Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat with top United States security officials who were discussing military plans for strikes on Yemen.
The group chat discussed operational details, and officials, including the Vice President JD Vance, seemed unaware of Goldberg’s presence.
Jeffrey Goldberg initially left out some of these sensitive details in his article on the group chat but has released more specific information after the Trump administration downplayed the situation and said no classified information was shared.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about this issue.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”
The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.
And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about New Zealand First’s declared “war on woke”, proposed Resource Management Act reform, and Labour’s calls for the government to condemn Israel for their recent military assault on Gaza.
For International Desk, they spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg accidentally being added to a group chat top US officials were using to make war plans.
And they spoke to Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) about National MP Joseph Mooney’s members bill that would abolish people’s right to take legal action against companies over damage to the climate.
News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey on submissions for Auckland Council’s long-term plan, ‘bed tax,’ and discussions around equity in the upcoming election.
And they spoke to Chief Executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand, Letitia Harding, about a recently released study showing vaping has not lowered smoking habits in young people in Aotearoa.
New findings have shown that vaping has not lowered smoking habits in young people in Aotearoa.
The study, published in The Lancet, looked at the daily smoking rates of 14 to 15 year olds, from 1999 to 2023, and shows that the introduction of vaping and subsequent popularity of the smoking device has not helped in lower daily smoking rates in Aotearoa.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Chief Executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand, Letitia Harding, about this study, and how the organisation hopes the government will react to these findings.
They started off by asking if the findings in the study were surprising to her.
The free school lunch program has been in the headlines here in Aotearoa for several weeks after facing significant impacts to their quality and delivery following a complete restructure of the program led by associate education minister David Seymour.
Many schools have reported late deliveries of meals beyond the lunch period, plastic packaging melting into the food and one student even experiencing burns from the packaging that required medical attention.
This, of course, has the greatest impact on the more than 150,000 Tamariki living in severe poverty, who relied on programs like Ka Ora Ka Ako to receive daily meals.
In response, the Child poverty action group has made a call to senior government ministers and Finance Minister Nicola Willis to restore the funding that was cut from the school lunches program so that schools across the motu could receive meals from local community suppliers.
Oto spoke to Rich Greissman - Deputy Chair of the Child Poverty Action Group's Governing Committee, to discuss the group’s call and why it’s important for the government to ensure the provision of healthy school lunches to Tamariki.
For their weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez-March about the government's new replacement to the Resource Management Act, The Green's call for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, and renewed calls for executive MP support of Chloe Swarbrick's members' bill to Sanction Israel
For this week’s Green Desk, producer Liam speaks to Brent Bielby, manager of EcoMatters’ Bike Hubs, a community project aimed at encouraging more people to take up cycling.
Oto spoke to Rich Greissman - Deputy Chair of the Child Poverty Action Group about their call to senior Government Ministers and finance Minister Nicola Willis to restore funding to Ka ora Ka Ako, the healthy school lunches programme.
And, for this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to founding chair of Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana - John Forbes about his group’s petition to remove vehicle access from vulnerable areas of the Kāwhia harbour.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about seal blood oxygen levels, phrases boosting citations, and an Australian man importing plutonium.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, I ask about Sam Uffindell’s new private members bill and Winston Peters’ war on woke.
They also speak to Senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dr. Charlotte Oyston, about a proposal to increase the maternity hospital stay period.
And producer Amani spoke with former NZ Herald editor Dr Gavin Ellis on why he believes a digital-only strategy could shatter the future of the NZ Herald, and how he feels about the recent board-overhaul
A new government proposal would see maternity hospital stay periods extended from 48 to 72 hours. The change would reduce stress on parents and allow more time to adjust with hospital support.
To discuss the change and other support for new parents, Wire host Castor spoke to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dr. Charlotte Oyston, about this proposal to increase the maternity hospital stay period.
The most recent data from the Ipsos Issues Monitor Survey was released.
The survey looks at various factors, including government favorability, as well as what areas in Aotearoa are of the most concern for respondents.
The survey recorded data from just over 1000 individuals and shows that respondents gave the government a 4.2 out of 10; the lowest score the survey has recorded since collecting data in mid-2017.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to a political marketing expert from the University of Auckland, Edward Elder, about these findings.
They started off by asking him if these recent statistics are a surprise to him.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about the Winston Peters meeting with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, the recent Ipsos Issues Monitor Survey findings, and the recent developments in Israel’s war on Gaza.
For our weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the ACT party entering candidates into local elections, ACT MP Mark Cameron criticising National’s approach to rural communities, as well as David Seymour failing to inform the Education Minister that a key school lunch provider was going into liquidation.
Evie also spoke to Geopolitical Analyst at the University of Otago, Geoffrey Miller about Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters recent trip to the US, and what outcomes this achieved for US New Zealand relations.
