Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Justin talks to security analyst Paul Buchannan about the reasons why France intervened in West Africa, and why Paris is less likely to face a similar situation in the Sahel as the US faced in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Stewart's back and he forgot a sting! It could be chaos.
This week on the show:
Minister Andrew Little wraps up a massive political week. Foreign donations are banned and cannabis is a step closer to being legalised.
Then, international desk. Justin tells us about the deaths of 13 French soldiers in an accident in Mali. What is France doing in West Africa and why.
After that, Neighbourhood Watch is back for another week. Our correspondent Zoe wraps the latest Aussie politics.
And finally, a live interview with the Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre at the University of Auckland, Dr Nikki Turner, about New Zealand’s role in the measles crisis in Samoa.
All that plus poll position, listener texts and quality conversation. Join Stewart Sowman-Lund and producers Mary-Margaret and Justin on The Thursday Wire.
Lillian Hanly is looking into the importing of what has been called 'blood phospate' from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. There have been three parts broadcast already, this is the fourth. So, to recap a little:
Around 170,000 Saharawi people were forced out of their own land when Morocco invaded in 1975, today they live as refugees separated by a constructed wall and littered with mines. Western Sahara is rich in resources, and it is understood Morocco is taking advantage of this. One particular resource that is being mined without the consent of the Saharawi people is phosphate. Two of the three remaining companies in the world to buy this disputed phosphate from Morocco are NZ companies. Australia, Canada, America - all have pulled out of this trade in the hope that the referendum, called for in 1991, can take place. So the Saharawi people can choose their independece. In Part IIII we hear from two different people in Aotearoa with solutions as to how we could use less phosphate - and therefore not rely on a trade that extracts the resource from a country where human rights abuses are taking place.
Kay Baxter is from the Koanga Institute. They have long worked to save heritage food plants, including vegetable seeds and fruit trees as well as being leading practitioners, researchers and teachers of bio-intensive gardening and nutrient dense food production. Now, they are also encouraging a shift to 'regenerative' farming, rather than 'degenerative' - a process which requires major nourishment of soil through fertiliser products. You can find some simple explainers on regeneration here. Kay indicates that pastoral farming has had a huge effect on the way the eco system is connected, leading to poor soil health.
Clare Bradley is the research co-ordinator at Agrisea, a company that works with seaweed to provide nutrients to the agriculture sector. When Lillian first contacted Agrisea, Clare said "farmers in NZ are being oversold Phosphorous products, in-fact over 50% of NZ Dairy Farms tested are over the “target range” for Olsen P (a measurement of plant available P)". So, in actual fact, we might not even need to be important that much phosphate? One of the reasons given by one of the NZ companies that does so was that NZ requires so much phosphate it is harder to source it from places other than Morocco/ Western Sahara - because theirs is the largest supply in the world. Lillian wanted to understand how seaweed could act as a supplement, as well as what other benefits seaweed brings to the world.
Both Kay and Clare disagree with the sourcing of phosphate from Morocco, but also see the solutions to our ever worsening environmental and climate issues in more research, and the understanding of how our ecology worked before the links were broken. Lillian spoke with both of them to understand the movement that is very much occuring of its own accord to shift away from this reliance on phosphate.
This is Part IIII in a series, you can listen to the others here:
Lillian Hanly is looking into the importing of what has been called 'blood phospate' from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. There have been three parts broadcast already, the fourth focuses on Home Solutions. That report interviews Kay Baxter from the Koanga Institute and Clare Bradley from Agrisea. Firstly, to recap a little:
Around 170,000 Saharawi people were forced out of their own land when Morocco invaded in 1975, today they live as refugees separated by a constructed wall and littered with mines. Western Sahara is rich in resources, and it is understood Morocco is taking advantage of this. One particular resource that is being mined without the consent of the Saharawi people is phosphate. Two of the three remaining companies in the world to buy this disputed phosphate from Morocco are NZ companies. Australia, Canada, America - all have pulled out of this trade in the hope that the referendum, called for in 1991, can take place. So the Saharawi people can choose their independece. in Part IIII we hear from two different people in Aotearoa with solutions as to how we could use less phosphate - and therefore not rely on a trade that extracts the resource from a country where human rights abuses are taking place.
