Last week the government announced their overarching child and youth wellbeing strategy, which sets out a shared understanding of what's important for the wellbeing of young New Zealanders. Jemima spoke to Childrens Commissioner, Andrew Becroft, about the strategy and how it will be implemented practically. They also discussed the Commissioner's call for all schools to introduce anti-bullying programmes.
Local elections are fast approaching and there’s been a trend of declining participation. The problem is particularly bad in Auckland where turnout was under 40%. This causes problems around representation at local government level as well as setting the agenda in elections. Lachlan spoke with Professor Janine Hayward from Otago University about local government elction turnout.
Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, has given her support to a YES vote in the upcoming cannabis referendum. Today, the Helen Clark Foundation has released a report outlining the reasons for legalising and decriminalising cannabis. The Foundation is an independent, non-partisan, public policy think tank from Aotearoa and aims to contribute to policy debates on how to achieve a more inclusive, sustainable and peaceful society. The report’s release comes in the lead up to the referendum set for next year on whether to decriminalise cannabis and Clark has spoken about the need for informed debate around this issue. Lillian Hanly spoke with her and started by asking her to explain the findings of the report.
Recent scrutiny surrounding foreign political donations have flared after revelations that the National party received one hundred and fifty thousand dollars as a gift from Chinese Billionaire Lang Lin. Lin is an prominent figure in the Chinese horse racing industry and mad the donation through the Inner Mongolian Ride Horse Industry Group. This large sum has lead to fears over foreign influence on New Zealand’s political system. While the cap for overseas donations are supposedly set at fifteen hundred dollars, Lin managed to skirt these laws by donating through a New Zealand based company. Some, such as Victoria University's Dr Simon Chapple have called for an outright ban on foreign donations, as well as a cap on domestic ones. William Boyd spoke with Dr Lara Greaves from the Politics department at the University of Auckland about the laws on donating and the unequal amount gifted to right-leaning parties. William started off by asking Dr Greaves to clarify what the current laws are over foreign donation.
Today on the show Will battles through having eaten too much food to play some relaxing tunes for the soul and the gut. The usual suspects today with the gig guide and tasty remix.
Today on your bFM Breakfast: What a glorious morning to start counting down the NZVAPOR Top 95; Dr. Kirsten Zemke pops in to join the fun, bringing Bossa Nova to the party; and Johanna's back for Stage Direction, this week talking about her must-see performances. A special day for 95bFM as we countdown the Top 95 songs voted by the listeners. Arohanui.
Sherry spoke to general manager democracy services from Auckland Council, Marguerite Delbet, on One Stop Shops: booths set up to allows people to enrol and vote at the same time in the local elections. Sherry also ask hers on voter turnout in local elections, lowering the voting age and civic engagment. Sherry begins by asking her where these One Stop Shops are.
On Thursday the 17th of October, the government announced a new mental health facility in the Waikato. The $100 million project is set to replace the aging Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre which David Clark says is no longer fit for purpose. The Mental Health Foundations Chief Executive, Shaun Robinson joins Laura Kvigstad to discuss why placing funding on infrastructure is important in addressing Aotearoa's mental health crisis.
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