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.
Former Green Party MP Darleen Tana was suspended from the party after claims of migrant exploitation surfaced at a business owned by her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen, leading to subsequent allegations of Darleen’s involvement in, or awareness of the situation.
Tana announced her official resignation from the Greens last weekend, a move which Chloe Swarbrick and her contemporaries in the party had been urging since the allegations surfaced, however Tana still maintains both her and her husband’s innocence and has not yet resigned as a member of parliament.
Some experts have suggested that the Greens might subsequently invoke the “waka-jumping legislation”, a law requiring MPs to leave parliament if they switch parties, which the Greens have historically opposed.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March, about the allegations surrounding Darleen Tana and whether or not the party will invoke the waka-jumping legislation to remove her as an MP.
They also talked about Housing minister Chris Bishop's plans to boost housing development in Aotearoa with his new "Going for Housing Growth" policy.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s calls to former MP Darleen Tana to resign and housing minister Chris Bishop’s new legislation to boost housing development.
He spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystal from the University of Auckland to discuss a project she led assessing the impacts of extreme weather events on hospitals in the Pacific Islands.
And He spoke to Professor Sue Crengle, from the University of Otago, to discuss a project she was involved in with Te Whatu Ora to create a national cancer screening program in Aotearoa.
Rawan spoke with Debra Ashton from SAFE animal rights group about their interception of the proposal to build intensive chicken farms in Waikato
She also spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity network about the illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, what the government needs to do and solidarity rallies.
The United Nations hosted Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) 2024 is taking place in Geneva this week, with Aotearoa’s Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in attendance.
Particularly, the commission will be commenting on Aotearoa’s historical approach to indigenous rights in Aotearoa as well as the approach of the current government.
Wire host Castor spoke to Te Kāhui Tika Tangata’s indigenous rights governance partner, Dayle Takitimu, about the EMRIP assessment and what it could mean for our current and future governments.
For Dear Science this week, Wire host Castor chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about fighting cancer with gold nanoparticles, trends in the melodies of popular music, and NASA’s Mars mission crew.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Sam Uffindell about the residential tenancies amendment bill and tolls on the roads of national significance.
He also spoke to Dayle Takitimu from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission about indigenous rights in Aotearoa.
Producer Elle spoke to the University of Auckland’s Tom Pearce about standardised testing in primary schools.
She also spoke to Massey University’s Professor Joanne Hort about New Zealanders’ use of spices.
From 2026 the government will introduce standardised testing for reading, writing and maths across all primary schools.
Year one students will be required to sit phonics tests at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling and years 3-6 will be required to take PAT and e-asTTle. Around 60% of schools already use this type of testing.
The reason for the introduction of testing is to improve education levels which are not up to standard, according to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Education minister Erica Standford stated testing is important to keep parents informed about their child’s progress. Stanford continued that the tests will allow teachers and principals with the data to track in aggregate their school’s performance.
Producer Elle spoke to Faculty of Education and Social Work PhD student Tom Pearce about the policy.
This story mentions eating disorders and disordered eating.
A new study from researchers at the University of Auckland has found that there was an increase in hospital admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The study found that 10-19 year old girls with diagnoses of anorexia nervosa had the most significant increase; and that Māori had proportionately more hospital admissions for eating disorders than others.
Admissions for other mental health disorders mostly stayed the same or decreased during the pandemic.
Josef spoke to Dr David Menkes, an Academic Psychiatrist at the University of Auckland and co-author of the study, about the study’s findings and what can be done to avoid similar spikes in the future.
If you need support, talking to someone you know or contacting formal support services can be helpful. For support, call the Eating Disorder Association New Zealand 0800 2 EDANZ or (09) 5222 679. Or you can free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
The government’s plan to introduce boot camps for youth offenders and other more punitive law and order reforms have come under fire by experts for failing to address the root causes of crime and antisocial behaviour in Aotearoa.
The recently implemented measures and rhetoric from the government have prompted a variety of discussions about how Aotearoa can properly tackle youth crime, the resources public agencies have to address and the measures that have worked so far.
Oto spoke to Aaron Hendry, a youth worker and co-founder of Kickback, to discuss the government’s recent youth crime reforms, and the measures that have worked in the past that the government should be looking into instead.
Children in New Zealand have among the highest rates of screen use in the world, with Māori and low socioeconomic-background young people over-represented.
A group of researchers have come up with advice on children’s screen use to better assist educators in Aotearoa to balance health risks of digital technologies with educational benefits.
Wire host Sofia spoke to the lead author, masters researcher at the University of Auckland and paediatric physiotherapist, Julie Cullen, about this advice, starting the interview asking her about the main risks this research identified that are of concern when it comes to digital technology use by children and young people.
For their weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, Wire host Sofia speaks to ACT MP Cameron Luxton about ACT invoking the ‘agree to disagree’ provision over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, the government’s plans to ‘flood’ the country with more housing, and the Easter Trading Bill.
She also speaks to University of Auckland senior lecturer of Architecture and Planning, Dr Elizabeth Aitken Rose, about the government’s plans to address the housing crisis
And she speaks to masters researcher at the University of Auckland and paediatric physiotherapist, Julie Cullen, about advice for children’s digital technology use in kura.
Producer Oto speaks to youth worker Aaron Hendry from Kickback to discuss the best approaches to tackling youth offending.
Producer Josef speaks to Academic Psychiatrist, David Menkes about the rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fuck-knuckles, cock, and piss, balls. These are words that you may be hearing much more, or much less, on 95bFM after the government announced earlier this month that it will be scrapping the Broadcasting Standards Authority (or, BSA).
The Authority has responsibility over the broadcast of radio and television, but has long called for regulatory changes to be made given the shift toward digital media. The issue reached prominence last year, when the BSA decided to hear a complaint about the digital media company, The Platform.
The move was met with severe criticisms from the government, with the ACT Party and NZ First in particular calling for the abolishing of the authority.
In its place, the government has proposed the Media Council - a voluntary body - will be involved in self-regulation of the media. However, this proposal has been widely criticised as lacking regulatory teeth.
Instead of scrapping the BSA, the Better Public Media Trust has proposed that the government strengthens it with the recommendations from the government’s ‘Safer Online Services' research project, which would see greater regulation of online and digital spaces.
So, for this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke with the Better Public Media Trust’s Myles Thomas, to discuss their petition to reinstate and strengthen the BSA.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Two Green Party members' bills were drawn recently; the first would ban mining on conservation land. It comes at a time when parties in the government coalition seem to have their hearts set on turbo-charging the mining industry, with a key bill being put forward that would enable a range of new commercial activities on conservation land and potentially allow the sale of over 60% of the land.
The other green party bill aims to protect children leaving care in Oranga Tamariki from finding themselves without a place to live.
Finally, a landmark climate lawsuit against six major companies was stopped in its tracks by the government. The government says that it made the decision to prevent the suit to ensure businesses had legal clarity and certainty. However, it has now been revealed that the government and business lobbyests had been in contact, and knowledge of this contact may have been unduly withheld, prompting critics to raise the alarm that the government may be circumventing core democratic processes to satisfy business interests.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about their parties members bill, especially mining on conservation land, and what it means for the government to intervene in such as way with this case.
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.
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