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.
Last week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that New Zealand would reinstate its annual payment of $1 million to the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
This comes after the government stopped funding to the agency in January over accusations by Israel that the agency’s staff were involved in Hamas' attacks, of which reports later found Israel failed to provide evidence for.
The UNRWA is the United Nation's largest agency operating in Gaza and is the main humanitarian provider for Palestinians under Israeli bombardment.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to 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 this reinstated funding.
She started their interview asking him about the role of the UNRWA.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Caeden kōrero about the Budget and what more the opposition can be doing for Palestine.
For City Counselling they talk to Councillor Lotu Fuli about Māori Wards and renewed discussions for a national stadium in Tāmaki Makaurau.
And they speak with 350 Aotearoa’s Adam Currie about an oil conference happening in Taranaki next week.
Joel spoke to National PSA Organiser, Ashok Shankar, about a report into mental health challenges and addiction challenges, and what this means for the mental health and addiction workforce.
Caeden and Joel will also kōrero about their recent excursion to Canada for the Vote16 National Conference
Despite years of requests from tertiary education providers, workers, and students, the government’s budget announcements did not grant any new funding to support the country’s universities. The government also delivered on its promise to move the first year fees free policy to the last year of people’s degrees.
Producer Castor spoke to one of the National Presidents from the Tertiary Education Union, Julie Douglas, about what the lack of support might mean for tertiary education, how the fees free change will affect students, and how the sector will adapt moving forward.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Director at Kick Back, Aaron Hendry, about 20+ organisations coming together to urge the government to cull the Ram Raid Bill.
They also spoke to Greenpeace Aotearoa Programme Director, Niamh O’Flynn, about this weekend's March for Nature protests.
And Producer Castor spoke to one of the national presidents from the Tertiary Education Union, Julie Douglas, about budget announcements and how they will impact the tertiary education sector.
Over the weekend, 20,000 people protested along Queens Street against the government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill and other legislation that they have deemed ‘a war on nature’.
Joel spoke to Greenpeace Aotearoa Programme Director, Niamh O’Flynn, about the protests, and what the organisation are hoping for in the future.
A collective of over 20 organisations have joined to deliver an open letter and petition to Parliament on the 26th of June, urging the Government to get rid of the Ram Raid Bill.
These groups are advocating for an alternative approach to tackling youth offending rates, by ensuring all political parties in Parliament work together, using grounded evidence and being informed by lived experiences to reduce these statistics.
I spoke to the Director of Kick Back, a youth development and advocacy organisation and a member of the collective, Aaron Hendry, about this petition.
The Public Service Association (PSA) has called for a meeting with Mental Health Minister, Matt Dooecy, regarding a mental health and addiction report released yesterday.
The report shows significant problems workers are facing when it comes to caring for individuals with moderate to severe mental health challenges and addiction challenges.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to National PSA Organiser, Ashok Shankar, about what the report shows about the mental health and addiction workforce.
Last Thursday, the coalition government revealed its annual budget for 2024.
While the announcement highlighted the government's efforts to lower income tax and expenditure, the budget came under fire from many for what they say were cuts that would put our public services under even greater pressure, and created disappointing outcomes for Maori and marginalised communities across Aotearoa that failed to uphold the government’s obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez-March to talk about budget 2024, with a specific focus on the areas of: Environmental Conservation, Tax and Te Tiriti obligations.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the recent Budget 2024 announcement, specifically regarding the areas concerning the Environment, tax and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
For this week’s Get Action! Oto also spoke to President of the Criminological Society at Otago University Clara Donne about a petition to the government to roll back Youth Offender Boot Camps
Producer Rachel and Joel spoke to Coordinator of Peace Movement Aotearoa, Edwina Hughes, about the allocation to the military in the 2024 Budget.
They also spoke to Coordinator of Auckland Action Against Poverty, Brooke Stanley, about cuts to public services and social support in the Budget.
In the Government’s 2024 Budget, over FIVE BILLION dollars has been allocated to military spending.
Despite this being a slight decrease from the actual number spent on the military over the past few years, this still equates to over ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN MILLION per week.
Producer Joel spoke to Coordinator of Peace Movement Aotearoa, Edwina Hughes, about the 2024 Budget and her thoughts on the money allocation to military services as opposed to other services.
They started off by asking her how much the military has been allocated in previous years.
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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