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.
A project funded by the Health Research Council (HRC) has spotlighted the significant gap in support for Asian rangatahi who’ve experienced sexual violence in Aotearoa.
Research investigated the experiences of professionals and carers - from counsellors, psychologists, educators, social workers, legal and medical practitioners and more from across the motu.
Increased cultural competency, safety, and support emerged as common themes to a more cohesive cross-sector approach to improve support for survivors.
I spoke to the initiative’s lead researcher, Dr. Ying Wang, Research Fellow at the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland about this kaupapa.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about the recent Labour Party annual general meeting, scrutiny week, and the government’s proposed 4% rates rise cap.
For International Desk, they spoke to American University Provost Associate Professor Garrett Graddy-Lovelace about the level of food waste caused by Trump administration policies, and the significant consequences of this.
And they spoke to Professor Meihana Durie, WIPCE 2025 Co-Chair, about his reflections from the conference.
Producer Jasmine talked to Councillor Julie Fairey about the government’s proposed rates cap, action on youth homelessness and the upcoming opening of the Skycity Convention Centre
She spoke to Dr. Alex Beattie about his thoughts on the incoming U16 social media ban in Australia, and what it means for us in Aotearoa
And she spoke to Dr. Ying Wang about her research into the increased support needed for Asian Communities in the sexual violence support sector
Australia’s national under-16 social media ban will be officially enforced as of Friday next week, with huge disruptions for rangatahi across the ditch. The Response has included two Australian teens, Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, backed by rights organisation, Digital Freedom Project, who have challenged the legislation in the high court with a staunch response from their federal government.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke with Dr. Alex Beattie, Senior Lecturer in Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, about his concerns for how the legislation regards rangatahi and their digital rights, and the likelihood of Aotearoa following suit.
The Trump administration has caused issues of significant food waste due to a range of its policies, including immigration raids, tariffs, cuts to food assistance programmes, and the destruction of food for programmes like USAID.
This has had huge consequences, including environmental impacts, as well as impacts on the estimated more than 47 million people in the US who don’t have enough food to eat, and those who have relied on US foreign aid that has been cut.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, Provost Associate Professor in Environment, Development & Health at American University, about these issues.
Tāmaki Makaurau’s council budget is among those impacted by the proposal of a rates cap, considering Tāmaki’s average 5.8% annual rates increase across the 25/26 financial year.
Youth homelessness is a growing concern as discussions continue around “move on” orders for those without housing in Auckland’s CBD.
And the Skycity Convention Centre is set to open in 2026, with high hopes for what it may bring for Tāmaki Makaurau after its prolonged development.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Counsellor Fairey about these topics.
WIPCE, or the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education, is a triennial conference that “celebrates the sharing, promoting of, and advocacy for Indigenous-based initiatives through holistic educational efforts.”
WIPCE 2025 took place here in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to WIPCE 2025 Co-Chair, Professor Meihana Durie (Ranitāne, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, and Kāi Tahu) about his reflections on the conference.
High levels of nitrate have been found in water supplies in New Zealand, especially in rural regions such as Canterbury, these levels of nitrate can pose significant dangers, especially to children.
Traditional nitrate removal methods produce carbon dioxide and other waste material, Producer Flo spoke to University of Auckland Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Wei-Qin Zhuang about the dangers of nitrate, his newly developed methodology and its potential usage in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts have been utilised since 2012 to treat offences fueled by drug use or committed by people in active addiction.
Offenders who would have otherwise faced up to three years in prison can instead commit to rehabilitation programs and community work to aim to address the core issues of these offenders.
Amidst rising levels of methamphetamine use in New Zealand, the courts have shown success at rehabilitating offenders in the community and stopping reoffending.
Producer Flo spoke to Dr Katherine Doolin, Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland about the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, the upcoming conference on AODT courts and her thoughts about the future of drug-crime related policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
On Monday, the government announced that they’d be introducing a rates rises cap, which is expected to be legislated by the end of 2026. The cap would be a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4% nationwide.
When talking about the reasoning for the introduction of a rates cap, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that ratepayers in New Zealand were “fed up”.
Along with this, The Labour Party announced that if they were to be elected in next year’s election, they would offer doctors and nurse-practitioners low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones. In their policy, Chris Hipkins stated they would hand out up to 50 loans per year, which would be up to 90% of the cost of buying into a practice, capped at $500,000 dollars. They also specified they’d be prioritising areas that had no general practitioners or practices with closed or partially closed books.
And last week, the Government announced a proposed major shake-up of local council. Where Mayors of cities and district councils would take over the duties of regional councils.
For our Weekly Catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s regional council’s announcement and Labour’s low-interest loans for family GP practices.
But first, they discussed The National Party’s rates rises cap.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about The National Party’s newly announced rates rises cap, The Labour Party announcing they’d be providing low-interest loans for family GP practices, and last week’s Government announcement that they'd be majorly shaking up local government.
Producer Flo spoke with Dr Katherine Doolin, a Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, to talk about the effectiveness of Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, the upcoming conference on AODT courts and hopes for their further implementation in the future.
Max spoke with Peter Shepherd, a Professor in the department of molecular medicine at the University of Auckland, to discuss the World Health Organisation listing Ozempic-style weight loss drugs as a recommendation to combat obesity.
