95bFM: The Wire

The 30th UN climate conference will run from next week, the 10th to 21st of November in Belém, Brazil, taking on key issues around the mitigation of climate change, like the limiting of global temperature rise, increase in climate spending commitments, and the impacts for vulnerable populations.

For Green World this week, Wire Host Sara spoke with Senior Lecturer at AUT’s School of Future Environments, Dr Priscila Besen, about the importance of this year’s conference for climate action.

Besen will be in attendance at COP30, and will share content at the event here.

Last week, Education Minister Erica Stanford confirmed the latest additions to draft curriculum changes for English and Maths, with the hope for implementation in 2026.

Also, ACT MP Laura McClure has put forward the Deepfake Harm & Exploitation Bill to update legislation around exploitation committed on digital platforms especially with AI.

Finally, after 30 years of MMP, the New Zealand Initiative, a kiwi policy thinktank, has proposed a four year parliamentary term and more MPs for Parliament, among numerous electoral reforms that they think can make New Zealand more effective for representing the population.

Wire Host Sara spoke with MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, starting with the curriculum changes.

The government has recently announced a new draft curriculum for years 0-10 that has seen changes to various subjects, including history, as per National/ACT coalition agreements.

ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, says the changes to the Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum removes “dismal, divisive and overly political ‘big ideas’”.

However, these changes have received criticisms from the NZ History Teachers Association over a multitude of concerns.

For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to him about these changes.

They also discussed Labour’s Capital Gains Tax policy, and the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

But first, they talked about the government’s proposed history curriculum.

Recently, the government announced that a charter school specifically catering to secondary students with autism would be started up.

The school, the Autism NZ Education Hub, would operate from Wellington and Auckland, with 96 students at first, with Associate Education Minister, David Seymour, saying the structure of the school will be personalised based on a students, needs, strengths, and interests.

However, concerns have been raised regarding whether this is the best approach to support autistic students.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Missy Morton, a Professor in Disability Studies & Inclusive Education at the University of Auckland about this school, and her concerns regarding it.

Last year. Half a million parking tickets were given out in Auckland by the city's growing fleet of Automatic plate-recognition vehicles. The city now has 25 of these vehicles. With non-compliance tickets having doubled since 2024, concerns have been raised over how these systems generate revenue for Auckland Transport and the council. 

While Auckland Transport has defended revenue as an unavoidable consequence of non-compliance systems, and insisted that they must stay consistent in their policing and management, some have labelled this as a ‘commodification of non-compliance’

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, Mohsen Mohammadzadeh about these tickets, revenue, and how this technology should, or shouldn't, be used.

This week on the Monday Wire:

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government’s new draft curriculum, specifically focusing on the changes to history, Labour’s capital gains tax policy, and the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, Dr Mohsen Mohammadzadeh, about concerns that the council and auckland transport are ‘commodifying non-compliance’ with parking tickets; that is, seeing parking ticket enforcement as a source of revenue.

And Joel spoke to Missy Morton, a Professor in Disability Studies & Inclusive Education at the University of Auckland, about the government’s announcement of a charter school for autistic students and her concerns with the move.

Whakarongo mai!

International research to understand the relationship between degenerative brain diseases and head knocks that occur in contact sports continues to develop, with New Zealand researchers calling for a delay for children’s involvement in contact sports until they are older.

Risk factors are not exclusive to concussions, or to professional players. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Dr. Helen Murray, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Brain Injury & Neurodegeneration Research at Waipapa Taumata Rau, about the recommendation to delay contact sports to reduce the risk of degenerative brain diseases later in life.

Thousands of households across the country are currently in rates arrears, struggling to pay their rates for the 2024/2025 financial year. 

Auckland Council's head of rates, valuations and data management, Rhonwen Heath, said 6.6 percent of rates, or 42,902 households were outstanding at the start of the 2025/2026 year.

As cost of living pressures continue to grow on households, with rising food, electricity and rents, Thursday Wire Producer Sanat wanted to chat to Auckland Councilor Shane Henderson about how Auckland Council plays a role in making life more affordable for everyday Aucklanders.

They also had a discussion about the role of fireworks in our community, with major festivals like Diwali prompting some communities to express concern about the disruption that fireworks are causing to their families, animals and the natural environment.

The Government has finally released its long coveted curriculum rewrite for subjects ranging from Science to Drama.

The new curriculum has faced growing criticism from sections of the education sector, with some calling the new curricula old fashioned, criticising it for sidelining Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Maori Knowledge 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat spoke to Professor of Maori Education Georgina Stuart about her views on the changes specifically to New Zealand’s Science Curriculum and whether those changes are fit for purpose.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with Willow-Jean Prime about Labour’s capital gains tax policy and the defunding of Te Karere and The Hui.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Amin Saikal, Middle East Analyst at Australian National University, on Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti and the responsibility of Israel for the leadership vacuum in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Producer Jasmine spoke to Dr. Helen Murray, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Brain Injury & Neurodegeneration Research at Waipapa Taumata Rau, on the recommendation to delay our tamariki starting contact sports until their early teens to reduce the risk of degenerative brain diseases later in life. 

Producer Sanat spoke to councillor Shane Henderson about people who are struggling to pay their rates, and regulations around fireworks. 

He also spoke to AUT’s Professor of Maori Philosophy of Education Georgina Stuart on the new changes to New Zealand’s Science Curriculum.