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.
In a recent study conducted by Dr Janine Swail and Dr Susan Marlow, 16 female entrepreneurs shared their experiences with starting their company. We discussed the perceived flexibility of entrepreneurship for women versus the harsh realities they face.
Rachel spoke with co-author of the “Entrepreneurship: why women quit” study, Dr Janine Swail, about the perceived flexibility of entrepreneurship for women versus the harsh realities they face.
Following the revised budget plan for 2024, the government has allocated $191 million dollars over the next four years for early childhood centers. This marks a significant decrease in funding from previous years and has sparked concerns about the neglect of early childhood education.
Rachel spoke with Professor at the University of Otago, Alex Gunn, to discuss the implications of the lack of funding in early childhood education centers.
Rachel also spoke with the Excutive CEO of the Early Childhood Council, Simon Laube, to discuss their plans on how they will be assisting the early childhood centers and addressing the funding gap.
The National-led coalition government has recently confirmed they will be shutting down he waka eke noa, which was an agriculture emission plan set out by the previous government instead of placing agriculture under the emission trading scheme.
The current government has instead decided to create a pastoral sector group for agriculture with more details yet to come.
I spoke with Niamh O’Flynn from Greenpeace Aotearoa about how this will further worsen the climate crisis and what actions need to be taken to urgently turn things around.
For their weekly catch-up, Wire Host Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the recent March for Nature protests, changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme and the government spending $4 Billion on fixing potholes.
He also spoke to Eru Kapa-Kingi from the University of Auckland to discuss Te Pati Māori’s calls to establish a separate Māori parliament.
Wire producer Rawan spoke with Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington about the New Zealand defence force being part of US-led RIMPAC alongside several other countries including Israel.
She also spoke with Neeve O’flynn from Greenpeace Aotearoa about the government’s recent decision to take agriculture out of the Emision trading scheme.
Last Saturday, thousands gathered in Central Auckland for the 'March for Nature Rally' led by Greenpeace, to demonstrate their opposition towards the government’s Fast Track Approvals bill and other policies involving environmental conservation.
Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March was present at the rally, alongside many of his colleagues, and for their weekly chat, he and Oto discussed the implications of the rally and opposition to the government’s environmental policies.
They also talked about the recently announced changes to the Emissions trading scheme, as well as the government’s decision to invest $4 billion dollars into a fund to repair potholes.
The Budget 2024 announcement was responded to with an outburst of protests across the motu, held in opposition to numerous aspects of the coalition government’s policies but largely focusing on the dissolution of organisations and funding dedicated to improving outcomes for Māori.
Preceding the budget announcement, Te Pāti Māori announced calls to establish a separate Māori parliament to protect the interests of Māori, based on the Kotahitanga movement originating in the 1800s.
Oto spoke to Eru Kapa-Kingi, professional teaching fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland and Vice-President of Te Pāti Māori, to talk about Kotahitanga, the Māori Parliament and what that might look like.
MOTAT, or the Museum of Transport and Technology, recently opened a new exhibit, Te Puawānanga, aimed at engaging young people in science and innovation.
Wire host Castor took a look around the exhibit and spoke on-site to senior exhibition developer at MOTAT, Esther Tobin, about the exhibit and what it has to offer.
Following the Budget 2024 announcement two weeks ago, UNICEF Aotearoa has called for greater youth and family engagement in future budgets, highlighting the importance of youth voice and perspective in policy decision making.
Producer Elle spoke to the UNICEF Aotearoa Policy and Advocacy Manager Frances Cox-Wright about policy suggestions to reduce child poverty and involve youth voice in climate action.
This weekend’s march for nature saw 20,000 people gathering in Central Auckland to protest against the Fast Track Approvals Bill. Submissions closed just under two months ago, and the select committee is currently reviewing and proposing changes to the bill.
The bill has been quite controversial since its proposal, with debate from both sides of parliament and the public on whether the potential benefits outweigh the costs.
The ram raid bill, initially proposed under the previous Labour government, has equally been met with controversy, particularly for how it fails to address the core issues of youth offending, instead proposing prosecuting those as young as 12 years old.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the Fast Track Approvals Bill as it moves through the select committee process, and how the current government plans to handle the ram raid bill.
For Dear Science this week, Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about a genome in tiny ferns, a retracted Alzheimers paper, and investigating success and failure.
Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Tom Rutherford about the March for Nature, Fast Track Approvals Bill, and the Ram Raid bill.
He also spoke to Senior Exhibition Developer at Motat Esther Tobin about their new gallery, Te Puawānanga.
Producer Sofia spoke to the National Chair of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, John Minto, about the New Zealand government’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with regards to reinstating funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees.
And producer Elle spoke to the UNICEF Aotearoa Policy and Advocacy Manager Frances Cox-Wright about policy suggestions to reduce child poverty and involve youth voice in climate action, Following the release of Budget 2024 two weeks ago.
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.
95bFM 
