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.
BNZ’s latest research into New Zealand’s scam savviness has shown that Nine out of Ten Kiwi’s have been targeted by scams.
This number is up 13% on last year, but fortunately the research also found that only one out of ten Kiwi’s have actually fallen victim to a scam.
BNZ’s research coincides with the beginning of their Scam Savvy Week, in which the bank raises awareness around scams as well educating the public on tips and tricks to avoid being duped.
Nicholas spoke to Ashley Kai Fong, the head of BNZ’s Financial Crime unit, about tell-tale signs of common scams as well as the upcoming resources provided during Scam Savvy Week.
University of Auckland Senior Lecturer for Biological Studies Dr Brendon Dunphy has spent the last 10 years studying seabirds as oceanic indicators of climate change. Wire producer Rosetta spoke to him about his research and findings.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT party Rawan spoke with Simon Court about ACT’s recent pledge to make changes to judge sentencing policies, and where they stand on National's phone ban proposal.
Host Caeden spoke to Glen Barclay, Chair of Tax Justice Aotearoa, as well as Economist and Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson Susan St John about Labour's tax policy announcement.
Ash spoke to Able CEO Dan Buckingham about the launch of their new app Earcatch.
And for Tomorrow's World Leilani and Rawan spoke to Girl's on Ice Director Lauren Vargo about their upcoming expedition for 15 to 16-year-old girls.
At the post-Cabinet press conference held yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced that the last masking mandate and isolation requirements would be lifted starting overnight.
Lou spoke to Professor Siouxsie Wiles, microbiologist and associate professor from the University of Auckland, in regards to the Government’s announcement to drop the mask mandates and isolation requirements.
Last week, the commmerce COmmission Komihana Tauhokohoko released it's Preliminary Issues Paper, and found that Aotearoa's banking sector has persistently high profitability compared to banks overseas.
Wire producer Rosetta spoke to Kassie Hartendorp, Director of ActionStation, about what she believes the Government should be doing to combat the cost of living crisis through taxing cooperations and banks.
Last week, the NZSIS released it's New Zealand Security Threat Environment report for 2023, outlining what the government sees as the biggest threats to Aotearoa's domestic security. The largest threats were outlined as violent extremism, foreign interference, and espionage.
Wire producer Rosetta spoke to Dr William Hoverd, associate professor at Massey University, about the NZSIS report, and what he believes are the risks involved with publishing potential security threats to the public.
Able is New Zealand's leading provider of media access services. Today is the launch of Able’s new app Earcatch.
Earcatch will provide blind and low-vision New Zealanders all-time access to synced audio description through wide streaming media platforms such as TVNZ.
Ash spoke to Able CEO Dan Buckingham about the app and what Earcatch will mean for Aotearoa’s blind and low-vision community.
The Labour Party announced their tax policy over the weekend. It included policies like dropping GST off fruits and vegetables and changes to Working for Families.
The Policy has received some support, but several organisations advocating for the eradication of poverty and tax reform say it does not go far enough to address the wealth gap in Aotearoa.
Caeden spoke about this with Glen Barclay, Chair of Tax Justice Aotearoa and the Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign which is a coalition of 20 organisations aiming to work for better taxes to grow revenue and have a fairer tax system.
They started by asking Glen if Labour’s announcement is fair tax policy.
Caeden also spoke to economist Susan St John for the Child Poverty Action Group’s position on the announcement. As they have been quite critical of it, they started by asking what the issues were.
The government recently announced a partnership with BlackRock, an American multinational investment company. BlackRock will invest two billion dollars into green energy, aiming to achieve one hundred percent renewable energy.
Olivia spoke to Climate Justice Taranaki researcher, Catherine Cheung, about their concerns with this deal and possible alternatives.
Concerns have been raised that Aotearoa’s social welfare system has problematic aspects that contribute to hardship, such as the continuation of repayable grants that are taken from people’s benefit, which advocates say are already too low.
Olivia spoke to Auckland Law School’s Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Equity, Hanna Wilberg, about the issues with our current system and where people can go for help.
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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