95bFM: The Wire

Last week Donald Trump and the Republican Party won a decisive victory in the United States election, taking both the presidency and the senate. Over the past week the Republicans have also taken the house of representatives, and president-elect Donald Trump has announced some key cabinet appointments. Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa’aoso about these developments.

They also speak to political commentator, Tom Unger, about the mood on the ground in Washington D.C. as well as how Kamala Harris and the Democrats have responded to the election over the past week.

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about Hīkoi Mō te Tiriti, the 9-day Hīkoi opposing the treaty principles bill, as well as the government apologies to victims of abuse in care and the election of former US president Donald Trump.

He spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about the ongoing siege of Northern Gaza, as well as media coverage of the clashes between Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters and locals in Amsterdam and the implication of Donald Trump’s election on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

He spoke to Ti Lamusse from Victoria University of Wellington about the governments cuts to mental health services for prisoners and the increase in the prison population of Aotearoa to 10,000 inmates.

And he spoke to Kevin Lamb from Age Concern Auckland to talk about a study examining loneliness amongst older New Zealanders.

Sasha spoke to Lisa Woods, A Movement Building & Advocacy Director at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand about the treaty principles bill and calls for a codified constitution.

And he spoke to Sinéad O'Flynn, an Agriculture Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, about the new sale of companies associated with Fonterra, including potential implications for consumers and Greenpeace’s expectations for companies.

On the 11th of November, the Fonterra company announced that they will be selling customer-facing brands, which include Anchor, Mainland and others. Following this announcement, Greenpeace are calling for potential buyers to go palm-kernel free.

This comes after an expose of Fonterra’s dishonest marketing strategies, and claims that its milk is produced with ‘regenerative farming’, a blatant example of greenwashing.

Sasha spoke to Sinéad Deighton-O'Flynn, Agriculture Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa about the new sale of companies associated with Fonterra, including potential implications for consumers and Greenpeace’s expectations for companies looking to purchase.

Just last week, on the Seventh of November the new Treaty Principles Bill was announced in parliament. The development of the bill excluded any consultation with Maori and does not reflect the texts or meaning of Te Tiriti, according to the Waitangi Tribunal. Principle 2 within the Bill, if enacted, would revoke the promises made by the queen to Maori in 1840.

Hikoi protesting the bill began three days ago and has moved from Cape Reinga to Northcote and Bastion Point today, with its eventual goal to protest at parliament on the 19th. The first reading occurs this week in parliament, afterwards being sent to the select committee for a six-month hearing process.

Sasha spoke to Lisa Woods, a Movement Building & Advocacy Director at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand, about the Treaty Principles Bill and its opposition.

Since October this year, as part of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli Defence Forces have imposed a siege on the Northern Gaza Governate in the Gaza strip. 

The IDF has designated the entire Northern half of Gaza as a combat zone, blocked the movement of all aid heading into the area and sent evacuation notices to all of Northern Gaza’s Palestinian inhabitants, effectively declaring everyone in Northern Gaza to be an enemy combatant.

Oto spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, to discuss the implications of Israel’s ongoing siege of Northern Gaza for the area’s Palestinian inhabitants.

They also had a discussion about the implication of Donald Trump’s election victory for the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, as well as the media coverage of the clashes between locals in Amsterdam and supporters of the Israeli football team - Maccabi Tel Aviv.

A new study has been published showing that senior citizens in Aotearoa were experiencing record levels of loneliness and isolation.

The study - called The Breaking Barriers study, was commissioned by Age Concern Auckland, a charity dedicated to improving outcomes for Aotearoa’s elderly population, and it found that 59% of Kiwis aged 65+ had recently felt lonely or socially isolated. 

The study calls for an increase in holistic solutions to address loneliness amongst seniors, as wel as establishing a minister of loneliness in government, a move that has been adopted in the United Kingdom and Japan. 

Oto spoke to Kevin Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of Age Concern Auckland, to discuss the study and why older New Zealanders are experiencing increased levels of loneliness.

Last week, the Department of Corrections announced that it had axed four contracts with community organisations providing mental health support services to prison inmates. 

This comes amidst an internal review of mental health services within Corrections, leading to these contracts being the next set of public service initiatives to face cuts under the coalition government.

Oto spoke to Ti Lamusse, a Lecturer in Criminology at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, to discuss these cuts and mental health services for prisoners in general.

They also had a discussion about new figures showing that the prison population of Aotearoa had exceeded 10,000 inmates, for the first time in four years.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about self-experimentation, the infinite monkey theorem, and votes for Charles Darwin. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor to MP Tom Rutherford about the Treaty Principles Bill and the counter hīkoi.

They also spoke to president of the Post Primary Teachers Association, Chris Abercrombie, about the role of the organisation and the government’s recent comments. 

News and Editorial Director, Joel spoke to the Media Spokesperson from ADHD New Zealand, Darrin Bull, about Pharmac set to fund a new ADHD medicine.

They also spoke to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Canterbury, Alison Griffith, about how we can analyse Roman society through a Māori lens.

The Australian government has announced plans to implement legislation that would ban under 16 year olds from social media, with Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, saying the bill will be introduced to Parliament within the next few weeks.

This move has been criticised, including by the The Australian Child Rights Taskforce; an organisation made up of 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, which have written to the Australian government opposing the bill, rather calling for the government to impose “safety standards” on social media.

However, Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Samantha Marsh, supports Australia’s move, and is calling for New Zealand to implement similar restrictions. 

News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about Australia’s move, and why she supports it.