Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Check out the full podcast for this week's Tuesday show, where we look into new Unitec research showing students are struggling to make ends meet, talk to the founder of a new civics education initiative, look at a new mattress recycling program by Auckland Council and speak to Victoria University lecturer Jason Young about China's new trade expansion.
We look at new research from Unitec showing significant numbers of students are considering dropping out because of financial struggles. Including interviews with Alison Dow, Manager of Student Engagement and Experience at Unitec, NZUSA President Jonathon Gee, AUSA President Will Matthews and students from Auckland University.
Senior taxation lecturer at Massey Univeristy, Deborah Russell, has co-authored a book with Terry Baucher, director of tax consultancy firm, Baucher Consulting Limited. In Tax and Fairness, they propose a modernised system, which would more accurately reflect the New Zealand's economy in 2017. Producer Ben speaks with Russell, also the Labour Party's candidate for New Lynn, about why New Zealand's tax system needs an overhaul.
Ten months after an outbreak of Campylobacter infected 5,500 people in the town of Havelock North, the first stage of a Department of Internal Affairs report has been released. Although sheep faeces has been blamed for the immediate outbreak, the local authorities, Hawkes Bay Regional Council and Hastings District Council, were also criticised for indirectly contributing.
The report cited earlier contamination events which went largely ignored, infrastructure which wasn't up to standard and a lack of communication between the two councils as the basis for their criticism. Although the second stage of the report is ongoing, the report acknowleged they had no legal basis to criticise local farmers whose sheep were most likely the cause. Instead, Producer Ben speaks with Greenpeace New Zealand's Amanda Larrson, about the effect intensive agriculutre may have had.
This week, we speak with Amnesty International Executive Director Grant Bayldon about the Good Friday shooting on Manus Island, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei about tenancy terms and medicinal cannabis, AUT Pacific Media Centre Director David Robie about the latest in Pacific news, senior lecturer and Labour Party candidate Deborah Russell about modernising New Zealand's tax system, and Greenpeace New Zealand spokesperson Amanda Larson about the Department of Internal Affairs' report on the Havelock North gastro outbreak. Producer Ben Goldson also spoke with Amanda about the current global cyber attacks.
Amnesty International has released a new briefing that reveals bullets were fired directly into the Manus Island refugee centre on April 14th. The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Papua New Guinea police claimed the soldiers fired only into the air. However, Amnesty International claims that digital verification of images and videos show this is not the case. Monday Wire host Amanda Jane Robinson speaks with Executive Director of Amnesty International about the briefing.
The Productivity Commission has proposed that the government should shift to variable subsidies for tertiary education funding.
95bFM reporter, Kelly Enright spoke to Productivity Commission chief Advisor Kevin Moar about the report. She started by asking what the proposal actually recommends.
bFM’s Joel Thomas also spoke to Jonathan Gee, the president of the New Zealand Union of Students Association, about the problems he has with the proposal. Gee believes variable subsidies will disadvantage lower-income students and imply the sole purpose of tertiary education is to get students into the workplace.
NIWA released a report about whether the Government's proposed water standards actually improve swimability, and how it compares to overseas standards.
The report came after some confusion and public debate about what the swimmable rivers component related to E. coli actually meant. NIWA prepared a technical background paper to inform us, and people in the science community so fact-based conclusions could be made.
bFM's Tess Barnett spoke to Marnie Prickett from the freshwater campaign group, Choose Clean Water, about the report and where their organisation stands on the issue.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
With the rise of fast fashion outlets like Shein and Temu alongside the wider mainstream options available that contribute substantial amounts of clothing waste to landfill, experts are calling for an urgent response on a governance, business, and individual level.
Wire Host Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald about the problem, and the industry response to sustainability, as well as University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the importance of ethical consumption.for individuals.
First, is the interview with Fitzgerald, where she begins by talking about the organisation Mindful Fashion.
Following this, Sara spoke to Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the research he has undertaken around consumerism.
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
The government has recently rejected all of the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations regarding strengthening the country’s methane targets recommendations.
The commission’s recommendations include strengthening the county’s 2050 methane emission targets, continuing lowering emissions after 2050, and that international shipping and aviation, which represents 9% of the county’s total emissions, should be included within targets.
Despite the commission saying that there would be upfront costs, many of the changes would result in cost savings over time, however, the government rejected this claim.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government rejecting these recommendations.
Tāmaki Makaurau’s council budget is among those impacted by the proposal of a rates cap, considering Tāmaki’s average 5.8% annual rates increase across the 25/26 financial year.
Youth homelessness is a growing concern as discussions continue around “move on” orders for those without housing in Auckland’s CBD.
And the Skycity Convention Centre is set to open in 2026, with high hopes for what it may bring for Tāmaki Makaurau after its prolonged development.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Counsellor Fairey about these topics.
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