Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
In her weekly catch up with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti, Milly speaks to him about Nationals propsal to ban phones in schools nationwide, how the National Party views Labour's decision to remove GST from fruit and vegetables, as well as discussing in depth National's most recent health announcement with the decision to fund 13 Cancer Treatment Drugs if elected.
This week on the Tuesday Wire Milly speaks to Adele Gautier from the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand on how the organisation feels about National's decision to fund 13 new cancer treatments, none of which include any of the 14 available Breat Cancer Treatments.
This week on the Tuesday Wire, the team are joined in studio by Davide Mercadante to speak all things science, Milly speaks to Adele Gautier from the Breast Cancer Foundation about Nationals latest cancer treatment announcement, Milly has her weekly catchup with Dr Shane Reti talking about cancer treatment funding, GST off fruit and vegetables and banning phones in schools nationwide, Lou also speaks to Emma Willis associate professor of Drama at the University of Auckland about theatre education funding.
This week on the Wire Lou spoke to Emma Willis, associate professor of Drama at the University of Auckland, about the importance of theatre education funding.
As part of 95bfm's election coverage on the local economy this week, Hanna spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about the party's economic policies.
Te Pāti Māori is campaigning on raising incomes, focusing on the lower end of the income spectrum. They plan to do this by raising the minimum wage, legislating for yearly increases to the minimum wage, universalising student allowance, supporting pay equity for Māori nurses and teachers, and supporting trade unions. Hanna spoke to Takutai about these policies, including whether they would push up costs and addressing Aotearoa's low-wage economy.
The party is also seeking to remove GST from kai. While the party has long campaigned on this policy, Labour introduced a similar policy two weeks ago to remove GST from fruit and vegetables. Hanna and Takutai discussed the differences between these two policies, namely administrative simplicity and paternalism, and responded to economists' critiques of such policies.
Researchers have shown that climate change and global warming could be contributing to an increased number of asthma attacks, due to increased pollen in the air.
Olivia spoke with Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Auckland Pharmacy School, Dr Amy Chan, about this issue and the need for a pollen monitoring system.
The ACT party has recently pledged to abolish cultural reports if they are elected. Cultural reports contain background detail about the offender, which Judges refer to when determining the length and type of sentence.
Olivia spoke with Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dylan Asafo, about the potential harmful consequences of abolishing these reports.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins reports on the new Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission that MPs voted to establish, speaking to Establishing Board Chair Don Mackinnon and InsideOUT Kōaro Managing Director Tabby Besley.
She also spoke to Dr Amanda Kvalsvig from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago about how New Zealand could be permanently free of meningococcal disease.
Beth spoke with Co-Director of the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa Professor Nick Wilson from the University of Otago about the lasting impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle six months on.
Olivia spoke to Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Auckland Pharmacy School Dr Amy Chan about how climate change could be contributing to an increased risk of asthma attacks.
She also spoke to Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland Dylan Asafo about how ACT’s pledge to abolish cultural reports could negatively impact our criminal justice system.
Parliament has backed legislation that will create a new independent entity to strengthen and protect the integrity of sports and recreation in Aotearoa.
The Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission will begin on 1 July next year and focus particularly on the well-being of participants.
First, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Barrister and Board Chair responsible for establishing the Commission, Don Mackinnon, about its purpose.
MPs also voted on an amendment that ensures representation from the rainbow community, which will be included in the legislation.
She also spoke to InsideOUT Kōaro Managing Director Tabby Besley about rainbow representation on the Commission.
Meningococcal is a potentially fatal but preventable contagious disease caused by meningococcal bacteria.
According to some infectious disease experts, eliminating the deadly disease is potentially an achievable goal for Aotearoa.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago Dr Amanda Cals-vig about how New Zealand could become permanently free of this disease.
Last week, the council’s Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Committee said they would be seeking to implement a number of recommendations that improve emergency readiness for disabled populations.
