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 our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the recently published inflation statistics, The Greens call to lower the voting age to 16 and The most recent unemployment statistics on beneficiaries.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke with Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab from Thyme for Action about a petition of hers calling for the Palmerston North City Council to adopt a ceasefire motion and ethical investment policy in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
And he spoke with Marnie Prickett from the University of Otago in Wellington and the Public Health Association about the Public Health Association’s freshwater policy statement.
News and Editorial Director Joel, spoke to Richard Jackson — a Professor in Peace Studies at the University of Otago, about the government’s potential overhaul of the Terrorism Suppression Act, and how this could potentially impact free speech and political participation.
Freshwater quality across Aotearoa has been in decline for some time, with almost 70% of monitored groundwater sites failing to meet drinking water standards for E. coli and almost half of the country’s rivers being unsuitable for recreational activities like swimming due to bacterial contamination.
Many concerns about the future of Aotearoa’s freshwater have been exacerbated by the government’s recent changes to Freshwater National Direction, with experts speculating that many of the proposed policy changes would favour commercial activity and lead to the further contamination and pollution of freshwater sources.
Oto spoke with Marnie Prickett - A research fellow at the department of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington and a member of the Public Health Association about a freshwater policy statement put out by the Public Health Association calling for urgent action to protect freshwater in Aotearoa and outlining freshwater protection as a critical public health priority.
The government’s $231m boost for breakthrough technology has drawn praise for being a step forward, but scientists, researchers, and academics have criticised the risks involved– and how the money was reallocated.
Producer Faith spoke to Professor Nicola Gaston from the University of Auckland about the investment, and the potential opportunities it will create.
Ireland is to become the first country in the world to include mandatory cancer warning labels on alcohol products. A move that has been hailed as world-leading.
Aotearoa hasn’t followed their lead just yet, but Marlborough winery Villa Maria Estate have complied, by putting the warning on all their bottles getting sold in Ireland.
Many public health experts have praised these moves, and believe it’s time for us to address alcohol issues, here in Aotearoa. Producer Faith spoke to public health expert Dr. Karen Wright from the University of Auckland about these decisions, and what further steps we need to take.
*Correction: The banning of alcohol sold after 9 pm in Auckland off-licenses is an Auckland Council policy, not a government policy.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Daniel Thomas, chats with us about snake and spider venom, saber-toothed tiger extinction, and penguin travel patterns, thanks to MOTAT.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire Host Sara asks about the government’s recent $6billion infrastructure announcement.
Sara also speaks to youth homelessness advocate Aaron Hendry about the rise of homelessness in light of Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka’s most recent interview.
Producer Faith spoke to the University of Auckland’s Nicola Gaston about the government’s $231m support of breakthrough technology, and whether there are any concerns about AI and synthetic biology.
Faith also spoke to the University of Otago’s Dr. Karen Wright about Villa Maria Estate’s recent decision to put cancer warnings on their wines sold in Ireland.
This week Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka spoke in an interview about the potential effect of changes to emergency housing on the rising number of homeless people in New Zealand.
While he proudly announced that the Government had met its target to reduce emergency housing numbers by 75%, he acknowledged that ‘many’ have reported the effect of government policies on increased numbers of people rough sleeping.
Especially in Auckland, observations and reports of homelessness have increased substantially, with community leaders and Auckland council urging the government to deliver a more effective policy response to alleviating the issue.
While Potaka was not willing to admit that government policies have been a main contributor to rising homelessness, there has been a clear public callout for meaningful change from the central government
In recently released research from the Child Poverty Action Group, the research shows low-income families below the Income Floor are struggling to pay for bare essentials.
Below the Income Floor refers to the minimum income needed to live and belong.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Isaac Gunson, a spokesperson from the organisation, about these findings.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about the re-establishment of 10 polytechnics that were under Te Pūkenga and Labour’s Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill.
Joel spoke to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner for the Human Right Commission, Professor Gail Pacheco, about the commission’s calls for cross-party support for effective legislation to tackle modern slavery.
Joel spoke to the Communications and Campaign Manager for Child Poverty Action Group, Isaac Gunson, about recently released research from the organisation, that families below the income floor are struggling to cover basic necessities.
Joel spoke to Carrie Leonetti — an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, about her research showing the Family Court is using ‘junk’ evidence.
Finally, Joel spoke to Jessica Haugh from the University of Auckland, about her Master’s thesis into sexual harm prevention in Aotearoa’s music industry.
The government has recently announced that Te Pūkenga is set to return to ‘regional governance,’ re-establishing 10 polytechnics that were merged under the previous Labour-led government.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about these developments with Te Pūkenga.
They also discussed Labour MP, Camilla Belich’s member’s bill — the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, passing its second reading.
In the government, National are in support of the bill, however, New Zealand First, and ACT, are not. We discussed why ACT are not supportive of the bill, despite their coalition partner, National, being in support.
But first, they discussed the re-establishment of the 10 polytechnics that were previously merged under Te Pūkenga.
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.
Crypto investment schemes are spreading across the Pacific, often through trusted family, church, and community networks. While they are promoted as offering financial freedom and fast returns, regulators have warned that some schemes carry serious risks and limited protections for investors.
Producer Pranuja spoke with Associate Dean Pacific Sione Taufa about how trust can be exploited in Pacific communities, why endorsement matters, and what people should know before investing.
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.
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 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.
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