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.
ACT MP Simon Court discussed ACT’s proposal for primary industries they announced at the Fieldays agricultural event and party leader David Seymour's comments comparing Palestine to Russia and China.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins also spoke to Palestinian New Zealander and descendant of Palestinian refugees Tameem Shaltoni and John Minto from the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about Seymour's comments.
Caeden spoke to Kay from We Back Our Kaiako about their upcoming protest in support of teachers.
They also talked to Jack from RainbowPath about the ramifications of the Human Rights Campaign's decision to declare a state of emergency for LGBTQIA+ people in the US.
And Nicholas spoke to Dr Kelly Garton from the University of Auckland about the impact of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme and the petition to extend it.
We Back our Kaiako is a new student-led group which has formed to support the teacher strikes. They’re based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and will be protesting outside Parliament on Wednesday to show their support of the Post Primary Teachers Association.
Caeden had a kōrero with their spokesperson Kay about why they’ve organised this protest and what their demands are. More info can be found on their instagram @backourkaiako
ACT Party Leader David Seymour has accused RNZ of “propaganda” and “Palestinian-friendly” framing.
These comments came after pro-kremlin edits were found in RNZ’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Palestinian New Zealander and descendant of Palestinian refugees Tameem Shaltoni. Shaltoni firstly provided some background into Israel's unlawful occupation of the West Bank. He also shared why Seymour's comments are concerning and his message to western media and political figures.
She also heard from John Minto from the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about his criticism of New Zealand and other western media's coverage of Israel's treatment of Palestine.
Spike speaks to Lisa Woods, Campaigns Director at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand, about the new Inspectorate report into Corrections' use of prisoner separation and solitary confinement, along with its impacts and repercussions.
Last week Simon spoke with Professor John Townend on the science of the Alpine Fault, and the probability of a large earthquake in the next 50 years. The AF8 roadshow is touring around the South Island to help communities prepare for a large earthquake. Alice Lake-Hammond is the programme manager of the roadshow. Simon began by asking Alice what the purpose of the AF8 roadshow is.
- Andrew Little about the new defence deal with Fiji
- Lisa Woods from Amnesty NZ about a new report into Corrections' use of prisoner separation and solitary confinement
- and a report on City Impact's "Christian Summit" event held this week, serving as a meeting point for far-right and evangelical groups going into October's election, featuring activists Byron C Clark and Hannah Blake
Simon speaks to:
- Councillor Shane Henderson for City Counselling about the budget agreement reached last week, and the sale of airport shares and rates rises
- Alice Lake-Hammond about the AF8 roadshow in the South Island raising awareness about a potential Alpine Fault earthquake
- and Senior Lecturer Bill McKay about the ongoing revitalisation of Queen St
Anyone who has visited Queen street lately will have noticed the sea of roadworks as Auckland Transport seeks to transform the street to being more pedestrian and cycle friendly. Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in architecture and planning at Auckland University. Simon spoke to him about how Queen Street can become a vibrant and user friendly space. Simon began by asking Bill whether the recent changes have worked.
This Tuesday, City Impact Church held what they dubbed a "Christian summit" on the "state of the nation", where multiple far-right groups and figures met to give speeches and push for a coordinated electoral campaign ahead of October's election. 95bFM obtained a recording of the event, and along with outlining what was discussed, Spike speaks to activists Byron C Clark and Hannah Blake about the state of the conservative/Christian extremist movements in Aotearoa, and what the meeting means for the far-right moving forward.
Currently out for consultation is Auckland's Future Development Strategy which sets out how the city should grow. Alex Bonham spoke to Councillor Angela Dalton, the Deputy Chair of the Planning, Environment and Parks Committee about how the proposed compact city strategy will reduce carbon emissions, shift development away from good soils and areas vulnerable to inundation, align investment on infrastructure, transport and housing so as to be most cost-effective and make the city more walkable, cyclable and vibrant at the same time. Anyone can give feedback at https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/future-development-strategy until 4th July.
Last week, the government’s annual budget announcement for 2025 was made, detailing how government spending would be allocated over the course of the year and the programs that would receive additional funding.
While an array of programs are set to receive funding increases, critics have alluded to funding gaps in a number of areas, such as: Environmental Conservation, Māori development and Housing, all of which have received some funding boosts while simultaneously seeing cuts in a number of key initiatives.
For our Weekly Catchup with the Green Party, I spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the party’s take on the Budget 2025 announcement.
The Budget for 2025 came out last week on Thursday, with news for the nation on how funds will be allocated over the coming year. While some of the budget announcements were new news, the government had staggered others over the previous few weeks. In the new announcements were changes to Kiwisaver and the Jobseeker benefit.
