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.
In a recently released study from the University of Otago, researchers surveyed over 1000 participants, with over two thirds of these participants supporting the idea of the government developing plans to deal with catastrophe’s, extending across the political spectrum.
Such catastrophes include nuclear war, the spread of bioengineer infectious diseases, and weather events.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Senior Researcher and a Population Health Professor at the University of Otago, Wellington, Nick Wilson, about this study, and what the government already has in place to deal with these risks.
Last week, US President Donald Trump had an outburst of criticism towards the UN. Despite the why and what of these criticisms by the right wing leader, he is not the first to levy criticisms against the organisation and its structures.
Particularly, the inability for the organisation to enact, oversee and rule on meaningful change, as well as the powers invested in an outdated security council, have been subject of significant concern, especially in the 21st century.
Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Tutor in Law at the University of Auckland, Dr Justin Sobion, about the UN’s glaring issues, and potential fixes.
Last Week, at a United Nations Climate Summit, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters pointed to what he called the “elephant in the room” - that in order to rein in emissions, the top 4 countries in terms of emissions, at 60% of the world’s emissions, must do their part.
While there is validity to these claims, and they offer a welcome contrast to the Climate Denialism of leaders such as US President Donald Trump, there are still concerns over what these claims may mean in terms of Aotearoa’s own responsibilities and approach to climate change and action.
Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in accountancy and Finance at the University of Otago, Dr Sebastian Gehricke, about these claims, and how they may reflect the Government’s approach to Aotearoa’s emissions responsibilities.
Over the weekend, at the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that New Zealand would not formally recognise a Palestinian state.
This follows weeks of the Government not explicitly laying out what their plans were regarding recognising Palestine, unlike countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, who all announced they would be recognising a Palestinian state.
The government’s decision to not recognise a Palestinian state has received criticisms from the opposition parties, international relations experts, and pro-Palestinian advocates.
For our weekly catchup, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the country’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood.
We also discussed the government overhauling the Holidays Act.
The changes include a shift to hours-based accrual system for annual leave and a 12.5% Leave Compensation Payment for casual employees as opposed to accruing leave.
Joel also spoke to Simon about this topic, specifically about its impact on casual and part-time employees.
But first, we discussed the Government’s decision not to recognise Palestine.
Last week at St Matthew’s in the city, the community alliance Te Ohu Whakawhaungna organised a housing and wages Mayoral Forum attended by nearly 300 people.
This forum was centered on asking leading mayoral candidates about their plans to deliver public and affordable housing in the city, tackle homelessness and deliver a living wage for all those employed by Auckland Council.
Producer Sanat spoke to lead organiser for Te Ohu Marlon Drake about their community organising strategy, the sort of issues that diverse communities across the city care about and how they plan to work with the next mayor of the city to deliver on the needs of communities in Auckland.
Yesterday, the New Zealand Herald released their latest “Mood of the Boardroom” survey results, based on the responses from 150 senior business leaders.
And earlier this month, the Minister for Universities, Dr Shane Reti, announced a series of reforms for tertiary education.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Shanan Halbert about both of these topics.
Earlier this month, four out of five members of Brazil’s supreme court voted to convict the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for plotting a military coup after losing the 2022 election.
However, members of the right-wing political opposition that support Bolsonaro are attempting to pass a bill that would give him amnesty.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Marieke Riethof, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics at the University of Liverpool, about the conviction of Bolsonaro and the public response.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about the results of the New Zealand Herald’s mood of the boardroom survey, and the University reforms announced by the Government earlier this month.
For International Desk, they also spoke to Dr Marieke Riethof, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics at the University of Liverpool, about the conviction of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the public response.
On City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat talked to Councilor Jule Fairey about the passing of Plan Change 78 and higher density housing
He also had a chat with Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Marlon Drake about the 300 person mayoral forum that was hosted last week on housing and wages.
Auckland Council’s Policy and Planning committee met yesterday to vote on a new plan that would zone the city for two million homes, primarily around train stations and rapid bus routes.
