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.
Cybersecurity threats appear in different forms, such as phishing scams for personal information and financial loss. Experts note the importance of protecting your personal information online, and knowing what to do if faced with a cybersecurity incident.
Olivia spoke to Senior Analyst, Threat and Incident Response of CERT NZ, Sam Leggett, about the consequences of cybersecurity threats and proactive means people can take to protect themselves.
Caeden speaks to Palestine Solidarity Network Chair John Minto about a key international human rights issue in 2023, the occupation of Palestine.
They also speak to Greenpeace Aotearoa Deep Sea Mining Campaign lead James Hita about international campaigns to ban deep sea mining in territorial and international waters.
Beth speaks with Professor of Sociology at the University of Auckland Moeata Keil about the equity of healthcare access in Aotearoa, especially for Māori and Pacific communities, and minority groups such as the LGBTQIA+ community.
Olivia speaks to Senior Analyst, Threat and Incident Response of CERT NZ, Sam Leggett, about cybersecurity threats and attacks.
She also speaks to Chief Online Safety Officer at Netsafe, Sean Lyons, about the spread of misinformation and disinformation in online spaces.
A record immigration jump of 96,000 people during the first half of this year has sparked both hopes and fears for our economy. To get to the bottom of this, I got two perspectives: one seeing how the jump would affect consumers, and another seeing how it would affect businesses.
First Arno spoke to economist Dr Kirdan Lees. They spoke about housing availability, the Super Visa, and the cost of living.
Next Arno spoke to barrister and contributor to The Indian Weekender Dave Ananth. They spoke about the effect of rising immigration on businesses, and about policy to attract skilled migrants to our country.
The AUKUS alliance made between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States saw the unveiling of plans for eight new nuclear-powered submarines, costing $368 billion in total.
The plans come as tensions rise in the Pacific, especially between China and the United States.
Whether or not New Zealand should join the alliance is up for debate.
Kaze interviewed Mark Roach, a spokesperson for the Anti-AUKUS Coalition, and asked him why he thinks New Zealand shouldn’t join AUKUS.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, News, and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Golriz Ghahraman about their calls to double the Best Start payment, grant amnesty for people who have 'overstayed', their visas, and hold international powers to account for human rights abuses.
Nicholas spoke to the Epsom candidate for The Opportunities Party Dr Nina Su about the party's housing and foreign policy.
Arno interviewed Sense Partners economist Dr Kirdan Lees and barrister and columnist Dave Ananth about how rising immigration numbers may impact Aotearoa's economy.
And Kaze spoke to Mark Roach from the Anti-AUKUS coalition about the possibility of New Zealand joining the alliance.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party, News, and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Golriz Ghahraman about their calls to double the Best Start payment, grant amnesty for people who have 'overstayed', their visas, and hold international powers to account for human rights abuses.
This week for Milly's final Wire, Allan Blackman joins us for Dear Science where we discuss the Nobel Prize award winners.
Milly has her weekly catchup with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti about the party's policies on foreign affairs.
Milly also speaks to Christopher Coker from the Aotearoa Legalise Canabis Party about why they believe their single-issue party is needed to push for the legalisation of cannabis.
This week for the Tuesday Wire Milly has a chat with Christopher Coker, Auckland Central Candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party. For more info about the party, you can head to this link: https://www.alcp.org.nz/
The national party is claiming that under their foreign buyers policy, 740 million dollars will be raised each year. This is under the framework of 2000 homes being bought above 2 million dollars, with a tax of 15 %. The accuracy of these numbers have been questioned by many, and CoreLogic is just one of the research entities investigating these. Rosetta spoke to Nick Goodall, head of research at Core Logic, about his report which points out large fiscal holes in National’s foreign buyers plan.
University of Auckland professor of Experimental Economics Ananish Chaudhuri is calling for Aotearoa to adopt an independent body for economic policy fact-checking. He wants us to model after the US Congressional Budget Office, in order to improve accessibility to understanding policy, and hold parties to a higher standard of economic accuracy.
Rosetta spoke to Ananish about his ideas and what more needs to be done to improve the reliability of budgeting policy
From Dec 27 to Jan 18, all train lines across Tāmaki will be shutting down for summer maintenance, a closure which is expected to be the last of its kind ahead of the opening of the City Rail Link.
The current measles outbreak in Tāmaki is being continually monitored, with exposure sites being updated daily on info.health.nz. The public are encouraged to track whether they’ve been in possible contact with the virus, and get up to date on any vaccinations to limit possibilities of transmission.
Auckland Council are supporting arts initiatives across the summer months, with Music in the Park kicking off in early January, and Movies in the Park following in February.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about these topics, and also asked for comment following the attack by two gunmen at Bondi Beach earlier this week.
Yesterday, the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project, or NHDP, showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September. The report also found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
As well as this, Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has taken effect. And according to an interim report into social media harm, a social media ban for children in New Zealand is worth exploring further.
And last week the Government announced the replacement of the Resource Management Act, or RMA. The coalition said its replacement will slash red tape and supercharge growth.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s new RMA reforms and a potential social media ban in New Zealand.
But first they discussed the latest report on Auckland homelessness.
The Parliament’s Workforce and Education Committee has released an interim report on an inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders face online. The government has recently announced an overhaul of the Resource Management Act and introduced two new bills in its place, the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.
For our weekly catch-up with the National Party, Producer Vihan spoke to MP Carl Bates, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Workforce and Education Committee, about the new findings of the interim report, the new Natural Environment Bill, and the Fast Track Approval Amendments Bill.
The government has announced the overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which will be replaced by two different bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. The RMA is set to be fully replaced by 2029.
The RMA, which has been in effect for 34 years, is polarising across the political spectrum.
In announcing the reforms, RMA Reform Minister, Chris Bishop, says that “pretty much everything” will be quicker and less costly under the new regime.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about this overhaul of the RMA.
They also discussed The Education and Workforce Committee’s interim report on the harms young people experience online, with a majority recommending a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds.
But first, they discussed the overhaul of the RMA.
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
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
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