Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Last Thursday, the Employment Leave bill, which aims to replace the Holidays Act, passed its first reading in Parliament. The bill will reform annual and sick leave calculation, changing from a lump sum system, to an hourly calculation scheme.
While New Zealand workplace relations and safety Minister, Brooke van Velden claimed the bill is meant to simplify leave calculations, criticisms of the bill's other potential impacts have emerged.
Those who work irregular hours will receive less leave, it's been proposed a full day in lieu won’t be provided for people working shorter shifts on public holidays, and leave for people on ACC compensation would be cut.
In response the Public Service Association has called on MPs to sign a pledge to oppose the law change and ensure workers aren’t left worse off.
To explain this pledge and why the PSA opposes the changes in the bill, producer Thomas talked to PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News Director Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about the second phase of the government’s COVID 19 Inquiry, and the creation of MCERT, the ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions, and Transport.
They also spoke to spokesperson for NZEI Te Riu Roa, the union for Primary School Teachers, Liam Rutherford, about a recent dispute between the union and the government, where individual employment agreements were offered to non-union teachers before collective bargaining finished.
And they spoke to Director of Pūtahi research Daniel Collins about a proposed data centre to be built in Southland and concerns around its potential water use.
Producer Thomas spoke to E tū Union Director for manufacturing and food Finn O’Dwyer-Cunliffe about Heinz Watties closing FOUR of its sites across the country and what can be done to protect workers from local producers shutting down.
And he also talked to Public Service Association National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons about the PSA calling on MPs to sign a pledge which promises to stop a bill that would cut holidays for thousands of workers.
Last week, Heinz Watties announced plans to close its factories in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, and cease packing at its frozen lines in Hastings. This will leave 350 workers without jobs in an already tough job market.
Additionally, many seasonal employees, who have worked in the factories for decades, could be left redundant without financial compensation. Concerns have been raised about potential ripple effects the closures will have on the economy, with 220 growers in the Canterbury region alone relying on supplying the Christchurch Factory.
To discuss the consequences of these decisions and what more the government could be doing to protect workers and local New Zealand production producer Thomas talked to E tū Union Director for manufacturing and food Finn O’Dwyer-Cunliffe.
The government is offering pay increases to non-union affiliated primary school teachers in advance of the collective agreement with those belonging to the primary teachers union, NZEI Te Riu Roa.
This circumvents the precedent of settling the union agreement first, which the union sez undercuts their negotiations. The union is currently looking for increased financial and staffing supports from the government, as workloads increase with curriculum changes and an ever rising number of teachers move to Australia.
To discuss the negotiations and the issues that Primary School teachers are facing News Director Castor spoke to NZEI spokesperson Liam Rutherford.
Last year, the govenment announced siginificant budget cuts to the school lunch programme formerly known as Ka Ora, Ka Ako, reducing the funding available per meal and reshaping how the programme is delivered in schools. Now, New Zealand's Healthy School Lunch Programme covers only a quarter of schools based on the Equity Index, reaching about 240,000 students, so more than half of children experiencing food insecurity do not attend school that recieve the programme.
New research by Dr Kelly Garton, a research fellow in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, and a spokesperson for Health Coalition Aotearoa, compares New Zealand’s programme with Brazil’s national school meal system, which has been running for over 70 years and is considered a global gold standard.
Producer Pranuja spoke with Dr Garton about what New Zealand could learn from Brazil’s approach to school meals, and what a stronger programme here might look like.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about Labour’s portfolio reshuffle ahead of the election, phase two of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19, and the results of the select committee inquiry into social media harm and young people.
For International Desk this week, they spoke to Deakin University Research Fellow Dr Ali Mamouri about rising islamophobia in Australian politics.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about March Madness and changes to PC 120.
And Producer Pranuja spoke with Dr Kelly Garton from the University of Auckland on her recent article comparing New Zealand's Healthy School Lunches Programme to Brazil’s. We discussed the budget cuts to New Zealand's lunch programme and what we could learn from Brazil’s long-running national free school meal scheme.
In February, Australian politician Pauline Hanson made headlines for an interview with Sky News where she suggested there are no “good” muslims.
Additionally, an independent report from last year found anti-Muslim incidents in Australia had “skyrocketed” since the start of the war in Gaza.
This has been amplified by the charged political environment in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack, and the government’s subsequent Plan to Combat Anti-Semitism, which conflated anti-Semitism with criticism of the state of Israel.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Research Fellow at Deakin University, Dr Ali Mamouri, about this rising Islamophobia in Australian politics and its consequences.
Labour has reshuffled its portfolios ahead of the election this year.
The Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19 has released its final report for phase two of the inquiry.
And the Education and Workforce Select Committee has released its final report on online harm and young people.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to MP and member of the Education and Workforce Committee Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
In the past couple of months, the United States military has successfully decapitated two foreign regimes, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Military action in Iran is still underway, but the Trump administration already appears to be eyeing up its next target: Cuba. Trump recently said that regime change in Cuba is now “just a question of time,” and that it may or may not be “a friendly takeover.”
Producer Toby spoke to Dr. Paul Taillon about the prospect of regime change in Iran and Cuba. They discussed the history of American involvement in these countries and the differences between what Trump is currently doing and previous attempts at regime change
The Covid 19 Pandemic saw wide-reaching policy interventions to save lives, keeping our hospital open and emergency beds available. Over the course of lockdowns, traffic lights, vaccines and mandates, the government at the time found that increasingly vocal opposition grew in response to their efforts.
This opposition grew into a severe division that marked that period of time can be seen to this day.
