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.
Last week, Transport Minister, Simeon Brown, announced that Auckland’s rail network will close for 96 days, with an additional 53 days where operations will be reduced.
Brown cites multiple reasons for these closures, which are to develop and upgrade Auckland’s rail network.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the National Coordinator of the Public Transport Users Association New Zealand, Jon Reeves, about this announcement, what the association’s thoughts are regarding the matter, and what this will mean for public transport users.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to Willow-Jean Prime about the Treaty Principles Bill, Labour calling for a pause in Gumboot Friday’s funding, and a leaked document showing force will be allowed against young people in the Government’s bootcamps for youth offenders.
And for State of the States, following Trump’s win yesterday, they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News, political commentator Tom Unger, and University of Auckland’s Professor of Law Scott Optican.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Julie Fairey about Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s ‘Happy Guide’ as well as Council’s decision to move the Western Springs speedway
She also speaks to the University of Auckland’s Professor Margaret Mutu about the Treaty Principles Bill being introduced today - over a week earlier than its original date.
She also speaks to lecturer at the University of Auckland and spokesperson for and organiser of Toitū te Tiriti, Eru Kapa Kingi, about the nationwide hīkoi planned for the week the Bill was originally meant to be introduced.
Last night Republican Donald Trump won the United States election, sweeping battleground states and taking more than the 270 electoral college votes required to win.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about who voted for Trump yesterday and students’ reactions to the election outcome.
They then spoke to political commentator and former political show host at Radioactive Tom Unger, who is on the ground in New Jersey, about the reaction from both campaigns and the general public to Trump’s win.
And they spoke to Associate Professor in Law Scott Optican from the University of Auckland about the ramifications of Trump winning as a convicted felon, as well as the potential impacts of a Trump presidency in Aotearoa.
Earlier this week the Government announced that it would introduce the controversial Treaty Principles Bill today, over a week earlier than its original date for introduction on November 18th.
The Bill has received much criticism, with a nationwide hīkoi in protest planned for next week to coincide with its introduction.
Producer Sofia spoke to Te Tiriti o Waitangi expert, Professor Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua), from the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts, as well as lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Law and spokesperson for and organiser of Toitū te Tiriti, Eru Kapa Kingi (Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi, Waikato-Tainui, and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), about the Bill and the nationwide hīkoi that coincides with it.
The United States General Elections are officially being held today, and thousands of American citizens are rushing to polling stations to cast their vote for the next leader of the world’s largest superpower.
The two prospective candidates, Donald J. Trump of the Republican party, and Kamala Harris of the Democrats, are expected to be neck and neck in the polls, with the final outcome of the election to be won only by a slim margin.
However, a number of experts have purported that, in the possible event of his election loss, Donald Trump may denounce the results and accuse the US electoral college of fraud, a call that may lead to widespread uproar from his devoted supporters.
Oto spoke to Dr Timothy Fadgen, a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland on Donald Trump’s possible reaction to the results of the US General Elections in the event that he loses, and the potential of him decrying the US electoral college.
Commonwealth countries have recently adopted the Apia Ocean Declaration for One Resilient Common Future, which calls for an importance to restore and preserve all amenities of the ocean for future generations.
The declaration was signed last week in Samoa, and includes fifty-six independent sovereign states. Addressing the ocean through a declaration is inherently important, but due to the wide scope and similar previous declarations, experts question whether it will lead to real action.
Sasha spoke to Professor of the Marine Institute from the University of Auckland, Simon Thrush, about the recent commonwealth ocean declaration and potential implications.
The new rodeo season commenced this past Sunday the 3rd of November, and animal rights organisation SAFE is calling for a ban on this sport.
SAFE Campaign Manager Emily Hall spoke to Sasha about these rodeo events, stating that they breach the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act. There are many other issues with the rodeo sport industry, as for example it is not necessary for the organisations to report deaths or injuries unless requested.
Oto reached out to Sarita Divis from the Child Poverty Action Group for her organisation’s take on the proposed changes to Child Poverty Reduction goals by Minister Louise Upston.
This comes after Louise Upston, called for a statutory review of New Zealand’s current 10-year child poverty reduction targets, and subsequent reduction of them, in a recently revealed document.
The Child Poverty Action Group have officially criticised the review, saying that the current goals were important for reducing child poverty and have called upon National to retain them.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about proposed cuts to Aotearoa’s long term child poverty reduction goals by Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, Louise Upston, as well Todd McClay’s new charter for recreational hunting and fishing and the Green party’s calls to ban bottom trawling.
He spoke to Sarita Divis from the child poverty action group for an expert opinion on the Louise Upston’s decision to reduce child poverty reduction targets.
For this week’s Get Action! He speak to Rachel Jaboon from the Victoria African Diaspora Student Association to discuss a petition of hers calling for the Wellington government to make the CBD safer for Rangatahi and students.
And He spoke to Dr Timothy Fadgen from the University of Auckland to talk about how Donald Trump might raise allegations of voter fraud if he loses the upcoming U.S elections, as American voters head to the polls today.
