland, about her study into the Youth19 health survey and the finding that young Asian people who experience discrimination and racism are more likely to forgo healthcare.
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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