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.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about former MP Darleen Tana’s removal from Parliament, updates to the Three Strikes Law and the government’s changes to freshwater protections.
He spoke to Sinead O’Flynn from Greenpeace Aotearoa for a follow-up conversation about the changes to freshwater policy.
And he spoke to Dr Steffen Albrecht, Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, to discuss about a study of his analysing the use of A.I in predicting respiratory disease outbreaks during flu seasons.
Sasha spoke to Honorary Senior Lecturer in Nutrition Rashjiri Roy from the University of Sydney about her recent research linking poor body image with social media use
And he spoke to Kelly Garton, Policy Researcher from the University of Auckland and spokesperson for Health Coalition Aotearoa about cuts to funding for school lunches.
The coalition government has recently been debating cutting funding entirely for school lunches, but instead have made a significant cut while continuing to keep lunches.
There have been concerns raised by Health Coalition Aotearoa about the new supplier, Compass Group, stating a potential worse quality of food and inadequacy of future supply.
Sasha spoke to policy researcher from The University of Auckland and the spokesperson of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Kelly Garton, about the new supplier of school lunches and the implications this has for schools and children’s nutrition.
Social media is blamed for many ill effects that plague modern life, and unsurprisingly a recent research conducted on New Zealand women aged eighteen to twenty-four has found that social media use correlates with poor body image.
At this period of life, it is common for debilitating eating disorders to develop. The research has found there to be a weak link between social media and poor body image, however this still raises questions about future legislations and the complexity of the relationship between young people and social media.
Sasha spoke to Honorary Senior Lecturer in Nutrition Rajshri Roy, from the University of Sydney Australia, about her recent study and other implications.
On the 23rd of October, a nationwide hui will be held by thousands of workers in 12 different places in the country, following policies coming into place since the current government took power last year that impacts workers’ rights, such as abolishing fair pay agreements, and mass job cuts in the public sector.
According to RNZ’s tracker, 2000 public service jobs have been cut from the period of December last year to June this year, with 7000 being cut from the public sector.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU), Richard Wagstaff, about the plans for the nationwide hui, and what the NZCTU hope to get out of this day of action.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted to us about Monarch Butterfly Migration, Worms and Snails, and the Tasmanian Tiger genome.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about polling numbers and catering spending.
On the Green Desk, Jack Marshall heads to The Shed to talk to some tinkers.
And Producer Joel spoke to the President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Richard Wagstaff, about a nationwide hui occurring tomorrow over worker’s concerns regarding legislation the government has implemented since forming a government last year.
On Saturday, student nurses rallied across multiple cities in the country; in Auckland, Whāngarei, Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Nelson, over petitioning for the government to implement paid training.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent rallies, and concerns that studying nursing is gradually becoming a lot less accessible to New Zealanders.
The government is reintroducing a ‘social investment agency’, an organisation last seen during Bill English’s National government.
The agency assesses the cost of individuals to the state, largely the cost of beneficiaries. Once this is assessed the government steps in to prevent those deemed most costly from creating these costs. This includes managing individuals' benefits, putting a limit on what they can spend and sanctioning them if they miss support sessions or meetings.
The move is largely created to save the government costs, rather than addressing poverty and disadvantage at the root.
Teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Eileen Joy says this approach completely ignores the systemic causes behind disadvantage.
Producer Evie spoke to Dr Eileen Joy about the system, how it’s implemented and what impacts it will have.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party failing to release an annual statement, the Samoan Citizenship bill, and 21 new te reo Māori names being allocated for sites around the Māngere-Ōtāthuhu Local Board area.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Producer Evie talks about the Green Party using the Waka Jumping legislation to remove Darleen Tana from parliament, Gore district council’s plans to make the region an area of cultural significance and the University of Auckland’s new compulsory paper surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Joel speaks to the Organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the recent union member strikes at the University of Auckland.
Evie speaks to Professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland Dr Eileen Joy about the government’s approach to social welfare ignoring systemic causes.
And Joel speaks to the Delegate of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Shannyn Bristowe, about the recent student nurses rallies that happened across the country.
On Friday, staff at the University of Auckland held a strike on campus, over ongoing conversations with the University regarding bettering working conditions and improving pay for staff.
This follows similar protest action that happened on campus THREE weeks ago, with members as a part of THREE different universities striking on the same day. These rallies were attended by 4,000 Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union members overall, making this strike action the largest since staff from all EIGHT universities striked two years prior.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the organiser of the Tertiary Education Union, Nicole Wallace, about the most recent strikes at the University of Auckland, and what this means moving forward.
Yesterday, the Family Proceedings (Dissolution of Marriage or Civil Union for Family Violence) Amendment Bill, colloquially known as Ashley’s law, passed its third reading.
The Bill would allow family violence survivors with a protection order to dissolve their marriages immediately without going through a court process, reforming the Family Proceedings Act which has been in place since 1981.
Sofia spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Mark Henaghan, about the Bill and what changes it would bring.
She started the interview asking him what the current law is for divorce.
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
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