The groups protesting the pandemic control measures often viewed these restrictions as conspiratorial threats or vast overreach that infringed their rights, while supporters of the governments actions saw them as neccessary steps to save lives.
Following an inquiry into our pandemic response done by the Labour government that found appropriate actions were taking and no wrongdoing, momentum grew in certain minor parties for another look.
This week, we saw the release of this with the release of a second inquiry.
To get her perspective on the second inquiry, Wire host Manny spoke to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, Doctor Siouxsie Wiles, about the Covid 19 inquiry and her takeaways on social trust and cohesion.
Last week the ACT Party announced a new health policy that would see the responsibilities of pharmacists expanded to move pressure away from GPs. The idea of the policy is that for less significant health issues, people could see their local pharmacist instead of their GP, reducing wait times and costs for the public.
Also last week, the government announced plans to scrap the broadcasting standards authority. The announcement follows a period of complaints from the government over the BSA, which had ruled on online broadcaster The Platform. The government (and The Platform) say that the BSA shouldn’t be able to make rulings on online broadcasters, but some others disagree.
Without the BSA, many of the restrictions and rules that broadcasters are held to could disappear. In addition, the BSA offers a vehicle for members of the public to hold said organisations to account. Without the BSA, avenues for public feedback on poor conduct are minimal.
For this week’s catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the party’s new health policy.
Auckland Council has approved their first-ever transport policy statement, which, together with the central Government’s Policy Statement on Land Transport, will shape the future of transport funding in Auckland.
And a petition is being hosted on Our ActionStation that calls on the Government to strengthen protections for the Waitākere Ranges.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
The Government has signed a new Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies with Singapore, aimed at keeping crucial goods like fuel, food, medicine and construction materials moving during future crises.
Meanwhile, ACT has released a new immigration policy, framing it as a way to make immigration “work for New Zealand,” with proposals including tougher deportation settings and requirements for migrants.
And leaked emails around New Zealand’s response to US strikes on Iran have raised questions about the coalition’s foreign policy direction.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert on these topics.
In 1915, the Ottoman Empire began a campaign of arrests, deportations, death marches, and massacres that we now call the Armenian Genocide. The campaign itself took place in a wider context of Armenian persecution, but between the years 1915–1916, 1.5 million Armenians, alongside Assyrians and Greeks, were killed.
The term ‘genocide’ was not coined until several decades later, but the academic consensus is that the massacres, rapes, deportations, and destruction of Armenian cultural heritage that took place readily meets the criteria of the term.
At the time, members of Parliament in New Zealand - including the prime minister - decried the atrocities, with at least one representative pointing to what seemed like the murder of the entire Armenian nation. However, New Zealand is not one of the 34 governments and parliaments that officially recognise the Armenian Genocide. This position is in line with the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Türkiye’s, protracted campaign of denial to this day.
So for this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Lo Aleen, on their petition for New Zealand to formally recognise the Armenian Genocide.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party's bill to protect overdose emergency callers from legal risks received cross-party support, passing its first reading, keeping it on track to potentially become law. Minor infractions, such as minor possession and paraphernalia, would be overlooked when calling for emergency services to obtain help for someone overdosing.
And an Official Information Request by the Herald into Winston Peter’s Foreign Minister’s office revealed disagreements between the NZ First Leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over the Coalition government's stance on the war with Iran, with the prime minister pushing for greater support for the United States bombings.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s overdose emergency callers bill and the revelations over the US war with Iran.
The past few weeks have seen the New Zealand First Party and the National Party trading jabs, with the crux of the issue beginning with the India Free Trade Agreement.
The issue began with NZ First refusing to support the trade agreement, leading Labour to collaborate with National and back it to fruition. NZ First Deputy Leader Shane Jones expressed his concerns over the bill, making derogatory comments about an implied mass arrival of Indian immigrants.
The comments were rejected by ministers in National, ACT, Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori. Despite these criticisms, little has been done in response, and the coalition government remains intact.
Following the incident, another disagreement was observed when NZ First Leader Winston Peters leaked emails that indicated a disagreement between him and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over New Zealand’s response to US Strikes on Iran. The emails allege that Luxon wanted to express support for the strikes, though New Zealand’s official response only acknowledged them.
Finally, the government has also been looking into changing how treaty principles influence policy. The plan has been criticised for its similarities to the Treaty Principles Bill, which was rejected in parliament and by the public, who protested en masse in 2024 against the bill. The current proposed changes are not set to be discussed by parliament until August.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, News Director Castor asked him about each of these issues, beginning with the party’s take on discourse between NZFirst and National.
The government is reviewing Treaty of Waitangi references across 28 pieces of legislation, with concerns that stronger obligations could be reduced to simply “taking into account” Treaty principles.
At the same time, New Zealand has signed a new Free Trade Agreement with India, while incidents of anti-Indian graffiti and political comments about Indian communities have raised concerns about rising anti-Indian sentiment in Aotearoa.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about proposed changes to Te Tiriti, the NZ–India Free Trade Agreement, and rising anti-Indian sentiment in New Zealand.
Last week, the Green Party released a statement highlighting the recently released Dental For All report, which they say confirms that New Zealand can afford a free, universal public dental service.
And the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand is being touted as a pivotal moment, garnering support from both Labour and National parties, however, NZFirst MP and coalition minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, expressed his opposition to the agreement with derogatory comments against potential indian immigrants that have drawn the ire of other parliamentary parties.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, I spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s Dental policy and their stance on the Free trade agreement with India.
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