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.
As part of their pledge to fund 13 new cancer drugs the coalition government has given Pharmac at least $600 million.
This is welcome news to the 330,000 patients that are currently on the waiting list for medicines on Pharmac’s Options for Investment List.
I spoke to the chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa about the current state of Pharmac’s process, funding and what other reforms are needed on top of the recent changes.
Patient Voice Aotearoa is a collective of patients, caregivers, whanau, advocates and charitable organisations that campaign for the rights of New Zealand patients.
I began by asking about the state of Pharmac funding prior to the developments.
The government announced cancer drug funding on Monday, which was met with support from the Breast Cancer foundation, who say the funding will significantly benefit those currently struggling with cancer.
The announcement was met with some criticism, as it was a campaign promise for the National party last year, but was absent in last month’s budget. This led to some uncertainty around how the funding would be provided if at all.
Wire host Castor spoke to chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner about the funding, how it will benefit patients, and potential improvements for the future.
On Sunday the government announced new measures to combat increased rates of youth offending. Along with increased police presence on Queen Street, they also promised the introduction of military style boot camps for youth offenders.
Military style boot camps have been implemented several times in Aotearoa, to minimal success. They have been met with criticism for their failure to address the root issues of youth offending, and the high rates of reconviction.
The government has also met recent criticism for its cuts in the public sector, particularly for ACT party leader David Seymour’s comments that more cuts should be expected.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the boot camps proposal and the impact of cuts in the public sector.
The UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, recorded that 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023 due to conflict, violence, or climate-related disasters - a record number.
In light of World Refugee Day last week, Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer of comparative and international education in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, says that the global refugee crisis is a symptom of a failed global system.
Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Ritesh about the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which provides the internationally recognized definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive, as well as the global refugee crisis more generally.
For their weekly catch up, producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party's Simon Court about the government’s failure to deliver on the promised funding for cancer drugs, and the ACT party’s views on politicians involvement with Pharmac. They also talk about the party’s policy surrounding social media, as old concerns arise surrounding party leader David Seymour’s use of Snapchat.
Host Sofia speaks to the director for ActionStation, Kassie Hartendorp, about a new report by ActionStation called ‘Protect Māori Wards’ and the government’s proposal to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
Evie also caught up with Students for Fair Rent organiser, Matthew Lee, about the decision to end their month long rent strike at the University of Auckland, and what actions the group plans to take next.
And Sofia spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland about the global refugee crisis, in light of the United Nations Refugee Agency reporting 117.3 million people being forcibly displaced in 2023 - a record high.
At the beginning of May, advocacy group Students for Fair Rent, launched a ‘rent strike’ against the University of Auckland. This saw many students withholding their rent from their halls of residence.
Just over a month later a decision was made to end the strike. Now, still with no response from the University, the group is moving away from solely targeting the tertiary institution, and instead focusing on legislative change.
Producer Evie spoke to the groups organiser, Matthew Lee, who explains what happened over the course of the strike and what led to its end.
The government has proposed to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
This would mean if any council wanted to establish a Māori ward, and a petition that had been signed by 5% of people was presented, a binding referendum would have to be held.
Additionally, the bill requires that all the councils that created Māori wards since 2021 have to hold a poll about whether to keep them at the 2025 local elections, with the results of the poll to be binding and come into force in 2028.
ActionStation has released a report, ‘Protect Māori Wards’, which has gathered the stories of over 200 community members on their experiences of Māori wards.
Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to ActionStation director, Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), about what the report found, why Māori wards are important, and the government’s proposed changes for Māori wards more generally.
New Zealand recognises the threat of climate change to Pacific nations but this is not reflected in our immigration policies.
As environmental disasters increasingly impact the pacific, many are calling for these laws to be reviewed to make migration more accessible.
Wire Host Caeden spoke about this issue with World Vision’s Dr Olivia Yates. They started by asking why there is a need to introduce new immigration policy relating to climate change in the Pacific.
The rising cost of living in Aotearoa is pushing many families out of cities and bringing them to smaller rural communities and towns.
The influx of new residents and housing developments in these areas is having a massive impact on the schools and teachers within those communities, reshaping the identity of the schools and the way they structure themselves.
Oto spoke to Dr Jennifer Tatebe, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, to discuss the impacts of urbanisation on rural schools.
The debate around raising the retirement age has continued this week, with growing discussion around Superannuation. At the same time, NZ First’s proposed “Man and Woman” bill has reignited debate around gender identity, legal definitions, and abortion access.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about these topics.
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.
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