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.
Nicholas caught up with The Opportunities Party’s Epsom Candidate Dr Nina Su for our bi-weekly conversation in the lead up to this year's election.
The Opportunities Party has released three major environmental priorities; electrifying our public transport by 2030, empowering farmers to foster bio-diversity, and rejuvenating the Emissions Trading Scheme.
During our conversation we spoke about The Opportunities Party’s environmental policies. But first, Nicholas began by covering last week’s policy focus on The Wire, human issues.
Nicholas began by asking Dr Su about The Opportunities Party’s commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi and funding for the arts.
Over 400 solar panels are now powering the school of architecture and design innovation at Victoria University in Wellington, after being installed on the roof of the building in July. The solar panels are expected to save up to 21 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the environment each year. The initiative is part of the university’s zero carbon plan, which describes using the campuses as a living lab for climate action research.
Rosetta spoke to Alan Brent, Chair of sustainable energy systems at Victoria University, about the project, and what more needs to be done to make renewable energy more accessible in Aotearoa
This week our election coverage topic is the climate crisis and environment.
Rosetta spoke to Jenny Sahng, spokesperson for Vote For Climate, about the newly launched campaign urging the public to vote with climate change in mind this year.
Producer Rawan spoke to Ellie Hooper, the Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa about the Green Party's proposed Healthy Ocean's Act.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Rawan spoke to Simon Court about some of the party's environmental policies, including proposed changes to the RMA, their pledge to improve the economy through affordable renewable energy, and their freshwater management policies.
Rosetta spoke to Alan Brent, Chair of Sustainable Energy Systems at Victoria University about the newly implemented solar panels which power the school of Achitecture and Design Innovation.
Finally, Rosetta also spoke to Danny Osborne, associate professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, about his involvement as an academic advisor in Vote Compass, an online tool which aligns voters' personal values with party policy.
This week for our catch up with the ACT party Rawan spoke to Simon Court about some of the party’s environmental policies.
They spoke about the party’s proposed changes to the RMA including their shift to a property rights basis and how they plan to enforce this.
They also covered their changes to freshwater management, their proposed removal of Te mana o te wai, integrating matauranga maori and reversing the ban on oil and gas exploration
Yesterday the Green party announced their Healthy Oceans Act where they have set out a target to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.
This will mean banning fishing, mining, and other harmful industries from a third of the oceans.
Rawan spoke to Ellie Hooper, Oceans campaigner at Green Peace Aotearoa about why this policy is important.
They talked about enforcement and consequences, the response from Seafood New Zealand and compared the Green’s Policy to Labour’s proposal last week to partially ban Bottom trawling from the Hauraki gulf.
That was Ellie Hooper from Green Peace Aotearoa talking about the Green party’s Healthy oceans act
Last week, a collaboration of climate activists and organisations across Aotearoa launched the campaign Vote for Climate, in hopes to encourage voters to prioritise the climate crisis in terms of who they vote for. The website provides a simplified guide of party climate policy, by ranking parties from best to worst in regards to their policies surrounding climate change. Currently, Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party have ranked “best”, the Labour party ranking “good”, New Zealand First ranks “bad”, and both the National Party and ACT rank “worst”. The website also lists ways for voters to get involved, by asking their local MP’s what their parties intend to do to tackle the climate crisis, and participating in the campaign.
Rosetta spoke to Jenny Sahng, Spokesperson for Vote for Climate, about the campaign and the importance of a climate election.
Last week, one of Aotearoa’s most commonly used political online tools, Vote Compass, launched for 2023. The tool has been used for elections in New Zealand since 2014, and is the product of a collaboration between TVNZ, An academic advisory panel of New Zealand political scientists, and the data science company Vox Pop Labs.
The compass asks a series of questions about a person’s personal stance on topical issues, and then aligns their views on the spectrum of political parties and their policy.
Rosetta spoke to Danny Osborne, associate professor at the school of psychology at the University of Auckland, and member of the academic advisory panel for vote compass, about his involvement with the project.
A year ago the Consent Law Reform campaign, led by founder Layba Zubair, handed over a petition to parliament calling for a change in our consent law under the Crimes Act.
Caeden spoke to Layba about what the campaign has achieved in the past year, especially in the context of the election and the impact this law change could have for survivors.
Content warning for discussions of sexual violence during this story.
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
95bFM 
