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.
Homelessness is not a new issue, but rather a persistent one, and will never go away unless our society confronts it directly. This is an issue which affects all of us, as no one is guaranteed housing or basic needs.
Work and Income have declared changes to their emergency housing as of August. These changes make it harder for those experiencing homelessness to receive the help they need, as they now need to fill a criteria to receive this help.
The Kickback Organisation, a charitable trust focused on delivering support for those experiencing homelessness, are advocating for parliament to pass legislation to support those at risk of homelessness. Similar legislation has been successful in Wales.
Sasha spoke to Aaron Hendry from Kickback about their campaign efforts, and their event at their charity on Karangahape road.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about pterosaur evolution, 2 billion-year-old rocks with living microbes, and an mRNA vaccine for Clostridioides difficile.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about cuts to Te Ahu o te Reo Māori and the list of 149 projects set for consideration under the Fast-Track Approvals Bill.
On the Green Desk this week our reporter Jack Marshall heads to Wellington to check out how things are going in the Big Apple of Aotearoa. This time, he chatted with Spinoff Wellington editor Joel MacManus about infrastructure, cycleways, and tunnels.
And producer Josef spoke to associate professor of evidence and criminal procedure at the University of Auckland, Scott Optican, about the government opening consultation about changing the way that we do jury trials.
On Thursday the 19th September, the Ministry of Justice opened consultation on changing jury trials to improve flexibility and increase thresholds for when individuals can opt to use a jury trial.
The proposed changes would allow individuals to opt for jury trials up to and until their case review hearing, and increase the required seriousness for offences before a jury trial can be used.
Producer Josef spoke to Associate Professor of Evidence and Criminal Procedure at the University of Auckland, Scott Optican, about jury trials, and the balancing of interests that comes with setting jury trial procedures.
A total of 149 projects have been selected for fast tracking through the government's new Fast-track Approvals Bill.
There’s a variety of projects on the list, in sectors including farming, infrastructure, energy, and mining.
The fast track approvals bill went through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects.
This meant the public didn’t have specific details when submitting on the bill.
Now the 149 projects on the list have been revealed, a number of environmental concerns have arisen over projects that were successfully opposed in the past.
Forest and Birds Richard Capie calls this an assault on Aotearoa’s democracy.
Producer Evie spoke to Capie about the list of projects and Forest and Birds concerns around them.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Evie spoke to Court about the list of Fast Track Approval Bill projects being unveiled, and the revelation by Newsroom that emails show ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, was invited to Kiingi Tuheitia's koroneihana, despite repeated claims he did not receive an invite.
Evie also spoke to the Group Manager Conservation Advocacy and Communications of Forest and Bird, Richard Capie, about the Fast Track Approvals Bill going through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects entailed in the bill.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, about Stats NZ findings showing young New Zealanders are struggling to enter the job market.
and Joel spoke to the Workplace Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, Rosie Leadbitter, about data from rainbow communties in the country being inplimented in the 2023 Census for the first time.
The data of New Zealand's rainbow community has, for the first time, been incorporated as a part of the country’s 2023 Census.
This is a huge win for the country’s LGBTQIA+ community, as queer people have been advocating for decades for their inclusion in Census data, which would in turn help aid in better resourcing for the country's rainbow community.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Workplace Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, a queer national charity group, Rosie Leadbitter, about the data, and what this means for New Zealand’s queer population moving forward.
Recently, Stats NZ released their findings for August 2024s employment indicators.
The statistics show that younger New Zealanders, between the ages of 15 - 30, are struggling to get into the job market, as employers continuously choose those from older age demographics.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, about these findings, and why it is so difficult for young people to enter the job market here in Aotearoa.
As the housing sector continues to be a pressing topic of discussion for Aotearoa, senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, says a conversation that doesn’t occur as often is one about the needs and aspirations for Māori and Pacific housing.
Producer Sofia spoke to Müller about how Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations differ from the current discussions we are having about addressing the housing crisis.
Wire host Caeden spoke to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s education spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, on education unions opposition to charter schools, the reallocation of te reo Māori funding towards the maths curriculum, and the government’s new plan to lift school attendance rates.
For States of the States, 95bFM’s US election coverage, they speak to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the vice presidential debate.
And they speak to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council's progress on emergency response systems and the buyout scheme for homeowners impacted by floods
She also speaks to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, about why Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations need to be considered on a wider scale.
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.
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.
Crypto investment schemes are spreading across the Pacific, often through trusted family, church, and community networks. While they are promoted as offering financial freedom and fast returns, regulators have warned that some schemes carry serious risks and limited protections for investors.
Producer Pranuja spoke with Associate Dean Pacific Sione Taufa about how trust can be exploited in Pacific communities, why endorsement matters, and what people should know before investing.
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.
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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