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 Dear Science this week, we chatted with our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin about bats with glowing toes, glue sealing wounds inside the body, and new technology to make green and yellow lasers.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia, Candace Owens potentially visiting Aotearoa, and the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan.
They also spoke to Doctor Timothy Welch about the government’s recently announced transport funding allocation.
With the return of the Green Desk, Jack Marshall talked to Sophie Journee from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust about the waterways in an Auckland golf course.
And News and Editorial Director, Joel Armstrong, spoke to Staff Researcher at Child Poverty Action Group, Harry Yu Shi, about a recent report showing Aotearoa has poor child poverty statistics compared to European countries.
The government announced its transport budget yesterday, a record 32.9 billion dollars, mostly going towards the campaign promise of ‘roads of national significance’. This focus on large highway projects has led the government to pull funding from other areas, such as public transport, walking, and cycling.
Wire host Castor spoke to Senior lecturer of Urban planning at the University of Auckland, Doctor Timothy Welch, about the government’s funding allocation and its potential impact on congestion and the environment.
In our catchup with the National party this week, Wire Host Castor asked MP Katie Nimon about several issues in the recent week of politics. Firstly, I asked about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia and the government’s response. I then asked about the potential arrival of Candace Owens, a far-right speaker from the United States who has been known for engaging in anti-semitism and holocaust denial.
Castor then asked about a recent submission by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Simon Upton, regarding the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan. The submission makes several critiques of the government’s attitude towards emissions reduction, particularly criticising its promotion of short term solutions which could end up offloading responsibility onto future generations.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about each of these issues, starting off with the recent passing of Kīngi Tūheitia.
Calls have been made to deny the visa of far-right figure, Candace Owens, from visiting New Zealand as a part of her scheduled speaking tour at the end of the year.
Owens, who has a history of Islamophobia, homophobia, and anti-semetism, recently, on recent videos uploaded to her YouTube channel, questioned key elements of the Holocaust, such as the well-documented human experiments conducted by Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele as “bizzare propaganda,” calling the Holocaust “an ethnic cleansing that almost took place”.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Co-Founder of Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation, Justine Sachs, on calls for far-right figure and Holocaust denier, Candice Owens.
Recently, the government has amended gang legislation that would allow police officers to enter private properties of repeat offenders showcasing emblems, patches, and insignia.
The New Zealand Law Society sent an open letter, sent by the society’s vice president, David Campbell, outlining their concerns for the proposal.
The concerns raised include how gang insignia is identified, which if the clause is taken literally, could be interpreted as printed reproductions of logos, which could make it illegal to own newspapers or certain books with gang insignia in it, increasing in the risk of someone to be criminally liable around someone in possession of gang memorabilia, concerns that the amendment will have detrimental effects to communities and whānau in which gang members reside in, as well as infringing on rights protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the committee’s open letter and the ethics of the amendment.
Last week Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand announced they were offering voluntary redundancies to admin and advisory staff. This follows 268 roles already being cut from Te Whatu Ora’s commissioning team.
The organisation has said that the “majority of their expenditure is on people costs, and Health NZ needs to review its size and structure.” Adding that “they are providing the opportunity for eligible staff to consider voluntary redundancy ahead of likely formal change consultation processes over the coming months.”
However many health staff say a cut to admin will put more pressure on the already understaffed and overworked nurses, doctors and primary care workers.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Chief Executive Paul Goulter says Te Whatu Ora did not follow the correct consultation processes before arriving at the conclusion that there should be redundancies.
He added that any reduction of staff will impact on the people who remain. Saying removal of supporting roles means that other staff must pick the work they’re doing, something he calls unacceptable.
Producer Evie spoke to Goulter about Te Whatu Ora’s voluntary redundancies and the impacts they will have on other healthcare workers.
Last week Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced that levies paid by the fishing industry will be slashed by nearly $5 million dollars.
The levies are used to manage the environmental impacts of commercial fishing. This includes monitoring fish populations, making sure observers are on boats, and researching the impacts fishing is having on the wider ocean environment.
The same day, Jones announced a bill that will extend coastal permits for marine farms by 20 years.
It was opposed by Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori due to environmental concerns. Greenpeace says that Jones is prioritising private commercial gain over the wellbeing of the oceans.
Producer Evie spoke to Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper about the changes made by Shane Jones and the potential environmental impacts they could have on our oceans.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie talks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about more cuts to the health sector and the government’s solutions to the ‘energy crisis’.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Host, Joel, speaks to Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the government's new amendments to gang patch legislation.
Evie speaks to Chief executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter about Te Whatu Ora offering voluntary redundancies.
Joel speaks to Co-Founder of Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation, Justine Sachs, about calls for far-right figure and Holocaust denier, Candice Owens’ visa to be denied entry to Aotearoa.
And Evie talks to Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper about Shane Jones slashing fishing levies by FIVE million dollars.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asks about her being announced as a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island. They also ask about the current Government reversing the ban oil and gas exploration that was put in place by the last government in 2018.
For State of the States, our weekly kōrero on the United States election, Caeden speaks to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso. They discuss Robert F. Kennedy Jr dropping out of the Presidential race to endorse Donald Trump, and the pro-Palestine protestors at the DNC and recent Kamala Harris campaign events.
For City Counselling this week Sofia caught up with Councillor Julie Fairey about the annual Local Government New Zealand conference last week as well as Auckland Council’s Shoreline Adaptation Plans.
She also speaks to Greenpeace Aotearoa’s programme director, Niamh O’Flynn, about changes announced this week to the Fast-Track Approvals Bill.
And she also speaks to lawyer Harry Clatworthy from Te Mata Law about the government’s plans to restore a tougher test for Maori customary title claims in the foreshore and seabed and the urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into this.
On Sunday, the government announced changes to the Fast Track Bill.
Of the most notable of the changes, the Bill will no longer give three ministers sign-off powers, having now delegated that responsibility to a panel of independent experts.
This comes after widespread public protest and submissions against the Bill.
Although these changes mean less power will be concentrated in the hands of three ministers than had been previously proposed, environmental groups continue to criticise the bill, saying these changes are not enough.
Producer Sofia spoke to Greenpeace Aotearoa’s Programme Director, Niamh O’Flynn, about these changes and Greenpeace’s response.
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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