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.
Former Green Party MP Darleen Tana has been under investigation and public scrutiny after allegations of migrant worker exploitation emerged at E Cycles, a business owned by Tana’s husband.
After the allegations surfaced, Tana was dismissed from the Green Party, but maintained her innocence, saying she had limited involvement in her husband’s business and that the allegations made against her were false.
In response, an independent investigation into the allegations and Tana’s involvement in her husband’s business was launched, which the Green Party released an executive summary of last week.
For their weekly catch-up, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March to discuss the executive summary, it’s findings, as well as Tana’s response.
A recent report detailing complaints to the health and disability commissioner about disability support services revealed that the sector suffered from inadequate care standards, poor management of resources and the abuse of those in care.
One of the suggestions made in the report was that better funding and staffing was needed to improve standards in disability care, based on complaints from workers in the sector that understaffing was impacting their ability to provide adequate care.
Oto spoke to Peter Reynolds, CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network to discuss staffing shortages in disability care, and the solutions needed to address it.
The United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, recently issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories was illegal, that Israel needed to dismantle its settlements and pay reparations to the Palestinians and that all ICJ member states should cooperate to bring an end to Israel’s occupation.
Oto spoke to John Minto, chairman of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, to discuss the ICJ ruling, as well as New Zealand’s responsibilities as a member state.
For their regular catch-up, Oto speak to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s executive summary of the independent investigation into former MP Darleen Tana.
He spoke to Peter Reynolds, CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network to discuss staffing shortages in disability care in wake of the Disability Commissioners report on abuse in disabled care.
He spoke to Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the US general elections and the role of party branding in the potential outcome.
And he spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to discuss the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Sasha spoke to Gehan Gunasakera from the University of Auckland about last week’s Global IT outage and the data sovereignty implications that should be expected of tech companies.
And he spoke to Juressa Lee from Greenpeace about a recent study which confirms production of oxygen on the ocean floor from metallic nodules and the importance of ending sea mining.
Just this week, US President Joe Biden announced his exit from the US general elections and abandoned his candidacy, amidst concerns from his own party regarding his age and cognitive abilities and a disastrous debate performance against his political adversary, republican nominee Donald J Trump.
After making the announcement, Biden announced his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the democratic candidate and urged his contemporaries within the party to do the same.
But with a mere 3 months until the finale of the US general elections, many commentators are discussing the next steps for the democrats, and whether or not they have the ability to compete with Trump’s branding and unanimous support from the country’s right-wing.
Oto spoke to Dr Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the next steps for the democrats and the role of party branding in the outcome of the US general elections.
During Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United States, he spoke to several leaders and figures about New Zealand’s relationship with the country. Particularly, he spoke about further aligning and the potential for Aotearoa to join AUKUS.
In response, former Prime Minister Helen Clark and her political rival Don Brash released statements criticising the move, particularly for its potential impact on Aotearoa’s relationship with China.
Wire host Castor spoke to Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland and Director of the China Studies Centre in the New Zealand Asia Institute, Stephen Noakes, about Aotearoa’s relationship with each of these countries, their value, and how it can be preserved moving forward.
On Wednesday the 17th of July, the government opened submissions on the second Emissions Reduction Plan.
The Emissions Reduction Plan outlines the steps the government intends to take to meet its emission budgets.
This second Emissions Reduction Plan will lay out the government’s climate plans from 2026-2030.
The plan includes initiatives such as setting a target of 10,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030, investigating carbon capture and storage, and improving organic waste and landfill gas capture.
However, the draft has received criticism from climate experts for not being ambitious enough in it’s initiatives to reduce emissions.
Producer Josef spoke with Ralph Sims, Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation at Massey University, about the draft plan and how he thinks the plan will impact Aotearoa’s emissions reduction efforts.
For more information on the plan and to have your say, you can go to consult.environment.govt.nz, submissions close on the 21st August 2024.
The final report from the abuse in state care inquiry is due to be published on July 24th at 4pm. The report will discuss historic and present issues of abuse in state care, particularly how it affects marginalised groups such as Māori, Pasifika, and disabled children and young people. The report will then provide a recommendation to parliament on potential policy or funding changes.
Additionally, last week, associate Health Minister and minister in charge of Pharmac, David Seymour, issued new instructions regarding the organisation’s focus. Particularly notable in the instructions were discussions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with Seymour
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the abuse in state care inquiry and the government's advice to Pharmac.
For Dear Science this week, we chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about plants not holding as much carbon as previously thought, low pressure making tea taste worse, and a giant millipede that was thought to be extinct.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the abuse in state care inquiry and the government’s recent instructions to Pharmac.
He also talked to Associate Professor of Politics and International relations, Stephen Noakes, about New Zealand’s relationship with China.
And he spoke to Professor Janet Hoek from the University of Otago about the implications of reducing the excise tax on Heated Tobacco Products.
And producer Josef spoke to Professor Emeritus Ralph Sims about the newly released draft of the second emissions reduction plan.
On July 1st, the excise tax on heated tobacco products (or HTPs) was dropped unannounced by fifty percent.
Speaking on the change, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello sez the reduction will help the government test the effectiveness of HTPs as a tool to help people quit smoking.
However, given Costello’s previous parroting of tobacco industry talking points, there are worries that this change could also be coming from industry backed research. In addition, the scientific research to support the use of HTPs is slim to nonexistent.
Wire host Castor to professor of public health at the University of Otago and co-director of the Aspire Aotearoa Research Centre, Janet Hoek, about heated tobacco products and the evidence to support them.
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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