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.
For Dear Science this week, Dr Cushla McGoverin chatted about a weird use for barnacles, sleep improving vaccination effectiveness, and collagen in the human body.
Wire host Castor spoke to National’s James Meager about the mortgage tax deductions policy and increases to the fuel excise tax.
He also spoke to Bike Auckland’s chair Karen Hormann about the organisation and National’s new transport policy.
Producer Sofia spoke to Group Manager for Conservation Advocacy at Forest & Bird, Richard Capie, about the government’s proposed Fast Track Approvals Bill.
She also spoke to Public Service Association Delegate and Mental Health Support Worker, Christie Cox, about an open letter from care and support workers to Te Whatu Ora on International Women’s Day last week.
A new report from World Vision looking at food prices in 67 countries has found the average cost of basic food items in Aotearoa increased by 56% in 2023 compared to the previous year. This is compared to a 29% decrease in cost in Australia.
Jessica spoke to World Vision New Zealand’s Head of Advocacy and Justice, Rebekah Armstrong, about these findings.
They started off the interview by discussing what basic food items the report looked at.
Last month, the government announced Te Aka Whai Ora, or the Māori Health Authority, would be dis-established, just 18 months after it launched.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Associate Professor in Anthropology at the University of Auckland and Director of the James Henare Māori Research Centre, Marama Muru-Lanning (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whātua), and Senior Research Fellow at the James Henare Māori Research Centre, Dr Hilary Lapsley, about the government dis-establishing Te Aka Whai Ora and its impact on kaumatua.
Following the government announcing its fast track consents bill, which gives ministers ultimate authority on whether to approve significant projects, environmental groups have raised concerns this will undermine exisiting environmental protections.
First, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to the Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki Chairperson and former Green MP, Catherine Delahunty, about how the bill could affect protected areas in the Coromandel.
The environmental group, Climate Justice Taranaki, have also protested the bill over concerns it could open up new seabed mining projects in Taranaki. Jessica Hopkins asked spokesperson, Urs Signer, for their thoughts on the bill.
For our regular catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Simon Court about the government’s proposal to fast-track the resource consent process for significant regional and national projects.
She also spoke to Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki Chairperson and former Green MP Catherine Delahunty and Climate Justice Taranaki Spokesperson Urs Signer about the government’s new fast-track consenting proposal.
She had a kōrero with Associate Professor in Anthropology at the University of Auckland and Director of the James Henare Māori Research Centre, Marama Muru-Lanning (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whātua) and Senior Research Fellow Dr Hilary Lapsley about the government dis-establishing Te Whai Aka Ora, the Māori Health Authority.
And a black market for vapes has emerged in New Zealand schools, according to a report by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation. Producer Ezra spoke to Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Māori Community Liaison Sharon Pihema about this.
Earlier this week, world-leading general medical journal ‘The Lancet’ published a series of papers warning about the ‘overmedicalisation’ of menopause and have emphasised the importance of a fresh and conscious approach in how we support wāhine as they age. The research emphasises the importance of “going beyond medical treatments, to empower women using high-quality information on symptoms and treatments, empathic clinical care and workplace adjustments as required.”
Producer Jasmine speaks with the general manager of Women’s Health Action, Isis McKay, to further discuss what changing the conversation around menopause in Aotearoa looks like.
This week for City Counselling Caeden spoke to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson about the consultation process on Auckland Council’s long term plan, and the removal of some of Auckland’s public rubbish bins.
Much of our infrastructure and architecture has been constructed by able-bodied people, with little regard for those with different mobility needs.
Accessibility for differently abled people is usually a secondary consideration, with wheelchair ramps and similar accessibility measures sometimes being crudely installed at the back of buildings as a quickfire measure to comply with building accessibility requirements, leaving those with different mobility needs often feeling like second class citizens
Producer Oto spoke to Bill McKay, a senior lecturer of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, to talk about universal design, the idea that buildings and infrastructure should be constructed in a way that is accessible to people of ALL mobility needs and capabilities.
Around this time last year, the government banned TikTok on devices with access to the parliamentary network following in the footsteps of countries like Canada and the UK.
This time, parliament is considering a ban on popular Chinese messaging app WeChat.
Sofia spoke to Associate Professor of Commercial Law at Auckland University Gehan Gunasekara about cyber security risks and why it seems to only concern Chinese-owned apps.
Last week Auckland Council passed their hotly contested long-term plan, after huge debate and community engagement.
Councillor Lotu Fuli attempted to amend the plan to not include the sale of Council’s airport shares but was defeated. She also reached headlines for excluding the independent Māori voices on Council from voting on this amendment.
Wire Host Caeden asked Councillor Fuli about the long term plan, and the controversy surrounding her amendment for City Counselling. Here is that interview.
Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni has come out against Louise Upston’s comments on welfare, calling her out for leaving out context or blatantly lying about facts.
Some of Minister Upston’s comments include conflating those who are on Job Seeker who are “work ready” and those who are on it for health conditions, as well as stating that young people who go on the benefit could stay on it for 24 years without mentioning this only applies to 0.5% of people.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden asks about National’s comments on welfare, as well as the civil unrest we are currently seeing in New Caledonia.
They started by asking about her comparison between what National is doing to benefits today to what Ruth Richardson did 30 years ago.
This week on Dear Science, our expert Dr Cushla McGoverin spoke to us about synthetic fungus-based leather, origami-like structures using DNA, and the colouring on rodents' teeth.
Last week ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, announced 153 million dollars in funding for the establishment of 50 charter schools. This covers 15 brand new schools and the conversion of 35 state schools.
Between 2011 and 2017 less than 20 charter schools were open in Aotearoa, before they were disestablished by the Labour government in 2018. Seymour himself has said that previously the schools were both difficult to establish and run.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to MP Simon Court about what will be different this time, and why the party thinks these schools are the best option.
They also talked about some recent conflicts of interests that have arisen surrounding the already contested Fast Track approvals bill.
On Wednesday Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni dominated political headlines with news that she is believed to be a contestant on this year's season of Celebrity Treasure Island.
The last MP to compete on a reality TV show was David Seymour, who competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018. This appearance resulted in a now infamous video of Seymour twerking in 80s getup.
Last years Celebrity Treasure Island also drew headlines for including famous political figures, notably Tame Iti.
Political news this week has also included an announcement from Paul Goldsmith that the Government is looking at stopping election day voter enrolment due to the administrative burden.
Caeden asked about both these topics for our weekly catch-up with Carmel Sepuloni. They started by asking if she would appear in Celebrity Treasure Island.
On the 19th of December 2022, Farzana Yaqubi, a 21 year old law student at AUT, was murdered by a man who had been repeatedly stalking her and sending her threatening messages on social media. In the months leading up to her murder, Farzana made multiple police reports with evidence of her experienced stalking, urging law enforcement to intervene. However, her reports were effectively disregarded and treated as low priority, as there are no official laws in Aotearoa that criminalise stalking.
Farzana’s murder triggered a call to the government from numerous women’s rights advocates across the motu to come up with more effective legislation to criminalise stalking and establish more effective preventative measures in law enforcement.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Leonie Morris from the Auckland Women’s Centre, to discuss a petition calling for the official criminalisation of stalking.
If you're interested, you can sign the petition here:
For Dear Science this week Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about an orangutan treating its own injury, beluga whales changing the shape of their foreheads, and the development of skin burn healing bandages from plant based materials.
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.
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