For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about a law change that will mean only elected councillors can vote on council committees and what Budget 2026 means for Auckland.
And they spoke to both Professor Te Kaka Keegan from the University of Waikato and Professor Nirmal Nair from the University of Auckland about a new UN University report on the environmental impacts of AI.
And Tuesday Wire Host Alex spoke with Elliot Crossan, the co-chair of Auckland Action Against Poverty, about the changes made to social housing in the 2026 Budget.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about the 2026 Budget.
And she also spoke with Senior Lecturer Dr Lisa Darragh, challenging the idea that New Zealand is facing a maths education crisis
Very special bFM alumna Noelle McCarthy stops by the studio to reminisce and discuss her new book, Stakes, a memoir about Dracula and the secret to happiness. (The interview starts three minutes in, after the opening of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'.)
The Government is changing the law so only elected councillors can vote on council committees, stopping iwi representatives and independent experts from being full voting members.
And last week, the Government announced the Budget for the next year. It includes investment in areas such as housing, health, and rail infrastructure in Auckland.
For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
A new report from the UN University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health has outlined the consequences of AI on water, land, and carbon emissions.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Te Kaka Keegan, from the University of Waikato Department of Software Engineering and Co-Director of the AI institute, about the report and the cultural impacts of AI for Māori.
They also spoke to Professor Nirmal Nair from the University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering about how the report applies to a local context.
The Government is changing the law so only elected councillors can vote on council committees, stopping iwi representatives and independent experts from being full voting members.
And last week, the Government announced the Budget for the next year. It includes investment in areas such as housing, health, and rail infrastructure in Auckland.
For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
Under the Public Finance Act, the government is required to release a report on child poverty as part of the budget process.
The report for 2026, released last week, shows that New Zealand is far from on-track to meet its goal of reducing child poverty to 6% by 2028. One of the key measures of this - material hardship - was not even able to be estimated by the Treasury, but was calculated to be sitting at 14.3% in the financial year 2024/25.
With community providers, such as foodbanks, reporting increased hardship in the community, it seems highly unlikely that the government will meet previous targets for reductions in child poverty.
So, to speak on the government’s approach so far, and what the recent Child Poverty report tells us, Producer Theo was joined by Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, Susan St John.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, our host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the budget, a controversial government law that empowers MSD to automate decision-making, and how the government's failing climate policies are creating more costs.
Then Producer Toby spoke to youth development worker Aardon Hendry about the growing issue of youth homelessness and what he argues is an inadequate level of support provided by the government in the recent budget.
Chris plays a selection of mainly deep cuts from his personal vaults to kick off winter. The best and freshest of Kiwi music — 100% tunes from Aotearoa New Zealand, thanks to NZ On Air Music!
Playlist
Strawpeople - Under The Milky Way (Tranquility Bass Mi
Human Instinct - Black Sally
Thee Golden Geese - Full Goose Rising
The Chills - There's Only One Station
Go Nuclear - Torture Chamber
Free Radicals - Don't Ask
Fis - DMT Usher
Backyard Burial - If It Came Down To It I'd Eat You
95bFM 
