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.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about rising fuel costs, the government’s proposed pay rise for some primary teachers, and the Lawyers for Climate Action case against the government for dropping climate policies.
They also spoke to Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, on rising fuel costs, New Zealand’s dependency on petrol, and alternative ways of thinking about transport.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about fuel insecurity and transport and energy alternatives in Auckland.
Producer Pranuja spoke to Professor Nirmal Nair from the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering at the University of Auckland on making the switch to Electric Vehicles.
She also spoke with Dr Murat Ungor from the Department of Economics at the University of Otago on how New Zealand can deal with the price at the pump.
This week, Lawyers for Climate Action New Zealand took the Climate Change Minister Simon Watts to Wellington’s High Court on the government’s lack of consultation in dismantling dozens of climate policies shortly after the last election.
Also under scrutiny, is the government’s over-reliance on offsetting climate emissions through planting pine trees.
Internationally, similar court cases have pressured governments like that of the Netherlands and United Kingdom to revisit their own climate change policies.
Next week, leaders in the field of climate litigation will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau to discuss these developments and more, with an eye to the changes occurring internationally.
To understand this arena of the climate crisis, I spoke to Associate Professor of Law, and Chair for the upcoming Climate Litigation Conference, Vernon Rive.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, News Director Castor spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about cost of living, the government being sued over its environmental policy, and the second phase of the government’s COVID 19 inquiry.
They also spoke to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter, about the government’s newly announced funding boost for the health sector and how far it will go to address issues.
Tuesday Wire host Alex spoke to founder of Kick Back, Aaron Hendry, about the National Day of Action at the end of March in protest against the government’s new move-on orders.
Producer Theo spoke to Auckland Law School’s Associate Professor Vernon Rive on climate litigation and the current case before the Wellington High Court.
And Producer Toby spoke to Emeritus Professor Dr. Basil Sharp about surging petrol prices, and what New Zealand can learn from our response to the energy crisis of 1979.
The government has announced a $25 million funding boost for the health sector, with 378 new roles. The government says the boost will support our health system to manage during the winter illness period.
Health unions have said that while they’re grateful for the funding, more is necessary to address the core issues within the health sector. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation pointed to existing understaffing across the country, and noted that, while a good step, this solution does not come close to fully solving the problem.
To discuss the state of nursing and if the funding boost will help, News Director Castor spoke to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter.
Community groups across Aotearoa are organising a National Day of Action to protest against the move-on orders proposed by the government. The Day of Action will be on Sunday, 29th of March, criticising the targeting of people who are already struggling on the streets.
The proposed changes would see police officers empowered to force homeless people to relocate, for behaviours such as begging or seeking to inhabit a space. Multiple groups have opposed the changes, claiming they punish people unfairly for something largely outside of their control.
To discuss the move-on orders and the day of action, Wire host Alex spoke to founder of Kick Back, Aaron Hendry.
With the strait of Hormuz currently under an Iranian blockade, twenty percent of the world’s daily oil traffic now sits immobilised behind a wall of sea mines. Two and a half weeks into America’s war with Iran, people across the globe are feeling the effects of the conflict in the form of spiking fuel prices. With petrol prices in New Zealand surging past three dollars per litre, the government is considering its options.
Producer Toby spoke to Auckland University emeritus professor and energy economics expert Basil Sharp about the lessons we’ve learned (or perhaps failed to learn) from our response to the oil crisis of 1979, and what we could do now to improve our energy security in New Zealand.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, about hotter superconductors, hexagonal diamonds, and Pi.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Host Alex spoke with Ryan Hamilton about the Government’s pay offer to primary school teachers on individual agreements, and the criticism of the move by the NZEI union. We also spoke about the release of the second phase of the Royal Commission Inquiry into the COVID-19 response, and what it tells us.
And Producer Liam spoke to Debra Ashton, the Chief Executive of SAFE for Animals, about the government’s decision not to go ahead with repealing the ban on live animal exports by sea.
In 2023, New Zealand enacted a world first ban on live animal exports by sea. Part of the National and ACT coalition agreement included plans to reverse the ban. However, last week, the government announced it would not go ahead with repealing the ban, with Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard saying that a consensus within cabinet could not be achieved before this year’s general election.
Wire producer Liam spoke to Debra Ashton, Chief Executive of SAFE For Animals, about the impact of the government’s decision and the future for live exports and animal welfare.
Last week, resource consents were approved for a $3.5 billion AI Data Centre to be constructed near Invercargill. While most of the commentary around the data centre is discussing how it could benefit New Zealand’s economy or connectivity, few are discussing the potential environmental ramifications.
While the consent applications aren’t public, data centres overseas have been known to have varying degrees of environmental impact, including pulling drinking water out of communities and farmlands and subsequently creating droughts and increasing temperatures.
To evaluate how a data centre could operate in New Zealand, News Director Castor spoke to director of Pūtahi research, a consulting firm specialising in water and climate resilience, Daniel Collins.
Last week, Heinz Watties announced plans to close its factories in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, and cease packing at its frozen lines in Hastings. This will leave 350 workers without jobs in an already tough job market.
Additionally, many seasonal employees, who have worked in the factories for decades, could be left redundant without financial compensation. Concerns have been raised about potential ripple effects the closures will have on the economy, with 220 growers in the Canterbury region alone relying on supplying the Christchurch Factory.
