95bFM

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

~ Universal Harmony ~

Oozing a grateful ora, massaging the creative mind.

Jenna reviews All That We Know by Shilo Kino on Loose Reads. Whakarongo mai nei!

Last week, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced a five-point climate strategy which aims to reduce the impacts of climate change and prepare for future effects. 

The five core pillars announced were:

Watts said the three-page strategy is “comprehensive” and “ambitious”, however, there is no explanation as to how each goal will be achieved. 

Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to climate lead at Forest and Bird, Scott Burnett, about the nature-based solutions pillar and the strategy more generally.

Last week, the Employment Court’s judgement found that Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles’ employer, the University of Auckland, breached its contractual obligations to protect her against ongoing threats, abuse, and harassment for her public commentary and science communication work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the many concerns Wiles raised with the university were verbal threats, being filmed without consent, and calls for her to be executed, all of which escalated both in volume and violence over time. 

In the Employment Court’s judgement, Wiles was awarded general damages of $20,000 to be paid to her by the university within 28 days.

Research director at the Disinformation Project, Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, was called upon as an expert witness, and provided the court with a brief of evidence in support of Siouxsie's case against the University of Auckland. 

Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Hattotuwa about the judgement and its implications.

Producer Evie speaks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the government’s five point climate strategy, renewed calls from the party to abolish the human rights commission and a member's bill that would prohibit regional councils from considering climate change in their decisions. 

She also speaks to Associate Professor in Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, David Dempsey, about the Oil and Gas ban reversal and its implications, and what energy alternatives could look like in Aotearoa. 

Wire host Sofia speaks to Research Director at The Disinformation Project, Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, about the Employment Court’s judgement of Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles’ case against the University of Auckland over the university’s failure to protect her from ongoing and escalating abuse and harassment for her science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also speaks to the climate lead at Forest and Bird, Scott Burnett, about the climate strategy announced by Climate Change Minister Simon Watts last week. 

And she speaks to Associate Professor of French at the University of Auckland, Deborah Walker-Morrison, about the France elections and the current state of French politics.

The government recently announced a reversal on the oil and gas exploration ban, which was put in place by the Labour government in 2018. 

This has been met with concerns around the increased emissions that will be caused by this exploration. Many environmental groups have stressed that the government will have to offset these emissions to meet Aotearoa’s targets. 

I spoke to Associate Professor in Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, David Dempsey about the history of the ban, the environmental implications of it being reversed and what sustainable alternatives Aotearoa can use to gather energy instead.

Last week the Government released its five point climate action plan. This follows recent decisions from the government such as a reversal on the oil and gas exploration ban, and the removal of the clean car discount, both of which have been met with backlash from many environmental groups. 

For our weekly catch up I spoke to the ACT party’s Simon Court about this climate action plan. We also talk about renewed calls from the party to abolish the Human rights commission. As well as a new member's bills that would prohibit regional councils from considering climate change in their decisions. 

Mikey Majestic presents Reggae Got Soul

After the far-right National Rally’s dominant victory in the European Parliament elections in France, French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections for the National Assembly to be held in two rounds on June 30th and July 7th.

In the first round, National Rally came in top, however, it did not pass the threshold of 289 seats for an outright win.

After a second round of voting, a loose alliance of left-wing parties, the New Popular Front, secured the most seats. However, again, no one group won an absolute majority. 

To win an outright majority, a party or coalition needs to secure at least 289 seats.

With France now left with a hung parliament, Wire host Sofia spoke to Associate Professor of French at the University of Auckland, Deborah Walker-Morrison, about these results and what’s next for the state of French politics. 

She began the interview asking her why President Emmanuel Macron called the snap election.