The Wire with Alex

OXFAM will be released a report that exposes extreme wealth disparities in New Zealand. The report shows that 1% of New Zealanders own 20% of the country’s wealth and that the number of wealthy New Zealanders worth more than $50 million also grew by 20% in the past year. The Executive Director of OXFAM, Rachel Le Mesurier, spoke to 95bFM producer Martha Lees about the main findings of the report. 

The Department of Conservation has reported huge numbers of walkers using New Zealand’s Great Walks this summer. Due to the strain this puts on DOC’s limited resources, they have said that they may consider charging a ‘differential fee’ for the Great Walks. While DOC considers the increased popularity to be a positive thing, some groups of trampers aren’t happy about the number of people using the walks. Federated Mountain Clubs Vice President Jan Finlayson spoke to 95bFM producer Martha Lees about the impact of the Great Walks’ renewed popularity.

Caitlin & Amanda review some of our favourite interviews and report from this year on The Wire. They look at rivers with authors Catherine Knight and Marama Muru-Lanning, National party highlights and priorities with National MP Jami-Lee Ross, a year in review of Australian news with Radio Adelaide's Ineke Mules, and a history of the current situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Daniel Walker and Olivia Mortimer-Eade review some hard-hitting, poignant, and funny pieces from the Wednesday Wire in 2016.
There's an interesting proposal during the refugee crisis, looking back to when wait times for Family Planning were two months, asking if Auckland’s rents really only rose by a dollar this year, our favourite piece from weekly feature Dear Science, bFM's last interview with the late trade unionist Helen Kelly, a listen to the sounds of this year’s Eid day festival, Ladi6 and Boh Runga on women in music, and a flashback to that one time Ricky Gervais followed someone on Instagram.