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 Government has recently announced their bringing forward of the Aotearoa border opening to the 31st of July.
This includes a newly implemented two tier system for migrant workers, allowing professional industry workers to gain permanent residency quickly.
As this pushes back other workers in industries with high turnover rates, the Migrant Workers Association of New Zealand have publicly condemned the new system.
Liam had a chat with Anu Kaloti from the association about their frustrations, first asking her to summarise the scheme new government scheme
As Covid restrictions ease, more employers are trying to lure their employees back into the office.
Dubbed ‘the Great Hybrid Return to Work’, employers have to make decisions on how to implement a working schedule that offers the flexibility that workers had over the lockdowns.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Dougal Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist from Umbrella Wellbeing, about what employers should take into consideration when figuring out a hybrid working schedule.
Recently in the news, we've seen an uptick of stories of youths committing crimes such as ram raids, burglaries and more. This has caused concern that New Zealand is facing a once-in-a-lifetime surge of youth offending.
However, statistics show that reported youth crime has dropped by about 65% over the past decade, and the narratives we often see in the media is shaped by reports that fail to contain information about the factors driving youth crime, or context on the overall statistics on youth offending.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Dr. Ronald Kramer, senior criminology lecturer at the University of Auckland about the media's portrayal of youth crime.
Yesterday Myeloma NZ called for Andrew Little to release the independent Pharmac report. Myeloma NZ regarded the report as buried due to it not being released yet. Joe spoke to Myeloma NZ Chief Executive Dr Ken Romeril, on the matter.
A recent study by a team of kiwi researchers surrounding the extinct eastern moa which has given fresh insights into how species react to climate change,. By simultaneously analysing millions of pieces of DNA from moa fossils, researchers could see how the moa changed their distribution as the climate heated and cooled. Joe spoke to Dr. Nic Rawlence, from the Paleo Genetics Lab at the University of Otago, on the subject
This week on the Thursday Wire! Our regular chat with Andrew Little is back. Tuva’a speaks to him about reducing the backlog for surgery wait times.
Joe will be speaking to Myeloma NZ about their calls for Andrew Little to release the independent Pharmac review. He also speaks to Robert Poulin from the University of Otago about the taxonomic and gender biases in the etymology of new species names, as well as Nic Rawlence from the University of Otago about how ancient climate change events impacted Moa’s.
Emilia will be speaking to Dougal Sutherland from Umbrella Wellbeing about how businesses can find the right hybrid working model, and she’ll also be speaking to Dr. Ronald Kramer from the University of Auckland about how the media is portraying this so-called youth crime epidemic.
Each new species discovered need a name, however, how do researchers or scientists come up with a name for a species? That’s exactly what a recent study from the University of Otago was looking to find out. Researchers looked at naming trends for almost 3,000 parasitic worms over he last two decades and found some interesting trends surrounding the naming process of new found species. Joe spoke to one of the authors of the study, Professor Robert Poulin from the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago, on the subject.
On this Wednesday's Wire, Stella spoke with Elise Whitson, shift supervisor of 0800 What’s Up about the state of our youth’s mental health as we transition out of the pandemic
Stella also spoke with Dr Trevor Gee, PhD researcher at UoA about how AI is being used to bring renewable energy to isolated communities in Aotearoa, and the trends of AI use in research.
Frances spoke with Cameron Mulgan on Eurovision, where they discuss the situation in Ukriaine and Putin's Victory Day Speech, the EU oil embargo, elections in Northern Ireland, the Swiss referendum on funding Frontex (the EU's border patrol) and EU tech regulations in the Digital Services Act.
Finally, Stella spoke with Fay Selby-Law, general manager of the National SUDI prevention coordination service about recent recent uncovering new information about sudden infant death.
A study from Victoria University shows artificial intelligence can be used to design better renewable energy systems and could offer remote communities cheaper options. It’s utilising what’s known as an optimisation algorithm. Stella spoke with Trevor Gee, a research fellow at the university of auckland in computer vision and AI, about the increase of using AI technology in research.
A new study from The Children's Hospital Westmead in Sydney has identified that babies who pass away from SIDS have a significantly lower level of a specific enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) that is imperative in the brain’s arousal pathways.
Stella speaks with Fay Selby-Law, General manager of the National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service about the implications of this research on the picture of SIDS in Aotearoa.
These past few weeks in politics have seen various issues that we spoke about in our weekly catchup with the National Party.
First up, at the Aotearoa Music Awards, National MP Chris Bishop was heard making disdainful remarks such as “what a load of crap” during a performance by singer Stan Walker.
