95bFM: The Wire

There have been reports recently that indie promoters across the city have been told to immediately cease postering in the city by Auckland Council. 

Auckland Council has cited a higher number of complaints and their signs bylaw which technically makes these posters promoting indie gigs illegal. However, an informal arrangement between both parties meant that enforcement action was rarely taken 

At the same time Auckland is a UNESCO city of music with the city’s independent music scene being renowned globally, so today I wanted to ask Councilor Shane Henderson about  Auckland Council’s rationale and see why they have suddenly changed their approach when it comes to gig posters. 

There has also recently been some commentary from Auckland Business Chamber head Simon Bridges about the state of Auckland’s regional economy.

He wants the central government to renew investment to stimulate the economy and extend a helping hand to struggling industries. At the same time regional economies in the South Island seem to be showing signs of economic recovery while Auckland still contends with the country’s highest unemployment rate. 

So I asked Councilor Shane Henderson about how Auckland Council can stimulate that growth and how that growth can have equitable benefits across the entire city.

Last week's United Nations talks to negotiate a global plastics treaty failed after a consensus couldn’t be reached.

This led to major disappointment from several countries, as well NGOs, who called the failure a “blow to multilateralism.”

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Olga Pantos, a research scientist at PHF Science with a PhD from Newcastle University, about the failure to negotiate.

Promoters in Auckland’s independent music scene have been “shocked” after Auckland Council has started taking enforcement action against gig posters in the CBD. 

These posters are often self designed and self printed by promoters in order to ensure that there is a high level of engagement in Auckland’s independent music scene which has often been described as the “lifeblood” of the CBD. 

However, the council has been receiving an increased amount of complaints about posters and has cited the signs bylaw as reason enough to take this enforcement action. 

They have also been told that promoters can pay to use advertising space and use social media to advertise their gigs. 

I wanted to understand how the community was feeling about this action and whether the alternatives posed by council are actually feasible, so I spoke to promoter Lara Marie about gig postering in the CBD.

Over the weekend, the highly discussed summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held in Anchorage, Alaska to discuss the terms for an end to the war in Ukraine.

In November 2019, the autonomous region and island of Bougainville held a referendum to decide whether they should express a desire for independence, instead of continued autonomy as a part of Papua New Guinea. The result of the vote saw a landslide 97.7% majority vote for independence and would see Bougainville seek to replace South Sudan as the newest country in the world.

Yet, despite this, Bougainville remains an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea six years later. The difficult transition period has resulted in political tensions rising between the island and Papua New Guinea. However the recent signing of the Melanesian agreement in June is seen by experts as a significant step towards independence for Bougainville.

To talk about why this situation has dragged on for so long and what we can expect moving forward, Producer Max spoke to Gordon Nanau, the head of Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland.

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the party's support for the five unions taking the Government to the High Court over their pay equity law changes, The final cost of the iRex ferry project’s cancellation and The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill passing in Parliament.

Wherever you’re listening to this, it’s quite unlikely that you arrived at that location by walking there. How do we know this? Because, according to a 2018 census, 82.8% of trips made in Auckland were by car. And that’s despite most New Zealanders understanding that walking has many benefits. It keeps us healthy, reduces stress, and produces zero carbon emissions.

So why don’t we walk more? Well, Dr. I-Ting Chuang, a Senior lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, conducted a study to look into why people in Auckland and Hamilton are so dependent on cars, despite many areas fitting the conditions of being an ideal walking location.

Producer Max spoke to Dr. I-Ting Chuang, to understand what her research found about our dependence on cars and what we could do to build a walking culture.

With the ongoing cost of living crisis, many kiwis have had to make choices between feeding themselves, and their pets– often skipping meals and putting their pets first. 

Producer Faith spoke to NZ Food Network CEO Gavin Findlay about the issue, and what needs to be done to address food insecurity in Aotearoa

In recent weeks, the central government has pushed through numerous amendments to the Resource Management Act, in an effort to help streamline consent processes for corporations.

However, these changes— in particular ones surrounding freshwater planning and waterway pollution requirements — have been criticised especially by environmental advocates as disregarding the negative impacts to the environment and affording too much power to financial interests in the case of natural resource management.

As well, this past week Education Minister Erica Stanford announced a proposal to ban books with “too much” reo Māori in them from early learning materials in the ‘Ready to Read phonics scheme’. 

While she justifies the changes as being of genuine literary necessity for children’s learning, many have contended the changes as an act of racism against te reo Māori which asserts white supremacy in the education system.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin talks to us about Inca record keeping, snail eyes, and imaging embryo implantation, thanks to MOTAT.

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Sara spoke to MP Carl Bates about the Resources Management act changes, and the removal of te reo Māori from the Ready to Read phonics series.

Sara also spoke to University of Auckland student magazine Craccum’s News Editor Irene Parsaei about proposed cuts to the magazine’s funding.

Producer Faith spoke to Gavin Findlay, CEO of the NZ Food Network about how many kiwis have been choosing to feed their pets over themselves.