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.
A survey involving 1200 Construction Workers was published recently, showing the mental toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the workforce. Joe speaks to Victoria McArthur, the CEO of Mates in Construction, about the mental health of Construction Workers over the course of the pandemic.
A group is campaigning for the government and Kiwirail to restore intercity rail services after the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington, as well as the Coastal Pacific Service between Picton and Christchurch were cancelled.
Kiwirail said it is now planning to create multi-day experiences that showcase the best of New Zealand, both on and off the track.
But the Save Our Trains campaign says it wants a comprehensive national strategy for future passenger rail services built around concerns for climate action, accessibility, and economic development.
Paul Callister is a spokesperson for the campaign and a senior associate at the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University.
With Omicron spreading in the community, there is much discussion on how to best deal with the new variant. Christina speaks to the National Party’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop live on air about the party's ten-point plan to tackle Omicron.
Two years into the global pandemic, the world has faced a lot of changes: from new variants of the coronavirus running rampant, to the rollout of vaccines to protect us against Covid-19. We have seen nations mobilise to tackle the virus but we have also seen a small minority of people pushing back against the health measures that have been enacted. And in our digital age, it is no surprise that social media is fuelling the spread of fear and misinformation alongside the virus.
So why exactly does a global crisis invoke such strong reactions?
Christina Huang spoke to Associate Professor Danny Osborne from the University of Auckland Social psychology department about the recent antivaccination protests, anti-government attitudes and how our mindset towards the pandemic has shifted over the past two years.
This week News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston interviews ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden , about how the first three months of assisted dying being an option for New Zealanders suffering with terminal illnesses has gone. They also touch on the second reading of the bill that would ban conversion therapy that took place in Parliament yesterday.
Today on the Wire, we start with Dear Science. Christina Huang asks AUT Professor Marcus Jones about how Omicron affects children, the concerning rise in methane levels in the atmosphere, astronomers taking a stand against an the massive number of satellites in space.
Christina speaks to the National Party’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop live about the party's ten point plan to tackle Omicron.\
Aneeka Moheed reports on her conversation with Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon about his call for compulsory Te Reo Māori classes to be introduced in schools.
Christina talks to Associate Professor Danny Osborne from the University of Auckland Social psychology department about the recent antivaccination protests, anti-government attitudes and how our mindset towards the pandemic has shifted over the past two years.
Finally, Jemima speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about the first three months of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the second reading of the bill that would ban conversion therapy in Aotearoa.
Today on the Wire, Emily Bell speaks to University of Auckland Māori Studies Professor Margaret Mutu about the significance of Waitangi Day.
Jemima Huston talks to Professor Michael Plank about why Australia has opened its borders to all fully vaccinated travellers, when New Zealand has decided to reopen gradually with a five-step process.
Emily interviews the CEO of the Bus and Coaches Association NZ Ben McFadgen about how the pandemic has impacted the bus and coach industry.
Jemima catches up with with promoter rep and freelance tour manager Sarin Moddel about her feelings on the government's $121 million covid relief funding announcement for the arts and culture sector.
Finally, Jemima speaks to Dr Roshini Peiris-John, Associate Professor at the School of Population Health in Auckland, about her study into the Youth19 health survey and the finding that young Asian people who experience discrimination and racism are more likely to forgo healthcare.
As the pandemic continues, many businesses and industries across New Zealand are struggling to stay afloat. This includes New Zealand’s tourism industry and all of the businesses which rely on overseas travelers to make up most of their annual income. A sector of the tourism industry which has been hit hard is the tourism bus and coach businesses. It has been reported that roughly a third of these companies have closed over the course of the pandemic, and if the pandemic is to continue for much longer, a further thirty percent more could also shut down. Emily Bell spoke to Ben McFadge, the CEO of the Bus and Coach Association New Zealand about the need for support from the government and what the future looks like for the industry.
Over the weekend Australia announced that it would be opening its borders to all fully vaccinated tourists from February 21st. This is quite different from New Zealand’s five step gradual reopening plan that will take place over the next few months.
News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston talks to Professor Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury about the difference in New Zealand and Australia's border reopening strategies, and how Australia's border reopening to all vaccinated people will impact Aotearoa.
A study looking into a survey of highschool students has found that experiences of racism and discrimination keep young asian people from accessing health services in New Zealand. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston interviews Dr Roshini Peirs-John, Associate Professor at the School of Population Health in Auckland and co-investigator in this study. They talk about what the study entailed, the Youth19 survey it's based on and why it is important to break down the catchall ethnicity term 'Asian' into more specific Asian ethnic groupings to provide better health policies and data.
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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