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.
There are at least 150,000 children in Aotearoa living under the poverty line who come from households dependent on government assistance schemes like Working for Families.
However, as Susan St John, associate professor in economics at the University of Auckland Business School and spokesperson for Child Poverty Action group, said in a recent newsroom article, there are barriers in accessing support schemes for low-income families not found in those aimed at Kiwis over the age of 65, such as the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
Oto had a chat with Susan about the state of government assistance for low-income families in New Zealand, and why she believes it’s better to be old than young if you’re poor in New Zealand.
The government recently announced it would increase funding to the New Zealand Pharmaceutical agency, also known as Pharmac, by $604 Million over the next four years to fund the treatment of 54 new drugs, 13 of which are cancer treating medication.
The announcement comes after the government experienced widespread backlash when cancer treatment funding was left out of the annual budget announcement made last month, going against Nationals promise during the general elections to increase funding for cancer treatments.
For their weekly catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez-March to discuss the party’s take on the government’s recent announcement and decision.
They also talked about the government’s introduction of a new sentencing Category for Young Offenders and the implementation of check-in requirements for Jobseeker beneficiaries.
The government announced cancer drug funding on Monday, which was met with support from the Breast Cancer foundation, who say the funding will significantly benefit those currently struggling with cancer.
The announcement was met with some criticism, as it was a campaign promise for the National party last year, but was absent in last month’s budget. This led to some uncertainty around how the funding would be provided if at all.
Wire host Castor spoke to chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner about the funding, how it will benefit patients, and potential improvements for the future.
As part of their pledge to fund 13 new cancer drugs the coalition government has given Pharmac at least $600 million.
This is welcome news to the 330,000 patients that are currently on the waiting list for medicines on Pharmac’s Options for Investment List.
I spoke to the chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa about the current state of Pharmac’s process, funding and what other reforms are needed on top of the recent changes.
Patient Voice Aotearoa is a collective of patients, caregivers, whanau, advocates and charitable organisations that campaign for the rights of New Zealand patients.
I began by asking about the state of Pharmac funding prior to the developments.
For Dear Science this week, we chatted to Professor Allan Blackman chats to us about the environmental impact of green hydrogen, chimpanzees using drugs, and the 3 Nobel laureates born today.
Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Tom Rutherford about the government’s proposed military style bootcamps for youth offenders and public sector job cuts.
Castor also spoke to chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner, about the government’s cancer drug announcements and what they mean for cancer patients.
Producer Elle spoke to the Chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa, Malcolm Mulholland about Pharmac’s recent funding for cancer medication.
Wire host Caeden spoke to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about last week’s Labour Party conference and scrutiny week in Parliament.
They also spoke to Kanak youth coordinator Viro Xulue about the struggle for decolonisation in New Caledonia.
They spoke to University of Auckland Lecturer Dr Emmy van Esch about the ethics of monitoring employees’ computers when they work for home.
And they spoke to World Vision’s Dr Olivia Yates about pacific migration due to climate change.
Producer Oto spoke to Dr Selena Shang from the University of Auckland about the government’s decision to remove agricultural emissions from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
He also spoke to Dr Jennifer Tatebe from the University of Auckland to talk about the impacts of urbanisation on rural schools.
On Sunday the government announced new measures to combat increased rates of youth offending. Along with increased police presence on Queen Street, they also promised the introduction of military style boot camps for youth offenders.
Military style boot camps have been implemented several times in Aotearoa, to minimal success. They have been met with criticism for their failure to address the root issues of youth offending, and the high rates of reconviction.
The government has also met recent criticism for its cuts in the public sector, particularly for ACT party leader David Seymour’s comments that more cuts should be expected.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the boot camps proposal and the impact of cuts in the public sector.
The government has proposed to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
This would mean if any council wanted to establish a Māori ward, and a petition that had been signed by 5% of people was presented, a binding referendum would have to be held.
Additionally, the bill requires that all the councils that created Māori wards since 2021 have to hold a poll about whether to keep them at the 2025 local elections, with the results of the poll to be binding and come into force in 2028.
ActionStation has released a report, ‘Protect Māori Wards’, which has gathered the stories of over 200 community members on their experiences of Māori wards.
Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to ActionStation director, Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), about what the report found, why Māori wards are important, and the government’s proposed changes for Māori wards more generally.
The UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, recorded that 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023 due to conflict, violence, or climate-related disasters - a record number.
In light of World Refugee Day last week, Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer of comparative and international education in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, says that the global refugee crisis is a symptom of a failed global system.
Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Ritesh about the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which provides the internationally recognized definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive, as well as the global refugee crisis more generally.
For their weekly catch up, producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party's Simon Court about the government’s failure to deliver on the promised funding for cancer drugs, and the ACT party’s views on politicians involvement with Pharmac. They also talk about the party’s policy surrounding social media, as old concerns arise surrounding party leader David Seymour’s use of Snapchat.
Host Sofia speaks to the director for ActionStation, Kassie Hartendorp, about a new report by ActionStation called ‘Protect Māori Wards’ and the government’s proposal to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
Evie also caught up with Students for Fair Rent organiser, Matthew Lee, about the decision to end their month long rent strike at the University of Auckland, and what actions the group plans to take next.
And Sofia spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland about the global refugee crisis, in light of the United Nations Refugee Agency reporting 117.3 million people being forcibly displaced in 2023 - a record high.
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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