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After some time away from 95bFM, reporter Jack Marshall made his triumphant return to the bFM newsroom where he’s taking up his role as host of The Green Desk. 

This week on the Green Desk, Jack goes spotlighting with Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust at an Auckland golf course to find nature thriving in its waterways.

This week on the Tuesday Wire... 

For Dear Science this week, we chatted with our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin about bats with glowing toes, glue sealing wounds inside the body, and new technology to make green and yellow lasers. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia, Candace Owens potentially visiting Aotearoa, and the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan. 

They also spoke to Doctor Timothy Welch about the government’s recently announced transport funding allocation. 

With the return of the Green Desk, Jack Marshall talked to Sophie Journee from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust about the waterways in an Auckland golf course. 

And News and Editorial Director, Joel Armstrong, spoke to Staff Researcher at Child Poverty Action Group, Harry Yu Shi, about a recent report showing Aotearoa has poor child poverty statistics compared to European countries.

The government announced its transport budget yesterday, a record 32.9 billion dollars, mostly going towards the campaign promise of ‘roads of national significance’. This focus on large highway projects has led the government to pull funding from other areas, such as public transport, walking, and cycling.

Wire host Castor spoke to Senior lecturer of Urban planning at the University of Auckland, Doctor Timothy Welch, about the government’s funding allocation and its potential impact on congestion and the environment.

Pungent pathways

Hosted by PHILLIEE, featuring the Sound of Sydney courtesy of our man Carlos Avilés.

~ Universal Harmony ~

Oozing a grateful ora, massaging the creative mind.

Last week Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced that levies paid by the fishing industry will be slashed by nearly $5 million dollars. 

The levies are used to manage the environmental impacts of commercial fishing. This includes monitoring fish populations, making sure observers are on boats, and researching the impacts fishing is having on the wider ocean environment. 

The same day, Jones announced a bill that will extend coastal permits for marine farms by 20 years. 

It was opposed by Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori due to environmental concerns. Greenpeace says that Jones is prioritising private commercial gain over the wellbeing of the oceans. 

Producer Evie spoke to Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper about the changes made by Shane Jones and the potential environmental impacts they could have on our oceans.

Calls have been made to deny the visa of far-right figure, Candace Owens, from visiting New Zealand as a part of her scheduled speaking tour at the end of the year.

Owens, who has a history of Islamophobia, homophobia, and anti-semetism, recently, on recent videos uploaded to her YouTube channel, questioned key elements of the Holocaust, such as the well-documented human experiments conducted by Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele as “bizzare propaganda,” calling the Holocaust “an ethnic cleansing that almost took place”.

Last week Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand announced they were offering voluntary redundancies to admin and advisory staff. This follows 268 roles already being cut from Te Whatu Ora’s commissioning team. 

The organisation has said that the “majority of their expenditure is on people costs, and Health NZ needs to review its size and structure.” Adding that “they are providing the opportunity for eligible staff to consider voluntary redundancy ahead of likely formal change consultation processes over the coming months.” 

However many health staff say a cut to admin will put more pressure on the already understaffed and overworked nurses, doctors and primary care workers. 

New Zealand Nurses Organisation Chief Executive Paul Goulter says Te Whatu Ora did not follow the correct consultation processes before arriving at the conclusion that there should be redundancies. 

He added that any reduction of staff will impact on the people who remain. Saying removal of supporting roles means that other staff must pick the work they’re doing, something he calls unacceptable. 

Producer Evie spoke to Goulter about Te Whatu Ora’s voluntary redundancies and the impacts they will have on other healthcare workers. 

Recently, the government has amended gang legislation that would allow police officers to enter private properties of repeat offenders showcasing emblems, patches, and insignia.

The New Zealand Law Society sent an open letter, sent by the society’s vice president, David Campbell, outlining their concerns for the proposal.

The concerns raised include how gang insignia is identified, which if the clause is taken literally, could be interpreted as printed reproductions of logos, which could make it illegal to own newspapers or certain books with gang insignia in it, increasing in the risk of someone to be criminally liable around someone in possession of gang memorabilia, concerns that the amendment will have detrimental effects to communities and whānau in which gang members reside in, as well as infringing on rights protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the committee’s open letter and the ethics of the amendment.

Featuring a chat with The Nomad celebrating his first single release in ten years and get the Loose Reads update from Time Out Bookstore.