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.
On this week's installation of Eurovision, Emilia Sullivan chatted with our European Correspondent Cameron Adams about Ukraine, Domino’s Pizza leaving the Italian market, and more.
Parliament grounds have been cleared, and the grass will regrow, but the disinformation networks behind the protests remain. This is how disinformation researcher Byron Clark described the aftermath of March’s parliament occupation.
In a new journal article, Clark reflects on the media’s role in the occupation, from far-right networks such as Counterspin, to mainstream platforms such as Newsroom and Newstalk ZB, and urges journalists not to ignore disinformation networks, but to investigate them and analyse the role they are playing in our contemporary ‘post-truth’ world.
Emilia spoke to Byron Clark about his article, which is linked below
A new study shows that rising sea temperatures are pushing sperm and blue whales into Southern waters.
The research, which is the collaborative effort of four universities, including The University of Canterbury and Massey university, suggests impacts on ecosystems and tourism could be significant.
Emily spoke with Massey University marine ecologist and research co-lead Dr Karen Stockin.
Emily spoke with Co-Director of The University Of Auckland’s centre for Asian and ethnic Minority health research Dr. Roshini Peiris-John about the challenges faced by Asian New Zealanders in accessing health services.
To discuss welfare policy for rangatahi on a wider level, in response to not just the National party’s recently announced plan but welfare proposals from across the political spectrum, Casper spoke with Zoe Hawke from E Tipu E Rea.
Over the weekend the National party announced their latest policy plan to shift young people off of the jobseeker’s benefit.
The policy includes the provision of dedicated job coaches to beneficiaries, a thousand-dollar bonus for young jobseekers who enter into and stay in work for a full year, as well as potential sanctions for those who fail to follow their prescribed plan.
For Casper'[s weekly chat with National party MP Dr. Shane Reti, he asked him about the policy, how it proposes to help young beneficiaries and how exactly it might function.
This week on the Tuesday Wire Casper spoke to Dr. Shane Reti from the National party and Zoe Hawke from E Tipu E Rea about Welfare policy the National party’s young jobseeker plan.
Emily spoke to Dr. Roshini Peiris-John from the University of Auckland about the challenges faced by Asian New Zealanders in accessing health services.
As well as Massey University marine biologist Dr Karen Stockin about the link between climate change and the movement of whales.
An analysis of ten years of data has found low English literacy rates in Pasifika students are a key predictor of exclusion from school. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of literacy on educational outcomes and the possibility that greater investment in support for Pasifika students in order to end persisent disparities for students.
Joe spoke to Stephen Agnew, a Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Canterbury, on the matter.
Joe speaks to Steven Agnew, a senior Lecturer from the University of Canterbury about ending persistent disparities for Pasifika students in regards to literacy skills. He also speaks to Katie Pickles, a Professor of History from the University of Canterbury, about Jane Goodall joining Barbie’s ‘inspiring women’ series and how this ties in with Barbie being an antithesis of feminism given the company’s controversial representation of women.
Liam will be chats to Michelle Johnstone from the Amalgamated Workers Union about dangerous housing conditions for migrant workers, as well as Rober Patman from the University of Otago about the United States Senate passing a major democrat climate and health package.
Tomorrow’s World is back! Isla and Stella speak to Keoni Mahelona from Te Pūnaha Matatini about using machine learning to revitalise Te Reo Māori.
New reports show migrant horticulture workers are enduring dire housing conditions, seeing upwards of six men a week in a single motel room that are each charged 150 a week. The accommodation has been detrimental to the workers physical health, with one worker reporting his illness wasn’t taken seriously unless it required hospitalisation. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner has recently investigated the conditions, calling it blatant economic exploitation.
To learn more, Liam spoke to Michelle Johnstone from the Amalgamated Workers Union about the conditions.
Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.
In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025.
However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.
And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
In 2014, Victoria University of Wellington made an official promise to divest $650,000 worth of investments in fossil fuel companies which, at the time, comprised of 2.1% of the University’s total investments.
However, more than 10 years on, a student-led investigation found that the university still held significant investments in companies like Exxon Mobil and SHELL through third-party investment managers.
