Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour’s Shanan Halbert about university funding shortfalls, the living wage rise and the default KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
And they spoke to Aaron Gilbert, Professor of Finance and Associate Dean Research at Auckland University of Technology, about the minimum KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about the second round of changes to PC 120 and about the council’s disagreements with central government over fuel crisis support.
Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, on the new Policing Amendment Bill.
A new law change known as the Policing Amendment Bill is raising concerns about privacy and police powers in Aotearoa.
The bill would give police expanded powers, including the ability to record and retain short-lived videos in public.
Supporters say it will help police respond more effectively to crime, but critics are worried the rules are too vague, with a low threshold for collecting personal information and not enough safeguards around how that data is stored or used. There are also concerns that the changes could disproportionately affect Māori and young people.
Wire Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, about what this could mean for everyday New Zealanders.
Last week, Thursday Wire host Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about New Zealand’s reliance on cars in the face of a fuel crisis.
Earlier this week the Government announced a fuel crisis relief package, which includes giving 150,000 families an extra $50 a week to help with fuel costs.
The Green Party proposed an alternative support package that includes free public transport for three months on top of targeted relief payments.
Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch again, this time about the government’s response and alternative proposals that focus on increasing public transport usage.
They started by asking if he could give an overview of what is in the Government’s relief package.
This July, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years since the declaration of independence, when the original thirteen colonies broke away from the British Empire under King George III. Recently, however, millions of Americans have taken to the streets to voice their disapproval of a man they see as a new monarchical figure: President Donald J. Trump.
The original ‘No Kings’ protests were held on the fourteenth of June last year, to coincide with Donald Trump’s birthday military parade. The most recent round of demonstrations occurred last weekend, and drew an estimated 8 million people, united by the belief that the President must respect the boundaries of his office.
Producer Toby spoke to Jennifer Frost, professor of history at the University of Auckland and chairperson of the New Zealand chapter of ‘Democrats Abroad’ about the significance of these demonstrations in the context of American history.
Last week, courts in the United States found that Meta and YouTube were responsible for the childhood addiction and mental health issues of a woman known as ‘KGM’, awarding $6 million USD (or $10.4 million NZD) in damages.
Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Meta was fined $375 million USD (or, $650 million NZD) for endangering children.
Internationally, countries are increasingly coming to reckon with the effects of social media. Australia, which last year banned under-16s from accessing social media, is pursuing further potential legal action against the social media giants, while debates around a similar ban in Aotearoa New Zealand continue to polarise.
However, in the light of the harms posed by social media, a ban is not the only solution that has been proposed. To speak to us on some of these alternative approaches, Producer Theo was joined by Professor Terryann Clark, of the University of Auckland’s School of Nursing.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about his Primary Healthcare portfolio.
Then Toby spoke to professor Jennifer Frost about the recent wave of anti-Trump demonstrations in the United States and beyond.
And finally Theo spoke to Professor Terryann Clark about the recent court findings against social media giants, and the implications for Aotearoa New Zealand.
About a month ago, Wednesday Wire host Manny spoke to a researcher sounding the alarm over the state of our primary healthcare, here and globally.
Across the globe, services meant to be the first port of call for health issues such as dental, GPs and pharmacists, were found to be increasingly under stress as costs grow and the workforce fails to keep pace with demand.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Workforce Survey in 2022 raised concerns: Over half of GPs were planning to retire within the next decade, a declining number of GPs work in GP run practices and filling that gap is an increasing number of corporate healthcare providers.
As the holder of the Green parties Primary Healthcare Portfolio, our Green Party interviewee is the perfect subject to discuss his parties platform on the subject.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we talk primary healthcare, it’s current state in Aotearoa, the issues it faces and where the Green Party would like to take it.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman speaks with us about going to the moon, graphene, and alchemy.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Alex spoke with Ryan Hamilton about the Government’s Surcharge ban, the new police amendment, and the continued fuel crisis.
For Green World, Wire Producer Liam spoke to James Russell, Professor of conservation biology at the University of Auckland, about updates to the Predator Free 2050 Strategy, including further funding to make Wellington a predator free city within the next ten years.
And Wire Producer Flo spoke to Chris Bullen, Professor of Public Health at the School of Population Health of the University of Auckland about his criticism’ of the recent RNZ investigation into illicit tobacco and his research-based rejection of the investigation’s findings in Aotearoa New Zealand.
RNZ recently conducted an investigation into sales of illicit tobacco in Aotearoa New Zealand, finding an increasing sale throughout the country. The investigation described illicit tobacco as an open secret, with many dairies now stocking and imported cigarettes and indicated an increase in both supply and demand.
Professor Chris Bullen, Professor of Public Health in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the School of Population Health of the University of Auckland has refuted the claims made in the RNZ investigation and Flo spoke to him about his research into the illegal tobacco market.
This week, the government announced another change to Plan Change 120, Auckland’s plan for future housing developments across the city. Originally, the plan proposed a minimum housing capacity of 2 million homes, but many in central suburbs raised concerns that intensification could harm the character of their neighbourhoods. In February, the government lowered the minimum capacity to 1.6 million, which Auckland’s council and mayor spoke out against.