Kay Baxter is from the Koanga Institute. They have long worked to save heritage food plants, including vegetable seeds and fruit trees as well as being leading practitioners, researchers and teachers of bio-intensive gardening and nutrient dense food production. Now, they are also encouraging a shift to 'regenerative' farming, rather than 'degenerative' - a process which requires major nourishment of soil through fertiliser products. You can find some simple explainers on regeneration here. Kay indicates that pastoral farming has had a huge effect on the way the eco system is connected, leading to poor soil health.
Clare Bradley is the research co-ordinator at Agrisea, a company that works with seaweed to provide nutrients to the agriculture sector. When Lillian first contacted Agrisea, Clare said "farmers in NZ are being oversold Phosphorous products, in-fact over 50% of NZ Dairy Farms tested are over the “target range” for Olsen P (a measurement of plant available P)". So, in actual fact, we might not even need to be important that much phosphate? One of the reasons given by one of the NZ companies that does so was that NZ requires so much phosphate it is harder to source it from places other than Morocco/ Western Sahara - because theirs is the largest supply in the world. Lillian wanted to understand how seaweed could act as a supplement, as well as what other benefits seaweed brings to the world.
Both Kay and Clare disagree with the sourcing of phosphate from Morocco, but also see the solutions to our ever worsening environmental and climate issues in more research, and the understanding of how our ecology worked before the links were broken. Lillian spoke with both of them to understand the movement that is very much occuring of its own accord to shift away from this reliance on phosphate.
This is Kay's full interview.
To find the other parts in the series, you can listen to them here:
Lillian Hanly is looking into the importing of what has been called 'blood phospate' from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. There have been three parts broadcast already, the fourth focuses on Home Solutions. That report interviews Kay Baxter from the Koanga Institute and Clare Bradley from Agrisea. Firstly, to recap a little:
Around 170,000 Saharawi people were forced out of their own land when Morocco invaded in 1975, today they live as refugees separated by a constructed wall and littered with mines. Western Sahara is rich in resources, and it is understood Morocco is taking advantage of this. One particular resource that is being mined without the consent of the Saharawi people is phosphate. Two of the three remaining companies in the world to buy this disputed phosphate from Morocco are NZ companies. Australia, Canada, America - all have pulled out of this trade in the hope that the referendum, called for in 1991, can take place. So the Saharawi people can choose their independece. in Part IIII we hear from two different people in Aotearoa with solutions as to how we could use less phosphate - and therefore not rely on a trade that extracts the resource from a country where human rights abuses are taking place.
Kay Baxter is from the Koanga Institute. They have long worked to save heritage food plants, including vegetable seeds and fruit trees as well as being leading practitioners, researchers and teachers of bio-intensive gardening and nutrient dense food production. Now, they are also encouraging a shift to 'regenerative' farming, rather than 'degenerative' - a process which requires major nourishment of soil through fertiliser products. You can find some simple explainers on regeneration here. Kay indicates that pastoral farming has had a huge effect on the way the eco system is connected, leading to poor soil health.
Clare Bradley is the research co-ordinator at Agrisea, a company that works with seaweed to provide nutrients to the agriculture sector. When Lillian first contacted Agrisea, Clare said "farmers in NZ are being oversold Phosphorous products, in-fact over 50% of NZ Dairy Farms tested are over the “target range” for Olsen P (a measurement of plant available P)". So, in actual fact, we might not even need to be important that much phosphate? One of the reasons given by one of the NZ companies that does so was that NZ requires so much phosphate it is harder to source it from places other than Morocco/ Western Sahara - because theirs is the largest supply in the world. Lillian wanted to understand how seaweed could act as a supplement, as well as what other benefits seaweed brings to the world.
Both Kay and Clare disagree with the sourcing of phosphate from Morocco, but also see the solutions to our ever worsening environmental and climate issues in more research, and the understanding of how our ecology worked before the links were broken. Lillian spoke with both of them to understand the movement that is very much occuring of its own accord to shift away from this reliance on phosphate.
This is Clare's full interview.
To find the other parts in the series, you can listen to them here:
On Dear Science with AUT’s Allan Blackman we are talking meteor’s and testing kids in reading, math and science.
And we are finally returning to our conversations about phosphate from the Western Sahara, today we are hearing solutions from two separate people here in Aotearoa about how people can move away from using so much phosphate. We hear from Kay Baxter from the Koanga Institute, and Clare Bradley from Agrisea.
