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.
A Māori and Pasifika study space at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, has engendered wide discourse about safe spaces in universities.
Commentary has included ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar saying the space is a form of segregation, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters saying it is comparable to the Ku Klux Klan and apartheid in South Africa.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Dr Julie Douglas, the National Co-President for the Tertiary Education Union, about this commentary and the importance of these spaces for these tauira.
A nationwide climate strike organised by a coalition of organisations including Fridays for Future, School Strike 4 Climate, and Toitū te Tiriti is happening this Friday April 5th.
The strike is demanding the coalition government to slow down the Fast Track Approvals Bill, keep the ban on oil and gas, uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, protect land and moana, and more.
It will also stand in solidarity with the call to free Palestine, demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and calling for the New Zealand government to provide emergency humanitarian visas to Palestinians with family in Aotearoa.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to one of the organisers of the Tāmaki Makaurau strike, Sophora from Fridays for Future, about these demands, youth-led activism, and how people can get involved.
Social work students in Aotearoa along with many other countries undergo 120 hours of unpaid placement work as part of their qualifications.
During this time, many students experience financial and material hardship, juggling placement work with paid work or other commitments.
In a recently published paper, social workers discuss the conditions and offer possible solutions. Wire host Castor spoke to one of the paper’s authors, the University of Auckland’s professor Liz Beddoe, about the paper and how these issues affect social work students.
Education Minister Erica Stanford made several comments in mid-March regarding the government’s “one size fits all” approach to inequities in education.
However, a “one size fits all” approach has been critiqued by several education experts, citing differences in learning ability and environment that make a blanket approach impossible.
Wire host Castor spoke to Professor of Disability studies and inclusive education Missy Morton about the issues with a one size fits all approach and the possible alternatives to better address student needs.
Sunday, March 31st, marked international transgender day of visibility, a day meant to highlight the achievements of transgender individuals and communities around the world and highlight the many legal struggles still affecting them.
Wire host Castor talked to James about what the government has to offer our trans rangatahi, especially given policies promoted by New Zealand First Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters before the election. They also spoke about the Fast Track Approvals Bill and the possible environmental consequences.
For Dear Science, Professor Allan Blackman spoke to us about 100 year old preserved milk, climate change affecting the earth's rotation, and song lyrics becoming simpler over time.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party's James Meager, Wire host Castor spoke to him about transgender issues in light of transgender day of visibility, as well as the Fast Track Approvals Bill.
He also spoke to the University of Auckland's Professor Liz Beddoe about poor working conditions for social work students.
He also spoke to Professor Missy Morton about the government's "One size fits all" approach to education inequities.
Producer Sofia spoke to Doctor Julie Douglas from the Tertiary Education Union about the importance of safe spaces for tauira with regards to discourse surrounding a study space for Māori and Pasifika students at the University of Auckland.
She also spoke to Sophora from Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau about the climate strike on Friday the 5th of April.
This week Castor filled in for Thursday Wire's usual host, Caeden.
For our weekly catchup with the Labour Party’s Jan Tinetti, Caeden discussed the outcomes of National’s childcare policy and the continuation of Labour’s free menstrual products policy.
They also spoke to Counsellor Lotu Fuli about the vandalisation of the rainbow crossing on Karangahape Road this morning and the end of Auckland Transport’s half price fares.
Producer Jasmine spoke with Dr. Shaun Awatere and Professor Christine Kenney about the role of te ao Māori in disaster management following the independent review released last month on the Hawke’s Bay emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
National has announced the fruits of the childcare policy they campaigned on, which is a rebate paid out once every three months. This is after they campaigned on fortnightly payments, and will disadvantage parents who cannot afford childcare up front.
They’ve also announced they are continuing Labour’s policy of free period product in schools and kura, although whether or not this includes primary as well as intermediate and high schools is uncertain.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire host Caeden asked Labour spokesperson for Education and Women Jan Tinetti about both of these announcements.
