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.
Science has proven to be a key part of how Aotearoa’s society functions, but its importance isn’t reflected in the amount of funding allocated to research. Stella spoke with Dr Lucy Stewart, senior scientist and co-president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists about the recent budget's allocation of funding to research, and the intricacies of the research system.
Stella speaks to Dr Lucy Stewart about the state of the scientific research ecosystem in Aotearoa.
Trishil celebrates World Ocean Day by speaking to Associate Professor Travis Horton from the University of Canterbury about his research into Ocean protection with the use of satellite and drone technology.
Alex speaks with ACT party deputy leader Brooke Van Velden about the Government’s new Rural Health Strategy and ACT’s Housing Infrastructure Bill.
Stella speaks to Dr Lee Beattie about the walkability of towns in Aotearoa and the positive outcomes that can be achieved with programmes for active transport.
In April, Tuvalu's government reversed their decision to sponsor seabed mining in a huge win for environmental activists. Now, Greenpeace is delivering a petition to Parliament to urge politicians to ban the practice here in Aotearoa.
James Hita, a Greenpeace seabed mining campaigner, joined Christina live during the news hour to discuss the petition and what it means going forward.
In the wake of multiple deadly mass shootings in the United States, Christina did some research on the gun culture deeply entrenched in US society, as well as the political reluctance to introduce stricter gun legislation. Here is her report.
This week on the Wire, Christina and Jack did some deep dives on some hot-button topics.
In the wake of a string of mass shootings over the weekend, Christina looked into gun culture and gun control laws in the United States.
Jack looked into graffiti in Tamaki Makaurau. He spoke with graffiti artist CAPO, street art expert Dr Reuben Woods, and city councillor Shane Henderson.
Christina also had her regular catch up with Allan Blackman on Dear Science. This week, they discussed the imperial and metric systems, a super-reactive chemical that could change how we analyse the climate, and silk tags used to detect if medication is dodgy or not.
And finally, James Hita, a seabed mining campaigner from Greenpeace, called into the show to chat with Christina about a Greenpeace petition being delivered to Parliament on Wednesday.
In the past few months, following Auckland's long lockdowns, residents saw a boom in graffiti on public structures.
This has led to a lot of discussion about the artform, and its place in the cultural zeitgeist.
While everyone from artists to politicians to locals agree that graffiti on private residential property is vandalism, the conversation of painting on public structures like bridges and trains has been more divided.
Jack Horsnell spoke with Graffiti artist, CAPO, street art expert, Dr Reuben Woods and Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson to understand why this discussion is taking place.
One of the primary recommendations by the Royal Comission following the March 15 Christchurch mosque attack was the establishment of a new national intelligence and security agency.
However, this agency which would be named NISA, is yet to be created.
Casper spoke to Abdur Razzaq from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand about what this agency is and why community advocates are questioning the government’s hesitation on the matter.
The Clean Slate Act has recently been under discussion, as activists fight for the scheme to be extended to those who’ve been imprisoned.
The scheme currently allows criminal records to be sealed, drastically assisting former criminals with getting employed, becoming a tenant and getting a mortgage.
The scheme currently does not apply to those who've been imprisoned within their lifetime, instead focusing on those who have paid fines or undergone other forms of punishment.
To learn more about the scheme and how it could be changed, Liam spoke to Liam Martin, a Criminology professor at Victoria University of Wellington.
We've got a nice range of climates stories, policy discussions, and more to end off The Wire this week!
Casper talked to Auckland city counsellor Pippa Coom about Phil Goff’s proposed climate action budget.
Liam spoke to Liam Martin from Victoria University of Wellington about the Clean Slate scheme.
Casper also spoke to Abdur Razzaq from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand about the delay of a recommended intelligence and security agency,
Liam also had a chat with Professor Craig Stevens on the recently discovered Amphipod ecosystem under Antarctica.
And finally Casper spoke to Tom Kay from Forest and Bird about wetland preservation.
Nicola Willis recently took over responsibility for grocery regulation after recently appointed consumer affairs minister Scott Simpson identified a conflict of interest. Willis says she is interested in introducing a competitor to the New Zealand supermarket duopoly, though whether this competitor will come from overseas or internally remains to be seen.
Also in politics this past week are US president Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have had massive economic impact in the US and internationally. While New Zealand is minimally affected by the tariffs, our economy only recently exited a recession, so we may be in a position of vulnerability to further economic instability.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with plans to address the supermarket duopoly.
You can find the press conference referenced by Tom Rutherford here.
After months of hearings, submissions and debate, the Justice Select Committee has released its report into the Treaty Principles Bill, recommending that the bill not proceed.
The report found that of all submissions, nearly 90% were opposed, around 8% in support and just over 3% were unstated.
Despite this final damning backlash against the bill, David Seymour and the ACT party maintain that there is a place for the bill in Aotearoa, saying submissions often don’t reflect the majority view of the country.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie spoke to ACT’s Simon Court about the report, and what the ACT party intend to do next.
