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 our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s education spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, on education unions opposition to charter schools, the reallocation of te reo Māori funding towards the maths curriculum, and the government’s new plan to lift school attendance rates.
For States of the States, 95bFM’s US election coverage, they speak to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the vice presidential debate.
And they speak to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council's progress on emergency response systems and the buyout scheme for homeowners impacted by floods
She also speaks to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, about why Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations need to be considered on a wider scale.
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.
Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, is pushing for smokers to switch to Heated Tobacco Products, otherwise known as HTPs, as an alternative to other forms of smoking, for what she says is a part of a solution to try work towards Smokefree 2025.
The plan, which aims to get 7000 people to switch to HTPs, will result in a cut of 50% to excise tax to the products at a cost of up to $216 million.
Currently, tobacco giant, Philip Morris, owns a Monopoly of HTPs in New Zealand, which would mean that this company will solely profit off of the tax cuts.
Many are concerned that Costello is prioritising profits over actually working towards lowering tobacco usage within Aotearoa.
As well as this, Philip Morris’ HTPs, known as IQOS’ have recently been pulled from shelves over being classified as vapes, and therefore going against Labour’s vaping regulations, which require vaping products to have child safety mechanisms, as well as having removable batteries.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Professor of Health Economics at the University of Auckland, Paula Logelly, on Costello’s push for HTPs, and whether she believes that Costello is putting money over people’s health.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the scaling down of upgrades to Dunedin hospital, The end of free covid tests and the recent sign off on speed limit changes.
He spoke to Paula Lorgelly from the University of Auckland for an expert opinion on the end of free COVID test provision.
He spoke to Julie Harrison, also from the University of Auckland to discuss a research project she was involved in examining costs for Kaumatua in elderly life care.
And he spoke to Clair Mills from Te Kupenga Hauora Maori to discuss the government’s directive to adjust health services to focus on need instead of ethnicity.
95bFM News and Editorial director, Joel, spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Brian Marsh, about rising statistics of violence in schools, and how this relates to the Covid-19 lockdowns.
And they also spoke to Professor of Health Economics at the University of Auckland, Paula Lorgelly, about Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello’s, tax cuts for Heated Tobacco Products.
Oto reached out to Paula Lorgelly, a professor of Health Economics and Population Health at the University of Auckland for an expert opinion on the end of Free Covid Test distribution.
From Monday this week onwards, Rapid Antigen Tests would not be provided from pharmacies freely and would instead need to be purchased directly from retailers.
A pack of 5 covid tests would cost $16.99 at Chemist Warehouse, for example.
Recently there has been a spike in reported violence within schools across the country.
In March, The Education Review Offices’ Education Evaluation head, Ruth Shinoda, discussed a report into the findings with RNZ, saying that New Zealand ranks amongst the worst for disruptive behaviour in classrooms, with this only increasing in the past few years.
In 2022, 29% of the total number of students stood down in schools were due to physical assaults on other students, with 3% being stood down for physical assaults on staff members.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr Brian Marsh, about this rise in violence, and how these rising statistics stem from students being in isolation during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Recent statistics have shown that the population of Aotearoa is steadily growing older, with the number of people over the age of 65 expected to hit 1 million by 2028.
In line with this, discussions have begun on how New Zealand’s healthcare system can be adapted to better accommodate for the ageing population of Aotearoa, particularly in the field of end-of-life care.
As such, a team of researchers from the University of Auckland and Waikato have begun a project examining the current state of palliative care in Aotearoa and how clinicians can help kaumātua and whānau to make better decisions.
Oto spoke to Julie Harrison, an Associate Professor in Accounting and Finance at the University of Auckland who is part of the study, to discuss her research and findings.
Around Mid September, the coalition government issued a directive to departments across the public sector to refocus the delivery of services so that they would be prioritised on the basis of need instead of race.
In line with this, the government scrapped a policy requiring government agencies to ensure at least 8% of their annual procurement contracts were awarded to Māori businesses, as well as a Hawke's Bay health initiative granting free GP visits to young Māori and Pasifika.
The decision has been criticised by experts and members of the public, who say that ethnicity focused initiatives are needed to address health and wealth gaps between certain ethnic groups and the wider population of Aotearoa.
Oto spoke to Clair Mills, A senior lecturer at Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, the department of Maori health at the University of Auckland, and a medical specialist trained in public and population health, to discuss why Ethnicity focused-health initiatives are necessary.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about potentially debunked neuroscience findings, the Franklin expedition, and cancer medication thalidomide.
Our weekly catchup with the National party was off this week, as our regular MP Katie Nimon was away.
Wire host Castor spoke to the Mayor of Dunedin, Jules Radich, about the state of health in Dunedin and how the hospital cuts have been received.
They also spoke to PhD candidate and researcher at The University of Otago, Michael Swanson, about the hospital cuts and placing them in the wider politics of the current government.
And on the Green Desk this week, reporter Jack Marshall spoke to Principal Scientist from Manaaki Whenua, Linda Lilburne, about changing crops due to climate change.
Last week, the government announced that planned developments to Dunedin’s hospital may exceed the planned budget of $1.88 billion, and reach as much as $3 billion. As such, ministers Chris Bishop and Shane Reti announced that the plans may require reductions or an extended timeframe.
The announcement was met with mass opposition both on social media and in public, with some 35,000 protestors turning out on the streets of Dunedin on Saturday to march against the change.
The current government has been controversial for a range of its other policy decisions as well, particularly for how these policies shape up to campaign promises and expectations.
While under delivery on campaign promises is not uncommon in politics, it can hurt a party when it comes to re-election, especially when it comes to regions like Dunedin which may see less directed policies than major centres like Auckland.
Wire host Castor spoke to PhD candidate and researcher at the University of Otago, Michael Swanson, about the politics of this government and how the Dunedin hospital development plays into things moving into the next election.
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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