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.
Today's show starts off with a conversation with ACT’s Brooke van Velden about the government’s announcement that they are gathering information on tax intake.
Alex then speaks with Andrew King, president of the NZPIF about how the property “slow down” might affect the rental market and what the NZPIF suggests to ease the rental crisis.
Stella follows, chatting with Heather Lewis, National Leader of Mathematics Interventions about why we are comparatively bad at maths as a country
Alex then sits down with Ellen Rykers of Forest and Bird about korora conservation in New Zealand, with a specific focus on the Hauraki Gulf.
After that, Stella speaks with Amnesty International's campaign director Lisa Woods about Immigration New Zealand ceasing to imprison people seeking asylum.
Finally, Frances chats with Cameron Mulgan on Eurovision, where they discuss War in Ukraine, Mayday protests in Europe, the European cost of living crisis and the revamp of the Large Hadron Collider.
This week on Dear Science, Christina and Marcus discussed how climate change can cause disease outbreaks in animals, the detection of evidence of a sound tunnel, and the mysterious persistence of CFCs in the atmosphere despite them being banned.
Christina also spoke to co-founder of Mind the Gap Jo Cribb about the gender pay gap, and the push to enact better pay equity legislation.
Trishil spoke to Madeline Newman, Chief Executive of NZ AI Forum about artificial intelligence as the future of mitigating climate change and declining biodiversity.
Trishil also spoke to Letitia Harding from the New Zealand Asthma Foundation about the overrepresentation of Maori and Pasifika groups with asthma, and how this gap can be alleviated.
The gender pay gap: it’s a contentious issue that's been hotly debated, and at times, completely denied. However, many of us don't necessarily know the specifics. On the Wire, Christina spoke to co-founder of Mind the Gap Jo Cribb about the pay gap, and the push to enact better pay equity legislation.
OurActionStation brings you a new petition to condemn violence by Israeli's towards Palestinian worshippers and their holy sites. Charlie spoke to Ahmed Saadeh and Rand Hazou from the Palestine Aotearoa Coordinating Committee speak on what Palestinian's in Israel have been going through, and what New Zealand can do to help.
The segment in collaboration with OurActionStation is back today, with Ahmed Saadeh and Rand Hazou from the Palestine Aotearoa Coordinating Committee discuss the situation in Israel and their petition to condemn the violence.
Holly Walker, Deputy Executive Director of the Helen Clark Foundation, speaks about their new report based around perinatal mental health concerns.
The Bank of Mum and Dad increases its 'loans' for their children's property purchases. Gemma Rasmussen, Head of Communications and Campaigns at Consumer NZ, spoke on the issue.
EV Maritime are pushing for electrical ferries, and are making progress. We see what CEO of EV Maritime, Michael Eaglen, has to say.
Eletrical energy has been harnesed in cars, and now New Zealand wants it in their ferries too. Michael Eaglen, CEO of EV Maritime, speaks with Charlie about the current state of ferry fuels, EV Maritime's project with the government to bring in some eletric ferries the Auckland, and what the future of electric ferries could look like.
The Bank of Mum and Dad is an international concept that means parents are paying out for their children to purchase property. With the housing market seemingly in a constant crisis in Aotearoa, Gemma Rasmussen, Head of Communications and Campaign manager at Consumer NZ, discusses how this concept is affecting New Zealander's.
Perinatal depression is proving to be a high risk concern in Aotearoa. A new study done into the issue by Holly Walker, Deputy Executive Director of the Helen Clark Foundation, shows that suicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women and new mums. Charlie spoke with he about the issue, and what can be done to support these women.
Auckland council has released for consultation their proposal to rezone parts of the central suburbs for medium and high density housing development.
Casper spoke firstly to Auckland councellor Shane Henderson about proposal, what it will mean for Auckland’s housing development and how people can contribute to the feedback process.
Then, to bring in some wider perspective, Casper had a chat with Character Coalition chairperson Sally Hughes about a desire to preserve special character areas and how it might be reconciled with a need for more affordable housing.
Finally, to round out the discussion, Casper talked to Bill McKay from the Architecture department of the University of Auckland about the impact that the council’s proposal might have on the city in terms of livability, housing supply and the future of urban development.