Second, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngārewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recently suspended from parliament for 21 days for their haka protesting the Treaty Principles Bill. The penalty is far harsher than any previous penalty for an MP, raising questions about whether it is justified or sets a dangerous precedent.
Finally, the government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues in our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, starting with Chris Bishop’s comments at the AMAs.
The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP’s haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country’s history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days.
The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate.
During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden.
For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what’s next for the party.
They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters’ comments regarding Waititi’s moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did.
But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.
As per coalition agreements, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about Seymour’s new position, and what this means for the party.
They also discussed accusations Seymour made regarding submissions to the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In an interview with Guyon Espiner, Seymour claimed that 99.5% of the submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill were driven by ‘bots’ and were ‘fake’ submissions.
Seymour later clarified to RNZ that by bots, he was meaning “online campaigns” creating “non-representative samples” that do not represent the public’s opinion.
The Ministry of Regulations received roughly 23,000 submissions on the bill. Of the submissions. Of the submissions, 0.33% were fully or partially supporting the bill, with 88% being against the bill.
Finally, they discussed the recommended suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs’ Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke standing.
But they, we discussed David Seymour as Deputy Prime Minister.
Auckland Transport are seeking community feedback on a proposal for a new T3 transit lane on Mount Smart Road to relieve congestion during peak times heading towards the Royal Oak roundabout.
Between better public transport systems, a ‘time of use’ charge, and different ways of managing Auckland traffic, Producer Sara asks Councillor Julie Fairey about how Auckland Council hopes to reduce peak-time congestion as the city’s population grows.
She also talk to Julie Fairey about the recent allocation of funds to community-led projects through Ngā Hapori Momoho. This year, the grant which aims to “improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection” has approved funding for eleven community groups, six of which are either Māori organisations or delivering ‘strong Māori outcomes’.
Sara begins with questions about Auckland central congestion.
*unfortunately the audio quality on Julie's end is poor
Last week the government announced a series of changes to 16 national direction instruments under the Resource Management Act that would change the way councils implement local plans and rules.
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, described the changes as removing ‘unnecessary regulations’ for primary industries and investment, with the main changes being: removing freshwater management regulations for councils, removing regulations for the construction of mines and quarries and removing restrictions on non-intensive grazing of beef, cattle and deer in wetlands.
In that same week, Associate Education Minister, David Seymour made a series of changes to the pay parity scheme impacting primary school teachers, where education centres would not need to factor additional and higher qualifications when working out teacher’s starting salaries.
And, just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety minister Brooke van Velden recently announced that she’d be making a series of changes to WorkSafe in order to shift regulators priorities from enforcement to advice.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.
The Budget for 2025 came out two weeks ago, with news for the nation on how funds will be allocated over the coming year. The budget held big news for defence spending, $12 billion over the next four years, including $9 billion of new spending.
The funding is planned to go towards various technologies and equipment for different branches of the military, including replacements for two Air Force Boeing 757 planes and new helicopters to be operated from Navy ships. Defence Minister Judith Collins also announced plans to acquire new killer drones with increased lethality, raising some human rights concerns.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the defence spending announcements, concerns over killer drones, and if this money is best spent on more military equipment.
After years of discussion, Auckland Council’s Planning and Policy Committee have approved zoning changes for the city centre, which will see taller buildings and increased development capacity within the Central Business District.
Plan Change 78 sought to increase density and will see double height limits for most of the city centre, up to twenty storeys, unlimited building height for a small section, and the removal of limitations on floor plans to attract investment into a wider variety of building types.
With notification of this decision made tomorrow, the changes are expected to be included in the Auckland Unitary Plan to become operative in June this year.
As well, consultation is currently open in relation to the Western Springs speedway, of which Auckland Council voted in favour of last year based on financial underperformance.
The decision to keep the speedway, develop a new stadium or explore new opportunities for the space has been a hot topic in public debate, with figures like former All Black Sir Bryan Williams, Rich lister Anna Mowbray and her husband, former All Black Ali Williams chiming into the discussion.
Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson this week about both of these topics, starting with the future of development in Auckland’s central city.
From 9th June, the United Nations Ocean Conference is being held in France, which is co-hosting the event with Costa Rica.
More than 50 world leaders are expected to attend, with 1500 delegates from almost 200 countries.
The conference follows the world’s first deep-sea mining application for the international seabed, which was submitted to the United States government as opposed to the United Nations regulator.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga), seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace, about the conference.
95bFM 
