95bFM: The Wire

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about Mayor Wayne Brown outlining his expectations for the next government and a Council-supported repair hub opening in Kingsland. News Director Castor spoke to Labour MP Shanan Halbert about Labour’s policies for renters and Labour’s view on the relationship between landlords and tenants. And Producer Eloïse spoke to Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations Kathy Smits about diversity and political capital.

The 95bFM Auckland Central Candidates debate was cancelled, with National candidate Candace Kinser unable to attend due to other commitments. Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick came up to the studio earlier this month for a half hour chat to make up for the cancellation. Today, National Party candidate Candace Kinser also came up to the studio to discuss why she should be elected the candidate for Auckland Central.

The week on the Wednesday Wire... For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Greens Healthcare plans. For this week’s catch up with Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong, Producer Theo discussed foreign affairs and New Zealand’s refugee system. Finally Producer Jude spoke to the University of Auckland’s Professor of Law, Scott Optican, about National’s proposal to criminalise the right to silence in child homicides. But before all of that we start the show today with another Wire Candidate Special. Earlier this month we conducted a half hour interview with Green Party leader and current MP for Auckland Central Chloe Swarbrick after our debate for the electorate had to be cancelled. So to balance out the coverage we have another other key competitor for the seat, the National Party’s Candice Kinser, joining us here in the studio to be interviewed by News Director Castor.

The National Party is proposing to make it illegal to remain silent if a child, under 12 years old, was murdered in your presence. If this gets approved, it will take away the right to remain silent, a fundamental legal principle that protects against self-incrimination. Critics argue that the right to remain silent helps prevent false confessions and protects innocent people. However, the opposing side argues that the current law could protect guilty people at the expense of murdered children. So, to learn more about this proposal and its impacts. Producer Jude spoke to the University of Auckland Professor of Law, Scott Optican.

Opportunity has brought out detailed policy write-ups on a variety of domestic areas - such as tax reform, our political system, and ocean protections - but has not offered detailed proposals for foreign affairs. But with the current (and successive) governments taking a softly-softly approach to some international powers, what are the values that Opportunity thinks should drive Aotearoa New Zealand’s foreign policy? Then, with the number of people being forcibly displaced across the globe continuing to increase, is our refugee system set up to meet this need, and are we accepting enough people in light of this crisis?

This Thursday staff from TVNZ across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch will go on strike for the first time in 20 years. The industrial action comes after TVNZ offered workers a 2.5% pay rise, a number that staff are saying is unacceptable with inflation at 4.1%. Etū union claims pay has fallen 18.1% in real terms for staff since 2018, this along with job cuts has made the work increasingly difficult. To discuss the strikes and worker conditions, producer Thomas talked to Etū national secretary Rachel Mackintosh.

This week on the Tuesday Wire... For Dear Science this week, we chat with our experts, Professor Sebastian Leuzinger and Dr Syrie Hermans, about coral recovery by touch, orangutan playdates, and bonding with cats. And for our weekly catchup with the National Party, Alex chats with MP Dan Bidois about Senior Housing, working with the Opportunity Party, and Voter Enrolment Producer Thomas talks to University of Auckland Professor Cate Macinnis-Ng about an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting being suspended due to disagreements on a climate report. Thomas also speaks to Etū national secretary Rachel Mackintosh about TVNZ staff going on strike. And for Get Some Action Last week, Wednesday Wire Producer Theo spoke with Dr Cassandra Mudgway, who has begun a petition to pause the sale of smart glasses in Aotearoa New Zealand until the Government establishes a regulatory framework to manage privacy and safety risks.

Today on The Wire we talked all about voter enrolment ahead of the October 25th enrolment deadline. For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about the importance of this election for Tāmaki Makaurau. For Politics with Whakaata Māori, they spoke to Daniel Perese about recent Whakaata Māori-Curia polling and rangatahi Māori voter enrolment. And they spoke to Malak Tamimi, National Secretary for Make It 16, about The Youth Debate on Tuesday night, and low voter enrolment amongst young people. Producer Flo spoke with Labour MP Shanan Halbert about youth enrolment, the Te Pati Maori and Greens meeting with the mongrel mob, social media ban for under 16s and opinion polling on the upcoming election. And Producer Eloïse spoke with Esther O’Donnell from On a Roll about the importance of rangatahi being enrolled to vote.

Whakaata Māori-Curia polling across Māori electorates in recent weeks has shown interesting, exciting, and unexpected results ahead of voting opening on Monday. And as the enrolment deadline approaches on Sunday, only 54.2% of rangatahi Māori are enrolled to vote, according to Māori voter participation data. For Politics with Whakaata Māori, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Daniel Perese from Te Ao Māori news about these issues.

For City Counselling this week, Wire host Caeden caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about the importance of this election for the future of Tāmaki Makaurau, and why people should enrol and turn out to vote.