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.
The latest 1News Kantar political poll is out, and it puts National ahead at 39%, while Labour has dropped to 35%. It's the first poll since the 2022 Budget was announced. The Greens are also up, sitting at 10%, while ACT is down at 7%. Te Pāti Māori is currently on 2%. Labour saw strong support in the wake of the pandemic, with Jacinda Ardern being the face of New Zealand's Covid-19 response. So, why are voters moving away from Ardern and her party now? Christina spoke to Lara Greaves, a political scientist at the University of Auckland.
Aneeka caught up with the National Party's Dr Shane Reti for their regular segment. This week, they discussed crime prevention measures and New Zealand's relations with the Pacific.
We’ve all heard about three waters in the news, it’s something that has proven to be a topic of contention for many kiwis with conflict between local councils and the government dominating the headlines.
But there’s one thing that many kiwis still want to know, what is three waters?
The weight of not being fully informed on everything in this country was a heavy burden for The Wire’s Jack Horsnell so he put his investigative journalist pants on and jumped straight into the first page of google.
Jack Spoke Whanganui Mayor, Hamish McDouall and Waitakere Ward councillor, Shane Henderson to try and make sense of it all.
Marcus Jones joined the team live in studio for Dear Science. This week, Christina and Marcus discussed gun violence research in the US, monkeypox, and the science behind why yawns are contagious.
Aneeka spoke to the National Party's Dr Shane Reti for their regular segment. This week, they discussed crime prevention measures and New Zealand's relations with the Pacific.
Christina spoke to Lara Greaves, a political scientist from the University of Auckland, about the latest political poll results that put National ahead on 39%.
And Jack did an explainer on the proposed Three Waters reform. He spoke to Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall and Waitakere Ward Councillor Shane Henderson.
New Zealand has signed a partnership to work with California on acccelerating their climate goals as a means to reach net zero carbon by 2050. This announcement comes off the back of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit to the United States.
The Partnership will guide our transport policies, with the aim to have 30% of vehicles on the road running electric by 2035.
Trishil opened the piece by speaking to Climate Change Minister James Shaw about the partnership, the individual policies attached to them, and our trajectory for hitting our major climate goals as a result of the partnership. Trishil then spoke to Philosophy and Politics Professor Lisa Ellis from the University of Otago on the matter.
An international study has shown that some animals have managed to adapt and evolve faster than previously thought.
The New Zealand Hihi bird, which was researched by Dr Anne Santure as a part of the wider study, is an anomaly among the animals in the study, being a threatened specials with a 'low capacity to adapt' according to the Department of Conservation.
Trishil spoke to Dr Anne Santure, co-author of the study about the study parameters and the hihi bird.
The plant-based food market is due to get more funidng due to the governments Regional Strategic Partnership Fund. Charlie spoke with Emma Brodie, Campaigns Officer at SAFE, about the plant-based market, the shift away from the currently unsustainable dairy industry, and their new campaign 'Done With Dairy'.
Charlie speaks with our segment with OurActionStation is back. Valerie Morse from Zero Waste Collective discussed "Regeneration not Incineration".
Trishil speaks about the Climate Change Cooperation agreement between New Zealand and California. He speaks with Climate Change Minister James Shaw and Professor Lisa Ellis from Otago University.
Professor Nicola Starkey from the University of Waikato discusses with Charlie the long-term effects of mild traumatic brain injuries in light of a recently published study.
Dr Anne Santure from the University of Auckland School of Biological Sciences, talks with Trishil about her research into evolutionary adaptation and the Hihi bird.
Finally, Charlie speaks with SAFE’s Campaign Officer, Emma Brodie, about New Zealand's plant-based market funding and their 'Done With Dairy' campaign.
In collaboration with OurActionStation, we bring you this weeks petition "Regeneration not Incineration – for a Zero waste Aotearoa". Valerie Morse from Zero Waste Collective spoke with Charlie about the petition, the negative impact waste-to-energy incinerators will have in New Zealand, and the circular waste system.
Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can cause long-term mental health detriment according to a new study done by Auckland University of Technology and the University of Waikato. Charlie spoke with Professor Nicola Starkey, from the University of Waikato, about the study and what some people with concussion have been experiencing up to eight years later.
Consultation on Auckland Council’s proposed changes to Auckland’s dog rules opened on Monday and close on the 23rd February. Additionally, over the weekend, a large vegetation fire broke out on the slopes of Auckland's Māngere Mountain.
Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a major reshuffling of ministerial portfolios within the National party.
Among the most notable portfolio changes was handing over Dr Shane Reti’s role as minister of health to Transport Minister Simeon Brown and the appointment of Nicola Willis as Minister of the newly created portfolio of Minister of Economic Growth, a title formerly known as the Minister of Economic Development.
The cabinet reshuffle has led to concerns about the fate of Health NZ and Aotearoa’s healthcare sector, noting that Shane Reti had over 20 years of experience working in medicine, whereas Simeon Brown has none.
The reshuffle also comes shortly after a recent poll by the Taxpayers Union showed that National’s approval rating had fallen below 30%, the lowest rating they’ve received while in government since 1999.
For their Weekly Catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March about the Cabinet reshuffle and the implications it may have for the healthcare sector and economy.
They also discussed the government’s new free speech legislation for Universities and the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force.
Aotearoa has recently faced multiple wildfires across the motu, from West Auckland, all the way to Bulls.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Tom Rutherford about these recent blazes, and what needs to be done in the future to mitigate these events.
As well as this, they also discussed the country’s second highest ranking police officer: Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, being suspended amidst an investigation, as well as the recent ceasefire in Gaza.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Dr Cushla McGover chatted to us about lost photos being unveiled of a giant horned dinosaur, analysing for the restoration of a 2100 year old Alexander the Great mosaic, and cartilage similar to bubble wrap.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
The Eaton and Palisades fires, the two major fires making up the Los Angeles fires, are now the two most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The fires have sparked significant debate about insurance in high-risk natural disaster areas as thousands of Californians lost their home insurance not long before the fires.
And president-elect Donald Trump has returned to the centre stage of United States foreign policy in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
Trump has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada as well as reclaim the Panama Canal for the United States.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
As part of its submission on a Local Government New Zealand issues paper exploring electoral reform, Auckland Council has expressed its support for a four-year electoral term.
In exploring local government reform, the LGNZ paper also looks at public understanding of local government, public awareness of candidates and policies, and voting methods for local elections, raising questions about who’s responsible for improving these areas and what the future of local government voting might look like.
For the first interview of 2025, producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about Council’s LGNZ submission as well as Council’s general plans for 2025.
Submissions on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill were set to close last week, when on the final few days of submissions the portal to submit suffered technical difficulties.
Due to this, many people were unable to send in their submissions on time. Parliament made the decision to extend the submission period to make up for the issue. With thousands also handing their submissions in person.
The bill is estimated to have had more than 300,000 submissions prior to the original deadline, making it the most highly submitted on bill in history.
For the weekly catchup with the Green Party Evie spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the submission process.
They also talked about the contested Regulatory Standards Bill which has also recently come into the spotlight.
The submission period for the Treaty Principles Bill was due to close last week, however, due to mass amounts of last minute submissions leading to software issues, the deadline was extended to 1 pm on Tuesday, 14th January.
Similarly, the submissions for the consultation period on the regulatory standards bill ended yesterday, another bill primarily pushed by David Seymour and the ACT party that would change how the government processes legislation.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about these bills and how the party plans to operate in 2025.
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