95bFM: The Wire

Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.

Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.

Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.

With 2025 coming to a close, it’s a turning point for health promotion strategies around nicotine and tobacco use in Aotearoa. The Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 initiative launched in 2010, and sought to focus on addressing inequities for Māori. The parameters for success for Smokefree Aotearoa aimed for a reduction to less than 5% of NZers that smoke, across all population groups, by the end of the fifteen year period.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Professor Chris Bullen, Co-Chair of the Smokefree Expert Advisory Committee, about the changes in smoking culture that have occurred across the campaign, and what is next for addressing inequities in tobacco use and relevant health outcomes going forward.

We might think of statehood as a fairly recent, post- World War Two phenomenon, but the creation of states actually goes back to 5000 years ago. 

And instead of money, it was the taxation of grains that contributed to the creation of the first states. 

Producer Vihan spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor of Psychology Quentin Atkinson on how the first states and their elites came to be.

Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.

Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.

Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.

This week on the Wednesday Wire:

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez March about what the Green Party has taken away from Scrutiny Week, the recent reports criticising the Government’s decision-making in regards to climate change, and the United Nations report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights in New Zealand.

For this weeks Get Action! Producer Flo spoke with Activist Lauren Craig, creator of OurChangeAction Petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers”.

Flo also spoke with Kirsten Tilleman, a University of Auckland PhD researcher, about her study on discrimination and violence towards LGBTQIA+ individuals on public transport. 

And Producer Vihan spoke with the University of Auckland’s Professor of Psychology Quentin Atkinson, to discuss the formation of states.

The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review. 

Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.

If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here

A new study from the University of Auckland has indicated a higher risk of violence and discrimination for queer people on public transport, especially for non-binary and transgender people or those with multiple marginalised identities. 

Kirsten Tilleman, PhD researcher at Waimata Taupapa Rau University of Auckland conducted the study and is working with Auckland Transport to address the issue. To further explain the results of the study and to describe the implementation of possible solutions, Wire producer Flo spoke with Kirsten Tilleman.

Nurses have been at the forefront of most crises, yet they work in under-resourced environments and have been prevented from speaking about their working conditions. 

Even though this year saw over 36,000 nurses take strike action, the profession has been riddled with challenges such as being understaffed.  

Producer Vihan spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor of Nursing, Andrew Jull, about the issues around a lack of representation of nurses.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about what may have triggered the Black Death, a chameleon-like nanomaterial, and how microbes could help protect underground nuclear waste.

Landing 20 December, Forces of Flight, MOTAT’s newest Aviation Hall exhibition - Discover the forces that take you sky-high!

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about what may have triggered the Black Death, a new chameleon-like nanomaterial, and how microbes could help protect underground nuclear waste

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Sara spoke to MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week

For Green World, Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald and University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the problem of fast fashion in Aotearoa.

Producer Vihan spoke to Professor of Nursing Andrew Jull at the University of Auckland about his concerns over the undervaluing of the profession.