A year after a successful petition by Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling on the university to divest funding from Israeli companies, a group of students from Climate Action Victoria University of Wellington have made renewed calls to the university to divest from fossil fuel companies.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Hugh Acton, a member of Climate Action Victoria of University of Wellington, who’s launched a petition calling on the university to disclose their investments in companies involved in fossil fuel production and to divest from them immediately.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
National Party MP Catherine Wedd recently filed a private members bill that would look at restricting social media use for young people, mainly those under 16. While the bill has received some criticism from the ACT party, other parties such as Labour have agreed that legislation around this issue is important.
At the end of April New Zealand First MP Jenny Marcroft put forward a private members bill forward that would seek to define the word ‘woman’ in New Zealand law. The bill was received with criticism from opposition parties and the general public, who say the bill is drawing on transphobic sentiments to distract from more important issues.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with the potential social media restrictions.
Last week, the controversial Pay Equity Amendment Bill passed under urgency.
The bill makes drastic changes to the Equal Pay Act 1972, making the criteria for equity claims stricter, and could can the 33 existing claims, affecting 150,000 female workers.
The passing of the bill has faced significant opposition from the Labour Party, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori, over concerns this bill would set women back, and resulted in nationwide protests.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the passing of the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and how this would impact marginalised communities.
They also spoke about the Ministry of Education releasing the draft relationships and sexuality education, or RSE, framework, for students years 0 to 13, and the party’s concerns regarding this.
But first, they discussed the Pay Equity Amendment Bill
The ACT Party has defended the Government’s controversial move to pass changes to pay equity law under urgency — a move that immediately halted all current claims and raised the bar for future ones. The Government argues the new rules will provide more “clarity” and prevent costly legal disputes, while unions and advocates say the bill is a rollback of hard-won gains for women in low-paid sectors.
Critics also slammed the lack of consultation and the speed of the legislative process, while questions are raised over whether the move was made to plug a hole in the upcoming budget. For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about why ACT supports the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and whether it risks undermining efforts to close the gender pay gap.
They also discussed a National Party member’s bill that would ban under-16s from using social media — a proposal ACT has declined to back for now. National says the ban would protect young people’s mental health, while ACT argues it raises serious questions about freedom of speech and parental responsibility.
International relations experts are fearing a major conflict between India and Pakistan after sharp, escalating tensions, following a deadly terrorist attack in militarised Kashmir that killed 26 people.
Kashmiris have a long history of oppression. In modern times, this has been as India and Pakistan fight over the region while Kashmiris fight for independence.
Human Rights Watch reports on Kashmir reveal examples of forced displacement, sexual violence, disappearances and allegations of torture and death in custody.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Rohan Davis about the recent terrorist attack and ongoing military escalation, as well as the historical and political context of the Kashmir crisis.
Davis is a video essayist on YouTube from Kerala, India, who covers Indian history and politics.
The government has changed pay equality laws, halting all existing claims and reducing the number of workers who can argue for better pay based on gender discrimination.
New figures show the unemployment rate has remained unchanged from last quarter at 5.1%.
And National has put forward a member's bill proposal that would ban social media for under-16s.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Earlier this week, defence Minister Judith Collins announced that $2 billion would be set aside in this year’s budget to replace the Defence Force’s maritime helicopters.
This would be outside the additional $12 billion dollars that the government will be investing in the Defence Capability plan and would include another separate $1 Billion investment in the defence force over the next four years.
In that same week, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith recently announced that Cabinet had reinstated a total ban on prisoners voting in general elections, overturning laws under the previous Labour government allowing prisoners serving less than three years to vote.
And Green Party MP Steve Abel recently added The Animal Products (Closing the Welfare Gap) Amendment Bill to the biscuit tin, which would ensure that imported products in New Zealand met our animal welfare standards.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Greens MP Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss all of these issues.
Winter is coming, and so is a projected increase in respiratory illnesses and COVID cases. Schools are particularly notorious breeding grounds for such diseases with children being more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.
Ultimately, this results in teachers also being subject to COVID and respiratory illnesses at a higher rate than other professions, and an increased number of teachers leaving the profession due to long COVID symptoms is worsening Aotearoa’s already severe teacher shortage.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Tara Forde from Aotearoa Covid Action, to discuss a petition of hers calling for the government to prevent the spread of COVID in our schools by making improvements to school air quality and improving accessibility to Booster Vaccines and Rapid Antigen Tests.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
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