Good afternoon and welcome to The Wire podcast for Rātū Tuesday, the 3rd of December, Hakihea.
On today's show we had;
Lillian Hanly, who was waiting for the bus along Symonds St last month when she came across some phantom billsticker panels with comics in them. They were very easily recognised as Toby Morris comics who Lillian is a fan of. As she had plenty of time waiting for the bus she had a read of it. Turns out it was actually a story about the way young people with access needs experience the city, and the information had come from research done by Massey University. Karen Witten is a Professor of Public Health at Massey University and her email was on the final panel. Lillian reached out to her to find out more.
This week on Green Desk, Mitch speaks Cawthron Institue’s Dr Susie Wood who is leading
the Lakes380 Project. Currently Lakes380 is the largest undertaking of data collection on
Lakes done in New Zealand possibly the world, making use of the best technology in the
world. Mitchell and Susie discuss the scale of the project and the processes involved with
such a large undertaking. To being Mitch asks Susie to explain what Lakes380 is.
We also talked to Splice's Gareth Fa about creating space for intercultural dialogues and interactions. We also talk about the upcoming Global Active Citizens Annual Marketplace on December 12th and all the work that has gone into it.
We also spoke to Simplicity Kiwisaver fund about their release of what we believe is Aotearoa's first Te Reo Māori Kiwisaver document. We touched on the document itself, as well as the road to its creation and the interactions between the finance world and Te Ao Māori.
9fbFM spoke to Simplicity Kiwisaver fund about their release of what we believe is Aotearoa's first Te Reo Māori Kiwisaver document. We touched on the document itself, as well as the road to its creation and the interactions between the finance world and Te Ao Māori.
Lillian Hanly was waiting for the bus along Symonds St last month when she came across some phantom billsticker panels with comics in them. They were very easily recognised as Toby Morris comics who Lillian is a fan of. As she had plenty of time waiting for the bus she had a read of it. Turns out it was actually a story about the way young people with access needs experience the city, and the information had come from research done by Massey University. Karen Witten is a Professor of Public Health at Massey University and her email was on the final panel. Lillian reached out to her to find out more.
Deb Rawson discusses the new offer from the Ministry of Education to pay teacher aids and support workers the Living Wage. Currently, around 90% of workers are paid below the Living Wage, as reported by the NZEI. Union members of the NZEI will vote on whether to accept the offer next Monday.
From Dec 27 to Jan 18, all train lines across Tāmaki will be shutting down for summer maintenance, a closure which is expected to be the last of its kind ahead of the opening of the City Rail Link.
The current measles outbreak in Tāmaki is being continually monitored, with exposure sites being updated daily on info.health.nz. The public are encouraged to track whether they’ve been in possible contact with the virus, and get up to date on any vaccinations to limit possibilities of transmission.
Auckland Council are supporting arts initiatives across the summer months, with Music in the Park kicking off in early January, and Movies in the Park following in February.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about these topics, and also asked for comment following the attack by two gunmen at Bondi Beach earlier this week.
Yesterday, the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project, or NHDP, showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September. The report also found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
As well as this, Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has taken effect. And according to an interim report into social media harm, a social media ban for children in New Zealand is worth exploring further.
And last week the Government announced the replacement of the Resource Management Act, or RMA. The coalition said its replacement will slash red tape and supercharge growth.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s new RMA reforms and a potential social media ban in New Zealand.
But first they discussed the latest report on Auckland homelessness.
The Parliament’s Workforce and Education Committee has released an interim report on an inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders face online. The government has recently announced an overhaul of the Resource Management Act and introduced two new bills in its place, the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.
For our weekly catch-up with the National Party, Producer Vihan spoke to MP Carl Bates, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Workforce and Education Committee, about the new findings of the interim report, the new Natural Environment Bill, and the Fast Track Approval Amendments Bill.
The government has announced the overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which will be replaced by two different bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. The RMA is set to be fully replaced by 2029.
The RMA, which has been in effect for 34 years, is polarising across the political spectrum.
In announcing the reforms, RMA Reform Minister, Chris Bishop, says that “pretty much everything” will be quicker and less costly under the new regime.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about this overhaul of the RMA.
They also discussed The Education and Workforce Committee’s interim report on the harms young people experience online, with a majority recommending a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds.
But first, they discussed the overhaul of the RMA.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
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