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.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the government’s recently announced fast-track project list, as well as a leaked report of cuts to public health services and The Finance and Expenditure Committee’s inquiry into climate adaptation.
He spoke to Emmy Rakete from the University of Auckland and People Against Prisons Aotearoa to talk about the inclusion of capacity upgrades at Auckland Prison to the fast track project list.
He spoke to Antje Fiedler from the University of Auckland and the small enterprise association of Australia and New Zealand to talk about how small businesses are struggling under current economic conditions.
And, for this week’s Get Action! He spoke to Keremia Tairua who’s started a petition to increase funding and awareness for Functional Neuroogical Disorder Awareness.
Sasha spoke to Aaron Hendry from the Kickback Charity about changes to emergency housing and their campaign to end homelessness.
And he spoke to Professor Karen Waldie of the School of Psychology about a recent study which links the development period of pregnancy to postliminary adolescent mental illness.
There is no doubt that adolescent depression psychological issues have been on the rise for the last couple years. Researchers have investigated many factors for this, such as Covid-19, or in the case of the GUiNZ study, factors present in pregnancy.
GUiNZ, or Growing Up in New Zealand is a long-term study of child development. This study has located a multitude of factors that may develop adolescent depression. This research could help guide mental health interventions within children and adolescents.
Sasha spoke to a Professor from the School of Psychology, and co-author of the research paper, Karen Waldie, about the new study which links perinatal risk scores with adolescent development of depression and other mental illnesses.
Homelessness is not a new issue, but rather a persistent one, and will never go away unless our society confronts it directly. This is an issue which affects all of us, as no one is guaranteed housing or basic needs.
Work and Income have declared changes to their emergency housing as of August. These changes make it harder for those experiencing homelessness to receive the help they need, as they now need to fill a criteria to receive this help.
The Kickback Organisation, a charitable trust focused on delivering support for those experiencing homelessness, are advocating for parliament to pass legislation to support those at risk of homelessness. Similar legislation has been successful in Wales.
Sasha spoke to Aaron Hendry from Kickback about their campaign efforts, and their event at their charity on Karangahape road.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about pterosaur evolution, 2 billion-year-old rocks with living microbes, and an mRNA vaccine for Clostridioides difficile.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about cuts to Te Ahu o te Reo Māori and the list of 149 projects set for consideration under the Fast-Track Approvals Bill.
On the Green Desk this week our reporter Jack Marshall heads to Wellington to check out how things are going in the Big Apple of Aotearoa. This time, he chatted with Spinoff Wellington editor Joel MacManus about infrastructure, cycleways, and tunnels.
And producer Josef spoke to associate professor of evidence and criminal procedure at the University of Auckland, Scott Optican, about the government opening consultation about changing the way that we do jury trials.
On Thursday the 19th September, the Ministry of Justice opened consultation on changing jury trials to improve flexibility and increase thresholds for when individuals can opt to use a jury trial.
The proposed changes would allow individuals to opt for jury trials up to and until their case review hearing, and increase the required seriousness for offences before a jury trial can be used.
Producer Josef spoke to Associate Professor of Evidence and Criminal Procedure at the University of Auckland, Scott Optican, about jury trials, and the balancing of interests that comes with setting jury trial procedures.
Recently, Stats NZ released their findings for August 2024s employment indicators.
The statistics show that younger New Zealanders, between the ages of 15 - 30, are struggling to get into the job market, as employers continuously choose those from older age demographics.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, about these findings, and why it is so difficult for young people to enter the job market here in Aotearoa.
A total of 149 projects have been selected for fast tracking through the government's new Fast-track Approvals Bill.
There’s a variety of projects on the list, in sectors including farming, infrastructure, energy, and mining.
The fast track approvals bill went through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects.
This meant the public didn’t have specific details when submitting on the bill.
Now the 149 projects on the list have been revealed, a number of environmental concerns have arisen over projects that were successfully opposed in the past.
Forest and Birds Richard Capie calls this an assault on Aotearoa’s democracy.
Producer Evie spoke to Capie about the list of projects and Forest and Birds concerns around them.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Evie spoke to Court about the list of Fast Track Approval Bill projects being unveiled, and the revelation by Newsroom that emails show ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, was invited to Kiingi Tuheitia's koroneihana, despite repeated claims he did not receive an invite.
Evie also spoke to the Group Manager Conservation Advocacy and Communications of Forest and Bird, Richard Capie, about the Fast Track Approvals Bill going through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects entailed in the bill.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, about Stats NZ findings showing young New Zealanders are struggling to enter the job market.
and Joel spoke to the Workplace Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, Rosie Leadbitter, about data from rainbow communties in the country being inplimented in the 2023 Census for the first time.
The data of New Zealand's rainbow community has, for the first time, been incorporated as a part of the country’s 2023 Census.
This is a huge win for the country’s LGBTQIA+ community, as queer people have been advocating for decades for their inclusion in Census data, which would in turn help aid in better resourcing for the country's rainbow community.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Workplace Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, a queer national charity group, Rosie Leadbitter, about the data, and what this means for New Zealand’s queer population moving forward.
Wire host Caeden spoke to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
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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