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.
The Government announced its proposals for updating the Waste Minimisation Act and the Litter Act today. The proposals would combine these two Acts into one, extend producer responsibility and permit local government to use its share of the waste disposal levy on a wider range of activities unrelated to waste.
Labour party MP, Rachel Brooking, criticised the proposal for failing to include any mention of establishing a circular economy. However, Sue Coutts, an advocate for Zero Waste Network Aotearoa says that the proposal is a step in the right direction.
On the 22nd of April 2025, the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa, or PSNA, wrote to the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, requesting that New Zealand initiate the call for an internationally enforced "no-fly" zone over Gaza.
PSNA Co-Chair, John Minto, said that it would be "a small but practical step to blunt Israel's continuing genocidal attacks on Palestinians".
Producer Max spoke with John Minto, to talk about the appeal to Foreign Minister Winston Peters, New Zealand's commitment to the region, as well as the impact it would have if New Zealand were to take action.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto speak to him about Simeon Brown’s Health Infrastructure Plan, the downgrading of climate change in the new Defence Capability Plan and the recently announced extension of military assistance to Ukraine.
He spoke to Amanda Larsson - Senior Campaign manager for Greenpeace Aotearoa, about Greenpeace’s investigation into meat processing corporation JBS and their role in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
And he spoke to Sue Coutts, an advocate for the Zero Waste Network about their take on the government’s proposal to update the waste minimisation act.
Max spoke to the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa co-chair, John Minto, about the PSNA appeal to New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, in which they requested that New Zealand initiate the call for an internationally enforced “no-fly” zone over Gaza.
Greenpeace recently conducted an investigation into the meat processing corporation, JBS, which concluded that the company had failed to meet its deforestation-free commitment.
The Brazilian multinational is the largest meat processing enterprise in the world and largely operates in the Amazon Rainforest, where they have been accused of contributing to illegal deforestation, mistreating their livestock and even spreading zoonotic diseases.
In 2020, JBS announced their plan for zero deforestation by this year, which included a monitoring system for their suppliers. However, the Greenpeace investigation found that the company had made little progress on their commitment and was continuing to contribute to the Amazon’s deforestation.
Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson - Senior Campaign manager for Greenpeace Aotearoa, about their investigation into JBS and how they plan to hold them accountable for their deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
The Environmental Protection Authority is gathering information on how tattoo inks are manufactured, distributed, and used in Aotearoa to determine whether existing regulations are appropriate and effective.
In 2020, the European Union restricted and banned several substances commonly found in tattoo inks due to the potential risk of adverse effects.
Although such effects are very rare, the Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao wants to examine whether their regulations should better align with international standards.
Producer Amani spoke with Manager of Hazardous Substances Reassessments at the Environmental Protection Authority, Shaun Presow, to find out more on this.
Yesterday, at the age of 88, Pope Francis passed away from stroke and heart failure. As head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was also known for being outspoken on various rights issues, including around immigration, refugees, climate change, and the occupation of Palestine.
The next pope is expected to be decided over the coming weeks, with multiple people seen as frontrunners for the position.
To discuss the life, accomplishments, and death of Pope Francis, Wire host Castor spoke to senior lecturer of theological and religious studies, Dr. Nick Thompson.
A recent study of 156,000 has shown that New Zealanders should be aware of the differences between Australian work culture, before considering crossing the ditch.
The study has found that Australia pales in comparison to New Zealand regarding a workplace being fair regardless of race, age, and sexual orientation, with only 51% of those saying they consider their workplace as a psychologically and emotionally healthy environment to work in.
This comes as there has been a surge in New Zealanders leaving to Australia, with Stats NZ findings from 2023 showing a net migration loss of 44,500.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the general manager of Great Place to Work New Zealand & Australia; a global human resources research and certification organisation, Rebecca Moulynox, about these findings, and what New Zealanders should consider before working in Australia.
For Dear Science our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about dimethyl sulphide found on the exoplanet k2-18b, plants farming nickel, and turning rain into electricity.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about reserve bank budget cuts and new classroom developments in Auckland.
They also spoke to Senior Lecturer in theological and religious studies, Dr. Nick Thompson from the University of Auckland about the passing of Pope Francis and its implications.
Producer Amani spoke with the Environmental Protection Authority’s Shaun Prescow about the manufacture of tattoo inks in New Zealand.
And News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Great Place to Work New Zealand and Australia’s Rebecca Moulynox about a new study showing poorer working conditions in Australia compared to New Zealand.
As artificial intelligence systems including the likes of chatbots and art generators become more advanced, their use has begun to pervade the political arena.
