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.
Today is World Ventil8 Day, which aims to highlight the importance of good ventilation for health and wellbeing.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago, Dr Julie Bennett, who says New Zealand is lagging behind when it comes to indoor ventilation standards.
She started off the interview by asking Bennett about the purpose of World Ventil8 Day.
Drug checking providers have reported seeing an increase in a group of synthetic opioids, nitazines, being sold as other substances, with the High Alert warning this week about a highly potent synthetic opioid being misrepresented as butonitazene.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to NZ Drug Foundation Principal Science Advisor Emily Hughes about this recent development.
She started off the interview asking Hughes why they are concerned about the growing prevalence of nitazenes in the community, especially if they are being sold as something else.
The Tuesday Wire team is joined by Allan Blackman. They discuss a new conflict surrounding animal naming conventions, the role of light in water evaporation and a breakthrough in waterproof surfaces.
Nicholas catches up with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti about the on-going conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Nicholas also spoke to Aya Oba, a spokesperson for the coalition for the protection of racehorses to discuss their protest against the Melbourne Cup
Producer Lou delivers a special report into scam safety in New Zealand.
For our weekly catchup with Dr Shane Reti, Nicholas decided to ask questions regarding the on-going conflict in Israel and Palestine.
On October 7th members of Hamas’ militant wing entered Israel and killed 1,400 iIsraelis and took 240 hostages.
Israel’s response has been swift, with the Associated Press recently reporting that nine thousand Palestinian have been killed in retaliation with Al Jazeera reporting over four thousand of those deaths being Palestinian children.
New Zealand has recently voted in favour of the ceasefire, and Nicholas' questions to Dr Reti were centred around his party’s response to the violence.
Today the team is joined in the studio by Allan Blackman. They discuss a new conflict surrounding animal naming conventions, the role of light in water evaporation and a breakthrough in waterproof surfaces.
Te Whatu Ora has released data showing a sharp increase in what they say are 'preventable' pediatric hospital admissions across Aotearoa over the past year. The rise shows a 30% rise overall, with certain regions and groups disproportionately effected. Child Poverty Action Group has called on the incoming government to address the issues at the root of increasing health issues amongst our tamariki.
Rosetta spoke to Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics in the University of Auckland’s Department of Paediatrics Innes Asher, who is on the management committee of the Child Poverty Action Group about the data, and what these preventable issues are. They also spoke about what CPAG wants to see from the incoming government in order to tackle the issue.
Bernard Sama is a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work, and has recently received Te Whainga i Te Tika Award for Social Justice for his advocacy work for refugees in Aotearoa. Upon receiving the award he has expressed a need for Aotearoa to do more to support refugees, particularly by increasing our intake of refugees fleeing humanitarian crises and conflict.
Rosetta had a kōrero with Bernard to discuss the future of refugees in Aotearoa under a new government. They also spoke about what New Zealand should be doing to better facilitate the evacuation of civilians from Gaza fleeing violence as a result of the Israeli Palestine conflict.
Thanks for tuning in! E whai akei nei, on the show today…
Rosetta spoke to Professor Innes Asher from Child Poverty Action Group about Te Whatu Ora data showing a sharp rise in preventable pediatric hospital admissions over the past year
She also spoke to Bernard Sama, University of Auckland doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education and Social Work and recipient of Te Whainga i Te Tika Award for Social Justice about his work as a refugee advocate, and why Aotearoa should be accepting more refugees fleeing humanitarian crises
Rosetta also spoke to University of Auckland Associate Professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga, who is co-director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences about What the official election results will mean for our Pasifika community
For our weekly catch up with the ACT party, Rawan spoke with ACT MP Karen Chhour about the final election results released on Friday and what this means for our incoming government
Rawan also spoke with Derek Handley Founder of FInancial assistance company Aera about a report they released showing the difficulties first home buyers face.
Aera is a service that assists Kiwis in buying their first home by helping them save and gain interest on their money.
They recently put out a report expressing just how difficult it has become for the incoming generation to purchase their first home. The report showed that we can expect a rise in house prices and that first home buyers will no longer be able to rely simply on their savings and bank loans.
Rawan spoke to Aera founder Derek Handley about what this report means and what young New Zealanders need to do if they are looking to buy their first home.
Last week, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced a series of changes to Aotearoa's health system following years of delays, understaffing, and overcrowding. Brown particularly highlighted a need for public-private partnerships to reduce wait times.
Also in politics this past week, NZ First leader Winston Peters has been raising complaints about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) measures in Aotearoa. His concerns echo those in the United States, where recently elected president Donald Trump has enacted policies removing DEI measures from federal agencies.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire Host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with the health sector overhaul.
This week on Dear Science our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about the world's oldest meteorite crater, healing the hole in the ozone, and high-fat diets impacting memory.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
The coalition government’s free school lunch programme has faced significant criticism from various groups and individuals.
This follows the remodelling of the previous programme, the Ka Ora Ka Ako programme, to, in what ACT Party Leader David Seymour says, save taxpayers over $100 million and fix food wastage.
