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.
Stella speaks to senior lecturer at UoA, Chris Wilson, about his two papers (How online interaction radicalises while group involvement restrains: a case study of Action Zealandia from 2019 to 2021; Explaining the gap between online violent extremism and offline inaction among far right groups: a study of Action Zealandia from 2019 to 2021) that analyse and document the infilitration of Action Zelandia, an right-wing extremist group.
Stella speaks to Shrutika, from Able, about their stunt with TVNZ today celebrating Global Literacy Day (today!) where all children’s programming has automatic captions, to celebrate the fact that kids watching captioned content improves their literacy.
The industry of EV’s has been steadily rising over the past few years, with the amount of car sales that were electric last year reaching 12.5 percent.
Plus, earlier this year millions of dollars in the 2022 budget were allocated to funding the rise of EV’s in New Zealand as a part of the Climate Emergency Response Fund.
To learn more, Liam had a chat with Steve Greenwood from Drive EV about the current state of electric vehicles throughout Aotearoa.
Today marks 50 years since the Maori Language petition was delivered to parliament, with more than 30,000 people calling for te reo Māori to be taught in schools.
This Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori, Education union NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling on the government to increase funding for te reo in schools.
To get insight into these calls, as well as to discuss the importance of using te reo in education, Emilia spoke to President of NZEI Te Riu Roa Liam Rutherford.
This week has been Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, a centralised celebration of Te Reo Māori as well as a time to reflect on revitalisation efforts.
However, Te Reo Māori deserves to be spoken year round, and efforts to revitalisation need to be taken by everyone throughout Aotearoa.
This is why, in 2019, the government and Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori, the Māori Language commission, launched a plan to see a million basic speakers of Te Reo by 2040.
To understand how the years since have shaped revitalisation efforts and what still needs to be done, Liam had a chat with Christine Ammunson from Taura Whiri about the goal.
Aotearoa’s education system has been criticised recently for taking a one size fits all approach one it comes to accommodating for neurodivergent students.
Students dealing with dyslexia, autism, and ADHD amongst other conditions have been struggling under the current numeracy and literacy standards that don’t work with their forms of thinking.
Activists have recently been highlighting the negative effects this can have on students long term, seeing aspects of their mental health diminished and rates of anxiety and depression heightened.
To learn more, Liam spoke to Anton Ashcroft from Divergent Thinking NZ about what needs to be changed.
The Cuban Missile Crisis is often framed in terms of the significance of interactions between the then Soviet Union and United States. However, Cubans have agency and a story to tell about the events that occurred in their own state. Stella speaks to Cuban Ambassador to New Zealand, Mr. Edgardo Valdés López, about the Cuban perspective and the sanctions that the US still hold against Cuba to mark the 60th anniversary of the event.
Stella speaks to a member of The Auckland Cuba Friendship Society about the organisation's roots, and an event they're holding this evening to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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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