95bFM: The Wire

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the recently published inflation statistics, The Greens call to lower the voting age to 16 and The most recent unemployment statistics on beneficiaries.

Freshwater quality across Aotearoa has been in decline for some time, with almost 70% of monitored groundwater sites failing to meet drinking water standards for E. coli and almost half of the country’s rivers being unsuitable for recreational activities like swimming due to bacterial contamination.

Many concerns about the future of Aotearoa’s freshwater have been exacerbated by the government’s recent changes to Freshwater National Direction, with experts speculating that many of the proposed policy changes would favour commercial activity and lead to the further contamination and pollution of freshwater sources.

Oto spoke with Marnie Prickett - A research fellow at the department of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington and a member of the Public Health Association about a freshwater policy statement put out by the Public Health Association calling for urgent action to protect freshwater in Aotearoa and outlining freshwater protection as a critical public health priority.

The government is considering amending the Terrorism Suppression Act, which was enacted in 2002. 

In a copy of the document seen by Newsroom, the Ministry of Justice says the reason for the potential overhaul stems from existing offences in the law not “captur[ing] the full range of behaviours or activities of concern that are part of the contemporary threat from terrorism”.

Some of the proposed amendments include making membership of a terrorist entity a criminal offence, establishing new offences for public support of an assigned terrorist act or designated groups, which would include the display of insignia, and updating definitions for digital forms of support. 

Despite these proposed amendments, concerns have been raised over what would be defined as a ‘terrorist entity,’ and what implications this could have on free speech and political participation, in light of events seen overseas.

News and Editorial Director Joel, spoke to Richard Jackson — a Professor in Peace Studies at the University of Otago, about these potential amendments, and the concerns around this move.

The government’s $231m boost for breakthrough technology has drawn praise for being a step forward, but scientists, researchers, and academics have criticised the risks involved– and how the money was reallocated. 

Producer Faith spoke to Professor Nicola Gaston from the University of Auckland about the investment, and the potential opportunities it will create.

Ireland is to become the first country in the world to include mandatory cancer warning labels on alcohol products. A move that has been hailed as world-leading. 

Aotearoa hasn’t followed their lead just yet, but Marlborough winery Villa Maria Estate have complied, by putting the warning on all their bottles getting sold in Ireland.

Many public health experts have praised these moves, and believe it’s time for us to address alcohol issues, here in Aotearoa. Producer Faith spoke to public health expert Dr. Karen Wright from the University of Otago about these decisions, and what further steps we need to take.

This week Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka spoke in an interview about the potential effect of changes to emergency housing on the rising number of homeless people in New Zealand.

While he proudly announced that the Government had met its target to reduce emergency housing numbers by 75%, he acknowledged that ‘many’ have reported the effect of government policies on increased numbers of people rough sleeping. 

Especially in Auckland, observations and reports of homelessness have increased substantially, with community leaders and Auckland council urging the government to deliver a more effective policy response to alleviating the issue. 

While Potaka was not willing to admit that government policies have been a main contributor to rising homelessness, there has been a clear public callout for meaningful change from the central government

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Daniel Thomas, chats with us about snake and spider venom, saber-toothed tiger extinction, and penguin travel patterns, thanks to MOTAT.

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire Host Sara asks about the government’s recent $6billion infrastructure announcement.

Sara also speaks to youth homelessness advocate Aaron Hendry about the rise of homelessness in light of Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka’s most recent interview.

Producer Faith spoke to the University of Auckland’s Nicola Gaston about the government’s $231m support of breakthrough technology, and whether there are any concerns about AI and synthetic biology.

Faith also spoke to the University of Otago’s Dr. Karen Wright about Villa Maria Estate’s recent decision to put cancer warnings on their wines sold in Ireland.

According to a new journal article by Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, Carrie Leonetti, the Family Court is using poor-quality evidence in rulings.

On Friday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Leonetti about her findings and what implications using faulty evidence has on the children involved in these cases.

Jessica Haugh, as a part of her Master’s thesis at the University of Auckland, looked into sexual harm prevention in Aotearoa’s music industry.

For her research, she spoke to men involved in the industry on their knowledge of sexual harm and sexual harm prevention.

On Saturday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about her research.

The government has recently announced that Te Pūkenga is set to return to ‘regional governance,’ re-establishing 10 polytechnics that were merged under the previous Labour-led government.

For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about these developments with Te Pūkenga.

They also discussed Labour MP, Camilla Belich’s member’s bill — the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, passing its second reading.

In the government, National are in support of the bill, however, New Zealand First, and ACT, are not. We discussed why ACT are not supportive of the bill, despite their coalition partner, National, being in support.

But first, they discussed the re-establishment of the 10 polytechnics that were previously merged under Te Pūkenga.