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.
A total of 149 projects have been selected for fast tracking through the government's new Fast-track Approvals Bill.
There’s a variety of projects on the list, in sectors including farming, infrastructure, energy, and mining.
The fast track approvals bill went through public consultation without a public release of the list of projects.
This meant the public didn’t have specific details when submitting on the bill.
Now the 149 projects on the list have been revealed, a number of environmental concerns have arisen over projects that were successfully opposed in the past.
Forest and Birds Richard Capie calls this an assault on Aotearoa’s democracy.
Producer Evie spoke to Capie about the list of projects and Forest and Birds concerns around them.
As the housing sector continues to be a pressing topic of discussion for Aotearoa, senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, says a conversation that doesn’t occur as often is one about the needs and aspirations for Māori and Pacific housing.
Producer Sofia spoke to Müller about how Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations differ from the current discussions we are having about addressing the housing crisis.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s education spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, on education unions opposition to charter schools, the reallocation of te reo Māori funding towards the maths curriculum, and the government’s new plan to lift school attendance rates.
For States of the States, 95bFM’s US election coverage, they speak to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the vice presidential debate.
And they speak to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council's progress on emergency response systems and the buyout scheme for homeowners impacted by floods
She also speaks to senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in Architecture and Planning, Dr Karamia Müller, about why Māori and Pacific housing needs and aspirations need to be considered on a wider scale.
Wire host Caeden spoke to University of Sydney’s Lisa Asher on the declined Foodstuffs merger and what it means for grocery prices and the supermarket duopoly.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the scaling down of upgrades to Dunedin hospital, The end of free covid tests and the recent sign off on speed limit changes.
He spoke to Paula Lorgelly from the University of Auckland for an expert opinion on the end of free COVID test provision.
He spoke to Julie Harrison, also from the University of Auckland to discuss a research project she was involved in examining costs for Kaumatua in elderly life care.
And he spoke to Clair Mills from Te Kupenga Hauora Maori to discuss the government’s directive to adjust health services to focus on need instead of ethnicity.
95bFM News and Editorial director, Joel, spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Brian Marsh, about rising statistics of violence in schools, and how this relates to the Covid-19 lockdowns.
And they also spoke to Professor of Health Economics at the University of Auckland, Paula Lorgelly, about Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello’s, tax cuts for Heated Tobacco Products.
Oto reached out to Paula Lorgelly, a professor of Health Economics and Population Health at the University of Auckland for an expert opinion on the end of Free Covid Test distribution.
From Monday this week onwards, Rapid Antigen Tests would not be provided from pharmacies freely and would instead need to be purchased directly from retailers.
A pack of 5 covid tests would cost $16.99 at Chemist Warehouse, for example.
Recently there has been a spike in reported violence within schools across the country.
In March, The Education Review Offices’ Education Evaluation head, Ruth Shinoda, discussed a report into the findings with RNZ, saying that New Zealand ranks amongst the worst for disruptive behaviour in classrooms, with this only increasing in the past few years.
In 2022, 29% of the total number of students stood down in schools were due to physical assaults on other students, with 3% being stood down for physical assaults on staff members.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Dr Brian Marsh, about this rise in violence, and how these rising statistics stem from students being in isolation during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Recent statistics have shown that the population of Aotearoa is steadily growing older, with the number of people over the age of 65 expected to hit 1 million by 2028.
In line with this, discussions have begun on how New Zealand’s healthcare system can be adapted to better accommodate for the ageing population of Aotearoa, particularly in the field of end-of-life care.
As such, a team of researchers from the University of Auckland and Waikato have begun a project examining the current state of palliative care in Aotearoa and how clinicians can help kaumātua and whānau to make better decisions.
Oto spoke to Julie Harrison, an Associate Professor in Accounting and Finance at the University of Auckland who is part of the study, to discuss her research and findings.
Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, is pushing for smokers to switch to Heated Tobacco Products, otherwise known as HTPs, as an alternative to other forms of smoking, for what she says is a part of a solution to try work towards Smokefree 2025.
