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.
This week, Jogai and Jess have a report on the morning’s strike by civilian staff of the New Zealand defence force, and Co-leader of the Green Party James Shaw joins us live in studio to discuss some of the prominent issues forming this year's elections. Jogai chats to one of the producer's of Maori Television's new show The Ring Inz, and Jess speaks to Children’s commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft about a new report outlining the use of solitary confinement in New Zealand. Labour leader Andrew Little is also back for our weekly chat. All this and more on the Thursday Wire - check out the full podcast here.
The Ring Inz is a comedy television show that airs Thursday nights on Maori TV, about a Kapa Haka group trying to overcome their differences, in order to put on the performance of a lifetime at Nationals. With New Zealand film and television veterans Hori Ahipene and Katie Wolfe at the helm, The Ring Inz is certainly not one to miss. bFM's Jogai Bhatt caught up with one of the producers of the show, Vivienne Wigby, to learn a little more.
The Backbone Collective is a national coalition of survivors of violence against women and watchdog NGO that acts as a voice for victims of domestic abuse. The Collective recently released the results of a survey, the conclusions of were pretty damning of the Family Court. Last Wednesday, the Principal Family Court Judge Laurence Ryan released a media statement in response to the criticisms made by the Backbone Collective, in which Judge Ryan said many of the issues raised by the Collective were already addressed or discussed by Parliament. Michelle Duggan, Chair of the New Zealand Law Society's Family Law Section, also released a statement supporting the comments of Judge Ryan. 95bFM reporter Caitlin McIlhagga speaks to both Duggan and Professor Mark Heneghan, Dean of Law at the University of Otago, about the Backbone Collective's criticisms of the Family Court and recent Family Court reforms.
Caitlin also spoke to both Duggan and Heneghan about the participation of McKenzie Friends in the Family Court process. A McKenzie Friend is the name given to a support person for people who are representing themselves in court. McKenzie Friends are not lawyers, and cannot address the court without permission or draft any legal documents, but they can sit with litigants in court for support.
To listen to Caitlin’s full interview with the self-proclaimed ‘first McKenzie Friend Specialist’ in New Zealand, click here.
The self-proclaimed “first McKenzie Friend Specialist” in New Zealand, Vinay Deobhakta is a former lawyer setting up a training programme aimed at producing professional McKenzie Friends. McKenzie Friends are support people for self-represented litigants in court - they are not lawyers, but can sit with litigants in court to support them. However, Deobhakta did not leave the law profession out of choice - he was in fact struck off for misconduct in 2014. 95bFM journalist Caitlin McIlhagga speaks to Deobhakta to try understand how he is reconciling his past with his current work setting up the McKenzie Friends training programme.
To learn more about the relationship McKenzie Friends have with the Family Court, check out the other interviews Caitlin did with two experts in family law here.
Former Wire host, Caitlin McIlhagga, makes a special return to the show this week for an investigation she's been working on around the Family Court system & the place of McKenzie Friends within this framework. AUT's Allan Blackman also joins us for a wee Chemistry-related interlude in the middle of the show, where he chats to Ximena & Adam about the legacy of Ernest Rutherford.
Earlier this month saw the release of the People's Review of Mental Health, an intiative to gather qualitative data about what life is like for people involved in the mental health system. The review then used the data to make a number of recommendations for the Ministry of Health.
Two groups involved in the People's Review were advocacy group Action Station and the Public Service Assocation, producer Ben speaks to spokespeople from each.
Earlier this year, Revenue Minister Judith Collins announced a planned crackdown on tax-dodging by multinational corporations. Under the plan, various loopholes are to be closed, in order to make it harder for untaxed money to be moved outside of New Zealand. However, there are plenty of other ways for people to reduce their tax bill, such as negative gearing, which went unmentioned by Minister Collins. To gain a greater understanding of what negative gearing is, producer Ben spoke to Deborah Russel, a senior lecturer on taxation for Massey University and electoral candidate for the Labour party.
95bFM reporter Amanda Jane Robinson speaks with Windham-Campbell prize winning writer Ashleigh Young ahead of next month’s Ockham book awards about her essay collection, Can You Tolerate This?
Representatives from the group opposing housing development on sacred land Ihumatao are off to a United Nations summit in New York. Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) - the group behind the current occupation of the land - are sending two members to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues next week. Pania Newton and Delwyn Roberts will attend, and have applied o speak at the event. 95bFM reporter Mack Smith spoke to Newton about the issue.
This week, producer Ben Goldson speaks to representatives of the People's Review of Mental Health and we chat to Green Party co-leader James Shaw about the PACER Plus agreement, the pay equity bill, and spy agency Five Eyes meeting in New Zealand this week. We have AUT Pacific Media Centre Director David Robie as well as AUT PhD student Stephanie Sageo-Tupungu and her husband Kenneth for regular Pacific news segment Southern Cross. We have bFM reporter Mack Smith speaks to SOUL spokesperson Pania Newton about Ihumatao and the upcoming UN summit, producer Ben Goldson speaks to taxation expert and Labour party candidate Deborah Russell and Wire host Amanda Jane Robinson speaks to Windham-Campbell prize winning writer Ashleigh Young ahead of next month's Ockham book awards about her essay collection, Can You Tolerate This?
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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