Last month saw the release of an independent review examining the emergency management of Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay last year. Insights revealed the key role marae, iwi and hāpu played in disaster response, heralding calls for strategies more inclusive of te ao Māori.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke with Dr. Shaun Awatere, of Ngāti Porou, who is Kaihautū Māori Research Impact Leader and Manaaki Whenua at Landcare Research. He discussed the ways in which national and local bureaucracies can be more formally inclusive of te Ao Māori and mana whenua approaches.
Jasmine also spoke with Professor Christine Kenney, of Te Ātiawa ki Kāpati, Ngāi Tahu, and Ngāti Toarangatira. Amongst an impressive array of interdisciplinary roles in this area, Christine is the Chair of Disaster Risk Reduction at Massey University, and she provided us more insight about what the report’s findings mean for Aotearoa’s wider emergency management frameworks.
The Fast Track approval legislation would enable the Ministers of transport, Infrastructure and Regional Development to approve consents for projects without going through the current considerations around communities and local and regional government, existing legislation regarding Te Tiriti and community participation.
Environmental activists have criticised the legislation as a potential avenue to undermine environmental considerations.
Nicholas spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March about his Party’s stance on the legislation.
They also spoke about the International Monetary Funds’ recommendations regarding reform in our tax system.
On Wednesday Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni dominated political headlines with news that she is believed to be a contestant on this year's season of Celebrity Treasure Island.
The last MP to compete on a reality TV show was David Seymour, who competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018. This appearance resulted in a now infamous video of Seymour twerking in 80s getup.
Last years Celebrity Treasure Island also drew headlines for including famous political figures, notably Tame Iti.
Political news this week has also included an announcement from Paul Goldsmith that the Government is looking at stopping election day voter enrolment due to the administrative burden.
Caeden asked about both these topics for our weekly catch-up with Carmel Sepuloni. They started by asking if she would appear in Celebrity Treasure Island.
On the 19th of December 2022, Farzana Yaqubi, a 21 year old law student at AUT, was murdered by a man who had been repeatedly stalking her and sending her threatening messages on social media. In the months leading up to her murder, Farzana made multiple police reports with evidence of her experienced stalking, urging law enforcement to intervene. However, her reports were effectively disregarded and treated as low priority, as there are no official laws in Aotearoa that criminalise stalking.
Farzana’s murder triggered a call to the government from numerous women’s rights advocates across the motu to come up with more effective legislation to criminalise stalking and establish more effective preventative measures in law enforcement.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Leonie Morris from the Auckland Women’s Centre, to discuss a petition calling for the official criminalisation of stalking.
If you're interested, you can sign the petition here:
For Dear Science this week Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about an orangutan treating its own injury, beluga whales changing the shape of their foreheads, and the development of skin burn healing bandages from plant based materials.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party’s Carmel Sepuloni I ask about MPs getting a pay raise, recent polling results that showed an increase in support for Labour, and a new policy from Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka which would prioritise whānau with tamariki for social housing.
Weekly Palestine protests have taken place in Britomart since last October, and an action in support of Palestine with several hundred students took place at the University of Auckland last night.
For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden asked Councillor Shane Henderson for his stance on the Palestine protests, as well as Council’s view more generally.
They also ask about the community impacts of half priced public transport for under 25s, which ended on May 1st.
The government recently made a series of changes to the licensing requirements for early childhood centres to be able to operate.
These include repealing the network approval provisions for people looking to establish early learning centres and removing the Person Responsible Staff requirements to have a full teaching licence.
The government justified these reforms by saying regulation cuts would make it easier for early childhood centres to operate, thus addressing Aotearoa’s teacher shortage.
However, many Kaiako working in early childhood education have said deregulation does not address the root causes of the teacher shortage, and that more focus is needed on addressing pay inequality for teachers within the sector.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Early childhood Kaiako and member of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Hayley Cross, to discuss a petition from the union to the government calling for pay parity in early childhood education.
The coalition government has made changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, including allowing landlords to charge an additional bond of up to two weeks rent on top of the standard bond of up to four weeks, if a tenant wishes to have a pet on the property.
No-cause evictions have also been reintroduced, allowing landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason, provided they give them 90 days notice.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about these changes.
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