This plan is a response to legislation put forward by housing minister Chris Bishop which requires councils across the country to zone for higher density housing.
This plan has not been without controversy, with councillors claiming that Aucklanders are being “put to the firing squad”
Deputy PM David Seymour has publicly disagreed with his own housing minister, arguing that suburbs like Epsom and Parnell don’t have the right infrastructure to accommodate for this growth.
Advocates for the plan, including mayor Wayne Brown argue that the council cannot continue to drag its feet on the need for housing that is closer to the city, and is more affordable. They argue that it’s better to build in places with pipes, public transport routes and job opportunities.
The plan passed with a majority last evening, so Producer Sanat talked to Councilor Julie Fairey about the plan change and what it means for the future of the city.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s changes to sick leave laws with their planned overhaul of the Holidays Act 2003, as well as Environment Canterbury’s decision to carry a motion declaring a nitrate emergency and the responses to the Greens petition calling on te reo Māori names to be restored to Wellington electorates
And he spoke with Dr Ritesh Shah a Senior Lecturer in Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland about the number of countries announcing their recognition of Palestine at the UN General Assembly and why it might just be a symbolic gesture.
Max spoke to Stephen Hoadley, a retired professor of international relations, to talk about the suspension and later reinstation of American Late Night Host Jimmy Kimmel.
And he spoke to Dr. Lucy Telfar-Barnard from the University of Otago, Wellington, to discuss the recent study released by the University of Otago that showed how firearm incidents are costing New Zealand $322 million per year.
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.
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.
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.
The Wire is starting a new segment - Politics with Māni Dunlop for Te Ao Māori News.
We’ll be catching up on the big political issues of the week and goings on in the House from a Māori perspective.
Wire Host Caeden caught up with Māni Dunlop about the new Te Tai Tokerau Party, the Conservation Amendment Bill passing first reading, and the submissions made as part of the Mana Wāhine inquiry this week.
The Government has confirmed plans to disestablish the Broadcasting Standards Authority and move toward a self-regulation model for media complaints, raising questions about accountability, misinformation, and audience protection.
It has also been confirmed that the Fees Free tertiary scheme will be scrapped in the upcoming Budget, while the new citizenship test has sparked debate over whether it strengthens civic knowledge or creates another barrier for migrants.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about these topics.
Last week the government announced plans to scrap the Broadcasting Standards Authority, the entity that serves to ensure television, radio, and internet broadcasters remain accountable to members of the public.
While the government saysit trusts broadcasters to self regulate, it’s unclear what this regulation could look like, especially without the all encompassing BSA to ensure that a universal standard is met.
In addition, ACT Party Leader David Seymour has expressed dismay at some of the recent publications by state funded broadcasters TVNZ and RNZ. Since Seymour is one of the ministers responsible for appointing the board for each organisation, his comments and criticisms are being compared to threats of censorship.
Lastly, the government has announced a new test for prospective immigrants to New Zealand, which would see them quizzed over topics relating to New Zealand values, our Bill of Rights, and our system of government. While the government is proposing this standard of knowledge for immigrants, many New Zealand citizens could be unable to answer the questions.
For this weeks catchup with the National Party's Ryan Hamilton, News Director Castor asked about these topics, beginning with the BSA.
Last week, the government announced plans to scrap a policy that gave university students one free year of study, known as fees free, with commitments to reallocate that funding to trades training. This comes at a time when an increasing number of young people are absent of employment, education and training.
And an OECD report spelled bad weather for the New Zealand economy. To correct course, they urged for reforms to increase the age of eligibility of Superannuation all the way up to 72, among other policies. This was picked up by the National Party, who are campaigning on moving forward with their previous plans to raise the retirement age up to 67.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the scrapping of fees-free and raising the eligibility age for superannuation, but as we called in, Mr Menéndez March was just leaving an extended sitting of parliament to scrutinise Erica Stanford's Immigration Amendment Bill, and we began with a discussion on how he believes it will hurt vulnerable migrant communities.
This week on Dear Science our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about the science behind football players choking, the chemistry behind the taste of beer, and the woman behind determining the structure of insulin.
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