Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Jessica Hopkins, Castor Chacko, Nicholas Lindstrom, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Last week the UK Labour Party won their election in a landslide result, giving the Tories their lowest election result ever.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to University of Auckland Global Studies Lecturer Chris Ogden about these results, including what led to them and what is expected to change in the UK.
This month is Disability Pride Month, a month-long event celebrating disabled communities. It began in the United States to commemorate the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990, and now celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, their culture, and contributions to society across the world.
The months aims to end the stigma of disability and ultimately change the way we think about and define the term.
Wire Host spoke to Sam Morgan from the Disability Persons Assembly about the month and what it means in an Aotearoa context.
They started by asking what Disability Pride Month means.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s calls to former MP Darleen Tana to resign and housing minister Chris Bishop’s new legislation to boost housing development.
He spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystal from the University of Auckland to discuss a project she led assessing the impacts of extreme weather events on hospitals in the Pacific Islands.
And He spoke to Professor Sue Crengle, from the University of Otago, to discuss a project she was involved in with Te Whatu Ora to create a national cancer screening program in Aotearoa.
Rawan spoke with Debra Ashton from SAFE animal rights group about their interception of the proposal to build intensive chicken farms in Waikato
She also spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity network about the illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, what the government needs to do and solidarity rallies.
Former Green Party MP Darleen Tana was suspended from the party after claims of migrant exploitation surfaced at a business owned by her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen, leading to subsequent allegations of Darleen’s involvement in, or awareness of the situation.
Tana announced her official resignation from the Greens last weekend, a move which Chloe Swarbrick and her contemporaries in the party had been urging since the allegations surfaced, however Tana still maintains both her and her husband’s innocence and has not yet resigned as a member of parliament.
Some experts have suggested that the Greens might subsequently invoke the “waka-jumping legislation”, a law requiring MPs to leave parliament if they switch parties, which the Greens have historically opposed.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March, about the allegations surrounding Darleen Tana and whether or not the party will invoke the waka-jumping legislation to remove her as an MP.
They also talked about Housing minister Chris Bishop's plans to boost housing development in Aotearoa with his new "Going for Housing Growth" policy.
Pacific island nations, such as Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga are facing some of the worst impacts of the global climate crisis. With a landmass close to sea level, coastal population centres and limited economic development, many pacific island nations face frequent extreme weather events that they often struggle to recover from.
A group of researchers at the University of Auckland started a project to map out cyclone and extreme weather risks for hospitals and medical centres in numerous pacific island nations to assist in planning and recovery for future extreme weather events.
Oto spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystall, Research fellow at the Faculty of Science in Physics at the University of Auckland and leader of the project, to discuss her research and the impacts of the climate crisis on Pacific Island nations.
As the conflict in Gaza continues, the Palestinian death toll is surpassing 38,000.
Israel is also planning to go ahead with three illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Additionally, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon came forward yesterday to condemn Russia’s attack on a hospital in Kyiv, something that many are calling out as hypocritical amidst his silence on the bombing of hospitals in Gaza.
Producer Rawan spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa about what these illegal settlements are and what the New Zealand government can do.
She also discussed the Palestinian solidarity rallies and their continued importance.
Lung cancer is the largest cancer contributor to the life expectancy gaps between Māori and non-māori, being the leading cause of death for Māori women and the second leading cause of death for Māori and non-māori men. In spite of this, Aotearoa has no national lung cancer screening program at all, even though similar programs exist for Breast, cervical and bowel cancer.
To address this, a team of researchers at the University of Otago started a series of projects in collaboration with Te Whatu Ora to help develop a lung cancer screening pathway in Aotearoa, which they’ve called Te Oranga Pūkahukahu.
Oto spoke to study lead Sue Crengle, Senior Māori Health Researcher at the University of Otago of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha descent, to discuss the project and the impacts of lung cancer on Māori.
The United Nations hosted Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) 2024 is taking place in Geneva this week, with Aotearoa’s Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in attendance.
Particularly, the commission will be commenting on Aotearoa’s historical approach to indigenous rights in Aotearoa as well as the approach of the current government.