They also spoke about the tariffs imposed on trade by Donald Trump last week, and how the government expects them to impact New Zealand.
Finally, they spoke about an unfolding situation concerning ACT MP and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard. An RNZ investigation late last week found a potential conflict of interest between the minister and his sister who is the executive director of a dairy company. The investigation found that her company had lobbied against the minister's office introducing tougher regulations on baby formula.
Three Te Pāti Māori MPs, Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Rawiri Waititi, did not attend the Privileges Committee over their contempt of the House, following their haka in Parliament protesting the Treaty Principles Bill.
The party instead are planning on holding their own hearing regarding the matter.
Privileges Committee chairwoman Judith Collins, called the no-show “unprecedented” and has given the MPs “one final chance” to attend the hearing.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the party’s action, and why they are going about the hearing in their own manner.
We also spoke about the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act passing its final reading.
But first, we discussed the party not attending the Privileges Committee.
Last week, Green Party MP Tamatha Paul made comments about the police and the expansion of beat patrols in Wellington, saying they make a lot of people feel “less safe.”
The comments have been criticised by MPs across National, Act, New Zealand First, as well as Labour.
And Finance Minister Nicola Willis is seeking specialist external advice on what ways the supermarket duopoly could be restructured.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these issues.
Auckland Transport has announced another parking fare increase, pushing up parking across AT-managed lots 50 cents per hour.
They justified the increase as necessary to cover ‘rising operational costs’ and to cover the Auckland Council’s increased resource commitment to supporting Aucklanders with “issues like blocked driveways, footpaths, and clearways”.
As well, Auckland Council have voted to endorse the redevelopment of Eden Park, in favour of a new waterfront stadium — bringing the latest development in a long-standing discussion about the best approach to attract tourism and financial productivity to Auckland.
All they need now is the government to pitch in $100 million dollars to fund the project.
Producer Sara started her interview with Shane Henderson by asking why raising parking prices was the preferred option for covering council operational costs
Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested by the International Criminal Court and will be tried in the Hague for crimes against humanity.
This comes as the ICC faces criticism for other, more controversial current arrest warrants, including those against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria from Curtin University in Perth about Duterte’s arrest and broader issues facing the ICC.
BirdCare Aotearoa is a wild, native bird hospital that works to rehabilitate sick and injured birds back into the wild.
For their upcoming event: ‘Bird Heros,’ a part of EcoFest 2025 on the 6th of April, the workshop will look at the best practices on rescuing wild native birds, and will include a tour of their bird hospital, which is not usually open to the public.
For this week's Green Desk, Producer Leilani spoke to the Hospital Manager at BirdCare Aotearoa, Pooja Dorle, about the rehabilitation processes of birds within their hospital ahead of their next workshop.
Fellow Green Desk Producer Liam, and News and Editorial Director Joel, went to the previous workshop over the weekend, and spoke to the Chair of the organisation, Kevin Furgeson, and volunteer Marina, and had a tour of their facilities. Thanks EcoFest!
BirdCare Aotearoa also has a fundraiser running to shed light on seabirds affected by street lights and brightly lit buildings across the city, affecting their migration patterns and causing birds, such as the protected Petrels, Shearwaters, and Prions, to fall and injure themselves. To support their clinical rehabilitation practices, you can support their campaign on givealittle.
For a number of years, Aotearoa has been dealing with a shortage of psychologists and similar professionals to deal with the growing mental health needs of the wider population, with estimates suggesting that an additional 1,000 more psychologists are needed to fill gaps in the profession.
In response to the country’s growing mental health needs, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a new Associate Psychologist role, consisting of recent post-graduates, to work alongside fully trained Psychologists.
However, a number of Psychologists and experts have criticised the introduction of this new role, saying that these associate Psychologists may be expected to take on the responsibilities of clinical Psychologists despite being underqualified.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Dr Kumari Valentine, a clinical psychologist based in Dunedin, who’s launched a petition calling on the government to roll back the introduction of the new Associate psychology role and look to other methods of filling gaps in the Psychology profession.
If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:
Just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, Brooke Van Velden, announced sweeping changes to health and safety regulations for businesses that she described as “low-risk”.
Some of the changes involved: narrowing the focus of the Health and Safety at Work Act to risks only causing death, serious injury or illness, creating a hotline for the public to report “overzealous” road cone placement and reducing "tick-box and safety activities" such as psychosocial harm policies for small businesses.
Around this same period of time, Greens MPs Tamatha Paul and Benjamin Doyle received intense media and political scrutiny for comments they made at a university panel and on social media respectively, with the backlash towards Doyle forcing them to abstain from parliament this week.
The Greens recently issued a call to the government to scrap their proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, which involve recognising qualifications other than early childhood teaching qualifications, removing up to 74% of ECE licensing criteria and removing requirements for regular updates and family.
In their weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the party’s take on all of these issues.
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