Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Plan change 120, a new plan that seeks to allow for up to 2 million new dwellings in high density zones across mass rapid corridors throughout the city is currently up for public consultation.
Although hotly contested during the election period, it seems as if the city is on its way to unlocking high density development and a strengthening of its urban landscape against natural hazards.
Thursday Wire Producer Sanat talked to councilor Julie Fairey today about the consultation process, how people can get involved and what they should know about the plan change.
Sanat also talked to her about the process of going from being a candidate to actually starting a role in council, what the inauguration looks like and how the Auckland Council building feels as new Councillors settle in for their term.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about the draft primary school curriculum, the Regulatory Standards Bill passing second reading, New Zealand First’s proposed ban on fireworks, and the government considering measures to move rough sleepers out of the Auckland CBD.
For International Desk, they spoke to Matt McDonald, Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland, about high-level United States officials not attending COP30 next week.
Producer Jasmine spoke to 350 Aotearoa's Adam Currie about the government’s recent announcement to delay the carbon zero climate target to 2050.
And Producer Sanat talked to Councilor Julie Fairey about the latest developments with Plan Change 120 and what it feels like to transition from campaigning to governance
He also talked to the University of Auckland’s Dr Lucy Hardie about youth vaping and how it is widening inequalities throughout our communities.
Aotearoa’s progress in reducing smoking has slowed for Māori, Pacific and European adolescents, and vaping could be the reason, according to research published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific
The study, conducted by researchers from the Universities of Otago, Auckland, and Sydney, along with the Daffodil Centre in Australia, analysed population-level data from almost 600,000 Year 10 students aged 14–15. The students were surveyed between 2003 and 2024 as part of the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Year 10 Survey.
They found rates of regular smoking among 14-15-year-olds declined significantly for Māori, Pacific, European, and Asian adolescents between 2003 and 2024. However, these declines in smoking slowed for Māori, Pacific, and European youth after vaping emerged in 2010.
Thursday Wire Producer Sanat spoke to the University of Auckland's Dr Lucy Hardie about these findings and what the response needs to look like from policy makers in order to mitigate the predicted harms.
Over recent weeks, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been busy touring South-East Asia, in the hopes of negotiating various trade deals and securing meetings with other world leaders.
In his returning press conference, where he recapped his trip, the Prime Minister focused on the importance of securing a 1-on-1 meeting with US President Donald Trump.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to him about the Prime Minister’s trip.
They also discussed the Green Party’s plans for an evidence-based cannabis regulation and whether they would campaign with that policy for next year’s election, as well as the new draft school curriculum released by the government, and the subsequent plans to shrink the teaching council.
But first, they discussed whether Luxon’s trip to South-East Asia was a success.
The US-brokered ceasefire was signed almost four weeks ago and officially came into effect in Gaza on the 10th of October 2025.
Here are some key events that have happened since this date:
On the 14th of October, there were reports of a wave of public executions by Hamas and rival armed groups.
The same day, Israel began to limit aid into Gaza once more due to disputes over the remaining hostages.
On the 19th of October, two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Rafah explosion, then Israel retaliated with air-strikes that killed 45 Palestinians.
On the 21st of October, US vice president JD Vance said that the ceasefire was in a “very good place”.
On the 29th of October, Israel launched overnight airstrikes into Gaza that killed at least 104 Palestinians, Israel claimed the attack was to target military infrastructure.
Yesterday, Hamas returned the remains of the final 3 hostages to Israel.
And finally, the former Israeli military advocate general was arrested in Israel yesterday for admitting to leaking the August 2024 video of Israeli soldiers committing war crimes.
So, how valid is the US-brokered ceasefire?
Well that’s exactly what Wednesday Wire Host Max discussed with John Minto, co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa.
Over the past few months, unions have been sounding the alarm about the state of our healthcare system as the government cuts funding and guts staff numbers. Now, a new threat has emerged that risks stretching our resources even thinner.
A measles outbreak has reared into the community with cases climbing to 17 in just a week, with potentially thousands exposed.
To understand how much of risk the outbreak is likely to pose to the country Wednesday Wire Producer Manny spoke to Chris Puliuvea, Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology.
National elections are a year away, and polling suggests that Labour has surpassed National to become the most popular party but would likely need to gain further support if they wish to form a government.
One of the top issues for voters is Healthcare, and in their first policy release, Labour is proposing funding three free GP visits with a limited Capital Gains Tax (CGT). They say this should improve our national health while also directing investment away from the property market and into productive local businesses.
Wednesday Wire Producer Manny spoke to Glenn Barclay, Chairperson of Tax Justice Aotearoa and the Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign about Labours proposed policy.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s trip to South-East Asia where he met with multiple world leaders, The Green Party’s plans to call for evidence-based cannabis regulation, the government’s new draft school curriculum for years 0-10, and Education Minister Erica Stanford announcing plans to shrink the Teaching Council.
Producer Manny spoke with Glenn Barclay, Chairperson of Tax Justice Aotearoa and The Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign, about Labour’s Limited Capital Gains Tax Proposal.
Manny also spoke with Chris Puliuvea, Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, about the current measles outbreak in Aotearoa.
And Max spoke with John Minto, co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, to discuss the current state of the Gaza ceasefire almost four weeks since it came into effect, as well as the news of an Israeli military lawyer being arrested, after admitting to leaking the August 2024 video of Israeli soldiers.
Last week, Education Minister Erica Stanford confirmed the latest additions to draft curriculum changes for English and Maths, with the hope for implementation in 2026.
While she says the changes are not significant to the existing system, teachers have said the draft proposes an entire overhaul and greatly increases workload expectations.
Also, ACT MP Laura McClure has put forward the Deepfake Harm & Exploitation Bill to update legislation around exploitation committed on digital platforms especially with AI.
