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.
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about Budget Day today and the suspensions of three Te Paati Māori MPs over the Treaty Principles Bill haka.
For International Desk, they spoke to Professor of International Law at Australian National University, Donald Rothwell, about the ongoing famine in Gaza due to Israeli blockades and the response under international law.
And ahead of Budget 2025 being announced, they spoke to University of Auckland Associate Professor Susan St John and Isaac Gunson from the Child Poverty Action Group about the potential social impact of the budget.
For her interview with Julie Fairey for this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara discusses the issue of littering in Auckland, including the rise of illegal dumping. They also talk about Mayor Wayne Brown’s interest in transforming Auckland into the ‘premier tech city’ of New Zealand.
She also interviewed Chief Scientist at Toha, and founder of Te Pūnaha Matatini about the recent global pandemic treaty adopted by the World Health Organisation.
Since Covid-19 shocked the global health system with the impacts of lack of pandemic preparedness, the World Health Assembly has undertaken intense negotiations to help develop a stronger and more equitable response to future pandemics.
Producer Sara spoke with the Chief Scientist at Toha, and founder of Te Pūnaha Matatini about the pandemic treaty adopted by the World Health Organisation, and how New Zealand should be preparing for future health crises.
Last week, UNICEF published their latest child wellbeing report, comparing childhood experiences, child poverty rates and mental wellbeing in OECD countries.
In the report, Aotearoa New Zealand was ranked 32 out of 36 OECD countries for child wellbeing and at the very bottom of this list for child mental health.
The report also showed that New Zealand had the highest suicide rate amongst rangatahi in the developed world and the second highest rate of children experiencing bullying.
Chief Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad, said that the findings in the report were unacceptable, that they were attributed to the ongoing issue of child poverty in New Zealand and called on the government to act immediately to combat child poverty and invest in mental health services for tamariki and rangatahi.
Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Achmad about this.
This week it was announced that a visualisation tool was being developed, which would help young people with cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy.
The visualisation tool is being developed by Dr. Annie Jones, a Research fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland. Dr. Jones said that “stress can affect the way our body responds to treatment”, and that “if we can reduce people’s anxiety, that should have positive benefits for their physical recovery as well.”
The visualisation will provide clear information for children, as well as their families and friends, about how radiotherapy works. While making it clear that it’s normal to feel worried and offering coping strategies.
To talk about this, Producer Max spoke with Dr. Annie Jones.
Is it time for New Zealand to shine in the space economy?
Dr. Denis Odlin, of the Management and International Business Department at the University of Auckland, as well as other co-authors, have published an analysis that looks into how the space race is being reshaped due to current ongoing geopolitical tensions.
They analyse how Aotearoa New Zealand has found itself in an ideal position to take advantage of the situation, because of its historically neutral position in the space economy.
To talk about New Zealand’s space history, the benefits of neutrality, and the current reshaping of the global space economy, Producer Max spoke with Dr. Denis Odlin.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the suspension of three Te Pati Maori MPs, The Waitangi Tribunal's recommendation to halt the regulatory standards bill and the impact of the social security amendment bill on beneficiaries.
He spoke to Dr Claire Achmad, Chief Children’s Commissioner about New Zealand ranking 32nd out of 36 countries for child wellbeing in UNICEF’s recent childwellbeing report.
And he spoke to Maher Nazzal from the Palestine Forum of New Zealand about how the recent clearance to bring aid trucks into Gaza won’t be enough to address the needs of affected Palestinians
Max spoke to Dr Annie Jones, a Research fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, to talk about a new visualisation tool that is being developed for children during cancer treatment.
And he spoke to Dr Denis Odlin, of the Management and International Business Department at the University of Auckland, about the potential for New Zealand to take advantage of the new space economy.
The United Nations recently received permission from Israel for 100 more emergency aid trucks to enter Gaza, after International humanitarian experts warned of looming famine due to Israel’s renewed blockade of the strip since March.
On Monday this week, Israel cleared nine trucks of goods to enter Gaza, however, only five of those trucks actually entered Gaza and haven’t distributed their aid yet.
However, even if all nine of those trucks were to enter Gaza, that still wouldn’t be nearly enough to attend to the needs of the strip’s 2.1 million population, 47% of whom are children under the age of 18.
Oto spoke to Maher Nazzal from the Palestinian Forum of New Zealand about why the clearance of aid trucks into Gaza isn’t enough, and the additional steps that the New Zealand government could take to put pressure on Israel.
Disclaimer: As of the 21st of May, 2025, Israel claims that 93 trucks had entered into the Gaza Strip, however, aid is yet to be delivered.
For Dear Science, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman chats with us about personalised gene therapy treatment, using molecules to crack passcodes, and Olympic pool bombing.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about Pay Equity in light of the government’s recent changes.
They also spoke to Professor Terryann Clark from the University of Auckland about social media use among young people.
Producer Faith spoke to the Dr Chanelle Duley, an economics lecturer at the university of Auckland, about how financial technology can be used for good, and what we need to be cautious of.
She also spoke to Professor Frederique Vanholsbeeck from the university’s physics department about deep tech, and how NZ can better utilise it.
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.
95bFM 
