95bFM: The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady 18/02/09

The bFM WIRE Today: 12 - 2pm weekdays

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1220 – Corrections, Richard Wagstaff

The Auditor General has just released a report (ooh, a report!) that's been causing quite a stir in the media this morning. He took a look at the Corrections Department, and has come down hard on their handling of offenders on parole – warning that the department's practices may have posed a risk to public safety. Apparently, in most cases, the department failed to follow one or more of its own requirements on the management of offenders' sentences. Corrections Minister Judith Collins is fuming, and wants to know who to blame – within 10 working days. But Richard Wagstaff, national secretary of the PSA -the Union which represents corrections workers – says the report only highlights the need for an urgent increase in the number of probation officers. He says there just aren't enough of them, and with the government's proposed Boot Camp scheme for young offenders, their workload looks likely to increase. Not on…

1240 – Sandeep Chawla, Director, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

At 1240 I'm very lucky to be speaking with one of the world's foremost experts on drug policy (above). Since 1994 Sandeep Chawla has led the development of UNODC's research and analysis capabilities. He has contributed to publication of research findings, analytical studies, statistics and annual estimates of the extent of illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse. He is also the editor of the United Nations Bulletin on Narcotics. He's here as part of the International Drug Policy Symposium taking place in Wellington this week, and he's all for getting people talking about drugs without exaggerating, without half-fact, half-fiction and more soberly and realistically. He says, "It is only by talking openly about a phenomenon like this that we'll be able to solve it."

1300 – Daniel Duquenal, Venezuela

At one we'll be crossing all the way over to Caracas, Venezuela. I'll be speaking with (above) who runs a blog out of Venezuela: A mix of news, comments and pictures of the Venezuelan situation. Unknowingly, he says, he has written the diary of Venezuela's slow descent into authoritarianism, the slow erosion of our liberties, the takeover of the country by a military caste, the surrendering of our soul to our inner demons.

We'll be talking about Hugo Chavez's victory a couple of days ago to have term-limits lifted for elected officials – allowing them to run for re-election indefinitely. Some are hailing the vote as democracy at its best, while others, including Daniel, are saying this is the slippery slope to fascism.

1320 – Counterclockwise – Patrizia Sigg

A special guest joins me for Counterclockwise today at 1320 (above) is currently completing an internship at scoop, and comes to NZ all the way from Zurich. She's studied in Switzerland, majoring in Politics and Media, with a minor in social anthropology. Later this year she begins studying toward a Masters in international politics. We'll be talking about a fantastic piece she has on scoop right now that looks at how European Union states have struggled to cope with increasing pressures between expansive migrant communities and those of traditional Europeans. The piece questions whether New Zealand, Australia and the wider Pacific region can learn from some of Europe's mistakes.

1340 – Babies making babies – Brendon Smith, Father and Child Trust

And at 1340 I'll be having a wee chat to (above) about figures released today from Statistics NZ concerning teen pregnancy in NZ. The number of fathers aged 15 and under has more than tripled over the last year, leading social development minister to cry "shocking". But Brendon, who works face-to-face with boys in this situation, takes a more realistic view – that mostly, theirs is a positive experience, and that often these young men make much better fathers than some 40-year-olds.

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