Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Four NASA astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft are currently on their return trip to planet Earth, having just conducted a successful flyby mission to the moon. The mission brought humans within the vicinity of the moon for the first time in over fifty years, and when the four astronauts passed behind its far side, they set the record for the furthest distance that any human has ever travelled away from Earth.
The test mission is paving the way for a manned landing on the lunar surface, currently scheduled for 2028, and eventually, a permanent lunar base.
Producer Toby spoke to Josh Aoraki, resident astronomer at Auckland’s Stardome Observatory, about the past, present, and future of lunar exploration.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin speaks with us about Artemis II, and forever chemicals in bacteria.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Host Alex spoke with Ryan Hamilton about the cabinet reshuffle, the Auckland Housing Amendment Bill, and public transport.
Alex also spoke with Assistant National Secretary of the E tū union, Annie Newman, about the rise in Living Wage, and what it means that minimum wage is lagging behind.
And Producer Liam spoke to Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn, the agricultural campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, about the result of Greenpeace’s lawsuit against Fonterra, which recently admitted to having falsely advertised its butter to consumers, and the impact this will have in New Zealand.
Last week, Living Wage was raised to$29.90. This puts it at roughly $6 more than minimum wage, sparking debate and discussions around the need for a raise in minimum wage, particularly amidst the fuel crisis placing more pressure on Aotearoa’s workers.
Wire Host Alex spoke with Assistant National Secretary of the E Tū Union, Annie Newman, about the living wage, the discrepancy with minimum wage, and the political nature of the Government’s ability to raise the latter.
Last week, Fonterra admitted that the claim that its Anchor butter came from “100% New Zealand Grass-Fed” cows was false and contravened the Fair Trade Act 1986. Greenpeace, which was behind the lawsuit, argued that cows were being fed palm kernels imported from South East Asia, and that therefore this label was misleading to the New Zealand public.
Wire producer Liam spoke to Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn, agricultural campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, about 'greenwashing' in New Zealand and the impact that this decision will have on the New Zealand dairy industry.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour’s Shanan Halbert about university funding shortfalls, the living wage rise and the default KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
And they spoke to Aaron Gilbert, Professor of Finance and Associate Dean Research at Auckland University of Technology, about the minimum KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about the second round of changes to PC 120 and about the council’s disagreements with central government over fuel crisis support.
Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, on the new Policing Amendment Bill.
A new law change known as the Policing Amendment Bill is raising concerns about privacy and police powers in Aotearoa.
The bill would give police expanded powers, including the ability to record and retain short-lived videos in public.
Supporters say it will help police respond more effectively to crime, but critics are worried the rules are too vague, with a low threshold for collecting personal information and not enough safeguards around how that data is stored or used. There are also concerns that the changes could disproportionately affect Māori and young people.
Wire Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, about what this could mean for everyday New Zealanders.
Last week, courts in the United States found that Meta and YouTube were responsible for the childhood addiction and mental health issues of a woman known as ‘KGM’, awarding $6 million USD (or $10.4 million NZD) in damages.
Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Meta was fined $375 million USD (or, $650 million NZD) for endangering children.
Internationally, countries are increasingly coming to reckon with the effects of social media. Australia, which last year banned under-16s from accessing social media, is pursuing further potential legal action against the social media giants, while debates around a similar ban in Aotearoa New Zealand continue to polarise.
However, in the light of the harms posed by social media, a ban is not the only solution that has been proposed. To speak to us on some of these alternative approaches, Producer Theo was joined by Professor Terryann Clark, of the University of Auckland’s School of Nursing.
Last week, Thursday Wire host Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about New Zealand’s reliance on cars in the face of a fuel crisis.
Earlier this week the Government announced a fuel crisis relief package, which includes giving 150,000 families an extra $50 a week to help with fuel costs.
The Green Party proposed an alternative support package that includes free public transport for three months on top of targeted relief payments.
Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch again, this time about the government’s response and alternative proposals that focus on increasing public transport usage.
They started by asking if he could give an overview of what is in the Government’s relief package.
This July, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years since the declaration of independence, when the original thirteen colonies broke away from the British Empire under King George III. Recently, however, millions of Americans have taken to the streets to voice their disapproval of a man they see as a new monarchical figure: President Donald J. Trump.
The original ‘No Kings’ protests were held on the fourteenth of June last year, to coincide with Donald Trump’s birthday military parade. The most recent round of demonstrations occurred last weekend, and drew an estimated 8 million people, united by the belief that the President must respect the boundaries of his office.
Producer Toby spoke to Jennifer Frost, professor of history at the University of Auckland and chairperson of the New Zealand chapter of ‘Democrats Abroad’ about the significance of these demonstrations in the context of American history.
Over the past week, the conflict in Iran has seen consistent U-turns as the United States continues to change its strategy in the war. On Wednesday morning, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran, saying "a civilisation will die tonight", just hours before agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
This ceasefire is now in doubt, however, as Israel has escalated its bombing campaign in Lebanon, killing hundreds since it was signed, and Trump announced this morning that the US will block the Strait of Hormuz after failed peace talks with Iran in Pakistan.
