95bFM: The Wire

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, regular Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about four-year parliament terms, the High Court challenge against the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, and the Public Services Commissioner investigating potential changes to several lived experience ministries.

For International Desk, they spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the current experiences of international students in the United States, especially as the Trump administration targets Universities for funding cuts.

For City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about a new plan up for limited consultation to build higher-density housing within the city. 

He also spoke to the University of Auckland’s Associate Professor of Pacific Studies Gordon Nanau about the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum and the surrounding geopolitical tensions between Pacific Island nations.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on both tertiary education and immigration is creating an uncertain environment for students in the United States, particularly international students. 

It also comes as the administration has slashed research funding, rolled back protections for disadvantaged student groups, threatened lawsuits against colleges, dismantled the education department and more.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso, about what it’s like to be an international student in the United States right now. 

Auckland Council will go to iwi authorities, government ministries and local boards for consultation on a draft plan that is proposing to increase intensification in the inner suburbs and strengthen hazard rules for new buildings. 

Auckland’s population will cross 2 million people  in the 2030’s however there is not currently enough housing available in the market to house everyone who calls Auckland home. 

This is exacerbated by affordability issues, where many renters and first-home buyers are being priced out of the market. 

The Prime Minister also recently said that he wants to see consistent house price growth as the country grapples with a long-tailed recession. 

Producer Sanat talked to Councillor Julie Fairey about this new plan to zone for nearly 2 million new dwellings in the city and why it is that Auckland Council is pursuing this change in the current moment.

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s plan to purchase $2.7 billion worth of US-made aircraft to replace the Defence Force's 757s, The high court case against the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority and The Green party’s petition to restore funding to polytechnics.

Late last week The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC, declared a famine in Gaza, warning that 41,000 children are at a heightened risk of death. The report said that the number of people facing – what they referred to as ‘emergency’ conditions – is expected to rise to 1.14 million people, or around half of the total population of Gaza, which is currently about 2.1 million people. 

Under IPC criteria, a famine can only be formally declared when three conditions are met: at least 20% of households face extreme food shortages, at least 30% are acutely malnourished, and two or more people per 10,000 die each day from hunger or hunger-related diseases.

To talk about what is only the fifth declared famine in the last 15 years, Producer Max spoke with ChildFund CEO Josie Pagani, to discuss what New Zealand can do to immediately help the situation.

Following on from our previous chat, recent events have led to Türkiye potentially pursuing a vote to suspend Israel from the United Nations.

Türkiye foreign minister Hakan Fidan has told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh that Israel should be suspended from the crucial meeting of the general assembly next month due to its ‘genocidal aggression’. In response to this, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa co-chair John Minto has urged New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters to take a stand on this issue.

To discuss a potential vote to suspend Israel from next month’s United Nations general assembly meeting, as well as New Zealand’s current stance on Israel and Gaza, Producer Max spoke with John Minto.

Defence Minister Judith Collins and Foreign Minister Winston Peters recently unveiled plans to purchase almost $3 billion worth of US aircraft to replace the Defence Force's ageing 757s.

The five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, would be procured directly through the United States' Foreign Military Sales programme.

Oto spoke with Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington about the government’s purchase plan, who said that the purchase was “disappointing” given the context of cuts to public services and infrastructure that have occurred within the government’s current term and it was indicative of New Zealand potentially being brought into a wider regional or global conflict by the United States.

In this day and age, “just use AI” seems to be a common response when people need a quick and easy solution to make digital art. There’s currently no protection for AI-generated art in Aotearoa, but commercial law Professor Alex Sims believes such copyright laws could be possible. But whose art is it, really?

Producer Faith spoke to Alex about the complexities and grey areas of AI art, how copyright needs to be approached, and how artists who create their own works without being aided by AI are already affected.

A secret memo by the Ministry for the Environment intended for the central government reveals advice that New Zealand’s failures on climate action may negatively impact our diplomatic relations. 

The warning stated that, as New Zealand delays decisions and action on our commitments under the Paris Agreement, we may risk undermining our key alliances with countries like Australia, Canada, the UK and countries in Europe. 

More importantly, University of Auckland Associate Professor Maria Armoudian, director of Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society, says that our climate failings are reflective of a global “tragedy of the commons”, which will have urgent negative impacts for our Pacific neighbours.

For this week’s Green Desk, Sara spoke with Armoudian about this Ministry for Environment warning and how New Zealand should be seeking to improve its climate policies. 

She started by asking what her expectations and hopes are about the government’s response to this memo

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman will be talking to us about all things birds: including the discovery of an extinct species of duck, the effect of light pollution on birdsong, and unexpected findings about bird pooping habits. 

Bonus honourable mention for the first ever Hong Kong bird contest this week!

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