95bFM: The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

95bFM: The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

The bFM WIRE Today: 12 - 2pm weekdays

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1230 - Federated Farmers Waikato - Stewart Wadey (president)

At 12.30 we'll be asking who's got the power? As you're probably aware, thousands of Aucklanders endured several hours without electricity on Monday evening, all because of a grumpy Waikato farmer. Steve Meier reckons he warned Transpower years ago that trees on his farm needed trimming, and they did nothing about it. They caught fire underneath a pylon, and Mr Meier refused linesmen entry to his farm in protest, before armed police changed his mind. He said TRANSPOWER had neglected to trim the trees for so long that his was an act of defiance.
Transpower, of course, say this isn't so - they said they'd been trying for a year and a half to access the property but workers haven't felt safe entering the farm. He said, they said.

Anyway, now MORE farmers in the Waikato are warning that their could be more protests like this if the Transpower can't reach a fair agreement with landowners over a planned $820m line into Auckland. Transpower has bought some properties and agreed on compensation with other owners, but (above) says a lot of farmers reckon they're getting unfair deals - and he wouldn't be surprised if more refuse linesmen access when things go wrong.

Are we being held to ransom by farmers in the Waikato? Stewart joins us at half past 12 to let us know.

1300 - Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director for Amnesty International
At one we'll hear from (above) about a meeting of world leaders and foreign affairs officials that's taking place in London this week. Afghan PresidentHarmid Karzai, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and our very own Murray McCully are among delegates at the meeting. On the agenda? Afghanistan, and more specifically reconciliation talks with the Taleban - to try and reintegrate their more "moderate" elements into some sort of power sharing deal. But as Sam told me earlier today - it's difficult to say what 'moderate' means when you're talking about theTaleban , and their human rights record thus far is pretty appalling. Sam says these rights - particularly those of Afghan women, MUST not be traded away or compromised for the sake of fewer guns shooting at western troops. He says the Afghan people want a peace that means their rights are respected, and worries bringing theTaleban to the table could undermine this goal.

1320 - Counterclockwise

An old-hand joins us for the first counterclockwise for 20-10. Yes, Selwyn Manning's back on board, and I for one am pretty happy about that. Today, Selwyn will be taking a look at the Chilcot Inquiry which is taking place in the UK right now. Also known as the Iraq inquiry, it's looking at the country's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It covers the run-up to the conflict, the subsequent military action and its aftermath. Remember how it all happened? The US and the UK basically ignored the UN - who wouldn't give them a resolution for military action, and declared it illegal. They went in anyway, toppled Saddam, found no WMDs - the original justification for war, declared mission accomplished, and saw the country descend into deadly chaos both for civilians, and Western Forces.

1340 - Auckland Buskers Festival 2010 - Director Pam Glaser (Festival Director)

Finishing the show at 1340, we speak to (above), as we approach a weekend of street performers and buskers. To some, a street performer is someone who has an incredible talent and has to be quick thinking without the shielding of a stage curtain - for example street magicians. Then again, there is that stereotypical view of a guitarist churning out stock standard acoustic versions of campfire hits. Will we see a festival of incredible performances, or will we a series of our favorite songs butchered? And how does Pam approve applications and vet those that aren't up to scratch?

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