95bFM: The Wire

The economic crunch has hit the local events sector hard. Over this government's term, the festival scene saw many final appearances of world renowned events that put Aotearoa New Zealand on the map, not least being Splore.

But while our local festivals and gigs largely bore the consequences of increasing costs and decreasing sales alone, international competitors who provided large concerts often received funding from the government under a new scheme, the Major Events and Tourism package. 

This generated a host of criticism at the time, but this week we found out it had also gone against official advice from MBIE.

To understand the ins and outs of the issue Host Manny spoke to DJ and Industry advocate, Rob Warner, to discuss issues with the government's approach, and the revelation that the government had gone against official advice, and what he thinks could come next instead.

If you want to hear more about this topic, Rob's voice, or mine, bFM released an episode of our bLine podcast about the state of the local festival scene earlier this year, you can find it where ever reputable podcasts are found under bLine #10: Festivals.

Sooner or later, all of us will be touched with grief in our lives. But talking about death and the loss of a loved one can be an experience we might find incredibly difficult to navigate - particularly, when talking to a child about loss.

And yet, by 8, 35% of NZ children experience a close family member’s death. For 1% of children, that will be a parent.

Back in 1999, ‘Change, Loss, and Grief’ were included within Aotearoa’s curriculum, but by 2007 references to loss, bereavement, and grief were absent. In recent times, there’s been a push to incorporate greater education around grief in Australia and in England, where grief and loss will be taught as part of their relationships, sex, and health education from this month on.

Closer to home, Grief Education in Schools Aotearoa have launched a petition to bring education on grief into our school curriculum. So for this week’s Get Action, producer Theo began by asking campaigner Lee-Anne Duncan “what would grief education in schools look like?”

If you’d like to sign their petition you can find it on the ActionStation website, or linked just here.

This week on the Wednesday Wire...

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Greens City Vibrancy policy, their response to Labour’s promise to keep tax cuts for landlords, and the revelation that the government's decision to fund large concerts over grassroots events went against the official advice.

For this week’s Get Action, Producer Theo spoke with Lee-Anne Duncan from Grief Education in Schools Aotearoa about their campaign to add grief literacy to the school curriculum. 

Then Producer Jude spoke to the University of Auckland Dean of Law, Professor Susan Watson, about how big tech companies accumulated all their power.

And finally, at the end of the show, Manny spoke to DJ and Industry advocate Rob Warner who helped break the story about events funding, to discuss why it was so harmful, and where he thinks we could go next.

Last Thursday, the The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill passed its final reading through urgency. The bill is most notable for giving Youth Court the power to sentence serious young offenders to Military-Style Academies.

These academies have been controversial, a similar programme was introduced under John Key but didn’t last, and the pilot programmes for this version of bootcamps had a high rate of reoffending and multiple escapees. 

Concerns have been raised over the academy's effectiveness and ability to deal with children who have complex mental health issues.

To discuss the introduction of Military-Style Academies producer Thomas spoke to Children’s Commissioner Jane Searle

This week on the Tuesday Wire... 

For Dear Science this week, we chat with our expert Dr Cushla McGoverin, about the Ig Nobels, and this years winners.

Producer Thomas talks to Children’s Commissioner Jane Searle about the passing of the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill which will introduce Military-Style academies. 

And in the newest interview for our Candidates of Tāmaki Makaurau series Thomas talked to National candidate for Tāmaki, Mahesh Murladihar. 

And Producer Liam speaks to Bill McKay, a senior lecturer from the University of Auckland, about the government’s changes to Earthquake-prone building legislation, and what this will mean for building owners and heritage preservation.

Last week, parliament unanimously passed the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill, which would reduce restrictions on which buildings are deemed earthquake-prone and unsafe, especially in regions deemed at lower risk of seismic activity like Auckland. The government expects this will save over 8 billion dollars to individuals and businesses, who would no longer have to carry out expensive and potentially unnecessary earthquake strengthening work. 

I spoke with Bill McKay, senior lecturer in urban planning from the University of Auckland, about what these changes will mean for building owners and for heritage preservation.

On Saturday, an estimated 35,000 people took part in the March for Nature organised by Greenpeace and Forest & Bird — taking a stand primarily against the Conservation Amendment Bill.

Health Coalition Aotearoa is calling for better regulation on gambling as new legislation could see up to 15 online casino licenses becoming operational in New Zealand.

They now formally recognise gambling as a commercial determinant of harm, alongside tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food, and have highlighted the exacerbated impact on whānau and rangatahi.

In response to the heightened risk of addiction for young people, the Problem Gambling Foundation has launched a co-designed, specialist youth service aimed at providing support for those affected by screen, gaming and gambling addictions.

Producer Sara spoke to Health Coalition Aotearoa interim co-chair Jason Alexander, as well as Clinical Lead Frances Russell from Touchgrass - a specialist youth addiction service developed by the Problem Gambling Foundation - about problem gambling in New Zealand.

This week on the Monday Wire... 

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News Director Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about the party’s supermarket policies as compared to each other political party.

They also spoke to the editor of Dunedin Herald about the organisation in the wake of its recent burst in popularity.

Producer Pranuja followed up with Worker’s First Union coordinator Max Santiago after last week’s “Keep Our Bus Drivers Here” rally, to hear how it went and what comes next for the campaign.  

On the topic of gambling harm in New Zealand, Producer Sara spoke with co-chair for Health Coalition Aotearoa Jason Alexander, as well as Clinical Lead for youth specialist service Touchgrass, Frances Russell

And this weekend, Producers Sara and Liam went down to the March for Nature and spoke to organisers and some participants about the event. 

With Labour announcing its supermarket policy yesterday, each party in government other than ACT now has some policy to break-up supermarkets and increase competition. ACT, on the other hand, says breaking up organisations will not reduce prices, and will just serve to lower business confidence.

ACT instead believes that reducing consenting processes for supermarkets and farmers is the correct path forward. While Woolworths and Foodstuffs generate millions of dollars in annual profits, the ACT Party says the solution is to remove regulation rather than adding more. 

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked about supermarket policies, high grocery prices, and what the ACT Party could do about the issue.