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.
Last week Dr Shane Reti’s bill to extend free mammograms to women aged 74 was brought into parliament. Currently only women up to the age of 69 can get a free cancer screeing.
Although there was no time to vote on the bill, there was a lot of promising cross-party support from Labour, National, ACT and the Greens.
Rawan spoke to research manager at the Breast Cancer foundation Adele Gautier about the foundations support of this bill, what it will mean for older women in particular and what the next steps are for breast cancer treatment
Last week the Labour Government proposed a ban on two types of fishing methods, bottom trawling and Danish seining, from being used in 80% of the hauraki gulf.
This is a big difference from the current 27% ban.
Rawan spoke to Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Rachel Brooking about this proposal.
They discussed what the current issues during these measures are and why the ban is important. We also talked about how the ban will be enforced and what assessments are in place for the future.
The University of Canterbury has published a study which investigates disparities between known and understood te reo Māori amongst New Zealanders, and how incidental exposure to te reo in our surroundings can better facilite active learning of the language. Rosetta spoke to co-author of the research Jeanette King from the University of Canterbury's institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour, about the study.
For our weekly catch-up Caeden spoke to Andrew Little about vaping and responses to 111 distress calls, as well as an investigation into employers abusing migrant workers and National’s tax plan on Immigration including cost recovery.
And they spoke to Massey University Lecturer Dr Zoë Port about her research into an age disadvantage in our workforce that negatively impacts young people.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Auckland City Councillor for Manukau, Lotu Fuli, about Māori seats on the Auckland Council's governing body, the bill to lower the voting age to 16 for local elections, and the councils TWO BILLION dollar flood recovery buyout package.
Joel spoke to Make it 16 Co-Director Thomas Brocherie about the first reading of the bill to lower the voting age to 16 for local elections.
Beth spoke to Research Fellow at the University of Otago Public Health Department Marnie Prickett about the health of Aotearoa’s drinking water and political parties’ plans around protecting our drinking water sources.
And Olivia spoke to Arts Access Aotearoa’s Executive Director Richard Benge about the importance of art for prisoners.
There are concerns that the recent proposals to cut arts funding will detriment prisoners’ access to such programmes. Many say that accessing these programmes support prisoner rehabilitation, and help prepare them for life after their release.
Olivia spoke to the Executive Director of Arts Access Aotearoa, Richard Benge, about the impact of funding cuts, and the importance of art in prison.
A recent government inquiry outlined that close to 800,000 New Zealanders are drinking water that is 'not demonstrably safe'. The Public Health Communication Centre sent out a survey to Aotearoa's political parties about the policies they each planned to introduce to protect the sources of Aotearoa's drinking water.
Today on The Wire Beth speaks to Research Fellow at the University of Otago's Public Health Department and Spokesperson for Choose Clean Water about the health of Aotearoa's water and political parties' plans to protect our drinking water sources.
On the 29th of August, the Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local Elections and Polls) Legislation Bill was read in parliament, and will now go to the select committee.
Digital News Sub-Editor, Joel, spoke with Make It 16 Co-Director Thomas Brocherie, about what this means for the push to lower the voting age for local elections, and why it is important to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote.
Today on the Wire Caeden speaks to Andrew Little about vaping and responses to 111 distress calls, as well as an investigation into employers abusing migrant workers and National’s tax plan on Immigration including cost recovery.
They also speak to Massey University Lecturer Dr Zoë Port about her research into an age disadvantage in our workforce that negatively impacts young people.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Auckland City Councillor for Manukau, Lotu Fuli, about Māori seats on the Auckland Council's governing body, the bill to lower the voting age to 16 for local elections, and the councils TWO BILLION dollar flood recovery buyout package.
And Joel spoke to Make it 16 Co-Director Thomas Brocherie about the first reading of the bill to lower the voting age to 16 for local elections.
Producer Beth speaks to Research Fellow at the University of Otago Public Health Department Marnie Prickett about the health of Aotearoa’s drinking water and political parties’ plans around protecting our drinking water sources.
