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.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about former MP Darleen Tana’s removal from Parliament, updates to the Three Strikes Law and the government’s changes to freshwater protections.
He spoke to Sinead O’Flynn from Greenpeace Aotearoa for a follow-up conversation about the changes to freshwater policy.
And he spoke to Dr Steffen Albrecht, Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, to discuss about a study of his analysing the use of A.I in predicting respiratory disease outbreaks during flu seasons.
Sasha spoke to Honorary Senior Lecturer in Nutrition Rashjiri Roy from the University of Sydney about her recent research linking poor body image with social media use
And he spoke to Kelly Garton, Policy Researcher from the University of Auckland and spokesperson for Health Coalition Aotearoa about cuts to funding for school lunches.
The coalition government has recently been debating cutting funding entirely for school lunches, but instead have made a significant cut while continuing to keep lunches.
There have been concerns raised by Health Coalition Aotearoa about the new supplier, Compass Group, stating a potential worse quality of food and inadequacy of future supply.
Sasha spoke to policy researcher from The University of Auckland and the spokesperson of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Kelly Garton, about the new supplier of school lunches and the implications this has for schools and children’s nutrition.
Social media is blamed for many ill effects that plague modern life, and unsurprisingly a recent research conducted on New Zealand women aged eighteen to twenty-four has found that social media use correlates with poor body image.
At this period of life, it is common for debilitating eating disorders to develop. The research has found there to be a weak link between social media and poor body image, however this still raises questions about future legislations and the complexity of the relationship between young people and social media.
Sasha spoke to Honorary Senior Lecturer in Nutrition Rajshri Roy, from the University of Sydney Australia, about her recent study and other implications.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about Monarch Butterfly Migration, Worms and Snails, and the Tasmanian Tiger genome.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about polling numbers and catering spending.
On the Green Desk, Jack Marshall heads to The Shed to talk to some tinkers.
And Producer Joel spoke to the President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Richard Wagstaff, about a nationwide hui occurring tomorrow over worker’s concerns regarding legislation the government has implemented since forming a government last year.
On the 23rd of October, a nationwide hui will be held by thousands of workers in 12 different places in the country, following policies coming into place since the current government took power last year that impacts workers’ rights, such as abolishing fair pay agreements, and mass job cuts in the public sector.
According to RNZ’s tracker, 2000 public service jobs have been cut from the period of December last year to June this year, with 7000 being cut from the public sector.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU), Richard Wagstaff, about the plans for the nationwide hui, and what the NZCTU hope to get out of this day of action.
On Saturday, student nurses rallied across multiple cities in the country; in Auckland, Whāngarei, Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Nelson, over petitioning for the government to implement paid training.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent rallies, and concerns that studying nursing is gradually becoming a lot less accessible to New Zealanders.
The government is reintroducing a ‘social investment agency’, an organisation last seen during Bill English’s National government.
The agency assesses the cost of individuals to the state, largely the cost of beneficiaries. Once this is assessed the government steps in to prevent those deemed most costly from creating these costs. This includes managing individuals' benefits, putting a limit on what they can spend and sanctioning them if they miss support sessions or meetings.
The move is largely created to save the government costs, rather than addressing poverty and disadvantage at the root.
Teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Eileen Joy says this approach completely ignores the systemic causes behind disadvantage.
Producer Evie spoke to Dr Eileen Joy about the system, how it’s implemented and what impacts it will have.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party failing to release an annual statement, the Samoan Citizenship bill, and 21 new te reo Māori names being allocated for sites around the Māngere-Ōtāthuhu Local Board area.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Evie talks about the Green Party using the Waka Jumping legislation to remove Darleen Tana from parliament, Gore district council’s plans to make the region an area of cultural significance and the University of Auckland’s new compulsory paper surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Joel speaks to the Organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the recent union member strikes at the University of Auckland.
Evie speaks to Professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland Dr Eileen Joy about the government’s approach to social welfare ignoring systemic causes.
And Joel speaks to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent student nurses rallies that happened across the country.
On Friday, staff at the University of Auckland held a strike on campus, over ongoing conversations with the University regarding bettering working conditions and improving pay for staff.
This follows similar protest action that happened on campus THREE weeks ago, with members as a part of THREE different universities striking on the same day. These rallies were attended by 4,000 Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union members overall, making this strike action the largest since staff from all EIGHT universities striked two years prior.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the most recent strikes at the University of Auckland, and what this means moving forward.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Carmel Sepuloni about the recent 1-News-Verian poll, the Western Samoan Citizenship Bill gaining unanimous support at select committee, and the divorce law change known as ‘Ashley’s law’ that was passed through Parliament yesterday.
For States of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about presidential candidate Donald Trump’s mental fitness after a recent rally, celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, and a recent letter sent by the Biden administration threatening to withhold arms from Israel.
They speak to Liz from Student Justice for Palestine Otago about a video showing pro-Palestine students in a hostile stand-off with campus security.
