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.
It’s been a week since the government went ahead with its decision to dismantle Te Aka Whai Ora, the Maori health authority, reversing the 2022 initiative by the labour government to improve health services and outcomes for Maori.
The move has been widely criticised across the country, with many calling the move a step-back in progress towards improving Maori health, and indigenous rights as a whole.
Producer Oto spoke to Clive Aspin, a public health researcher and associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington, to discuss the dissolution of Te Aka Whai Ora, from the perspective of a health professional and what the move means for Maori Health outcomes.
The Citizens Advice Bureau is a nationwide, but locally based, community organisation that aims to provide advice on a range of topics.
The Citizens Advice Bureau is mainly comprised of volunteers, and next week from the 11th to the 17th of March they will be holding their awareness week.
Nicholas spoke to Vani Kapoor and Cat Finai about the work that the bureau does as well as their upcoming awareness
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, Warner Brothers Discovery announced a major downsizing of its operations in New Zealand, including a proposed closure of all platforms of the newsroom at Newshub at the end of June this year.
The closure would result in the loss of approximately 300 jobs across the company.
Koi Tū: the Centre for Informed Futures, a think tank at the University of Auckland, is expediting the production of a media policy position paper which will set out factors to address to ensure the survival of journalism in Aotearoa.
Producer, Sofia Roger Williams, spoke to the leader of the project, honorary research fellow, Dr Gavin Ellis, about the impending proposed closure, concerns about the future of journalism in Aotearoa, and how he thinks we can ensure its survival.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, also spoke to Head of Journalism at Massey University, Associate Professor James Hollings about the closure of Newshub.
Following the government designating Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation last week, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to representatives of the Jewish and Palestinians communities here in Aotearoa about this decision.
First, she spoke to Justice for Palestine Co-Convenor, Samira Zaiton, about their calls for the government to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza..
She also spoke to the Co-Founder of Alternative Jewish Voices, Mariyln Garson, about her reaction to the government’s decision and concerns about misinformation about what is happening in Gaza and the occupied West Bank being spread in New Zealand.
Please note, when Marliyn discusses Simon Court’s interview on 95bFM, she is referencing our interview with him which aired last week.
MethaneSAT, a global initiative to track and reduce methane emissions, is launching today.
Although primarily funded by the US Environmental Defence Fund, the satellite is the first government funded space mission in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The US side of the project will focus on measuring and identifying methane leaks from oil and gas production, while scientists in New Zealand will use the satellite to study global emissions from agriculture.
Producer, Sofia Roger Williams, spoke to Spacecraft Mission Operations Director at Te Pūnaha Ātea, the Space Institute at the University of Auckland, Chris Jackson, about the launch, New Zealand’s role, and how the data gathered can help us make global and local recommendations to reduce methane emissions.
In our weekly interview with National’s James Meager, Wire host Castor began with last week’s announcement of the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora.
Te Aka Whai Ora, or the Māori Health Authority, was established to address several Māori health issues, including overrepresentation in the health system and underrepresentation in the workforce. Castor asked James about why it was disestablished and the replacements that the National party might offer.
Castor and James also talked about the smokefree legislation repeal, which was also introduced in the last few weeks. The repeal has been met with backlash from opposition parties and public protests, with many arguing it follows arguments from within the tobacco industry. The two discussed the repeal and these possible links, as well as National’s continual commitment to Smokefree 2025.
BCITO, or the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation, is calling for more Pasifika learners to start apprenticeships due to low qualification rates in the industry. The organisation is aiming to increase these rates through offering apprenticeships, and therefore create new opportunities further down the line.
Wire host Castor spoke to BCITO director Greg Durkin about the campaign and the benefits it offers to Pasifika tradies.
Yesterday Salient Magazine, the University of Victoria’s student magazine, released a statement discussing the revocation of Salient’s parliamentary press pass. Salient had held the press pass on behalf of the Aotearoa Student Press Association, or ASPA.
As such, revoking this pass for Salient affects student magazines across the country, including the University of Auckland’s Craccum magazine.
Wire host Castor spoke to one of Salient’s news co-editors, Ethan Rogacion, about the revocation and what it means for student journalism.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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