And Flo spoke with Wei-Qin Zhuang, an Associate Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Auckland, to discuss a new methodology to remove nitrate from water supplies.
Last week the ACT Party announced a new health policy that would see the responsibilities of pharmacists expanded to move pressure away from GPs. The idea of the policy is that for less significant health issues, people could see their local pharmacist instead of their GP, reducing wait times and costs for the public.
Also last week, the government announced plans to scrap the broadcasting standards authority. The announcement follows a period of complaints from the government over the BSA, which had ruled on online broadcaster The Platform. The government (and The Platform) say that the BSA shouldn’t be able to make rulings on online broadcasters, but some others disagree.
Without the BSA, many of the restrictions and rules that broadcasters are held to could disappear. In addition, the BSA offers a vehicle for members of the public to hold said organisations to account. Without the BSA, avenues for public feedback on poor conduct are minimal.
For this week’s catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the party’s new health policy.
Auckland Council has approved their first-ever transport policy statement, which, together with the central Government’s Policy Statement on Land Transport, will shape the future of transport funding in Auckland.
And a petition is being hosted on Our ActionStation that calls on the Government to strengthen protections for the Waitākere Ranges.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
The Government has signed a new Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies with Singapore, aimed at keeping crucial goods like fuel, food, medicine and construction materials moving during future crises.
Meanwhile, ACT has released a new immigration policy, framing it as a way to make immigration “work for New Zealand,” with proposals including tougher deportation settings and requirements for migrants.
And leaked emails around New Zealand’s response to US strikes on Iran have raised questions about the coalition’s foreign policy direction.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert on these topics.
In 1915, the Ottoman Empire began a campaign of arrests, deportations, death marches, and massacres that we now call the Armenian Genocide. The campaign itself took place in a wider context of Armenian persecution, but between the years 1915–1916, 1.5 million Armenians, alongside Assyrians and Greeks, were killed.
The term ‘genocide’ was not coined until several decades later, but the academic consensus is that the massacres, rapes, deportations, and destruction of Armenian cultural heritage that took place readily meets the criteria of the term.
At the time, members of Parliament in New Zealand - including the prime minister - decried the atrocities, with at least one representative pointing to what seemed like the murder of the entire Armenian nation. However, New Zealand is not one of the 34 governments and parliaments that officially recognise the Armenian Genocide. This position is in line with the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Türkiye’s, protracted campaign of denial to this day.
So for this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Lo Aleen, on their petition for New Zealand to formally recognise the Armenian Genocide.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party's bill to protect overdose emergency callers from legal risks received cross-party support, passing its first reading, keeping it on track to potentially become law. Minor infractions, such as minor possession and paraphernalia, would be overlooked when calling for emergency services to obtain help for someone overdosing.
And an Official Information Request by the Herald into Winston Peter’s Foreign Minister’s office revealed disagreements between the NZ First Leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over the Coalition government's stance on the war with Iran, with the prime minister pushing for greater support for the United States bombings.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s overdose emergency callers bill and the revelations over the US war with Iran.
The past few weeks have seen the New Zealand First Party and the National Party trading jabs, with the crux of the issue beginning with the India Free Trade Agreement.
The issue began with NZ First refusing to support the trade agreement, leading Labour to collaborate with National and back it to fruition. NZ First Deputy Leader Shane Jones expressed his concerns over the bill, making derogatory comments about an implied mass arrival of Indian immigrants.
The comments were rejected by ministers in National, ACT, Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori. Despite these criticisms, little has been done in response, and the coalition government remains intact.
Following the incident, another disagreement was observed when NZ First Leader Winston Peters leaked emails that indicated a disagreement between him and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over New Zealand’s response to US Strikes on Iran. The emails allege that Luxon wanted to express support for the strikes, though New Zealand’s official response only acknowledged them.
Finally, the government has also been looking into changing how treaty principles influence policy. The plan has been criticised for its similarities to the Treaty Principles Bill, which was rejected in parliament and by the public, who protested en masse in 2024 against the bill. The current proposed changes are not set to be discussed by parliament until August.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, News Director Castor asked him about each of these issues, beginning with the party’s take on discourse between NZFirst and National.
The government is reviewing Treaty of Waitangi references across 28 pieces of legislation, with concerns that stronger obligations could be reduced to simply “taking into account” Treaty principles.
At the same time, New Zealand has signed a new Free Trade Agreement with India, while incidents of anti-Indian graffiti and political comments about Indian communities have raised concerns about rising anti-Indian sentiment in Aotearoa.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about proposed changes to Te Tiriti, the NZ–India Free Trade Agreement, and rising anti-Indian sentiment in New Zealand.
Last week, the Green Party released a statement highlighting the recently released Dental For All report, which they say confirms that New Zealand can afford a free, universal public dental service.
And the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand is being touted as a pivotal moment, garnering support from both Labour and National parties, however, NZFirst MP and coalition minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, expressed his opposition to the agreement with derogatory comments against potential indian immigrants that have drawn the ire of other parliamentary parties.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, I spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s Dental policy and their stance on the Free trade agreement with India.
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