95bFM: The Wire

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”

The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.

And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics. 

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about New Zealand First’s declared “war on woke”, proposed Resource Management Act reform, and Labour’s calls for the government to condemn Israel for their recent military assault on Gaza.

For International Desk, they spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg accidentally being added to a group chat top US officials were using to make war plans. 

And they spoke to Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) about National MP Joseph Mooney’s members bill that would abolish people’s right to take legal action against companies over damage to the climate. 

News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey on submissions for Auckland Council’s long-term plan, ‘bed tax,’ and discussions around equity in the upcoming election.

And they spoke to Chief Executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand, Letitia Harding, about a recently released study showing vaping has not lowered smoking habits in young people in Aotearoa.

National MP Joseph Mooney has introduced a members bill that would remove people’s right to take legal action against companies for their impact on the climate.

The most prominent case this would impact is Mike Smith’s (Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu) Smith v Fonterra. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Smith about this proposed legislation and the potential impact on his case, which remains ongoing.

For their weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez-March about the government's new replacement to the Resource Management Act, The Green's call for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, and renewed calls for executive MP support of Chloe Swarbrick's members' bill to Sanction Israel 

For this week’s Green Desk, producer Liam speaks to Brent Bielby, manager of EcoMatters’ Bike Hubs, a community project aimed at encouraging more people to take up cycling.

Oto spoke to Rich Greissman - Deputy Chair of the Child Poverty Action Group about their call to senior Government Ministers and finance Minister Nicola Willis to restore funding to Ka ora Ka Ako, the healthy school lunches programme.

And, for this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to founding chair of Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana - John Forbes about his group’s petition to remove vehicle access from vulnerable areas of the Kāwhia harbour.

The free school lunch program has been in the headlines here in Aotearoa for several weeks after facing significant impacts to their quality and delivery following a complete restructure of the program led by associate education minister David Seymour.

Many schools have reported late deliveries of meals beyond the lunch period, plastic packaging melting into the food and one student even experiencing burns from the packaging that required medical attention.

This, of course, has the greatest impact on the more than 150,000 Tamariki living in severe poverty, who relied on programs like Ka Ora Ka Ako to receive daily meals.

In response, the Child poverty action group has made a call to senior government ministers and Finance Minister Nicola Willis to restore the funding that was cut from the school lunches program so that schools across the motu could receive meals from local community suppliers.

Oto spoke to Rich Greissman - Deputy Chair of the Child Poverty Action Group's Governing Committee, to discuss the group’s call and why it’s important for the government to ensure the provision of healthy school lunches to Tamariki.

A new government proposal would see maternity hospital stay periods extended from 48 to 72 hours. The change would reduce stress on parents and allow more time to adjust with hospital support.

To discuss the change and other support for new parents, Wire host Castor spoke to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dr. Charlotte Oyston, about this proposal to increase the maternity hospital stay period.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about seal blood oxygen levels, phrases boosting citations, and an Australian man importing plutonium.

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, I ask about Sam Uffindell’s new private members bill and Winston Peters’ war on woke. 

They also speak to Senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dr. Charlotte Oyston, about a proposal to increase the maternity hospital stay period. 

And producer Amani spoke with former NZ Herald editor Dr Gavin Ellis on why he believes a digital-only strategy could shatter the future of the NZ Herald, and how he feels about the recent board-overhaul

Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, and Producer Evie in studio to discuss the new TV series, 'Adolescence,' and how this series delves into toxic masculinity and incel culture.

The most recent data from the Ipsos Issues Monitor Survey was released.

The survey looks at various factors, including government favorability, as well as what areas in Aotearoa are of the most concern for respondents.

The survey recorded data from just over 1000 individuals and shows that respondents gave the government a 4.2 out of 10; the lowest score the survey has recorded since collecting data in mid-2017.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to a political marketing expert from the University of Auckland, Edward Elder, about these findings.

They started off by asking him if these recent statistics are a surprise to him.

Last week Foreign Minister Winston Peters made a trip over to the US to meet with the new Trump administration. 

On the trip, Peters carried out a number of meetings with officials such as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Peters has since revealed very little about what was discussed or achieved in these meetings, instead simply stating he was ‘very pleased’ and ‘more confident going out than coming in.’ 

The main questions ahead of the trip were around what effect Trump’s tariffs may have on Aotearoa, as well as what trade with the US will look like moving forward. However little has been revealed following the trip.

Producer Evie spoke to Geopolitical Analyst at the University of Otago Geoffrey Miller about the trip and what Aotearoa can expect to come out of it.