Wire host Castor spoke to Te Kāhui Tika Tangata’s indigenous rights governance partner, Dayle Takitimu, about the EMRIP assessment and what it could mean for our current and future governments.
Yesterday the Abuse in Care Inquiry was released to the public. It came with a set of formal recommendations, including a suggestion for a formal apology from the government, compensation, and new legislation to do with mandatory reporting.
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also acknowledged Labour’s role in beginning the inquiry and their response to the 2021 interim report, stating, “We didn't do enough and the ball now falls to you and your government.” He added that “this must be bigger than politics.”
And Data released last week showed the number of benefit sanctions being issued by the government is up 50% compared to this time last year. This has been met with criticism but the Minister for Social Development says the sanctions are because the government is serious about getting people into work.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asks about both of these topics, as well as a bill that was dumped yesterday because the Minister failed to turn up to its first reading.
They started by asking about the number of benefit sanctions.
As Auckland Council plans to review its operating model for pool and leisure services, the Public Service Association has criticised moves to privatise management without public consultation.
Additionally, Auckland Transport has introduced a $50 fare cap for buses, ferries, and trains.
Producer Sofia spoke to counsellor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
Last week Associate Minister of Health, David Seymour, laid out his expectations for Pharmac for the upcoming year.
Some of what was in his letter of expectations has caused much public discourse - particularly the point in which Seymour says Te Tiriti o Waitangi shouldn’t be considered in decision making at Pharmac.
Te Pāti Māori has called for Seymour to step down from his role as Associate Minister of Health, and one of Pharmac’s directors, Anthony Jordan, has resigned from his role, saying the removal of Treaty principles from Pharmac did not align with his own morals and ethics.
Given the overwhelming evidence of poorer health outcomes for Māori, producer Evie spoke to the ACT party’s Simon Court about the reasoning behind these expectations, and the party’s feelings about the backlash.
The government’s controversial “boot camps” for youth offenders begin on the 29th of July. These boot camps have been the subject of recent news due to their huge cost and military component.
The arrival of boot camps comes as funding has been slashed at Oranga Tamariki, causing the organisation to abruptly cancel hundreds of contracts. These contracts included organisations who say the work they do is “frontline” despite the Government stating their funding cuts won’t impact frontline workers.
Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour Spokesperson for Children and Youth, Willow-Jean Prime about both of these topics.
A petition was recently started by members of Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling for Victoria University of Wellington to Divest its funding from the state of Israel, Implement a Boycott, Divest, Sanctions policy, and establish scholarships and fellowships for Palestinian students and academics.
Since the petition was launched last week, it’s received almost 200 signatures from Victoria university students, faculty and members of the public.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Ayah Kayed from Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke to discuss the petition and it’s calls to Victoria university.
Last week the Government released its five point climate action plan. This follows recent decisions from the government such as a reversal on the oil and gas exploration ban, and the removal of the clean car discount, both of which have been met with backlash from many environmental groups.
For our weekly catch up I spoke to the ACT party’s Simon Court about this climate action plan. We also talk about renewed calls from the party to abolish the Human rights commission. As well as a new member's bills that would prohibit regional councils from considering climate change in their decisions.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has announced a new climate strategy. The strategy is based on five core pillars, including:
Infrastructure is resilient and communities are well prepared
Credible markets support the climate transition
Clean energy is abundant and affordable
World-leading climate innovation boosts the economy
And nature-based solutions address climate change.
This strategy has been met with controversy, with Greenpeace describing it as being “as useful as teats on a bull.”
Wire Host Caeden asked Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about this new climate strategy as well as about the recent controversy surrounding former Green MP Darleen Tana.
They started by asking for her thoughts on the government’s new Climate strategy.
The National-led government has proposed increasing speed limits across Aotearoa.
They’ve also opted not to go ahead with any of the recommendations of the 2023 Local Government Review, which aimed to improve Local Government and Local Government elections.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shane Henderson from Auckland Council about increasing speed limits in Auckland and the improvements Local Government still needs.
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