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, host Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about: The recent cross-party inquiry into climate adaptation, The Roads of Regional Significance Project and boosts to our defence budget.
He also spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah from the University of Auckland about an Open Letter to the UoA foundation calling for the university to divest from companies involved in arms sales and human rights violations.
Producer Rachel spoke to Senior lecturer of Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland, Dr Jude MacArthur, about the funding disparity for neurodivergent and disabled students within New Zealand’s education system.
It’s almost been a month since protests began at Columbia University in New York, where students established a Gaza Solidarity encampment to demand that the university divest from companies associated with the State of Israel.
With similar protests subsequently springing up at campuses across the globe, calling for universities to divest from Israel, the issue of ethical and responsible investment has become widely discussed in academic institutions across the globe.
In the wake of the international student uprisings, an open letter and petition has been sent to the University of Auckland Foundation to divest from companies that are involved in gross human rights violations and weapons manufacturing. The Letter has been signed by a number of Professors, faculty members and students who are concerned about the University of Auckland’s possible investment ties, and are calling for the University to adopt a more ethical investment framework.
Oto spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer in Critical Studies in Education and co-author of the letter, to discuss the calls for divestment to the University, as well as the current situation in Rafah, which he had also been researching.
If you'd like to sign the petition to the University of Auckland Foundation, you can find it here:
Last Thursday, parliament agreed on a motion to establish a cross-party inquiry on how Aotearoa can better adapt to more frequent and severe weather events, continuing from an inquiry launched by former Green Party co-Leader James Shaw under the previous labour government.
For their weekly chat, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March to discuss the party’s thoughts on the launch of the inquiry.
They also had a chat about the Roads of Regional Significance project, as well as the recent funding boost to the New Zealand Defence Force.
On May 13th, the Education Hub - a non-profit organisation that connects teachers with education research - released a report on neurodivergent children in schools and early childhood centres.
Gathering testimonies from 2,400 people, the report found that 15-20 percent of the population is neurodivergent, meaning they have conditions including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and anxiety.
Although the school system is supposedly inclusive, the Education Hub says schools and early childhood centres are failing neurodivergent children.
In response, it has called for more funding and a law change regarding specialist provisions or supports for children with special educational needs.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education Missy Morton at the University of Auckland about the report, and what support for teachers, neurodivergent children, and the families of these children should look like.
Iranian hip hop artist Toomaj Salehi has recently been sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic regime on charges of ‘corruption on earth’ for his songs criticising the regime.
He is one of the many Iranian political prisoners who have been sentenced to death for speaking out against the regime.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Aida Oryantal, from Voice of Iranians about the ongoing fight for democracy in Iran.
Halal Kiwi, an app that helps people find halal foods and products in New Zealand, has been called anti-Semitic by the ACT Party for creating a pro-Palestine boycott list.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Halal Kiwi founder, Mohammed Soliman, about ACT’s claim.
She started off the interview by asking Soliman about the intention behind their initiative to help Halal Kiwi users boycott pro-Israel and pro-Zionist businesses.
On May 9th the New Zealand Nurses organisation held a national day of action 2024, with rallies across the country calling for increased public health funding. While the government has introduced measures to increase the number of nurses in Aotearoa, staffing shortages are still frequent in wards across the country.
Additionally, there are worries that the recently scrapped Te Aka Whai Ora could impact the already struggling sector, taking focus away from those who need health support most and potentially increasing the workload for frontline health workers.
In our weekly catchup with the National party, Wire host Castor spoke to Katie Nimon about the government’s approach to public health policy and how the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora could affect the health sector.
On 9 May the New Zealand Nurses organisation held a national day of action 2024, with rallies across the country calling for increased public health funding.
While the government has introduced measures to increase the number of nurses in Aotearoa, staffing shortages are still frequent in wards across the country.
Additionally, there are worries that the recently scrapped Te Aka Whai Ora could impact the already struggling sector, taking focus away from those who need health support most and potentially increasing the workload for frontline health workers.
Wire Host Castor spoke to the president of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Anne Daniels, about nursing shortages and low health funding in Aotearoa from a frontline perspective.
For Dear Science this week, Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about Beethoven’s deafness, the first ever vaccination, and researchers mapping a small part of the human brain.
Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Katie Nimon about nursing shortages in light of rallies last week and how the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora could affect the health sector.
He also spoke to New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels about these health issues from a frontline worker perspective.
Producer Sofia spoke to Public Service Association Assistant Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons about the 325 job cuts to the Accident Compensation Corporation.
She also spoke to Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education Missy Morton at the University of Auckland about a new report from the Education Hub about how schools and early childhood centres are failing neurodivergent children.
As a part of the coalition government’s cost saving measures, there are 325 proposed job cuts at the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
ACC says client-facing teams will not be affected, although, roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety are on the chopping block.
The job cuts equate to a proposed 9 percent reduction of ACC’s total workforce.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Public Service Association Assistant Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons about the cuts to roles dealing with sexual violence prevention and the overall impacts these cuts to ACC will have on New Zealanders.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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