The Wire with Caeden

As part of 95bfm's election coverage on the local economy this week, Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about the party's economic policies.

Te Pāti Māori is campaigning on raising incomes, focusing on the lower end of the income spectrum. They plan to do this by raising the minimum wage, legislating for yearly increases to the minimum wage, universalising student allowance, supporting pay equity for Māori nurses and teachers, and supporting trade unions. Hanna spoke to Takutai about these policies, including whether they would push up costs and addressing Aotearoa's low-wage economy. 

The party is also seeking to remove GST from kai. While the party has long campaigned on this policy, Labour introduced a similar policy two weeks ago to remove GST from fruit and vegetables. Hanna and Takutai discussed the differences between these two policies, namely administrative simplicity and paternalism, and responded to economists' critiques of such policies.

Researchers have shown that climate change and global warming could be contributing to an increased number of asthma attacks, due to increased pollen in the air. 

Olivia spoke with Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Auckland Pharmacy School, Dr Amy Chan, about this issue and the need for a pollen monitoring system. 

Meningococcal is a potentially fatal but preventable contagious disease caused by meningococcal bacteria.

According to some infectious disease experts, eliminating the deadly disease is potentially an achievable goal for Aotearoa.

News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago Dr Amanda Cals-vig about how New Zealand could become permanently free of this disease.

BNZ’s latest research into New Zealand’s scam savviness has shown that Nine out of Ten Kiwi’s have been targeted by scams.

This number is up 13% on last year, but fortunately the research also found that only one out of ten Kiwi’s have actually fallen victim to a scam.

BNZ’s research coincides with the beginning of their Scam Savvy Week, in which the bank raises awareness around scams as well educating the public on tips and tricks to avoid being duped.

Nicholas spoke to Ashley Kai Fong, the head of BNZ’s Financial Crime unit, about tell-tale signs of common scams as well as the upcoming resources provided during Scam Savvy Week.