95bFM: The Wire

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu was greeted by United States President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss many things, including ending the war in Gaza. After a lengthy talk, the leaders announced to the press the conditions they had come up with to offer to Hamas, despite no Palestinian or Hamas officials being present.

The proposal calls for an immediate ceasefire, a swap of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory and demands that Hamas immediately disarms and renounces any governance in the strip. The US President’s plan would also establish a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump himself and would include former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Trump then announced Hamas had three or four days to respond to the deal, and Netenyahu promised that if Hamas were to reject the deal, he would “finish the job” in Gaza.

To talk about the peace proposal led by Donald Trump and if it brings the war in Gaza any closer to ending, Producer Max spoke to co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto and retired professor in international relations Stephen Hoadley.

For Oto's final wire 😢 he spoke with Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March for our weekly catchup with the Green Party. They discussed: Winston Peters' refusal to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly and The government’s decision to reopen applications for oil and gas exploration across New Zealand.

And he spoke with Heba Mortaja from Aotearoa for Palestine for a follow up conversation about Winston Peters’ decision not to recognise Palestine, and the upcoming march for humanity on the Auckland harbour bridge they’ve announced in response.

Max spoke with co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto, to discuss the Gaza peace proposal suggested by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu yesterday at the White House and he spoke to retired professor in international relations Stephen Hoadley on this topic as well.

And Manny spoke to Associate Professor George Laking on the government's amendments to change the purpose, objectives, and functions of Pae ora legislation of Health New Zealand.

From hiring freezes to canning Te Aka Whai Ora, we've seen a significant shake-up of our public health system under this current administration, and now, Minister of Health Simeon Brown has put forward further amendments to change Health New Zealand's purpose, objectives, and functions.

Wednesday Wire Producer Emmanuel spoke to George Laking, an Associate Oncology Professor at the University of Auckland, over his concerns that the reforms will degrade access to preventative care and worsen health outcomes.

The government has announced their plan to repeal the Holidays Act in an effort to make the application of leave entitlements for workers easier to calculate — an issue which has been estimated to have resulted in more than $2 billion in remediation payments to workers for miscalculated entitlements. 

But critics including from Labour and the Greens say the changes will see some workers lose protections, especially when their hours defer from the traditional employment arrangement.

Submissions on the Electoral Amendment Bill reveal that many New Zealanders believe the changes will disenfranchise voters and negatively impact democratic participation. 

The proposed changes in the bill include removing the ability to enrol on voting day, banning prisoners from voting, and disallowing the provision of food and drink at election booths.

Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ announced that New Zealand does not officially recognise Palestinian statehood, going against the decisions of countries like Australia, the UK and Canada.

Peters said that, at this stage, such a decision might legitimise Hamas, but that the government will take a ‘when, not if’ approach to the issue.  

Wire Host Sara spoke with National MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, starting with the Holidays Act

Welcome to the latest addition to the Tuesday Wire: Green World! A segment run by bfm news team-ers Sara, Leilani & Max, Green World will dive into the eco-future  — uncovering everything from niche research topics, strange and interesting tech innovations, and the latest environmental developments from across the globe.

This week, the first ever Overshoot Conference will take place in Austria, where climate experts from around the world will come together to discuss how climate targets can be recovered as we head toward exceeding 1.5 degrees of warming. 

New Zealand Climate Change Commissioner Dr Andy Reisinger, who will be attending the event, says the global capacity to respond to this urgent issue “depends on collective social and political will”.

Last week’s UN Climate Summit also saw numerous political leaders speaking to global climate commitments, in particular in the lead up to COP30. 

In the first interview with Dr Andy Reisinger, Host Sara talks about the Overshoot Conference and global climate action. 

For Dear Science today, Sara and Jasmine speak to Cushla McGoverin about using hot glue guns to mend bones, tooth-in-eye surgery, and a large penguin species went extinct in Aotearoa 3 million years ago.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin talks about a crafty way to fix broken bones, an unusual surgery to restore vision, and a long extinct New Zealand penguin species. 

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Sara spoke to MP Carl Bates about the Holidays Act overhaul, submissions on the Electoral Amendment Bill, and the government’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly, 

Yesterday, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk announced changes to the earthquake-prone building regulations that will remove nearly 3000 buildings from the classification register.

Previously, buildings would have to meet a 34%NBS (new building standard) threshold to predict likelihoods of withstanding seismic action. The new system instead prioritises identifying structures that pose a higher risk to human life. Alterations seek to measure risk in a manner that balances safety with more affordable and realistic remediation action for existing properties.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Dr. Megan Boston, Senior Lecturer for Civil Engineering, at the University of Waikato about what the new quake-prone building regulations mean for Aotearoa’s community safety and heritage.

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 not announcing they would recognise a Palestinian state and the government’s new Employment Act.

Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in Accountancy and Finance and the University of Otago, Dr Sebastian Gehricke, about Winston Peters’ comments to the UN about top Emitters, and what it means for Aotearoa’s climate approach.

Alex also spoke to Senior Tutor in Law at the University of Auckland, Dr Justin Sobion about the problems with the UN, the Security Council, and how these can be fixed.

And Joel spoke to Nick Wilson - a Public Health Professor at the University of Otago, Wellington, about a new study, showing a majority of New Zealanders in the study want the Government to develop specific plans in case of catastrophic risks to the nation.

Whakarongo mai!

Last week, US President Donald Trump had an outburst of criticism towards the UN. Despite the why and what of these criticisms by the right wing leader, he is not the first to levy criticisms against the organisation and its structures.

Particularly, the inability for the organisation to enact, oversee and rule on meaningful change, as well as the powers invested in an outdated security council, have been subject of significant concern, especially in the 21st century.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Tutor in Law at the University of Auckland, Dr Justin Sobion, about the UN’s glaring issues, and potential fixes.