Finally, after 30 years of MMP, the New Zealand Initiative, a kiwi policy thinktank, has proposed a four year parliamentary term and more MPs for Parliament, among numerous electoral reforms that they think can make New Zealand more effective for representing the population.
Wire Host Sara spoke with MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, starting with the curriculum changes.
The 30th UN climate conference will run from next week, the 10th to 21st of November in Belém, Brazil, taking on key issues around the mitigation of climate change, like the limiting of global temperature rise, increase in climate spending commitments, and the impacts for vulnerable populations.
For Green World this week, Wire Host Sara spoke with Senior Lecturer at AUT’s School of Future Environments, Dr Priscila Besen, about the importance of this year’s conference for climate action.
Besen will be in attendance at COP30, and will share content at the event here.
Last week, the Ministry for the Environment together with Stats New Zealand released Our Freshwater 2026, a major report on the state of Aotearoa’s freshwater systems based on decades of data. The report highlights both long-term improvement and deterioration of waterways nationwide, with particular focus on groundwater sources and the impacts of agricultural land use and the climate crisis on water quality.
I spoke to Troy Baisden, co-president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists and Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, about what the findings of this report mean and also about the strengths and limitations of freshwater reporting.
Last week, the Government and Auckland Council agreed on the ‘Auckland City Deal’, which seeks to enhance co-ordination between the two bodies to enable better investment in the city to get the most out of what Mayor Wayne Brown has called the ‘Engine’ of the economy. This will see better communication between the mayor and prime minister, co-operation on certain legislation, and funding.
The weekend also saw Cyclone Vaianu hit the country, with parts of the country facing damage and flooding. The government now has the job of responding to the damage, and deciding what needs to change, looking forward to future cyclones.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National Party MP Ryan Hamilton about each of these topics.
Over the past week, the conflict in Iran has seen consistent U-turns as the United States continues to change its strategy in the war. On Wednesday morning, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran, saying "a civilisation will die tonight", just hours before agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
This ceasefire is now in doubt, however, as Israel has escalated its bombing campaign in Lebanon, killing hundreds since it was signed, and Trump announced this morning that the US will block the Strait of Hormuz after failed peace talks with Iran in Pakistan.
Amidst all of this, New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the day of Trump's threats and wouldn't condemn the comments. Some New Zealanders are concerned by the country's limp response to these illegal threats and actions against Iran.
Also this month, the Act Party has continued to call for the abolition of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, after it was announced that a complaint about online site The Platform and its host, Sean Plunkett, would be looked at by the authority.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, producer Thomas asked him about the ceasefire in Iran, the US blocking the Strait of Hormuz and the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Over the past few weeks, the government has been hesitant to call out the US and Israel for their role in the recent conflict in Iran. While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has called for all parties to comply with international law, he refrained from explicitly addressing either aggressor. Only in the past week has Luxon offered any criticism, calling Trump’s Iran policy “unhelpful” and Finance Minister Nicola Willis “alarmed” at Trump’s comments around destruction of civilisation in Iran. Labour has criticised the government for its lack of a hard stance.
Also this past week has seen funding for the Tukituki water security project secured, which could see flooding for significant amounts of conservation land in the Hawke’s Bay. The project could also see acceleration under the Fast Track Approvals bill, which Labour has also criticised since its inception.
Lastly, Auckland Council has repeatedly called for additional support for public transport amidst the fuel crisis. Despite these calls, the government has yet to deliver.
To discuss each of these topics and what the Labour party could bring to the table, News Director Castor spoke to Labour MP Shanan Halbert.
A record number of Aucklanders are using public transport amidst rising fuel costs. The average number of users is up 10% from the same time last year.
And yesterday, Watercare lifted its boil water notice for the suburbs of Hillsborough, Mt Roskill, Royal Oak, and Three Kings after 2 days under the notice.
The notice was due to a detection of bacteria on Monday, which a Watercare investigation found was caused by a single water quality monitoring tap.
For City Counselling this week, The Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Cabbage, mull, buds, dak, smoke, skunk, hash, chronic, grass, pot, cannabis. It’s the fourth most used recreational drug in New Zealand, coming in behind caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. Back in 2020, alongside the general election, voters were asked in a non-binding referendum whether they supported a proposed cannabis legalisation and control bill. The result was a vote opposing the legalisation of cannabis by a thin margin.
Currently, medicinal cannabis is available via prescription, but cannabis otherwise remains illegal to use, distribute, or produce.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Patrick and Colden from the Reeferendum 2026 campaign, on their petition to legalise cannabis and reform drug laws and policing in Aotearoa New Zealand.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
This morning, with negotiations continuing to stall and his own deadline for ending the war approaching, US President Donald Trump threatened civilisational destruction on Iran if they did not concede to the US demands. Whether a sincere threat or an act of brinkmanship may remain unclear, as just before Trump’s deadline, Trump claimed a two week ceasefire had been agreed to.
Last week, the Green Party released their housing policy - a home for everyone. It takes a welfare-based approach, pitching rent controls, reversing tax breaks on the bright line test, and a public housing building program.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Wire host Manny asked about the gravity of Trump's threats on Iran, but began with the Greens' housing platform.
Last week, the Prime Minister revealed his cabinet reshuffle, which saw major changes to the roles of two prominent MPs and Ministers, Chris Bishop and Simeon Brown.
Last week also saw the passing of the Resource Management (Auckland Housing) Amendment Bill, after years of discussion, paving the way for a new approach to housing density and intensification in the future.
Of course, the fuel crisis is still hitting New Zealand, and discussions remain around the role public transport should play, and how the government should support public transit.
This week, Wire Host Alex spoke with National Party MP Ryan Hamilton about each of these topics, beginning with the cabinet reshuffle.
95bFM 
