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.
Spike speaks to Brin Ryder about drug testing services, the approaching festival season, and what that might mean for people planning to take psychoactive substances over summer.
Joe speaks to Dr Nic Rawlence, from the Paleogenetics Lab at the University of Otago about the ethics of fossil collecting. He also speaks to Dr João Albuquerque, a PhD graduate from School of Environment at the University of Auckland about his research looking at how climate change is altering the heights of waves in New Zealand.
Our segment with OurActionStation is back this week! Joe speaks to Angela Meyer, Director at Project Gender, about the open letter to TVNZ in regards to f-boy island.
Spike is speaking to Brin Ryder from KnowYourStuff about summer festival drug testing, along with Sarah Helm from the NZ Drug Foundation, about a rise in New Zealand overdose deaths and the wider availability of Naloxone, aka Narcan.
With the recent case of a 23-million-year-old whale fossil recently excavated by a private collector on the West Coast of the South Island. Karamea locals and Ngāti Waewae, who viewed the fossil as a treasured local attraction, and has led to a police investigation.
Despite the upset it caused, the actual legal situation remains unclear. But the incident has generated significant local and international media attention, and raised questions about the role and ethics of private fossil collecting and trading
Joe spoke to Dr Nic Rawlence from the Paleogenetics Lab at the University of Otago on this matter.
Researchers are predicting waves will get higher on New Zealand’s west coast, and lower on the east as a result of climate change.
Modelling at the University of Auckland also indicated shifts in wave direction, with implications for coastal erosion as waves hit the shore at altered angles.
Joe spoke to one of the researchers, Dr João Albuquerque, a PhD graduate from School of Environment at the University of Auckland about his findings.
Our segment with OurActionStation is back! This week Joe spoke to Project Gender about their campaign on pulling TV Show F-Boy Island. They say our public broadcasters need to do better. In an open letter to TVNZ, Project Gender demanded the network pull the FBoy Island NZ show immediately. This is because it normalises and champions predatory and dangerous sexual behaviour that harms people, particularly our rangatahi.
Joe spoke to the Director at Project Gender Angela Meyer about the research surrounding this campaign and the importance of promoting safe sexual practices.
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP27 is soon set to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
This is the first COP27 to take place since Russia invaded Ukraine, which has brought world tensions to their brink and seen focus on climate legislation delayed.
That being said, action on the climate crisis remains important - in Europe alone the temperature is rising at .5 degrees celsius per decade according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
To learn more about what this conference will look like, Liam spoke to Bronwyn Hayward, a political science professor at the University of Canterbury.
Justice Minister Kiritapu Allan has recently announced that she plans to reform New Zealand hate speech laws before next year's general election.
This comes after a royal commission report stemming from the christchurch terror attacks stated that New Zealand does not "provide a workable mechanism to deal with hate speech".
Amnesty International Aotearoa has called for stronger laws covering digital hate speech and a widening of which groups are covered.
However, the opposition has opposed these calls, with the ACT party stating they would overturn the changes if they went into power.
Liam spoke to Lisa Woods from Amnesty NZ about the laws, first asking for an overview of the current hate speech laws.
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 