The plan, which aims to get 7000 people to switch to HTPs, will result in a cut of 50% to excise tax to the products at a cost of up to $216 million.
Currently, tobacco giant, Philip Morris, owns a Monopoly of HTPs in New Zealand, which would mean that this company will solely profit off of the tax cuts.
Many are concerned that Costello is prioritising profits over actually working towards lowering tobacco usage within Aotearoa.
As well as this, Philip Morris’ HTPs, known as IQOS’ have recently been pulled from shelves over being classified as vapes, and therefore going against Labour’s vaping regulations, which require vaping products to have child safety mechanisms, as well as having removable batteries.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Professor of Health Economics at the University of Auckland, Paula Logelly, on Costello’s push for HTPs, and whether she believes that Costello is putting money over people’s health.
Around Mid September, the coalition government issued a directive to departments across the public sector to refocus the delivery of services so that they would be prioritised on the basis of need instead of race.
In line with this, the government scrapped a policy requiring government agencies to ensure at least 8% of their annual procurement contracts were awarded to Māori businesses, as well as a Hawke's Bay health initiative granting free GP visits to young Māori and Pasifika.
The decision has been criticised by experts and members of the public, who say that ethnicity focused initiatives are needed to address health and wealth gaps between certain ethnic groups and the wider population of Aotearoa.
Oto spoke to Clair Mills, A senior lecturer at Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, the department of Maori health at the University of Auckland, and a medical specialist trained in public and population health, to discuss why Ethnicity focused-health initiatives are necessary.
The Healthcare exec Brian Thompson was shot dead by a masked assailant last week.
The crime has gained significant controversy and attention online, with many using it to restart the debate on the inequities of the United States healthcare system.
And this week Yale University was the latest college to commit to divesting from weapons manufacturing after a student vote.
For State of the States this week Wire Host Caeden speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
The government as announced their plan for the Cook Strait ferry a year after they scrapped Labour’s plan, including cancelling the ferries the Labour government had ordered.
And a new report from the Ministry of Social Development has revealed nearly a quarter of beneficiaries are not receiving their correct entitlements.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
For City Counselling this week, producer Sofia caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about proposed time-of-use charging to solve congestion problems in Tāmaki and Council selling their remaining Auckland Airport shares last week.
The Green party recently released He Ara Anamata - the Green party’s emissions reduction plan.
The document covers more than 10 areas of the economy and energy Sector that a Greens-led government would be looking to adapt to minimise carbon emissions and protect the natural landscapes of Aotearoa.
It also comes 5 months after the government released their own draft emissions plan. Numerous experts pointed out that the government is behind on their own plan’s targets to meet the crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the party’s new emissions reduction plan and how they would address climate and the economy in a greens-led government.
Last election, one of the National Party’s main campaign promises was to be ‘tough on crime’, promising to increase police coverage and penalties for crimes. A target was set to increase the number of police officers by 500 by November 2025, however some police leaders today say this goal is unrealistic.
The government also announced this week some shakeups to insulation standards, which they say should make houses more affordable.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about police staffing targets and new insulation standards.
This week on Dear Science, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about what latrines teach us about people, climate variation affecting Chinese dynasties, and invasive species becoming threatened.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Last week it was revealed that two of the ten participants in the government's pilot bootcamp programme were on the run.
The youth were two months into the community rehabilitation phase of the programme, following the three month youth justice residence phase. Both teens were found in the weekend, but had allegedly reoffended, and are now set to come before the court.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, who have been heavily advocating for this programme, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about this incident.
She also talks to him about proposed changes to employment law which would give employers the power to dismiss workers earning over $180,000 without the employee refuting the decision.
And finally, she talks to him about David Seymour’s incumbent run as Deputy Prime Minister, which is set to begin in May of next year.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about changes to Auckland Transport’s responsibilities, nationwide bus and train fare hikes, and concerns over the opening of the City Rail Link.
For State of the States this week, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa'aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was due to be sentenced next week for three felony charges.
They also discuss Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, who is the latest in a long list of unorthodox picks for government positions from Trump
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