The Kiwisaver changes involved a 50% reduction in the government’s Kiwisaver contribution, from around $500 a year to around $250. To compensate, the government increased the minimum employer and employee contributions from 3% to 4%. While this means people will end up with similar or greater amounts of money in Kiwisaver, it also means people will have access to less money right now.
The Jobseeker changes were also announced in the budget, with further restrictions added for 18-19-year-olds applying for the benefit. 18-19-year-olds applications will now be tested against their parents’ incomes, restricting large groups from accessing the support.
These changes both appear to primarily affect young people. While the government claims to care so much about education and schools, they seem comfortable with taking support away from Aotearoa’s young adults as soon as they finish high school. In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the Kiwisaver and Jobseeker changes in this year’s budget.
In Budget 2025, private schools will receive subsidies increasing the annual spend by $4.6 million a year, to $46.2 million. As well as this, the annual spend on charter schools will double to $57 million.
ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, says that independent schools are an important part of New Zealand’s education landscape that offers diversity of choice for parents.
For our weekly catchup, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the additional support independent schools will receive, and how this will benefit the average taxpayer.
They also discussed changes to Jobseeker and emergency benefits for 18-to-19 year olds, as those receiving this benefit will now have their benefit tested against their parents income.
The move, which is set to come into effect in 2027, is estimated to impact almost 9000 young people.
They also discussed changes to Kiwisaver, where the government will halve subsidies and increase employer contributions to a minimum of 4% from 3%.
But first, they discussed the additional support for independent schools.
Last week, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced her ‘growth’ Budget for 2025.
In the Budget, multiple initiatives received a boost in funding.
Operational funding and capital funding for Māori education received a $54 million boost and $50 million boost respectively for Māori learner success, with a $14 million injection for Māori wardens, Pacific wardens, and the Māori women’s welfare league.
However, a variety of Māori initiatives have faced substantial cuts.
The Māori Development Fund has had $20 million cut over four years, $32.5 million has been cut from Māori housing initiatives, and $375.5 million cut to the Kāhui Ako programme.
Labour’s Māori Development spokesperson, Willie Jackson, claims that overall, in Budget 2025, Māori initiatives are seeing cuts of roughly $750 million.
For our weekly catchup, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about Budget 2025 and it’s impacts on Māori initiatives.
They also spoke about the debate on the potential suspension of Te Pāti Māori co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi, and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, being pushed back prior to the Budget debate.
As well as this, notably, during the Budget debate itself, both Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer were absent.
However, they first discussed the 2025 Budget and Māori initiatives
Last year, Auckland Council removed 30% of bins from public places with the hopes of saving about $9.5 million over an eight year period. While the council didn’t foresee an increase in littering, last week Stuff published an article sharing the frustrations of residents who observed a growing litter problem in council parks.
Illegal dumping has also been on the rise across Auckland.
With more than 1300 reports per month, the cost of retrieving illegally dumped items is about $2.7 million every year and rising.
Also Mayor Wayne Brown has announced that he wants to see Auckland become the “premier tech city” of New Zealand to boost our global influence and reputation—-- calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute here, which he says could play a key role in guiding new start-ups, so ideas don’t ‘die on the vine’.
Beginning with the problem of rubbish in Auckland, Producer Sara started by asking Julie Fairey if she believed the removal of bins was to blame for increased littering
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Yesterday the debate in the privileges committee regarding the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi was adjourned until after the upcoming budget announcement.
The Privileges Committee Report and recommended punishments for the three Te Pāti Māori MPs were issued last week for the Haka they performed during a parliamentary session in November 2024 in opposition to the ACT party’s Treaty Principles Bill.
In that same week, the Green party recently issued a call to the government to scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
And the government recently passed the Social Security Amendment Bill, which the government says would support people into employment and off benefits, however, opponents of the bill have said it could harm beneficiaries and lower income New Zealanders.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Just under two weeks ago the government passed the pay equity amendment bill under urgency. This bill would change existing pay equity legislation to make it more restrictive, which the government says will save billions of dollars.
The process was originally introduced to address issues of pay inequity between sectors. While the Equal Pay Act mandates that people working the same job are paid the same regardless of gender, Pay Equity is meant to ensure industries dominated by women are not paid less than similar industries dominated by men. The process has worked by allowing applicants to compare their positions with positions in other sectors with similar workloads, skills, or experience.
The government’s changes will limit the criteria for comparators, allow only industries with over 70% women in the workforce as opposed to the previous 60%, and removing the ability for the authority to award back pay, among other changes.
These changes have been met with criticism from rights organisations, advocacy groups, and opposition parties. In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government’s reasoning behind the Pay Equity Amendment Bill.
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