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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1207 - Vollie Report with Imogen Barrer - Water "privatisation" bill

In just a few moments will have our daily report from the wonderful team of news volunteers up here at bFM. Today Imogen Barrer gets to grips with legislation that some say will lead to the privatisation of water services.

1210 - Peter Williams QC, Howard League for Penal Reform

After that, around 1210 (above) will be on the line to talk three strikes. The controversial bill passed its second reading in parliament last night and only two more debates stand between it being a harmless bill, and an actual law. What does it do? At the crux of it, offenders would automatically receive the maximum sentence for a third serious violent or sexual offence, with no chance of parole. The government says it'll have a strong deterrent effect, sending a clear message to offenders. But critics, of which Peter is one, say the law has the potential for all sorts of anomalies and injustices, breaches the Bill Of Rights, and won't reduce crime. The Howard League is also hosting a prominent Californian prison reformer next week - the Rev. Ron Givens - so we'll hear a little about Ron's experience, and where you can hear him speak.

1225 - Bill Lee, Landcare Research

At 1225 we hear from (above) a plant ecologist at Landcare Research. Their recent annual report paints a bleak picture of the country's biodiversity - it says the rate of native plant loss is the worst it's been since Europeans came here. And who, or what's to blame? Intensive farming. Bill says these agricultural practices have dramatically wiped out native plants and animals, particularly in and around Canterbury. So is this year's report the alarm bell needed to halt more intensive farming? Or is it likely to become just another political football?

1235 - Counterclockwise

Tune in for counterclockwise at the earlier time of 1235. Lyndon Hood joins us from scoop's robotic underwater submarine, and today he'll take a look at a curious blog scoop: just who's behind a lobby group of retailers who've protested the hike in tobacco taxes? Could it be... big tobacco? The group - the Association of Community Retailers - says no. But there are some pretty intriguing links there.

1245 - Dr Mark Goodwin

Then at 1245 we missed out on Monday, but today we'll look at a small, but hugely alarming story that popped up in the Guardian over the weekend. For the fourth year in a row, one third of all the United States' honey-bee colonies did not survive the winter. And similar death rates have been occurring around the world. Context? A third of everything we eat (repeat) depends on honeybee pollination. So the threat to crops, to the food chain, to animals in general is VERY real. The Guardian's byline says it all: the world may be on the brink of biological disaster. I'll be speaking with New Zealand's honeybee expert, Dr Mark Goodwin at Plant and Food research. Are we doomed? And, because scientists STILL don't really know what's killing the bees, how long have we got left?

ENDS

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