However, this current model has resulted lunches arriving significantly late, plastic having been found melted into food, and students describing the food as “bland,” and looking like “prison food”.
Responding to the criticisms facing the current model of the free school lunch programme, in an interview with Newstalk ZB, Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, says those complaining should “make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in the bag.”
For our first weekly catch with Te Pāti Māori for the year, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Takutai Kemp about how she is viewing the lunch programme, and her opinions on Luxon’s recent remarks regarding the model.
We also spoke about the Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill first reading in Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori being the only party not to support the Bill, and the changes to free bowel cancer screenings by changing the age from 60 to 58, which would result in scrapping the pilot programme that would have allowed Māori and Pacific people free screenings from age 50.
But first, they started off by asking her about how the party is feeling about the current state of the government’s free school lunch programme.
The government has announced plans to lower the free bowel cancer screening age from 60 to 58. In order to do this, they are scrapping the pilot programme that would have allowed Maori and Pasifika to have free screening from age 50.
While this opens the programme up for another 120,000 Kiwis, it takes away free screening from a different 100,000 - essentially just shuffling eligibility around.
Despite bowel cancer rates being lower in Maori than Pakeha the death rates are higher. Some are calling the change institutionalised racism.
It’s also been called a broken promise, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon promising in his election campaign to match Australia’s free screening age, which stands at 45.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Simon Court about the changes - which ACT has praised for its ‘needs not race’ initiative.
We also spoke about The ACT Party pushing back on calls for new online literacy and numeracy to be scaled back, after principals said they were failing students in poorer communities.
Along with last week's Labour cabinet reshuffle, which among the changes saw the introduction of a minister for jobs.
But, they started off by asking Court about the impact the Bowel Cancer screening changes will have on Māori and Pasifika, and whether the party denies that race should be considered when treating the disease.
The United States has frequently been in the news cycle recently for the Trump administration’s unstable foreign policy decisions.
This includes their decisions to cut 90% of USAID foreign contracts and to pause military aid to Ukraine following a fiery meeting between the leaders of both countries.
University of Otago’s Professor Richard Jackson describes President Trump’s behaviours as a threat to global order and security.
For International Desk this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to him about the instability of United States foreign policy and the global ramifications of this.
Recently, Auckland Council has re-committed $15 million in funding; which they have pledged since 2016, to restore the historic St. James Theatre in Auckland’s CBD — one part of a cross-party agreement between the Council, Central Government, and owner of the theatre.
The theatre, which has been inoperational since a fire broke out in 2007, left significant damage and resulted in the closure of the venue.
The revitalisation of St James has seen support from the public and a variety of different figures, including the co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Auckland Central, Chlöe Swarbrick, and the organisation Save the St. James Theatre Auckland.
For our weekly catchup with Auckland Council, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson, about Auckland Council's re-commitment to revitalise the St James Theatre and their goals regarding this.
We also spoke about a proposal by Council to develop half of Takapuna Golf Course into wetlands, in aims of mitigating flooding risks which the area is susceptible to.
This move has been criticised by the Golf Course, who say there are better ways to adapt the park without taking away any of the area available to golfers.
But first, they started off by asking how Shane is feeling now that we are one step closer to having the St James operational again.
Earlier this week, an investigation was launched into the school lunch programme after baked-in plastic was found in several lunches.
However, principals say the programme has already had various issues since Associate Education Minister David Seymour switched providers as a cost-saving measure last year.
And the coalition government is set to introduce legislation that would give the option of 4 year parliamentary terms.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy LeaderCarmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
The ministry for Primary Industries has launched an investigation after a number of meals served to children by the School Lunch Collective were found to have their plastic packaging melted into their food.
This would be the fourth investigation launched into the collective after the government introduced the Alternative Provision Model for Ka Ora Ka Ako, replacing local suppliers.
Around this same period of time, a consultation document was sent to schools across the motu by education minister Erica Stanford asking for feedback on a proposal to defund and disestablish 174 full time roles for Resource Teachers of Literacy and Resource Teachers of Māori.
And the Greens recently issued a call to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calling on him to rule out any possibility of joining the AUKUS military pact, following the contentious bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Whitehouse last week.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March for the Green Party’s take on all of these issues.
Last week the government announced a new citizen’s arrest policy that would allow members of the public to detain those who commit a crime. The policy has been met with criticism for its potential impact on retail workers and marginalised communities. While the government has asserted that citizen’s arrest should only be conducted when it is safe to do so, some are still worried about safety, especially with employer/employee power dynamics.
Others are concerned that the law will encourage members of the public to conduct citizens arrests on anyone they suspect of committing a crime, even if their suspicions are false. This would predominantly affect marginalised groups already affected by harmful stereotypes
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Tuesday Wire Host Castor asked about how the new Citizens Arrest policy will work in Aotearoa.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin, chats to us about the International Space Station being too clean, birds of paradise being more colourful than we originally thought, and stretchy displays.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
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