Sasha spoke to Professor Simon Thrush, from the institute of Marine Science about the past week’s commonwealth ocean declaration
And he spoke to Emily Hall from the SAFE organisation calling for changes to New Zealand’s animal welfare and banning rodeo events.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Mike Lee, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Auckland Business School on the sustainability issues associated with Halloween and growing anti-consumerism movements.
Last week, the Green Party released a statement highlighting the recently released Dental For All report, which they say confirms that New Zealand can afford a free, universal public dental service.
And the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand is being touted as a pivotal moment, garnering support from both Labour and National parties, however, NZFirst MP and coalition minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, expressed his opposition to the agreement with derogatory comments against potential indian immigrants that have drawn the ire of other parliamentary parties.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, I spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s Dental policy and their stance on the Free trade agreement with India.
Since its inception in 2008, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (or ETS) has been, according to the government, its primary tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis. As part of the scheme, the government sets a price for carbon units, which companies must pay to offset their emissions. The Climate Change Commission has recently highlighted that the scheme was not stable and susceptible to changes in the market, and did not have sufficient carbon units to last until 2030, requiring urgent reform.
For Green World, Wire producer Liam spoke with Scott Burnett, the Regional Conservation Manager for the top of the South Island and Forest and Bird’s climate spokesperson about why Forest and Bird has called the system broken, what impact this has on Aotearoa and what reforms should be implemented.
Last week, NZ First MP and Government Minister Shane Jones was criticised over using derogatory language towards Indian Immigrants. These comments were condemned by the National Party and Christopher Luxon, who labelled NZ First’s belief system as ‘anti-immigrant’, and saidd Jones was ‘scaremongering’.
That was not the extent of criticism between NZ First and National, however, with tensions between the two sparking after NZ First Leader Winston Peters calling out Luxon for not giving coalition partners prior notice of his confidence vote during a national party caucus meeting last week. In turn, these comments have been dismissed, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Luxon accused NZ First and Peters of putting Labour Governments, like Arderns, into power. Despite all of this, however, Peters has insisted the coalition is as stable as a ‘three-legged stool’.
Last week also saw the Treasury announce that they would revisit their forecasts for the economy ahead of the impending government budget. The Government also announced some changes to the way Infrastructure is run by the government, giving more power to the Independent Infrastructure Commission, increasing their oversight and changing the way that Ministers receive advice and information.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these developments, beginning with Shane Jones’ comments.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the fuel crisis - resulting from the US and Israel bombing of Iran, and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz - drags on. Prices have remained high, hitting low-income households hard, and while fuel stocks in or on-the-way to the country sit comfortably above a month’s cover, approaches to conserving fuel remain front-of-mind for many.
One strategy that New Zealanders have been urged to adopt is switching to public transport, which would put fewer cars on the road. However, access is often dependent on location and affordability.
Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education has reviewed numerous rural school bus routes, cancelling some, cutting off students from ready access to their education.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Alicia Hall from Parents for Climate Aotearoa, on their petition to restore rural school bus routes and make public transport free for children, and students under 25.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party leaders, Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick, hosted their state of the planet address, where they launched their call to electrify the nation.
On top of that, events this week have led the party to criticise the government. The first critique, instigated by the floods that swept the nation, hitting the Coromandel and causing a state of emergency in the Wellington Region, led the Greens to question the government's decreased funding of flood responses as harsh weather increases.
The second critique came with a cabinet paper this week that shows the government is planning on moving ahead with reforms to legislation that will see references to the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiriti o Waitangi redefined, in what the government sez is about ‘standardisation’ but what the Green Party sees as dishonouring Te Tiriti.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we discuss their criticisms of the government but start with a discussion of their electrification policy.
Last week, fuel stocks in the country went down by three or four days across each fuel type. The government recognised this as not enough to change to phase two in the national fuel plan, drawing some concerned comments from the political opposition around the state of our stocks, and when the government plans to actually move up phases.
Following a week that saw both Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon comment on the state of the Strait of Hormuz, and the way the United States has handled the ongoing conflict, Willis also travelled to the US to meet with White House advisors.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these fuel crisis developments, and what the government’s approach going forward may look like.
To start our discussion, however, we spoke briefly about the confidence in Christopher Luxon’s Leadership.
Earlier this week, Councillor Julie Fairey moved a resolution to investigate Auckland Council’s involvement with companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
And this week, Auckland Council launched an AI virtual assistant to report issues such as graffiti, roaming dogs, and noise complaints.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced the signing of a new ‘City Deal’.
The deal will see closer partnership between the central government and Auckland Council, coordinating planning in areas such as infrastructure and transportation.
The deal will see a long-term partnership between the government and council, with regular meetings and cooperation on strategies for innovation and transportation, with reviews of sporting venues such as Eden Park and the Auckland Tennis Centre.
However, the deal has been critiqued by some as being a collection of promises without any new funding.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, he and producer Theo discussed the signing of the Auckland City Deal, and how the Green Party would work with Auckland Council on issues such as transportation and infrastructure.
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