95bFM: The Wire

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

Thanks Cushla for joining us, thank you MOTAT, and thank you science!

University of Auckland’s student magazine Craccum is moving to establish independence from the Auckland University Student Association following recent proposals by the university to further cut the magazine’s funding.

Without consultation, Craccum’s budget was cut in 2025, forcing the magazine to reduce production from weekly issues to fortnightly, and occasionally even less, as well as cull their editorial team from 14 to 6 paid members, and rely on unpaid contributors for 90% of their content.

Ahead of 2026, the university is proposing a further decrease in budget of 22%, or $33,000, which would mean the removal of another six issues throughout the year.

The editorial team at Craccum are calling out to students to support them to revitalise the magazine and restore funding to the magazine which they say has been a ‘taonga’ at the university for just under 100 years

Last week, the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa published the results of a survey poll showing public support for sanctions on Israel. The PSNA have backed the results as proof that popular opinion in Aotearoa is against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Further, PSNA claims that by doing nothing, the Government and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters are falling out of alignment with the public on the issue, and demands action from the Government.

Producer Alex spoke to Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa Co-Chair John Minto about the results of the survey, what they mean, and what PSNA want to see from the Government.

A couple of weeks ago in our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, we discussed multiple countries moving to formally recognise Palestinian Statehood, and what New Zealand’s plans were in this regard.

Last week, Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, said the country would carefully weigh its position over the next month in recognising the state of Palestine.

During a debate in Parliament, the government’s delay in recognising a Palestinian state, as opposed to other countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, led Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, to refer to the country as “outlier,” and called for the government MPs “with a spine” to “stand on the right side of history”. This led to her being ordered to leave Parliament by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, after refusing to apologise for her statement.

As well as this, last week, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, announced cancelling the early-reading book At the Marae from its Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. 

The government’s reasoning for this is through “mixed” evidence suggesting that learning both English and te reo Māori for young learners could confuse them.

The move has been widely criticised by linguists, academics, and educators, for being “an act of racism” and “white supremacy”.

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Castor spoke to Simon about both these topics, starting with recognising a Palestinian state.

Find out more about the Māori words which are a part of the official Oxford English Dictionary here

Last week, Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, was kicked out of Parliament for a week for refusing to withdraw her comments calling for MPs to get “a spine”. 

Her comments came during a debate on recognising Palestine as a state. She also urged MPs to support her member’s bill, which would sanction Israel for its war crimes in Gaza.

This comes as Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom have indicated their own plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the media last week that “a two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza.”

Despite stating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost the plot”, our own Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has refused to commit to recognising a Palestinian state.

Caeden spoke to Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa co-chair Maher Nazzal about Swarbrick’s removal from Parliament and the need for Aotearoa to take action for Palestine

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, Producer Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, being kicked out of Parliament for her speech on Palestine, and te reo Māori being discontinued in the ‘Ready to Read: Phonic Plus series’.

Alex spoke to the University of Auckland’s Marcelo Rodriquez Ferrere about the Greyhound Racing Association’s turn to the High Court to halt the Government’s ban on the industry until a Judicial review of the legislation, and whether the Association’s objections to the ban hold weight.

Last week, the Greyhound Racing Association requested that the High Court block the Government’s planned ban on the Industry next year until a judicial review of the legislation and industry were undertaken. 

The association’s lawyers claim that the move by the government ignores improvements to the industry and the standard of welfare for Greyhounds, and that the industry should have been consulted before the decision to ban Greyhound Racing.

Producer Alex spoke to the University of Auckland’s Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere about whether or not the government was required to consult the Association and Industry, and whether or not the Association’s claims about welfare improvements are valid.

Following on from our chat with Simon Court, Thursday Wire Host, Caeden, spoke to Margaret Mutu - a Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland, who has a PhD in linguistics, about Education Minister, Erica Stanford’s announcement, that the early-reading book At the Marae from the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series, will be canned.

The ministry told RNZ that At the Marae, unlike other books in the series, the book uses six kupu Māori, could result in challenges for young learners.

 however, Officials have advised the ministry that there was “limited” research regarding the effect kupu Māori had in early-reading books.

Caeden spoke to Mutu about this, and the positives of raising tamariki with both English and te reo Māori

This week the Dental for All campaign set out on a national roadshow to build public support over communities across the country. 

The campaign team stands for universal, free and te-tiriti consistent dental healthcare that is delivered through our public health care system. 

Under the current system individuals above the age of 18 have to access dental healthcare privately and those in need can apply for a WINZ grant of $1000, which is strictly means tested. This often means that those who do not qualify for the grant simply do not access dental health care. 

According to public polling carried out in 2022, 74% of the public supports the idea of universal dental health care. 

The campaign is trying to make the case to communities across the country so that they can get buy-in necessary from political leaders, going into the 2026 election next year.

Producer Sanat wanted to get more insight into what the campaign team sees as its road to victory on this issue and whether this is a feasible proposal, so he talked to Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching about her work.

The government has recently announced changes to the national GP funding formula which aims to better resource GP offices across the country with funding that is more reflective of the communities they serve. 

This formula had previously not been changed for the last 20 years and has faced calls for substantial reform. A recent report found that the introduction of morbidity, social deprivation and ethnicity data into this formula would lead to more equitable health outcomes.

The government has included most of these recommendations, but has specifically excluded ethnicity data from this formula, even though the government has previously acknowledged that ethnicity does play a role in determining health outcomes if evidence exists. 

Producer Sanat talked to the University of Otago’s Dr Gabrielle McDonald on these changes to the formula and why it is so important to include ethnicity data.