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.
This month is Disability Pride Month, a month-long event celebrating disabled communities. It began in the United States to commemorate the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990, and now celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, their culture, and contributions to society across the world.
The months aims to end the stigma of disability and ultimately change the way we think about and define the term.
Wire Host spoke to Sam Morgan from the Disability Persons Assembly about the month and what it means in an Aotearoa context.
They started by asking what Disability Pride Month means.
Last week the UK Labour Party won their election in a landslide result, giving the Tories their lowest election result ever.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to University of Auckland Global Studies Lecturer Chris Ogden about these results, including what led to them and what is expected to change in the UK.
Former Green Party MP Darleen Tana was suspended from the party after claims of migrant exploitation surfaced at a business owned by her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen, leading to subsequent allegations of Darleen’s involvement in, or awareness of the situation.
Tana announced her official resignation from the Greens last weekend, a move which Chloe Swarbrick and her contemporaries in the party had been urging since the allegations surfaced, however Tana still maintains both her and her husband’s innocence and has not yet resigned as a member of parliament.
Some experts have suggested that the Greens might subsequently invoke the “waka-jumping legislation”, a law requiring MPs to leave parliament if they switch parties, which the Greens have historically opposed.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March, about the allegations surrounding Darleen Tana and whether or not the party will invoke the waka-jumping legislation to remove her as an MP.
They also talked about Housing minister Chris Bishop's plans to boost housing development in Aotearoa with his new "Going for Housing Growth" policy.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s calls to former MP Darleen Tana to resign and housing minister Chris Bishop’s new legislation to boost housing development.
He spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystal from the University of Auckland to discuss a project she led assessing the impacts of extreme weather events on hospitals in the Pacific Islands.
And He spoke to Professor Sue Crengle, from the University of Otago, to discuss a project she was involved in with Te Whatu Ora to create a national cancer screening program in Aotearoa.
Rawan spoke with Debra Ashton from SAFE animal rights group about their interception of the proposal to build intensive chicken farms in Waikato
She also spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity network about the illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, what the government needs to do and solidarity rallies.
Pacific island nations, such as Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga are facing some of the worst impacts of the global climate crisis. With a landmass close to sea level, coastal population centres and limited economic development, many pacific island nations face frequent extreme weather events that they often struggle to recover from.
A group of researchers at the University of Auckland started a project to map out cyclone and extreme weather risks for hospitals and medical centres in numerous pacific island nations to assist in planning and recovery for future extreme weather events.
Oto spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystall, Research fellow at the Faculty of Science in Physics at the University of Auckland and leader of the project, to discuss her research and the impacts of the climate crisis on Pacific Island nations.
As the conflict in Gaza continues, the Palestinian death toll is surpassing 38,000.
Israel is also planning to go ahead with three illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Additionally, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon came forward yesterday to condemn Russia’s attack on a hospital in Kyiv, something that many are calling out as hypocritical amidst his silence on the bombing of hospitals in Gaza.
Producer Rawan spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa about what these illegal settlements are and what the New Zealand government can do.
She also discussed the Palestinian solidarity rallies and their continued importance.
Lung cancer is the largest cancer contributor to the life expectancy gaps between Māori and non-māori, being the leading cause of death for Māori women and the second leading cause of death for Māori and non-māori men. In spite of this, Aotearoa has no national lung cancer screening program at all, even though similar programs exist for Breast, cervical and bowel cancer.
To address this, a team of researchers at the University of Otago started a series of projects in collaboration with Te Whatu Ora to help develop a lung cancer screening pathway in Aotearoa, which they’ve called Te Oranga Pūkahukahu.
Oto spoke to study lead Sue Crengle, Senior Māori Health Researcher at the University of Otago of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha descent, to discuss the project and the impacts of lung cancer on Māori.
For Dear Science this week, Wire host Castor chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about fighting cancer with gold nanoparticles, trends in the melodies of popular music, and NASA’s Mars mission crew.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Sam Uffindell about the residential tenancies amendment bill and tolls on the roads of national significance.
He also spoke to Dayle Takitimu from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission about indigenous rights in Aotearoa.
Producer Elle spoke to the University of Auckland’s Tom Pearce about standardised testing in primary schools.
She also spoke to Massey University’s Professor Joanne Hort about New Zealanders’ use of spices.
The government is reviewing Treaty of Waitangi references across 28 pieces of legislation, with concerns that stronger obligations could be reduced to simply “taking into account” Treaty principles.
At the same time, New Zealand has signed a new Free Trade Agreement with India, while incidents of anti-Indian graffiti and political comments about Indian communities have raised concerns about rising anti-Indian sentiment in Aotearoa.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about proposed changes to Te Tiriti, the NZ–India Free Trade Agreement, and rising anti-Indian sentiment in New Zealand.
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.
The Prime Minister has survived the recent confidence vote, but questions remain about the stability of Christopher Luxon’s leadership and what that means for the government going forward. At the same time, inflation has come in higher than expected, rising 3.1 percent annually and 0.9 percent in the March quarter, adding to ongoing concerns about the cost of living. And in Wellington, severe flash flooding has once again raised questions about whether our cities are prepared for increasingly extreme weather.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these issues.
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.
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