Following a hui last year where community members were invited to bring forward issues relating to future planning for natural disasters, Sara was interested to hear about how the council is taking suggestions on board.
As well, Auckland Council has been considering proposals to mitigate flood risks around the Wairau catchment, including one which would see the reduction of the size of the Takapuna Golf Course, to convert the space into a flood catchment.
Producer Sara spoke to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson on both of these topics, firstly by asking him to discuss the desired outcomes relating to emergency preparedness for disabled people, and the council’s first steps to implementation
Zohran Mamdani has all but won the Democratic Primary in New York City after key competitor Andrew Cuomo conceded the race.
Mamdani will now be the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor.
His campaign was built on cost-of-living, where Mamdani presented himself as an authentic, Democratic Socialist, grassroots campaign leader.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to 95bFM reporter and South Asia correspondent Sanat Singh about Momdani’s win, what this means for the communities he represents, and where to from here.
A reported 131,000 submissions were made on the Regulatory Standards Bill.
The Bill, proposed by the ACT party, includes a set of principles outlining “responsible regulation.” Notably, it does not include any mention of either version of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Last weekend, hundreds of Destiny Church members marched on Queen Street in a rally that they called “in defence of faith, flag, and family.”
And the Labour Party has criticised the framing of a poll question by the Taxpayers Union/Curia on whether or not Cook Islanders should retain automatic New Zealand citizenship.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Recently the Green Party commissioned independent legal advice to look into the government’s $200 million investment in new gas fields that was carried out last month and found out that the investment was in breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS).
NZ First MP Shane Jones recently announced that he’d be drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement, which would prevent hapū from negotiating separate commercial redresses and remove any reference to hapū sovereignty from the settlement terms.
And the Green party recently issued a call to the New Zealand government to condemn the US strikes on Iranian Nuclear facilities, almost a week after Iran and Israel had both been trading missile strikes between each other.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke with MP Hūhana Lyndon to get the party’s take on all of these issues
Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the nationwide census moving forward. The census is the largest statistical survey done in Aotearoa, and provides the bulk of population data used in research and decision-making. Reti says the census is “no longer financially viable” and will be replaced with a combination of smaller annual surveys and administrative data.
While the change looks good on paper, there are concerns around how the change in data collection could affect representation of marginalised and minority groups. Census data tends to be more protected from bias than administrative data and smaller surveys, meaning there are more opportunities for misrepresentation. Some statisticians are particularly concerned about the potential exclusion of marginalised rural communities.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about the census decision and its implications on marginalised and minority groups.
Associate Health Minister, David Seymour, has recently announced changes to Psilocybin and Melatonin availability.
Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, will be available for certain patients suffering from poor mental health outcomes. Melatonin, which is used for insomnia and jetlag, is set to be available over the counter.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move, and the potential accessibility concerns with accessing these medications.
They also discussed taxpayers set to be funding newly-funded cancer medicines for private facilities.
Finally, they discuss opposition parties criticised Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, over a lack of transparency regarding the effectiveness of boot camps for youth offenders, especially as boot camps have received a boost of $30 million, despite the pilot programme still being ongoing.
But first, they discussed Psilocybin and Melatonin.
Last Saturday, over 2,000 protests took place across all 50 American States against President Donald Trump.
The protests coincided with Trump’s birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and they served as a direct response to the military parade in Washington, DC.
The organisers of the protests say they aimed to reject “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Jeremy Pressman, Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut about the protests and the backlash towards them from the Trump administration.
Housing intensification is a key priority for Auckland Council as Auckland's population is forecast to reach 2.3 million by 2050.
But as planning for growth continues, some Auckland residents have expressed concern about the approval of developments in areas on flood plains or particularly prone to natural disasters.
With Kāinga Ora selling homes as ‘high risk investments’ in areas which were impacted by flooding in recent years, and 15 percent of all granted consents for new builds by Auckland Council being on floodplains, I spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about how the council is taking into account these issues for the coming years.
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