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.
Yesterday, secondary teachers took part in a one-day strike due to stalled pay talks.
Teachers have rejected the government’s offer for a 1% pay increase per year for three years, and a doubling of the number of days teachers can be called to work when schools are closed.
The 15th of August marked India's Independence Day, and celebrations across Indian communities in Tāmaki Makaurau took place over the weekend.
And a new watchdog report has revealed 62% of Mt Eden prisoners are in voluntary segregation due to feeling unsafe.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Last week's United Nations talks to negotiate a global plastics treaty failed after a consensus couldn’t be reached.
This led to major disappointment from several countries, as well NGOs, who called the failure a “blow to multilateralism.”
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Olga Pantos, a research scientist at PHF Science with a PhD from Newcastle University, about the failure to negotiate.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about yesterday’s teacher strike, Indian Independence Day celebrations in Tāmaki Makaurau, and concerns about safety and rehabilitation in Mt Eden Prison.
For International Desk, they spoke to Olga Pantos, a research scientist at PHF Science with a PhD from Newcastle University, about the failure to negotiate a global plastics treaty at the United Nations last week.
And they spoke to University of Auckland PhD candidate Annabelle Cranswick about efforts to protect the Bryde’s whale and why they’re moving further out in the Hauraki Gulf.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about Auckland Council’s recent enforcement action against gig posters in the city and Auckland’s broader economic recovery.
He also spoke to Indie Music Promoter and founder of JunkMail Lara Marie about what Auckland Council’s enforcement action means for the community and what she believes is the path forward on this issue.
And he spoke to the University of Auckland’s Associate Dean Pacific Sir Colin Tukitonga on the recent outbreak of polio in Papua New Guinea and the lessons we can learn from the Pacific Islands when it comes to community vaccination response.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the party's support for the five unions taking the Government to the High Court over their pay equity law changes, The final cost of the iRex ferry project’s cancellation and The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill passing in Parliament.
And he spoke to Stephen Hoadley, a retired professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland about the outcomes of the Trump-Putin summit that happened over the weekend.
Max spoke to Dr I-Ting Chuang from the University of Auckland, to discuss why people in Auckland and Hamilton aren’t walking as much as they should.
And he spoke to Gordon Nanau from the University of Auckland, to talk about the ongoing situation between the autonomous region of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.
In November 2019, the autonomous region and island of Bougainville held a referendum to decide whether they should express a desire for independence, instead of continued autonomy as a part of Papua New Guinea. The result of the vote saw a landslide 97.7% majority vote for independence and would see Bougainville seek to replace South Sudan as the newest country in the world.
Yet, despite this, Bougainville remains an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea six years later. The difficult transition period has resulted in political tensions rising between the island and Papua New Guinea. However the recent signing of the Melanesian agreement in June is seen by experts as a significant step towards independence for Bougainville.
To talk about why this situation has dragged on for so long and what we can expect moving forward, Producer Max spoke to Gordon Nanau, the head of Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland.
Wherever you’re listening to this, it’s quite unlikely that you arrived at that location by walking there. How do we know this? Because, according to a 2018 census, 82.8% of trips made in Auckland were by car. And that’s despite most New Zealanders understanding that walking has many benefits. It keeps us healthy, reduces stress, and produces zero carbon emissions.
So why don’t we walk more? Well, Dr. I-Ting Chuang, a Senior lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, conducted a study to look into why people in Auckland and Hamilton are so dependent on cars, despite many areas fitting the conditions of being an ideal walking location.
Producer Max spoke to Dr. I-Ting Chuang, to understand what her research found about our dependence on cars and what we could do to build a walking culture.
Over the weekend, the highly discussed summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held in Anchorage, Alaska to discuss the terms for an end to the war in Ukraine.
The summit, lasting of total of less than three hours, resulted in no ceasefire terms or any formal deals being achieved. Putin’s conditions for an end to the war remained unchanged, with Trump walking away from the summit ruling out Ukraine’s NATO membership or reacquisition of Crimea.
Ukraine, who were excluded from the summit, criticised it’s direction, with many critics describing it as an optics victory for Putin.
Oto spoke with Stephen Hoadely, a retired professor in international relations and politics at the university of Auckland, to discuss the outcome of the summit, as well as the possibility of another summit between Putin and Zelenskyy to be held in the future.
University of Auckland’s student magazine Craccum is moving to establish independence from the Auckland University Student Association following recent proposals by the university to further cut the magazine’s funding.
Without consultation, Craccum’s budget was cut in 2025, forcing the magazine to reduce production from weekly issues to fortnightly, and occasionally even less, as well as cull their editorial team from 14 to 6 paid members, and rely on unpaid contributors for 90% of their content.
Ahead of 2026, the university is proposing a further decrease in budget of 22%, or $33,000, which would mean the removal of another six issues throughout the year.
The editorial team at Craccum are calling out to students to support them to revitalise the magazine and restore funding to the magazine which they say has been a ‘taonga’ at the university for just under 100 years
In recent weeks, the central government has pushed through numerous amendments to the Resource Management Act, in an effort to help streamline consent processes for corporations.
However, these changes— in particular ones surrounding freshwater planning and waterway pollution requirements — have been criticised especially by environmental advocates as disregarding the negative impacts to the environment and affording too much power to financial interests in the case of natural resource management.
As well, this past week Education Minister Erica Stanford announced a proposal to ban books with “too much” reo Māori in them from early learning materials in the ‘Ready to Read phonics scheme’.
While she justifies the changes as being of genuine literary necessity for children’s learning, many have contended the changes as an act of racism against te reo Māori which asserts white supremacy in the education system.
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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