95bFM: The Wire

WIPCE, or the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education, is a triennial conference that “celebrates the sharing, promoting of, and advocacy for Indigenous-based initiatives through holistic educational efforts.”

WIPCE 2025 took place here in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to WIPCE 2025 Co-Chair, Professor Meihana Durie (Ranitāne, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, and Kāi Tahu) about his reflections on the conference.

Last weekend, the Labour Party hosted their annual general meeting in Auckland.

This week is the second scrutiny week of the year in Parliament, focused on scrutinising Government spending throughout this year. 

And the Government has announced a 4% council rates rise cap.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wie Host Caeden asked Shanan Halber about all of these topics.

A project funded by the Health Research Council (HRC) has spotlighted the significant gap in support for Asian rangatahi who’ve experienced sexual violence in Aotearoa. 

Research investigated the experiences of professionals and carers - from counsellors, psychologists, educators, social workers, legal and medical practitioners and more from across the motu.

Increased cultural competency, safety, and support emerged as common themes to a more cohesive cross-sector approach to improve support for survivors.

I spoke to the initiative’s lead researcher, Dr. Ying Wang, Research Fellow at the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland about this kaupapa.

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 The National Party’s newly announced rates rises cap, The Labour Party announcing they’d be providing low-interest loans for family GP practices, and last week’s Government announcement that they'd be majorly shaking up local government.

Producer Flo spoke with Dr Katherine Doolin, a Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, to talk about the effectiveness of Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, the upcoming conference on AODT courts and hopes for their further implementation in the future.

Max spoke with Peter Shepherd, a Professor in the department of molecular medicine at the University of Auckland, to discuss the World Health Organisation listing Ozempic-style weight loss drugs as a recommendation to combat obesity.

And Flo spoke with Wei-Qin Zhuang, an Associate Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Auckland, to discuss a new methodology to remove nitrate from water supplies.

According to new guidelines by the World Health Organisation, Ozempic-style weight loss drugs are now recommended to combat obesity.

The recommendations in the new guidelines are conditional for now, as the WHO have emphasised that medication alone can’t tackle the worldwide problem of obesity. They’ve also suggested behavioural therapies such as changes to diet and exercise. Overall, the WHO says these medications could play an important role in tackling a condition that affects millions of people globally.

To break down this announcement by the WHO, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with Peter Shepherd, a Professor in the department of molecular medicine at the University of Auckland.

High levels of nitrate have been found in water supplies in New Zealand, especially in rural regions such as Canterbury, these levels of nitrate can pose significant dangers, especially to children.

Traditional nitrate removal methods produce carbon dioxide and other waste material, Producer Flo spoke to University of Auckland Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Wei-Qin Zhuang about the dangers of nitrate, his newly developed methodology and its potential usage in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts have been utilised since 2012 to treat offences fueled by drug use or committed by people in active addiction. 

Offenders who would have otherwise faced up to three years in prison can instead commit to rehabilitation programs  and community work to aim to address the core issues of these offenders.

Amidst rising levels of methamphetamine use in New Zealand, the courts have shown success at rehabilitating offenders in the community and stopping reoffending. 

Producer Flo spoke to Dr Katherine Doolin, Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland about the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, the upcoming conference on AODT courts and her thoughts about the future of drug-crime related policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.

On Monday, the government announced that they’d be introducing a rates rises cap, which is expected to be legislated by the end of 2026. The cap would be a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4% nationwide.

When talking about the reasoning for the introduction of a rates cap, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that ratepayers in New Zealand were “fed up”.

Along with this, The Labour Party announced that if they were to be elected in next year’s election, they would offer doctors and nurse-practitioners low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones. In their policy, Chris Hipkins stated they would hand out up to 50 loans per year, which would be up to 90% of the cost of buying into a practice, capped at $500,000 dollars. They also specified they’d be prioritising areas that had no general practitioners or practices with closed or partially closed books.

And last week, the Government announced a proposed major shake-up of local council. Where Mayors of cities and district councils would take over the duties of regional councils.

For our Weekly Catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s regional council’s announcement and Labour’s low-interest loans for family GP practices.

But first, they discussed The National Party’s rates rises cap.

A new study by the University of Auckland has shown rising levels of burnout within the Pacific community.

The research is the first large-scale study to examine burnout within New Zealand-born Pasifika adults between the age of 18 to 65. 

The study found that 90 per cent of the adults experienced burnout, with almost 50 per cent experiencing burnout repeatedly. 

Producer Vihan spoke to University of Auckland Doctoral Candidate Asetoa Sam Pilisi about his study on burnout within New Zealand-born Pacific communities. 

From today until the 4th of December, a conference will be held in Queenstown that will look into pest management and how best to protect native species.

The event not only brings experts in the sector from Aotearoa, but will also involve Australian experts as well.

Tuesday Wire Host Sara spoke to Dr Sze-Wing Yiu, a Wildlife Ecologist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, about this week’s conference, and what to expect.