Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about Labour’s new capital gains tax, slashing of funding for the Māori news organisation’s The Hui and Te Karere, and the party’s campaigning plans one year away from the next general election.
And Joel spoke with Lisa Darragh, a Senior Curriculum and Pedagogy Researcher at the University of Auckland, about the government’s new maths curriculum of years 0 - 10.
And Producer Manny spoke with James Russell, Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Auckland and Peter Morton, Coordinator of the Department of Conservation’s predator control program about an impending explosion of predator populations.
Recently, the Labour Party have unveiled their capital gains tax (CGT) policy.
The policy only targets properties, with the exception of family homes, and farms. The tax policy, according to Labour, will supply all New Zealanders with three free doctor visits yearly.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to him about Labour’s CGT policy, and what the Green’s think of it.
They also discussed the funding cuts for the Māori news organisation’s Te Karere and The Hui, as well as how the Green Party will be campaigning 1 year out from the next general election.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin chats with us about Napoleon’s army, pill-sized bioprinters, and mushroom memory chips.
For Green World, Wire Host Sara spoke to University of Auckland Professor Jacqueline Beggs about an upcoming clean tech conference
Producer Faith spoke to Rob Weinkove from the Malaghan Institute of Medical research about access to medical gene therapies in Aotearoa
Faith also spoke to Prudence Walker from the Human Rights Commission NZ about how disabled public servants need to be better supported.
The University of Auckland’s Ngā Ara Whetū – the Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society, are hosting a Blue & Green technology conference at the beginning of December looking at how technology can be a part of a climate-resilient future for New Zealand.
Host Sara spoke with Professor Jacqueline Beggs, the co-executive director of Ngā Ara Whetū, who is organising the event.
She started by asking what the Blue & Green tech conference is all about
The results of this year’s Te Taunaki Public Service Census highlight that almost a third of disabled public servants felt discriminated against at work. The Human Rights Commission’s disability rights commissioner Prudence Walker believes that the results highlight the need for more support towards public sector workers living with disabilities.
Producer Faith spoke to Prudence about the discriminations faced, and how we can achieve a shift in attitude, rather than just strengthening laws.
Health Coalition Aotearoa is calling for a permanent fix to New Zealand’s School Lunch Programme.
The current contract is being delivered by provider ‘The School Lunch Collective’, after National axed the prior Ka Ako, Ka Ora programme model. This latest iteration of the school lunches programme has seen smaller meals, lower nutritional quality, and disengagement from community-based providers.
Currently, the funding for the government’s school lunch programme is due to end in late 2026, with no proposed initiatives in its place.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Dr. Kelly Garton about the inefficacies of the current contract, and the urgent need to invest in this support for our rangatahi.
A new term for Tāmaki Makaurau’s city council is rolling out amidst sizeable public transport changes for the city. Namely, the restructuring of responsibility that transfers primary policy and planning powers to council and leaves transport delivery responsibilities to Auckland Transport.
It has also been announced that 4162 of the approximately 10,000 special votes in the recent Auckland election were deemed invalid due to outdated enrolment details, or missing and incorrect declarations on voting forms.
Producer Jasmine spoke to Councillor Fairey about her thoughts on the future of Auckland’s transport systems and policy in the coming years, and her concerns around disenfranchisement of local democracy in light of the large number of discounted votes.
October 13th is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction with the United Nations.
The day focuses on the rising cost of disasters, as well as disaster risks, including the impact of climate change and development choices.
Fatma Özdoğan, PhD Candidate and Researcher at the University of Montreal, co-wrote an article on this topic, focused on the impact of how we talk about disasters, with Professor Ali Asgary of York University.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Özdoğan for International Desk.
Today, about 100,000 public sector employees are going on strike.
The action has been labelled as a “mega strike”, as it includes teachers, nurses and other public sector workers who are calling for better pay, staffing levels, and working conditions.
The government is strong against the strike, with Public Services Minister Judith Collins issuing an open letter, which she called the action “politically motivated.”
Rob Campbell, who has a background in trade unionism, business leadership, governance and public service, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, with his view on how the government should be responding to the strikes.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Campbell about the strike and his letter.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
With the rise of fast fashion outlets like Shein and Temu alongside the wider mainstream options available that contribute substantial amounts of clothing waste to landfill, experts are calling for an urgent response on a governance, business, and individual level.
Wire Host Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald about the problem, and the industry response to sustainability, as well as University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the importance of ethical consumption.for individuals.
First, is the interview with Fitzgerald, where she begins by talking about the organisation Mindful Fashion.
Following this, Sara spoke to Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the research he has undertaken around consumerism.
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
The government has recently rejected all of the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations regarding strengthening the country’s methane targets recommendations.
The commission’s recommendations include strengthening the county’s 2050 methane emission targets, continuing lowering emissions after 2050, and that international shipping and aviation, which represents 9% of the county’s total emissions, should be included within targets.
Despite the commission saying that there would be upfront costs, many of the changes would result in cost savings over time, however, the government rejected this claim.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government rejecting these recommendations.
The Trump administration has caused issues of significant food waste due to a range of its policies, including immigration raids, tariffs, cuts to food assistance programmes, and the destruction of food for programmes like USAID.
This has had huge consequences, including environmental impacts, as well as impacts on the estimated more than 47 million people in the US who don’t have enough food to eat, and those who have relied on US foreign aid that has been cut.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, Provost Associate Professor in Environment, Development & Health at American University, about these issues.
Tāmaki Makaurau’s council budget is among those impacted by the proposal of a rates cap, considering Tāmaki’s average 5.8% annual rates increase across the 25/26 financial year.
Youth homelessness is a growing concern as discussions continue around “move on” orders for those without housing in Auckland’s CBD.
And the Skycity Convention Centre is set to open in 2026, with high hopes for what it may bring for Tāmaki Makaurau after its prolonged development.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Counsellor Fairey about these topics.
On Monday, the government announced that they’d be introducing a rates rises cap, which is expected to be legislated by the end of 2026. The cap would be a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4% nationwide.
When talking about the reasoning for the introduction of a rates cap, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that ratepayers in New Zealand were “fed up”.
Along with this, The Labour Party announced that if they were to be elected in next year’s election, they would offer doctors and nurse-practitioners low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones. In their policy, Chris Hipkins stated they would hand out up to 50 loans per year, which would be up to 90% of the cost of buying into a practice, capped at $500,000 dollars. They also specified they’d be prioritising areas that had no general practitioners or practices with closed or partially closed books.
And last week, the Government announced a proposed major shake-up of local council. Where Mayors of cities and district councils would take over the duties of regional councils.
For our Weekly Catchup with The Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s regional council’s announcement and Labour’s low-interest loans for family GP practices.
But first, they discussed The National Party’s rates rises cap.
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