Joel spoke to the Political Marketing Expert from the University of Auckland Edward Elder about the most recent Ipsos Issues Monitor Survey, which recorded the government as having the lowest score since the survey started collecting data in mid-2017.
And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio today to discuss the new tv series ‘Adolescence’, and how this relates to creativity and innovation.
Last week the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul made comments about police presence in Wellington, particularly how increased police activity made some feel unsafe. She also noted some discriminatory and harmful behaviour from police officers towards Wellington’s homeless population. These comments, presented at a panel hosted by the University of Canterbury’s Greens and Peace Action Ōtautahi, were Paul restating feedback she had received from her constituents in Wellington central.
The response to Tamatha Paul’s comments was extremely critical from all sides of the political spectrum, involving feedback such as “insane” from prime minister Christopher Luxon, “unwise” and “stupid” from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and “just weird” from ACT leader David Seymour. The comments and their responses lead to a series of articles across all major New Zealand news networks.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the substance of Tamatha Paul’s comments and whether the seemingly disproportionate reaction is appropriate.
This week on Dear Science our expert Dr. Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about various April Fools pranks in the world of science, including the 'Sheep Albedo Hypothesis' from here in Aotearoa.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
On Sunday, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced plans to combat the supermarket duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths. This could include breaking-up or restructuring the current chains, with Cabinet also announcing a formal request for information, or RFI, into the matter.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this announcement, and whether she, and the party, thinks this will be enough to address food accessibility in Aotearoa.
We also discussed the comments made by Green MP, Tamatha Paul, about the police, and whether she believes these comments have become sensationalised.
Finally, we discussed the party’s calls for mandatory police body cameras.
But first, they started off by asking Kemp about how the party are feeling about Nicola Willis’ most recent announcements into the supermarket duopoly.
Last week, the government announced its plans for reforming the Resource Management Act, or the RMA, introducing two acts to replace the current RMA. The plan is to bring the two acts before the select committee next year, passing them just before the next election.
For our weekly catch up News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about this reform, working with the opposition, and the lack of a Treaty clause.
We also talked about concerns that the health and police system in Aotearoa are failing, following an 11-year old being misidentified as a 20-year old by police and being administered antipsychotic drugs.
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat with top United States security officials who were discussing military plans for strikes on Yemen.
The group chat discussed operational details, and officials, including the Vice President JD Vance, seemed unaware of Goldberg’s presence.
Jeffrey Goldberg initially left out some of these sensitive details in his article on the group chat but has released more specific information after the Trump administration downplayed the situation and said no classified information was shared.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about this issue.
Public submissions regarding Auckland Council’s annual plan from 2025/2026 are set to close tomorrow at 11:59pm, with the plan set to take place from the 1st of July.
These submissions give the public the opportunity to provide feedback on proposals from the coming year.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about this, and the council’s ‘bed tax’.
They also spoke about the recent discussions regarding ensuring fair and equal representation in the upcoming 2025 local election.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”
The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.
And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Ever wondered what it would be like to bike in an Art Gallery? Well now you can, for the city is your gallery. In collaboration with EcoFest 2025 and various New Zealand artists, Bike Hubs have set up a Street Art Bike Challenge. Now, anyone can ride around the city, discover amazing works of art and win great prizes.
This week, Green Desk Producer Liam speaks to Brent Bielby, manager of EcoMatters’ Bike Hubs, a community project aimed at encouraging more people to take up cycling. He explains the goal behind the challenge, as well as how cycling can contribute to a healthy lifestyle and provide a source of freedom and fun.
You can take part in this challenge yourself. All you need to do is take out your bike, pedal over to the artworks, and upload a photo of you and your bike. The challenge will run until the 22nd of April, and you can find a map of all the locations and trails on the EcoMatters website.
A petition was launched by Te Taiao o Kawhia Moana, a group dedicated to the protection and conservation of the Kāwhia harbour, calling on the Ōtorohanga District Council to remove vehicle access from vulnerable areas of the inner harbour and to Support the development of new alternative access infrastructure.
The group says that local taonga species and ecosystems are being put at risk by current vehicle access and that The proposed Ocean Beach access way would provide a sustainable alternative that balances community access needs with environmental protection.
For this week’s Gert Action! Oto spoke to John Forbes, founding Chair of Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana, to discuss the petition and the importance of protecting the harbour.
If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:
Just two days ago, the government announced a complete overhaul of the Resource Management Act.
The RMA as it is would be dismantled and then split into two acts; a planning act regulating the use and development of land, and a Natural Environment Act focusing on the use and protection of land, air, water and other natural resources.
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court said that the reforms were intended to streamline development more efficiently while also protecting the environment.
The week before, the Greens issued a call for the compassionate release of 77-year old inmate Dean Wickliffe, who is currently on a hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility after being arrested for being made houseless in violation of his probation conditions.
And Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick made a renewed call to the government calling on them to support a members bill of hers that would sanction Israel for their occupation of the Palestinian territories.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
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