And Olivia speak to Arts Access Aotearoa’s Executive Director Richard Benge about the importance of art for prisoners.
Emilia spoke to Ricardo Menendez-March about the Green Party’s plans for the healthcare system.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins to New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association National Secretary Dr Deborah Powell.
Arno reported on Pharmac and access to medication and healthcare and spoke to health economist from the University of Auckland Dr Paula Lorgelly, Dr Kate Gregory from The Cancer Society, and Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand CEO Peter Dickens.
And for his bi-weekly catch-up with The Opportunities Party, Nicholas spoke to TOP candidate for Epsom Dr Nina Su about their proposed Teal Card and the state of New Zealand’s healthcare system.
Pharmac is the government’s medicine-buying entity, and it came under fire last year for long wait times in approving new medicines.
Arno set out to find out more about Pharmac and funding for medicine in New Zealand.
First Arno spoke with health economist Dr Paula Lorgelly about Pharmac and medicine in New Zealand, and the National Party's plans to fund 13 cancer drugs that are not available in New Zealand but are in Australia.
Next Arno spoke with Dr Kate Gregory from the New Zealand Cancer Society about access to cancer treatments in New Zealand.
Finally Arno spoke with Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand CEO Peter Dickens to find out about healthcare for those suffering from prostate cancer.
The Healthcare exec Brian Thompson was shot dead by a masked assailant last week.
The crime has gained significant controversy and attention online, with many using it to restart the debate on the inequities of the United States healthcare system.
And this week Yale University was the latest college to commit to divesting from weapons manufacturing after a student vote.
For State of the States this week Wire Host Caeden speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
The government as announced their plan for the Cook Strait ferry a year after they scrapped Labour’s plan, including cancelling the ferries the Labour government had ordered.
And a new report from the Ministry of Social Development has revealed nearly a quarter of beneficiaries are not receiving their correct entitlements.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
For City Counselling this week, producer Sofia caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about proposed time-of-use charging to solve congestion problems in Tāmaki and Council selling their remaining Auckland Airport shares last week.
The Green party recently released He Ara Anamata - the Green party’s emissions reduction plan.
The document covers more than 10 areas of the economy and energy Sector that a Greens-led government would be looking to adapt to minimise carbon emissions and protect the natural landscapes of Aotearoa.
It also comes 5 months after the government released their own draft emissions plan. Numerous experts pointed out that the government is behind on their own plan’s targets to meet the crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the party’s new emissions reduction plan and how they would address climate and the economy in a greens-led government.
Last election, one of the National Party’s main campaign promises was to be ‘tough on crime’, promising to increase police coverage and penalties for crimes. A target was set to increase the number of police officers by 500 by November 2025, however some police leaders today say this goal is unrealistic.
The government also announced this week some shakeups to insulation standards, which they say should make houses more affordable.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about police staffing targets and new insulation standards.
This week on Dear Science, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about what latrines teach us about people, climate variation affecting Chinese dynasties, and invasive species becoming threatened.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Last week it was revealed that two of the ten participants in the government's pilot bootcamp programme were on the run.
The youth were two months into the community rehabilitation phase of the programme, following the three month youth justice residence phase. Both teens were found in the weekend, but had allegedly reoffended, and are now set to come before the court.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, who have been heavily advocating for this programme, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about this incident.
She also talks to him about proposed changes to employment law which would give employers the power to dismiss workers earning over $180,000 without the employee refuting the decision.
And finally, she talks to him about David Seymour’s incumbent run as Deputy Prime Minister, which is set to begin in May of next year.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about changes to Auckland Transport’s responsibilities, nationwide bus and train fare hikes, and concerns over the opening of the City Rail Link.
For State of the States this week, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa'aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was due to be sentenced next week for three felony charges.
They also discuss Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, who is the latest in a long list of unorthodox picks for government positions from Trump