Greenpeace Aotearoa has recently released their petition for the government to limit the amount of nitrates in drinking water to one milligram.
At the moment the legal limit of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is 11.3mg, which Greenpeace says is a major issue that has caused several illnesses and deaths.
The organisation has stated that water is a human right, and that the government must stand up for the health of our communities.
To learn more, Liam spoke to Steve Abel from Greenpeace about the petition and how Aotearoa got to this point.
Last year, Auckland Council removed 30% of bins from public places with the hopes of saving about $9.5 million over an eight year period. While the council didn’t foresee an increase in littering, last week Stuff published an article sharing the frustrations of residents who observed a growing litter problem in council parks.
Illegal dumping has also been on the rise across Auckland.
With more than 1300 reports per month, the cost of retrieving illegally dumped items is about $2.7 million every year and rising.
Also Mayor Wayne Brown has announced that he wants to see Auckland become the “premier tech city” of New Zealand to boost our global influence and reputation—-- calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute here, which he says could play a key role in guiding new start-ups, so ideas don’t ‘die on the vine’.
Beginning with the problem of rubbish in Auckland, Producer Sara started by asking Julie Fairey if she believed the removal of bins was to blame for increased littering
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
Yesterday the debate in the privileges committee regarding the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi was adjourned until after the upcoming budget announcement.
The Privileges Committee Report and recommended punishments for the three Te Pāti Māori MPs were issued last week for the Haka they performed during a parliamentary session in November 2024 in opposition to the ACT party’s Treaty Principles Bill.
In that same week, the Green party recently issued a call to the government to scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
And the government recently passed the Social Security Amendment Bill, which the government says would support people into employment and off benefits, however, opponents of the bill have said it could harm beneficiaries and lower income New Zealanders.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Just under two weeks ago the government passed the pay equity amendment bill under urgency. This bill would change existing pay equity legislation to make it more restrictive, which the government says will save billions of dollars.
The process was originally introduced to address issues of pay inequity between sectors. While the Equal Pay Act mandates that people working the same job are paid the same regardless of gender, Pay Equity is meant to ensure industries dominated by women are not paid less than similar industries dominated by men. The process has worked by allowing applicants to compare their positions with positions in other sectors with similar workloads, skills, or experience.
The government’s changes will limit the criteria for comparators, allow only industries with over 70% women in the workforce as opposed to the previous 60%, and removing the ability for the authority to award back pay, among other changes.
These changes have been met with criticism from rights organisations, advocacy groups, and opposition parties. In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government’s reasoning behind the Pay Equity Amendment Bill.
The Waitangi Tribunal review into the controversial regulatory standards bill has found that the Crown would be in breach of Treaty principles if it were to introduce the regulatory standards bill to Parliament without more consultation with Māori.
Because of this the tribunal has called for an immediate halt to be put on the bill.
Despite this, the bill is set to be introduced to Parliament today.
The recommendation came after following a one day urgent hearing from the Waitangi Tribunal last week, which was pushed forward from June 6, after it was revealed the bill would be introduced to Parliament today.
Critics of the bill fear it will work against Māori rights and interests. However, the ACT Party, fronted by Minister for Regulation, David Seymour simply say the Tribunal is ‘incorrect’.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court to unpack this further. Discussing why they contest the tribunal’s review, and where they plan to take the bill from here.
We also spoke about the government launching a review into the Waitangi Tribunal, which is heavily backed by ACT - David Seymour saying the tribunal needs to be ‘put in its place’.
Last week, the Privileges Committee recommended Te Pāti Māori co-leaders, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, be “severely censured” with a 21-day suspension, with Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clarke facing a 7-day suspension for their haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Telling RNZ, Judith Collins - the chairperson of the Privileges Committee, says the ruling was unprecedented because the “situation was unprecedented” and said the decision was not taken lightly.
Te Pāti Māori’s lawyer says the punishment given to the MPs is an “absolute disgrace”.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about this, and how she is feeling heading into the debate of the report tomorrow.
We also discussed the Waitangi Tribunals recommendations regarding the Regulatory Standards Bill.
But first, we discussed the Privileges Committee's recommendations.
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:
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.
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