To discuss the consequences of these decisions and what more the government could be doing to protect workers and local New Zealand production producer Thomas talked to E tū Union Director for manufacturing and food Finn O’Dwyer-Cunliffe.
This week, the government announced another change to Plan Change 120, Auckland’s plan for future housing developments across the city. Originally, the plan proposed a minimum housing capacity of 2 million homes, but many in central suburbs raised concerns that intensification could harm the character of their neighbourhoods. In February, the government lowered the minimum capacity to 1.6 million, which Auckland’s council and mayor spoke out against.
Despite the disagreement, council developed new plans for the 1.6 million capacity. This week, however, the government announced plans to lower the minimum capacity further to 1.4 million, forcing council to make further changes to the plans.
Also these past few weeks we’ve seen disagreements between the government and council over how best to manage the fuel crisis. The government has focused on payouts to middle and lower class families with children, but Mayor Wayne Brown says a better solution could involve subsidising public transport.
To discuss each of these issues, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey.
About a month ago, Wednesday Wire host Manny spoke to a researcher sounding the alarm over the state of our primary healthcare, here and globally.
Across the globe, services meant to be the first port of call for health issues such as dental, GPs and pharmacists, were found to be increasingly under stress as costs grow and the workforce fails to keep pace with demand.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Workforce Survey in 2022 raised concerns: Over half of GPs were planning to retire within the next decade, a declining number of GPs work in GP run practices and filling that gap is an increasing number of corporate healthcare providers.
As the holder of the Green parties Primary Healthcare Portfolio, our Green Party interviewee is the perfect subject to discuss his parties platform on the subject.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we talk primary healthcare, it’s current state in Aotearoa, the issues it faces and where the Green Party would like to take it.
Last week, Minister for Conservation Tama Potaka announced an update on the Predator Free 2050 strategy, which aims to rid New Zealand of rats, possums and stoats. Five and a half million dollars of funding was set aside by the government with the aim of making Wellington the first predator free city in the world within the next ten years.
This week on Green World, Wire producer Liam spoke to James Russell, professor of conservation biology at the University of Auckland, about the progress and impact of Predator Free projects in Wellington and nationwide.
Fuel prices across the country are rising, and concerns over a potential fuel shortage are growing. In response, the government announced the national fuel response plan late last week. The plan has four stages, named Watchful, Precautionary, Managed, and Protected. The last two remain under consultation, and we’re currently under only the first.
Analysts have criticised the plan for being vague, especially in later stages, and the early stages for not doing enough. The Watchful stage involves increased monitoring, data publications, coordination, and an ad campaign encouraging people to reduce fuel consumption.
The government has responded to most critiques by comparing its response to that of the previous Labour government to COVID, which they have repeatedly criticised. They say government intervention is the wrong way to deal with a crisis, an idea which many have questioned.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor asked him about the fuel crisis, what the government’s doing, and how the previous government plays into all of this.
Last week saw public transport usage in Auckland reach a 7 year high, on account of high fuel prices across the country. While high usage bodes well for public transport, the network is facing difficulties around overcrowding. In addition, Auckland Transport is pushing for central government support to lower fares, which ministers have rejected.
Auckland Council has also conducted a review into its resource management consenting processes, and found multiple spots for improvement.
And central government has announced dog control law reforms, which Auckland Council has welcomed given its extensive existing operations in animal control.
To discuss each of these issues, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson.
The Government has announced a support package to address rising fuel prices.
And the McCains processing factory in Hastings is set to close in January 2027, but it is not yet known how many workers and growers will be affected by the closure.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked about both of these topics.
Back in 2020, two new guidelines were introduced to support schools in teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education. The guidelines were introduced by the then Associate Education Minister and New Zealand First MP, Tracey Martin, after reports from the Education Review Office showed inconsistencies in how schools taught this subject - alongside significant gaps. The new guidelines brought greater emphasis to sexuality and gender diversity, Māori and Pacific views of sexuality, the use of digital technologies, and information about relationships and sexuality education for disabled learners.
However, the current government scrapped these guidelines as part of a coalition agreement with New Zealand First, who campaigned on removing the guidelines, which they called ‘woke gender ideology.’
The new proposed guidelines for relationships and sex education are significantly different to those introduced back in 2020.
For this week’s Get Action, Producer Theo spoke to Leonie Morris from Te Wāhi Wāhine o Tāmaki Makaurau - the Auckland Women’s centre - on their petition to bring back Te Tiriti-based, inclusive relationships and Sexuality education in schools.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
The crisis growing at the pump is ramping up in seriousness as the conflict in Iran continues to escalate.
This week saw US President Donald Trump make further threats to destroy Iran’s energy infrastructure that is yet to be bombed and - in turn - Iran continues to target the Gulf states and block the Strait of Hormuz, preventing any exports from this critically global hub
This blockade is preventing over a third of the world's nitrogen fertilisers and a fifth of the global supply of oil and liquefied natural gas from leaving the region, while both sides' bombing campaigns are causing widespread destruction to infrastructure, which means we may not see a return of some oil and gas fields for years to come.
In Aotearoa, the costs of fuel have seen steep rises, soon to be spread across the economy as everyone's back pocket is hit, and attention is now being turned to fuel reserves with fears that we may see imports decline.
To face the moment, the Green Party has put together a collection of proposals which they have sent in an official letter to the National Party and between the two parties, they’d have enough votes to pass.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Host Manny dug into this letter, the Greens proposals, and why they are reaching out to the Nats.
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