Amidst all of this, New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the day of Trump's threats and wouldn't condemn the comments. Some New Zealanders are concerned by the country's limp response to these illegal threats and actions against Iran.
Also this month, the Act Party has continued to call for the abolition of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, after it was announced that a complaint about online site The Platform and its host, Sean Plunkett, would be looked at by the authority.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, producer Thomas asked him about the ceasefire in Iran, the US blocking the Strait of Hormuz and the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Over the past few weeks, the government has been hesitant to call out the US and Israel for their role in the recent conflict in Iran. While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has called for all parties to comply with international law, he refrained from explicitly addressing either aggressor. Only in the past week has Luxon offered any criticism, calling Trump’s Iran policy “unhelpful” and Finance Minister Nicola Willis “alarmed” at Trump’s comments around destruction of civilisation in Iran. Labour has criticised the government for its lack of a hard stance.
Also this past week has seen funding for the Tukituki water security project secured, which could see flooding for significant amounts of conservation land in the Hawke’s Bay. The project could also see acceleration under the Fast Track Approvals bill, which Labour has also criticised since its inception.
Lastly, Auckland Council has repeatedly called for additional support for public transport amidst the fuel crisis. Despite these calls, the government has yet to deliver.
To discuss each of these topics and what the Labour party could bring to the table, News Director Castor spoke to Labour MP Shanan Halbert.
A record number of Aucklanders are using public transport amidst rising fuel costs. The average number of users is up 10% from the same time last year.
And yesterday, Watercare lifted its boil water notice for the suburbs of Hillsborough, Mt Roskill, Royal Oak, and Three Kings after 2 days under the notice.
The notice was due to a detection of bacteria on Monday, which a Watercare investigation found was caused by a single water quality monitoring tap.
For City Counselling this week, The Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
This morning, with negotiations continuing to stall and his own deadline for ending the war approaching, US President Donald Trump threatened civilisational destruction on Iran if they did not concede to the US demands. Whether a sincere threat or an act of brinkmanship may remain unclear, as just before Trump’s deadline, Trump claimed a two week ceasefire had been agreed to.
Last week, the Green Party released their housing policy - a home for everyone. It takes a welfare-based approach, pitching rent controls, reversing tax breaks on the bright line test, and a public housing building program.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Wire host Manny asked about the gravity of Trump's threats on Iran, but began with the Greens' housing platform.
Cabbage, mull, buds, dak, smoke, skunk, hash, chronic, grass, pot, cannabis. It’s the fourth most used recreational drug in New Zealand, coming in behind caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. Back in 2020, alongside the general election, voters were asked in a non-binding referendum whether they supported a proposed cannabis legalisation and control bill. The result was a vote opposing the legalisation of cannabis by a thin margin.
Currently, medicinal cannabis is available via prescription, but cannabis otherwise remains illegal to use, distribute, or produce.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Patrick and Colden from the Reeferendum 2026 campaign, on their petition to legalise cannabis and reform drug laws and policing in Aotearoa New Zealand.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Prime Minister revealed his cabinet reshuffle, which saw major changes to the roles of two prominent MPs and Ministers, Chris Bishop and Simeon Brown.
Last week also saw the passing of the Resource Management (Auckland Housing) Amendment Bill, after years of discussion, paving the way for a new approach to housing density and intensification in the future.
Of course, the fuel crisis is still hitting New Zealand, and discussions remain around the role public transport should play, and how the government should support public transit.
This week, Wire Host Alex spoke with National Party MP Ryan Hamilton about each of these topics, beginning with the cabinet reshuffle.
This week, the government announced another change to Plan Change 120, Auckland’s plan for future housing developments across the city. Originally, the plan proposed a minimum housing capacity of 2 million homes, but many in central suburbs raised concerns that intensification could harm the character of their neighbourhoods. In February, the government lowered the minimum capacity to 1.6 million, which Auckland’s council and mayor spoke out against.
Despite the disagreement, council developed new plans for the 1.6 million capacity. This week, however, the government announced plans to lower the minimum capacity further to 1.4 million, forcing council to make further changes to the plans.
Also these past few weeks we’ve seen disagreements between the government and council over how best to manage the fuel crisis. The government has focused on payouts to middle and lower class families with children, but Mayor Wayne Brown says a better solution could involve subsidising public transport.
To discuss each of these issues, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey.
About a month ago, Wednesday Wire host Manny spoke to a researcher sounding the alarm over the state of our primary healthcare, here and globally.
Across the globe, services meant to be the first port of call for health issues such as dental, GPs and pharmacists, were found to be increasingly under stress as costs grow and the workforce fails to keep pace with demand.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Workforce Survey in 2022 raised concerns: Over half of GPs were planning to retire within the next decade, a declining number of GPs work in GP run practices and filling that gap is an increasing number of corporate healthcare providers.
As the holder of the Green parties Primary Healthcare Portfolio, our Green Party interviewee is the perfect subject to discuss his parties platform on the subject.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we talk primary healthcare, it’s current state in Aotearoa, the issues it faces and where the Green Party would like to take it.
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