95bFM: The Wire

Pro-Palestine protestors are set to march across the Harbour Bridge in Auckland on Saturday.

Last week, Te Paati Māori’s Oriini Kaipara won the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, beating Labour’s Peeni Henare.

And this year’s Pacific Islands Forum is taking place this week in the Solomon Islands.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Shanan Halbert about all of these issues. 

Earlier this week, Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle (Ngāpuhi) resigned from Parliament.

They cited concerns for their safety following receiving ‘hate, vitriol and threats of real-world violence.”

Earlier this year, research found online threats of physical and sexual violence have caused Members of Parliament to feel ‘fearful, anxious and distressed.’

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, Cassandra Mudgway, about this issue and potential solutions.

The government has recently announced the specifics of the ‘shakeup’ of Auckland Transport.

This follows the plan, which was first announced in December last year, to introduce new legislation that would strip Auckland Transport of a lot of the entity’s power.

The changes will result in Auckland Council overseeing major decisions regarding transport, that will be split between the major, 20 councillors, and local boards.

As well as this, a new Auckland Regional Transport committee will be established, that will include councillors, government appointee’s, and an independent chair, to work on a 30-year transportation plan.

The bill is set to have its first reading next month, and is expected to pass into law by March next year.

For City Counselling this week, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about this topic.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Shanan Halbert about the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election result, this weekend's march across the Harbour Bridge for Palestine, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

For International Desk, they spoke to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the death of Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and the prominence of political violence in the United States.

They also spoke to Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, Cassandra Mudgway, about the online abuse faced by politicians, especially those who are women and/or minorities. 

For City Counselling, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey on the major ‘shakeup’ of Auckland Transport.

And Joel spoke to John Fraser, the former Dean of Faculty of Medical Sciences and current research professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology at the University of Auckland, on US health secretary RFK Jr’s cancellation of $500 million US dollar worth of funding for mRNA vaccine research.

Producer Jasmine spoke to Dr. Nona Taute about the tool he’s developed through his PhD research to centre mātauranga Māori and empower iwi decision-making in geothermal engineering in Aotearoa. 

This week on International Desk, an unfolding story from the United States.

Conservative political organiser Charlie Kirk has died after being shot during an event at Utah Valley University. 

Kirk was a controversial figure, known for his pro-gun and Christian Nationalist views, as well as his close allyship with United States President Donald Trump.

Kirk’s death comes shortly after other stories of political violence in the United States.

In June, Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were assassinated in a shooting in their home. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also injured the same day. 

Following the news about Kirk’s death, Wire Host Caeden reached out to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News to find out how people were reacting in the United States.

Recently, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr, has cancelled over $500 million US dollars, roughly equating to $851 million New Zealand dollars, worth of federal funding for the mRNA vaccine.

News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to John Fraser, the former Dean of Faculty of Medical Sciences and current research professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology at the University of Auckland, about this cancellation of funding, and the claims RFK Jr has made regarding the vaccine, which Fraser has described as ‘ill-informed nonsense’.

Here is that interview.

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Wednesday Wire host Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s announcement to expand support services for rough sleepers, Green MP Benjamin Doyle’s resignation from Parliament and Erica Stanford’s recently announced measures to crack down on overstayers.

When a White House reporter asked the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whether he was ready to move to the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin earlier this week, Trump responded with a blunt “yeah I am” and chose not to elaborate any further.

Following this, the European Union’s most senior sanctions envoy was confirmed to be holding talks with US counterparts, which were reported to have taken place yesterday. The main topic was to look for tougher measures to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine, after Russia launched its largest-ever airstrike against Ukraine this past weekend.

To discuss what the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia could be, and how it could impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Producer Max talked to Stephen Hoadley, a retired professor of international relations at the University of Auckland.

Hundreds of actors, directors and other film industry professionals, including the likes of Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton have signed a pledge, which was submitted by the group “Film Workers for Palestine”, where they have vowed not to work with Israeli film institutions that they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”, the pledge is inspired by the cultural boycott that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa.

Taking it back to last year, Will Alexander, a New Zealand actor who has appeared on Shortland Street in the past, chose to go on a hunger strike due to what he referred to as the New Zealand government being complicit in an ongoing genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.

As he has personally acted against Israel in the past, Producer Max spoke to Will to get his opinion on the news of other global actors choosing to strike against Israel and how an actor can shape public perception.

Recently, commentators and industry voices have been raising the alarm about the state of our public health service while thousands of nurses strike for better conditions. One facet of this is concerns over inadequate nurse staffing compounded by the underhiring of nurse graduates. Leaks from Health New Zealand last week show reforms that will ensure nurse graduates are offered some work, but they will also be offered fewer hours of support and training.

Dr Sue Adams, a senior lecturer of Nursing specialising in developing the Nursing workforce at the University of Auckland has called Health New Zealand's move wrong-footed.

Producer Emmanuel spoke to Dr Adams to discuss the implications of these reforms, the state of the public health system as a whole and the silencing of nurses raising concerns.