Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Jessica Hopkins, Castor Chacko, Nicholas Lindstrom, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
In our weekly interview with National’s James Meager, producer Castor began with National’s promised ban on wearing gang patches in public. The ban is due to come later this year as part of a bundle of legislation aimed at reducing gang presence in communities.
A similar law was passed by the Whanganui District Council in 2009, which was later reviewed by the High Court and found to be unlawful and in violation of the Bill of Rights.
Castor then briefly discussed Labour’s clean car discount, which was repealed by the National government on the 31st of December last year. Ministry of Transport data shows that registrations of new electric vehicles have decreased from 1 in 4 in 2023 to 1 in 26 in January this year.
Last week, a public servant at the Ministry of Health who leaked an official document was dismissed. The leaked document showed the Associate Minister of Health, Casey Costello, requesting advice on freezing the annual increase in tobacco excise tax.
Health Coalition Aotearoa has released a consultation document advocating options to address and improve transparency in public policy-making and the regulation of lobbying in New Zealand.
Producer Sofia spoke to co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa and Professor of Māori Health and Nutrition at Massey University, Lisa Te Morenga, about the coalition government’s plans to repeal the Smoke Free legislation and the current legal requirements for public policy-making transparency in Aotearoa.
For Dear Science this week, Dr Cushla McGoverin chatted with news and editorial director Jessica Hopkins about Northern Patagonian rock art, an inchworm-inspired robot with enhanced transport capabilities, and the FDA approving the first medication to treat severe frostbite.
Producer Castor spoke to National’s James Meager about gang patch legislation and the clean car discount repeal.
And producer Sofia spoke to co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Lisa Te Morenga, about the repeal of the Smoke-Free legislation and current legal requirements for public policy-making transparency in New Zealand.
Last week, the Auckland War Memorial Museum announced it would be moving from what it calls a "colonial museum" to a Te Tiriti-centric approach.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington about their response to this move and why it is necessary.
Concerns have been raised about the spread of fake news and propaganda and to justify anti-Palestinian actions.
News and Editorial Director Jesica Hopkins spoke to National Chair Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto about why unfounded claims are being repeated in the media and by politicians, here in Aotearoa and globally?
E whai ake nei, coming up on the Wire for Rāpare Thursday!
Beth spoke to Counsellor for Waitakere, Shane Henderson, about the impact the government’s recent repeal of Three Waters will have on the Council in terms planning of water services and infrastructure.
Castor spoke to The University of Otago’s Professor Michael Baker about increased measles risk in Aotearoa and possible countermeasures.
Caeden spoke with Acting Chief Commissioner, Dr Karanina Sumeo, about Aotearoa's human rights issues and what the impacts of the Universal Periodic Review could be.
Spike spoke to Unite Union Contact Center organiser Sam Burnside-Woods about unionisation at One NZ, work from home policies and the ongoing redundancy waves.
And Castor spoke with doctoral student at the University of Auckland, Tom Pearce, about assessment based education, the campaigned policies and alternative methods to increase learning for students.
Telecom company One NZ, previously Vodafone, was recently acquired by investment management company Infratil, which under the backdrop of unionisation efforts, has started to downsize the company in order to maximise profits. The latest announcement from the CEO includes changes that might result in 10-20% of the workforce being made redundant.
Spike spoke to Unite Union Contact Center organiser Sam Burnside-Woods about unionisation at One NZ, work from home policies, and the ongoing redundancy waves.
High vaccination rates from 1969 onwards have prevented measles outbreaks during recent years, but a dropoff in vaccinations has increased risks.
While previously the 95% vaccination rate necessary to prevent outbreak was achieved from around 2014 to 2017, currently vaccination rates sit at around 83%.
Producer Castor spoke to The University of Otago’s Professor Michael Baker about increased measles risk in Aotearoa and possible countermeasures.
In their leadup to the 2023 election, the National party campaigned on increasing assessment in primary schools.
Castor spoke to doctoral student at the University of Auckland, Tom Pearce, about assessment based education, the campaigned policies, and alternative methods to increase learning for students.
Human rights groups from Aotearoa, such as the Human Rights Commission, have been in Geneva ahead of the Universal Periodic Review of our progress on human rights issues.
Caeden spoke to Acting Chief Commissioner, Dr Karanina Sumeo, about Aotearoa's human rights issues and what the impacts of the review could be.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party’s Carmel Sepuloni I ask about MPs getting a pay raise, recent polling results that showed an increase in support for Labour, and a new policy from Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka which would prioritise whānau with tamariki for social housing.
Weekly Palestine protests have taken place in Britomart since last October, and an action in support of Palestine with several hundred students took place at the University of Auckland last night.
For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden asked Councillor Shane Henderson for his stance on the Palestine protests, as well as Council’s view more generally.
They also ask about the community impacts of half priced public transport for under 25s, which ended on May 1st.
The government recently made a series of changes to the licensing requirements for early childhood centres to be able to operate.
These include repealing the network approval provisions for people looking to establish early learning centres and removing the Person Responsible Staff requirements to have a full teaching licence.
The government justified these reforms by saying regulation cuts would make it easier for early childhood centres to operate, thus addressing Aotearoa’s teacher shortage.
However, many Kaiako working in early childhood education have said deregulation does not address the root causes of the teacher shortage, and that more focus is needed on addressing pay inequality for teachers within the sector.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Early childhood Kaiako and member of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Hayley Cross, to discuss a petition from the union to the government calling for pay parity in early childhood education.
The coalition government has made changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, including allowing landlords to charge an additional bond of up to two weeks rent on top of the standard bond of up to four weeks, if a tenant wishes to have a pet on the property.
No-cause evictions have also been reintroduced, allowing landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason, provided they give them 90 days notice.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about these changes.
Disability communities have been rallying against a surprise change in purchasing rules in the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha. Communities have said the changes will have massive impact, despite no consultation on these changes or a formal announcement.
The Department of Conversation also recently proposed staffing cuts to meet funding demands. DoC controls a third of Aotearoa’s landmass which is all conservation land. It remains uncertain how job losses in the Ministry could impact conservation land management.
For weekly catch-up with the Labour party Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour spokesperson for Disability Issues and Conservation Priyanca Rahdakrishnan about both of these issues.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about the government’s proposal to increase student attendance rates and his post on X last week, in which he stated he stands with Israel.
The Ministry of Social Development is not immune to job cuts seen in other public service departments, with MSD calling for voluntary redundancies after cost-saving efforts failed to meet Government targets. For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks her about the impact of cuts at MSD, especially amongst other Government policies disadvantaging beneficiaries.
They also ask about the Samoan Citizenship Bill led by Teanau Tuiono, and the impact of losing independent media giants such as Newshub for democracy.
95bFM 