And they speak about changes to the Tīkapa Moana Protection Bill with the University of Auckland’s Dr Simon Thrush and Forest and Bird’s Bianca Ranson.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speak to Councillor Shane Henderson about the Ports of Auckland using the Fast-track Bill to convert the Captain Cook and Marsden wharves into a waterfront attraction and Council’s new roaming dog squad.
She also speaks to University of Auckland Law Professor, Mark Henaghan, about the Family Proceedings Amendment Bill passing its third reading yesterday.
Last week, the government announced that it would intensify AI usage in the public sector, in a move to further reduce spending in the sector. The government have defended this move, but concerns have been raised about the safety, regulation, and vulnerability of AI services.
Last week also saw the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill pass its first reading. The member’s bill would seek to, in New Zealand law, define genders, in a move that has been criticised by many as transphobic.
Last week also saw the change of government agencies’ names to give primacy to their English names, rather than te reo Māori first.
This week, Wire Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these topics.
Last week, NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft put forward a bill that would seek to define the terms “man” and “woman” in law. The bill has been supported by coalition parties through its first reading. Its primary supporters in parliament, ACT and NZ First, say the bill is about prioritising biology over ideology, or about maintaining common sense.
Its opponents, however, say the bill is unnecessary, and that the ideology pushed by its supporters does not align with evidence. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata, the human rights commission, says that the bill is “not necessary”, and “risks harm to communities who continue to experience discrimination on the basis of their gender identity”.
Disability Rights Commissioner and Rainbow rights spokesperson at the Human Rights Commission, Prudence Walker, sez the bill will not only “trample on the mana of trans and intersex people”, but it also “attempts to completely erase non-binary people”.
Despite the strong opposition, the government is pushing for the bill to be considered in select committee.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked about the bill and why the government is bringing it about.
DISCLAIMER: this interview covers multiple anti-trans talking points, and briefly discusses sexual violence.
The Government is heading into Budget week with plans to cut the core public service, and RNZ reports public servants' fears that their jobs are once again on the line. At the same time, questions have been raised over MFAT being spared from cuts, and the Government has unveiled major changes to secondary education through its proposed NCEA replacement.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about public service cuts, Budget priorities, and what the education overhaul could mean for students and teachers.
A survey of Automobile Association members' views on time-of-use charging has been presented to the Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee.
The survey found that members were open to congestion charging if it worked, even if they thought it was unfair.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins gave a ‘State of Auckland’ speech last week, focusing on the need for cross-party collaboration on infrastructure projects.
Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
This week has seen discussions on New Zealand Firsts announcement that if they win the election they plan to buy BNZ and nationalise it into kiwibank, a plan some estimate to cost $30,000,000,000 and has been completely ruled out by their coalition partner in the National Party. Despite this, it’s sparked conversations around how we should be engaging with our banking sector, the vast majority of it dominated by Australian owned banks.
And critics fear that National party changes to the accommodation supplement is going to hit poor working families at a time they’re already doing it rough, nullifying other support that they are offering the rest of the country more broadly, repeating a pattern of policies that hurt poorer communities worse than the rich.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March on what impact he thinks will come from restrictions to the accommodation supplement, particularly for the poor, they then discussed New Zealand Firsts policy to buy BNZ bank, and whether minor parties tend to over promise if they are constrained by the major parties who they will inevitably have to work with if they make into parliament.
Last week, National MP Catherine Wedd’s members bill for an Under-16s social media ban was paused. Instead, Education Minister Erica Stanford has pledged to, before this years election, bring a wider and more robust proposal for a ban in a larger bill.
Last week also saw Prime Minister Christopher Luxon make comments about the National Party’s stance on immigration, amidst criticised changes to compliance officer powers, and previous spats and comments over immigration policy between government coalition partners.
And with the budget expected next week, promises have begun to be made by the government for where funding can be expected, particularly within education.
Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these topics, starting with the Social Media ban.
Since 1986, the Ministry for the Environment has been the central policy advising entity in New Zealand for environmental issues. The government has recently proposed the Environment Amendment Bill, which seeks to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment, which would be amalgamated into a larger Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.
For Green World this week, Wire producer Liam spoke with Professor Nicolas Lewis, of the University of Auckland’s School of Environment, about these proposed changes, how they fit in with the government's current priorities around the environment, and the impact this may have on New Zealand in the short-term and long-term.
Recent weeks have seen the government adopting a series of policies targeted at immigration. Some of these policies are set to be introduced immediately, while others are proposals for the upcoming election. What all of these policies have in common is that they aim to respond to an idea that there is a subset of immigrants who are making society in New Zealand worse.
This is a narrative that we’ve seen dominate conversations about immigration overseas, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. It often leads to gross displays of racism, with mass riots and crackdowns on people who have done nothing wrong. With these recent policies and media attention towards the anti-immigrant rhetoric in Aotearoa this month, concerns have been raised over whether those overseas developments could be seen here.
For this week’s catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor planned to ask about both immigration and the move-on orders for rough sleepers, though we ran out of time to discuss both. They began by asking Simon about the government’s recent stance on immigration.
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