The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

95bFM: The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

The bFM WIRE Today: 12 - 2pm weekdays

For links toWindows Media Player & 128kbps Streams Go To:
http://www.95bfm.com/default,live.sm

1207 - News Report

Imogen Barrer from the bFM news team brings us today’s report. Imogen’s looking at why the Human Rights Commission is changing the wording in a report Human Rights in New Zealand Today which said “religion was only for the ‘private sphere’”. Was this something that really upset the spiritual folk among us?

1210 - Phillip Alpers

At 12.10 we have the first of two interviews regarding an announcement yesterday by the country’s top cop Howard Broad. The Police Commissioner says both he and the minister of Police Judith Collins are moving at pace to give officers greater access to firearms. Mr Broad expects a new policy on police access to firearms by the end of the year - a policy that could see weapons immediately available to ‘frontline officers’. The announcement follows the shooting of 2 officers in Christchurch, bringing the number of officers shot to 9 in the last 2 years.

My first guest is Philip Alpers, who many will remember from his days hosting Fair Go. Philip is also a strong advocate for gun control, who’s now working as an associate professor at the School of Public Health in Sydney where he specialises in firearm laws and regulation.

1225 - Greg O’Connor

Then at 12.25 we’ll hear from Greg O’Connor, the president of the Police Association - the union representing officers. Greg told me this morning it’s terrible that it’s taken this many shootings (which he says is equivalent to an African situation) for common sense to prevail. He also warned that the way things are going, it will be necessary for all members of the Police to carry a weapon. I asked him if there was any validity to public fears of armed officers, an idea he gave short shrift to say the least.

1235 - Counterclockwise

Lyndon Hood takes off his earmuffs and steps out of scoop’s in-house target range to join us for counterclockwise today. He’s taken umbrage with Judith Collins trumpeting the economic benefits of building prisons with the private sector. It’s a number crunch fact check at 12.35.

1245 - Rahui Katene GST on Food

And then at 12.45 we’ll hear from Maori Party MP Rahui Katene, who’s bill that removes GST from healthy food is to have its first reading in Parliament next week. The idea is simple, and exists in Australia, the UK and elsewhere: food specified on a list as being ‘healthy’ will be exempt from the tax we pay on all consumer transactions. This way, so the thinking goes, we all buy more food that’s good for us and use less of the tax-pool on health spending. So why is she struggling to get the numbers? Is it really, as opponents claim, too difficult to define what’s healthy?

© Scoop Media