Across the world, political leaders and parties including Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and now New Zealand’s own ACT Party, have used AI images to promote a certain political agenda or message.
In the case of the ACT Party, an artificial stock image from Adobe AI titled “happy Māori couple sitting in a living room” was featured in a social media post underneath the tagline “Kiwis are saving over $150 per week on their mortgages since ACT entered government”.
Producer Sara spoke with University of Otago Media, Film and Communications Professor, Dr Olivier Jutel about this new era of AI political content.
To begin, she asked him to discuss why ACTs recent social media post was so problematic.
In his role as regulation Minister, David Seymour is moving to simplify regulations for Early Childhood Education Centres by the end of this year.
This involves a review containing 15 recommendations, which cabinet has accepted. These recommendations concern a vast number of things, from simplifying licensing criteria for pre-schools to lowering qualification requirements for early childhood educators.
Both of these areas have sparked concern within the sector, with some educators concerned the review is simply a cost cutting exercise that will result in tamariki being put at risk.
For our weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to ACT’s Simon Court about the review.
They also spoke about New Zealand First’s Members Bill aiming to have the biological definition of a woman and man defined in law.
And finally they discussed a clash between the party and National’s Scott Simpson over an ACC plan to reduce injury for Māori and Pasifika workers.
A cross-party delegation of MPs recently visited Tonga, Hawai’i and Vanuatu as part of a Pacific trip organised by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters.
Earlier this week, New Zealand First proposed new legislation that would exclude trans communities from the definition of “woman” and “man” in law.
Winston Peters defended the bill on RNZ’s Morning Report, where he called interviewer Corin Dann a “disgrace” for raising the criticism against the bill that was brought forward by opposition parties.
During this interview, Peters threatened to cut RNZ’s government funding.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Since Wednesday last week, Auckland and the wider Northland region were warned of heavy rain and winds expected across the North Island.
On Friday night however, as severe thunderstorms struck Auckland, residents were not sent severe weather alerts until after the worst part of the storm had already arrived.
Many Aucklanders have called out the slow response system, in an effort yet again to revitalise discussions around Auckland’s storm and natural disaster preparedness.
As well, Auckland’s public transport system is under the microscope this month as Aucklanders endure just over a fortnight without train services, as workers seek to speed up the completion of Kiwi Rail. Yesterday, Transport Minister Chris Bishop also announced a multi-billion dollar project for a Northland Expressway that he says will improve public transport.
In the meantime, public transport prices have increased — for ratepayers and users —- translating to less bang and more buck for Aucklanders.
Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics, firstly by asking if she was satisfied with Auckland Council’s response pace in the lead up to severe weather conditions.
Last week, health minister Simeon Brown announced the government’s infrastructure plan for rebuilding hospitals.
The plan involves a $20 billion investment into hospitals across the motu, which Simeon Brown has said will upgrade emergency departments and will improve delivery timeframes.
In that same week, the government’s recent defence capability plan, which involved a $12 billion increase in funding to the New Zealand Defence Force, downgraded climate change as a priority for the NZDF
And, earlier this week, Primate Minister Christopher Luxon announced that New Zealand would be extending its military assistance to Ukraine until 2026.
For their weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Greens MP Ricardo Menendez-March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
Last week finance minister Nicola Willis announced a budget cut of 25% to the reserve bank. The cut follows criticisms of the reserve bank staffing numbers, which have risen significantly since 2018.
Also last week education minister Erica Stanford announced $100 million of new classroom developments across the country, with one large development in Massey. The move has been well received, though some have pointed out the continued impacts of overcrowding in the school system, particularly due to housing intensification in parts of the country.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with reserve bank budget cuts.
Kilmar Ábrego García, a man legally in the United States, was wrongly deported to a maximum security prison in El Salvador earlier this month.
The Trump administration refuses to bring Ábrego García back to the United States despite a Supreme Court ruling stating that Trump must “facilitate” this process.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Associate Professor Jean Lantz Reisz from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California about Ábrego García's removal from the US and what this means for the rule of law.
Earlier this week, Wayne Brown shared an opinion piece offering a case for council amalgamation.
He discusses his experience in the Upper North Island Strategic Alliance, stating that discussions on local issues can be inefficient because of the number of members, and arguing that some sort of council amalgamation would be more beneficial in terms of efficiency, and providing better representation for New-Zealanders in this region.
As well, ahead of this year’s local elections, Auckland Council has posted an advertisement on LinkedIn for “passionate Aucklanders” to throw their hat in the ring for an Auckland Council position. They have said they are hoping to draw in a ‘diverse range of community leaders’ to help represent Auckland within local governance.
Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson this morning about both these topics.
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