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.
Changes were recently announced to the Fast Track Approvals Bill - most notably removing the controversial ministerial override that would allow ministers to go past expert advice. These changes follow public protests and submissions regarding the bill, one of this government’s most discussed.
Environmental organisation Forest and Bird says while the changes to the Fast Track Bill are appreciated, they don’t go far enough. Particularly, the bill’s prioritisation of project development over environmental protections is a core principle that hasn’t changed throughout the select committee process.
Wire host Castor spoke to spokesperson from Forest and Bird, Geoff Keey, about the changes to the Fast Track Approvals Bill and what more Forest and Bird is looking for.
Changes were recently announced to the Fast Track Approvals Bill - most notably removing the controversial ministerial override that would allow ministers to go past expert advice. These changes follow public protests and submissions regarding the bill, one of this government’s most discussed. Wire host Castor spoke to Katie Nimon about the changes to the bill, and some of the criticisms that remain.
We also spoke about the potential amendment of Section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Area Act. The amendment would require Māori to prove continuous, uninterrupted occupation of a coastal area in order to make a claim to it. The Waitangi Tribunal recently filed an urgent claim to discuss the amendment, particularly criticised for its impact on coastal iwi with fewer land claims.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor asked MP Katie Nimon about each of these issues, starting off with changes to the Fast Track Approvals Bill.
Last week, the New Zealand Defence Force, the NZDF, awarded a contract to defence company BAE Systems, to upgrade its VBS4 whole-earth virtual desktop trainer.
BAE Systems has previously been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States and making false statements about its compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The British company is currently under investigation in India for criminal conspiracy in the procurement and licensing of advanced jet trainers.
Furthermore, BAE Systems has been the subject of criticism for its production of weapons components sold to Israel for its war in Gaza.
The contract has drawn criticism from activist groups in New Zealand who say that the Defence Force should have more established standards regarding which companies it chooses to award contracts to.
Producer Josef spoke to a representative from Peace Action Wellington, Valerie Morse, about the contract, and what it means in the wider context of the morality of the NZDF’s operations.
Last week, multiple flights were delayed, due to an eruption, dubbed by scientists as “minor eruptive activity,” of Whakaari / White Island.
This comes as GNS Science discovered a new vent in the volcano, as the volcano has been experiencing ongoing volcanic activity since the beginning of this month.
News and Editorial Director and Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland and Geologist, Phil Shane, about this new vent and the disruption Whakaari has caused to air travel, and whether this should be viewed as a concern.
The findings of the Understanding Policy Delivery report have recently been released, which has shown that the NZ Police found “bias” and “structural racism,” targeting Māori individuals.
The report says that Māori are ELEVEN percent more likely to be persecuted compared to Pākeha, despite the same variables, and Māori are disproportionately more likely to be stopped and tasered by officers.
News and Editorial Director, and Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Criminology Lecturer and the University of Auckland, and spokesperson for People Against Prison Aotearoa, Emmy Rākete (Ngāpuhi), about these findings, and what can be done to mitigate these statistics.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie speaks to Simon Court about the ACT Party's absence from the Māori King’s Koroneihana, questions about the ministry of regulation and changes to the the Fast Track Approvals Bill
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori, News and Editorial Director and Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about the increase in Māori vaccination rates, comments PM Christopher Luxon had at Koroneihana at Tūrangawaewae, report into Māori being disproportionately targeted by police.
Joel also spoke to Criminology Lecturer at the University of Auckland, and spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa, Emmy Rākete (Ngāpuhi) about the recently released Understanding Police Delivery report, which shows that Māori are disproportionately more likely to be persecuted by police.
Evie speaks to Socio-Cultural Teaching Fellow in Physical Education, Sport and Exercise sciences at The University of Otago, Sebastian Potgieter about Israel’s place in international sporting competitions.
And finally, Joel speaks to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science, and geologist, Phil Shane, about a new vent being discovered at Whakaari / White Island, which has resulted in various flights being delayed, and what this means for the volcano.
The International court of justice has found Israel guilty of implementing discriminatory racial segregation between Palestinians and Israelis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This year, Russia and Belarus were banned from the Olympics as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Despite this International Court of Justice decision Israel didn’t receive the same consequence.
This sparked backlash and questions surrounding Israel's participation in future international sporting events.
Currently, FIFA is set to make a decision on whether Israel will be allowed to compete in international football by the end of this month.
Producer Evie spoke to Socio-Cultural Teaching Fellow in Physical Education, Sport and Exercise sciences at The University of Otago, Sebastian Potgieter about what he expects from this decision. As well as why Israel was allowed to compete in the Olympics - and why their participation in sporting events has such a big political impact.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire host Caeden speaks to Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni about Labour MP’s Greg O’Connor’s comments on benefit sanctions and the funding cuts at Whaikaha, the ministry for disabled communities.
For States of the States, our segment focusing on the US election, they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the Democractic National Convention, including former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s panel, and Trump sharing AI generated images of Taylor Swift endorsing him on his social media.
And they speak to Layba Zubair about the upcoming candlelit vigil Thursdays in Black at the University is hosting to honour Dr Moumita Debnath, who was murdered earlier this month.
For City Counselling, our weekly catch up with Auckland Council, this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Auckland Council's Provisional Local Alcohol Policy and crime rates in central Auckland.
The Democratic National Convention is taking place in Chicago this week. The event is where Minnesota Governor Tim Walz officialy accepts the nomination for Vice President.
Former Aotearoa Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke on a side panel at the convention, organised by progressive think tank the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The panel also featured former prime minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson, MPs from Germany and the Netherlands as well as some US political figures, including prominent Democratic strategist Patrick Gaspard.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is under fire for posting AI generated images of pop star Taylor Swift on his social media platform “Truth Socials.” The images were of Taylor Swift wearing American red, white and blue while endorsing Trump for president. He captioned these photos “I accept.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the DNC and Trump sharing AI images.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden spoke to Carmel Sepuloni about Labour MP Greg Connor’s comments on benefit sanctions and the dismantling of parts of the Whaikaha.
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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