95bFM: The Wire 95bFM

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about: 



The government’s decision to boost Pharmac Funding
The introducing of a new Sentencing Category for Young Offenders
And the implementation of check-in requirements for those on the Jobseeker Benefit.


He also spoke to Susan St John from the University of Auckland to talk about assistance gaps in the Working for Families Scheme


And he speak to Paula Lorgelly, also from the University of Auckland, for her perspective on the government’s recent Pharmac funding announcement.


Rawan spoke to Bianca Ranson from Forest and Bird about The Hauraki gulf protection bill being recommended to parliament in its entirety.


And spoke to Aaron Hendry from Kickback about a Petition of his against the government's new Ram-raid Bill.

There are at least 150,000 children in Aotearoa living under the poverty line who come from households dependent on government assistance schemes like Working for Families. 


However, as Susan St John, associate professor in economics at the University of Auckland Business School and spokesperson for Child Poverty Action group, said in a recent newsroom article, there are barriers in accessing support schemes for low-income families not found in those aimed at Kiwis over the age of 65, such as the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. 


Oto had a chat with Susan about the state of government assistance for low-income families in New Zealand, and why she believes it’s better to be old than young if you’re poor in New Zealand.

As part of the ongoing discussions around the government’s recent decision to boost Pharmac funding for select drugs and cancer treatments - Oto spoke to Paula Lorgelly, professor of Health Economics and Population Health at the University of Auckland, for her perspective on the announcement as an economist.

The government recently announced it would increase funding to the New Zealand Pharmaceutical agency, also known as Pharmac, by $604 Million over the next four years to fund the treatment of 54 new drugs, 13 of which are cancer treating medication. 


The announcement comes after the government experienced widespread backlash when cancer treatment funding was left out of the annual budget announcement made last month, going against Nationals promise during the general elections to increase funding for cancer treatments. 


For their weekly catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez-March to discuss the party’s take on the government’s recent announcement and decision. 


They also talked about the government’s introduction of a new sentencing Category for Young Offenders and the implementation of check-in requirements for Jobseeker beneficiaries.

The coalition government is planning to continue with the passing of the Ram Raid bill which was originally introduced by the labour government. 


This bill would mean that youth offenders as young as 12 years old, would be prosecuted more harshly with some potentially serving up to ten years in prison. 


Many organisations and activists have been vocal about their position on this bill from the beginning and many have now started a petition to stop its continuation.


Rawan spoke with Aaron Hendry, co-founder of Kick back, an organisation that focuses on assisting youth in homelessness and has also been heavily involved in this petition. 


Rawan asked Aaron about what the harmful impacts of this bill are and what this new opposing campaign is about.

The environment committee has unanimously recommended that the Hauraki Gulf Protection Bill should be passed in its entirety. 


This means that if parliament votes for this recommendation there will be 19 new protection areas in the Tīkapa Moana Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.


Many environmental organisations have welcomed this possibility and highlighted its importance. 


Rawan spoke with Bianca Ranson from forest and bird about what this new bill would mean, why it is important and how it incorporates local iwi and hapu values.