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.
Last week, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced a five-point climate strategy which aims to reduce the impacts of climate change and prepare for future effects.
The five core pillars announced were:
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
Nature-based solutions address climate change
Watts said the three-page strategy is “comprehensive” and “ambitious”, however, there is no explanation as to how each goal will be achieved.
Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to climate lead at Forest and Bird, Scott Burnett, about the nature-based solutions pillar and the strategy more generally.
Last week, the Employment Court’s judgement found that Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles’ employer, the University of Auckland, breached its contractual obligations to protect her against ongoing threats, abuse, and harassment for her public commentary and science communication work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the many concerns Wiles raised with the university were verbal threats, being filmed without consent, and calls for her to be executed, all of which escalated both in volume and violence over time.
In the Employment Court’s judgement, Wiles was awarded general damages of $20,000 to be paid to her by the university within 28 days.
Research director at the Disinformation Project, Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, was called upon as an expert witness, and provided the court with a brief of evidence in support of Siouxsie's case against the University of Auckland.
Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Hattotuwa about the judgement and its implications.
The government recently announced a reversal on the oil and gas exploration ban, which was put in place by the Labour government in 2018.
This has been met with concerns around the increased emissions that will be caused by this exploration. Many environmental groups have stressed that the government will have to offset these emissions to meet Aotearoa’s targets.
I spoke to Associate Professor in Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, David Dempsey about the history of the ban, the environmental implications of it being reversed and what sustainable alternatives Aotearoa can use to gather energy instead.
Producer Evie speaks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the government’s five point climate strategy, renewed calls from the party to abolish the human rights commission and a member's bill that would prohibit regional councils from considering climate change in their decisions.
She also speaks to Associate Professor in Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, David Dempsey, about the Oil and Gas ban reversal and its implications, and what energy alternatives could look like in Aotearoa.
Wire host Sofia speaks to Research Director at The Disinformation Project, Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, about the Employment Court’s judgement of Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles’ case against the University of Auckland over the university’s failure to protect her from ongoing and escalating abuse and harassment for her science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She also speaks to the climate lead at Forest and Bird, Scott Burnett, about the climate strategy announced by Climate Change Minister Simon Watts last week.
And she speaks to Associate Professor of French at the University of Auckland, Deborah Walker-Morrison, about the France elections and the current state of French politics.
The ACT party is introducing a bill which, in their words, will “ensure our nation’s founding document delivers on its promise of equal rights for all New Zealanders.” They claim they are only clarifying the Treaty and not rewriting it.
However, academics are saying their interpretation distorts the language and meaning of the text and the bill could significantly alter the practical application of Te Tiriti.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Margaret Mutu from the University of Auckland about the intentional mistranslation of Te Tiriti in this bill and why it is so harmful.
They started by asking why the Treaty Principles Bill is “deeply misleading.”
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.
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.
Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the nationwide census moving forward. The census is the largest statistical survey done in Aotearoa, and provides the bulk of population data used in research and decision-making. Reti says the census is “no longer financially viable” and will be replaced with a combination of smaller annual surveys and administrative data.
While the change looks good on paper, there are concerns around how the change in data collection could affect representation of marginalised and minority groups. Census data tends to be more protected from bias than administrative data and smaller surveys, meaning there are more opportunities for misrepresentation. Some statisticians are particularly concerned about the potential exclusion of marginalised rural communities.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about the census decision and its implications on marginalised and minority groups.
Associate Health Minister, David Seymour, has recently announced changes to Psilocybin and Melatonin availability.
Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, will be available for certain patients suffering from poor mental health outcomes. Melatonin, which is used for insomnia and jetlag, is set to be available over the counter.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move, and the potential accessibility concerns with accessing these medications.
They also discussed taxpayers set to be funding newly-funded cancer medicines for private facilities.
Finally, they discuss opposition parties criticised Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, over a lack of transparency regarding the effectiveness of boot camps for youth offenders, especially as boot camps have received a boost of $30 million, despite the pilot programme still being ongoing.
But first, they discussed Psilocybin and Melatonin.
Housing intensification is a key priority for Auckland Council as Auckland's population is forecast to reach 2.3 million by 2050.
But as planning for growth continues, some Auckland residents have expressed concern about the approval of developments in areas on flood plains or particularly prone to natural disasters.
With Kāinga Ora selling homes as ‘high risk investments’ in areas which were impacted by flooding in recent years, and 15 percent of all granted consents for new builds by Auckland Council being on floodplains, I spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about how the council is taking into account these issues for the coming years.
Last Saturday, over 2,000 protests took place across all 50 American States against President Donald Trump.
The protests coincided with Trump’s birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and they served as a direct response to the military parade in Washington, DC.
The organisers of the protests say they aimed to reject “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Jeremy Pressman, Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut about the protests and the backlash towards them from the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently spoke to media saying that the government would announce reforms to the Holidays Act that would impact sick leave entitlements for part time workers.
Under the suggested changes, sick leave entitlements would be processed under an accrual system, meaning that part-time workers working half the hours of their full-time counterparts may only earn half of their previously entitled sick leave.
In that same week, a directive was recently given to Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts to perform elective surgeries.
And earlier this week Associate Education David Seymour announced a review of the funding for early childhood education.
For our weekly Catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Last week, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced plans to double the tourism value by 2034, with increased funding to support the country in reaching this goal. The funding is primarily targeted at increasing the marketing of New Zealand tourism overseas, which has been met with mixed reactions from tourism operators in Aotearoa, many of whom have been struggling with existing tourist numbers.
Also this past week, the New Zealand government imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers for ‘inciting extremist violence’ against Palestinians. While the move has received cross-party support, opposition parties such as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have criticised the government for not taking further action against Israel.
In our weekly catchup with National's Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the new tourism funding.
This week on Dear Science our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about characterising liquid carbon, a New Zealand led cleanup in Antarctica, and plants making their own pesticide.
The ACT Party has recently announced that candidates standing in local elections, if elected, will oppose attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
ACT Local Government spokesperson, Cameron Luxton, says council’s should “focus on what they can control,” and not “costly symbolic declarations”.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move.
We also discussed the government’s sanctions on Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
New Zealand has joined countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway, in banning Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over allegedly “inciting extremist violence" against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and “undermin[ing] peace” for a two-state solution.
Finally, we discussed changes being made to the proposed anti-stalking laws.
But first, we discussed ACT candidates opposing attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
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