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.
The government recently announced it would increase funding to the New Zealand Pharmaceutical agency, also known as Pharmac, by $604 Million over the next four years to fund the treatment of 54 new drugs, 13 of which are cancer treating medication.
The announcement comes after the government experienced widespread backlash when cancer treatment funding was left out of the annual budget announcement made last month, going against Nationals promise during the general elections to increase funding for cancer treatments.
For their weekly catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez-March to discuss the party’s take on the government’s recent announcement and decision.
They also talked about the government’s introduction of a new sentencing Category for Young Offenders and the implementation of check-in requirements for Jobseeker beneficiaries.
The environment committee has unanimously recommended that the Hauraki Gulf Protection Bill should be passed in its entirety.
This means that if parliament votes for this recommendation there will be 19 new protection areas in the Tīkapa Moana Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Many environmental organisations have welcomed this possibility and highlighted its importance.
Rawan spoke with Bianca Ranson from forest and bird about what this new bill would mean, why it is important and how it incorporates local iwi and hapu values.
On Sunday the government announced new measures to combat increased rates of youth offending. Along with increased police presence on Queen Street, they also promised the introduction of military style boot camps for youth offenders.
Military style boot camps have been implemented several times in Aotearoa, to minimal success. They have been met with criticism for their failure to address the root issues of youth offending, and the high rates of reconviction.
The government has also met recent criticism for its cuts in the public sector, particularly for ACT party leader David Seymour’s comments that more cuts should be expected.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the boot camps proposal and the impact of cuts in the public sector.
The government announced cancer drug funding on Monday, which was met with support from the Breast Cancer foundation, who say the funding will significantly benefit those currently struggling with cancer.
The announcement was met with some criticism, as it was a campaign promise for the National party last year, but was absent in last month’s budget. This led to some uncertainty around how the funding would be provided if at all.
Wire host Castor spoke to chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner about the funding, how it will benefit patients, and potential improvements for the future.
As part of their pledge to fund 13 new cancer drugs the coalition government has given Pharmac at least $600 million.
This is welcome news to the 330,000 patients that are currently on the waiting list for medicines on Pharmac’s Options for Investment List.
I spoke to the chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa about the current state of Pharmac’s process, funding and what other reforms are needed on top of the recent changes.
Patient Voice Aotearoa is a collective of patients, caregivers, whanau, advocates and charitable organisations that campaign for the rights of New Zealand patients.
I began by asking about the state of Pharmac funding prior to the developments.
For Dear Science this week, we chatted to Professor Allan Blackman chats to us about the environmental impact of green hydrogen, chimpanzees using drugs, and the 3 Nobel laureates born today.
Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Tom Rutherford about the government’s proposed military style bootcamps for youth offenders and public sector job cuts.
Castor also spoke to chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, Ah-Leen Rayner, about the government’s cancer drug announcements and what they mean for cancer patients.
Producer Elle spoke to the Chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa, Malcolm Mulholland about Pharmac’s recent funding for cancer medication.
Wire host Caeden spoke to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about last week’s Labour Party conference and scrutiny week in Parliament.
They also spoke to Kanak youth coordinator Viro Xulue about the struggle for decolonisation in New Caledonia.
They spoke to University of Auckland Lecturer Dr Emmy van Esch about the ethics of monitoring employees’ computers when they work for home.
And they spoke to World Vision’s Dr Olivia Yates about pacific migration due to climate change.
Producer Oto spoke to Dr Selena Shang from the University of Auckland about the government’s decision to remove agricultural emissions from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
He also spoke to Dr Jennifer Tatebe from the University of Auckland to talk about the impacts of urbanisation on rural schools.
For their weekly catch up, producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party's Simon Court about the government’s failure to deliver on the promised funding for cancer drugs, and the ACT party’s views on politicians involvement with Pharmac. They also talk about the party’s policy surrounding social media, as old concerns arise surrounding party leader David Seymour’s use of Snapchat.
Host Sofia speaks to the director for ActionStation, Kassie Hartendorp, about a new report by ActionStation called ‘Protect Māori Wards’ and the government’s proposal to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
Evie also caught up with Students for Fair Rent organiser, Matthew Lee, about the decision to end their month long rent strike at the University of Auckland, and what actions the group plans to take next.
And Sofia spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland about the global refugee crisis, in light of the United Nations Refugee Agency reporting 117.3 million people being forcibly displaced in 2023 - a record high.
The government has proposed to reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
This would mean if any council wanted to establish a Māori ward, and a petition that had been signed by 5% of people was presented, a binding referendum would have to be held.
Additionally, the bill requires that all the councils that created Māori wards since 2021 have to hold a poll about whether to keep them at the 2025 local elections, with the results of the poll to be binding and come into force in 2028.
ActionStation has released a report, ‘Protect Māori Wards’, which has gathered the stories of over 200 community members on their experiences of Māori wards.
Host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to ActionStation director, Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), about what the report found, why Māori wards are important, and the government’s proposed changes for Māori wards more generally.
At the beginning of May, advocacy group Students for Fair Rent, launched a ‘rent strike’ against the University of Auckland. This saw many students withholding their rent from their halls of residence.
Just over a month later a decision was made to end the strike. Now, still with no response from the University, the group is moving away from solely targeting the tertiary institution, and instead focusing on legislative change.
Producer Evie spoke to the groups organiser, Matthew Lee, who explains what happened over the course of the strike and what led to its end.
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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