Despite the disagreement, council developed new plans for the 1.6 million capacity. This week, however, the government announced plans to lower the minimum capacity further to 1.4 million, forcing council to make further changes to the plans.
Also these past few weeks we’ve seen disagreements between the government and council over how best to manage the fuel crisis. The government has focused on payouts to middle and lower class families with children, but Mayor Wayne Brown says a better solution could involve subsidising public transport.
To discuss each of these issues, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey.
About a month ago, Wednesday Wire host Manny spoke to a researcher sounding the alarm over the state of our primary healthcare, here and globally.
Across the globe, services meant to be the first port of call for health issues such as dental, GPs and pharmacists, were found to be increasingly under stress as costs grow and the workforce fails to keep pace with demand.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Workforce Survey in 2022 raised concerns: Over half of GPs were planning to retire within the next decade, a declining number of GPs work in GP run practices and filling that gap is an increasing number of corporate healthcare providers.
As the holder of the Green parties Primary Healthcare Portfolio, our Green Party interviewee is the perfect subject to discuss his parties platform on the subject.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we talk primary healthcare, it’s current state in Aotearoa, the issues it faces and where the Green Party would like to take it.
Last week, Minister for Conservation Tama Potaka announced an update on the Predator Free 2050 strategy, which aims to rid New Zealand of rats, possums and stoats. Five and a half million dollars of funding was set aside by the government with the aim of making Wellington the first predator free city in the world within the next ten years.
This week on Green World, Wire producer Liam spoke to James Russell, professor of conservation biology at the University of Auckland, about the progress and impact of Predator Free projects in Wellington and nationwide.
Fuel prices across the country are rising, and concerns over a potential fuel shortage are growing. In response, the government announced the national fuel response plan late last week. The plan has four stages, named Watchful, Precautionary, Managed, and Protected. The last two remain under consultation, and we’re currently under only the first.
Analysts have criticised the plan for being vague, especially in later stages, and the early stages for not doing enough. The Watchful stage involves increased monitoring, data publications, coordination, and an ad campaign encouraging people to reduce fuel consumption.
The government has responded to most critiques by comparing its response to that of the previous Labour government to COVID, which they have repeatedly criticised. They say government intervention is the wrong way to deal with a crisis, an idea which many have questioned.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked him about the fuel crisis, what the government’s doing, and how the previous government plays into all of this.
Last week saw public transport usage in Auckland reach a 7 year high, on account of high fuel prices across the country. While high usage bodes well for public transport, the network is facing difficulties around overcrowding. In addition, Auckland Transport is pushing for central government support to lower fares, which ministers have rejected.
Auckland Council has also conducted a review into its resource management consenting processes, and found multiple spots for improvement.
And central government has announced dog control law reforms, which Auckland Council has welcomed given its extensive existing operations in animal control.
To discuss each of these issues, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson.
The Government has announced a support package to address rising fuel prices.
And the McCains processing factory in Hastings is set to close in January 2027, but it is not yet known how many workers and growers will be affected by the closure.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked about both of these topics.
Back in 2020, two new guidelines were introduced to support schools in teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education. The guidelines were introduced by the then Associate Education Minister and New Zealand First MP, Tracey Martin, after reports from the Education Review Office showed inconsistencies in how schools taught this subject - alongside significant gaps. The new guidelines brought greater emphasis to sexuality and gender diversity, Māori and Pacific views of sexuality, the use of digital technologies, and information about relationships and sexuality education for disabled learners.
However, the current government scrapped these guidelines as part of a coalition agreement with New Zealand First, who campaigned on removing the guidelines, which they called ‘woke gender ideology.’
The new proposed guidelines for relationships and sex education are significantly different to those introduced back in 2020.
For this week’s Get Action, Producer Theo spoke to Leonie Morris from Te Wāhi Wāhine o Tāmaki Makaurau - the Auckland Women’s centre - on their petition to bring back Te Tiriti-based, inclusive relationships and Sexuality education in schools.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
The crisis growing at the pump is ramping up in seriousness as the conflict in Iran continues to escalate.
This week saw US President Donald Trump make further threats to destroy Iran’s energy infrastructure that is yet to be bombed and - in turn - Iran continues to target the Gulf states and block the Strait of Hormuz, preventing any exports from this critically global hub
This blockade is preventing over a third of the world's nitrogen fertilisers and a fifth of the global supply of oil and liquefied natural gas from leaving the region, while both sides' bombing campaigns are causing widespread destruction to infrastructure, which means we may not see a return of some oil and gas fields for years to come.
In Aotearoa, the costs of fuel have seen steep rises, soon to be spread across the economy as everyone's back pocket is hit, and attention is now being turned to fuel reserves with fears that we may see imports decline.
To face the moment, the Green Party has put together a collection of proposals which they have sent in an official letter to the National Party and between the two parties, they’d have enough votes to pass.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Host Manny dug into this letter, the Greens proposals, and why they are reaching out to the Nats.
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