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.
Just this week, US President Joe Biden announced his exit from the US general elections and abandoned his candidacy, amidst concerns from his own party regarding his age and cognitive abilities and a disastrous debate performance against his political adversary, republican nominee Donald J Trump.
After making the announcement, Biden announced his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the democratic candidate and urged his contemporaries within the party to do the same.
But with a mere 3 months until the finale of the US general elections, many commentators are discussing the next steps for the democrats, and whether or not they have the ability to compete with Trump’s branding and unanimous support from the country’s right-wing.
Oto spoke to Dr Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the next steps for the democrats and the role of party branding in the outcome of the US general elections.
The United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, recently issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories was illegal, that Israel needed to dismantle its settlements and pay reparations to the Palestinians and that all ICJ member states should cooperate to bring an end to Israel’s occupation.
Oto spoke to John Minto, chairman of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, to discuss the ICJ ruling, as well as New Zealand’s responsibilities as a member state.
A recent report detailing complaints to the health and disability commissioner about disability support services revealed that the sector suffered from inadequate care standards, poor management of resources and the abuse of those in care.
One of the suggestions made in the report was that better funding and staffing was needed to improve standards in disability care, based on complaints from workers in the sector that understaffing was impacting their ability to provide adequate care.
Oto spoke to Peter Reynolds, CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network to discuss staffing shortages in disability care, and the solutions needed to address it.
During Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United States, he spoke to several leaders and figures about New Zealand’s relationship with the country. Particularly, he spoke about further aligning and the potential for Aotearoa to join AUKUS.
In response, former Prime Minister Helen Clark and her political rival Don Brash released statements criticising the move, particularly for its potential impact on Aotearoa’s relationship with China.
Wire host Castor spoke to Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland and Director of the China Studies Centre in the New Zealand Asia Institute, Stephen Noakes, about Aotearoa’s relationship with each of these countries, their value, and how it can be preserved moving forward.
On Wednesday the 17th of July, the government opened submissions on the second Emissions Reduction Plan.
The Emissions Reduction Plan outlines the steps the government intends to take to meet its emission budgets.
This second Emissions Reduction Plan will lay out the government’s climate plans from 2026-2030.
The plan includes initiatives such as setting a target of 10,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030, investigating carbon capture and storage, and improving organic waste and landfill gas capture.
However, the draft has received criticism from climate experts for not being ambitious enough in it’s initiatives to reduce emissions.
Producer Josef spoke with Ralph Sims, Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation at Massey University, about the draft plan and how he thinks the plan will impact Aotearoa’s emissions reduction efforts.
For more information on the plan and to have your say, you can go to consult.environment.govt.nz, submissions close on the 21st August 2024.
The final report from the abuse in state care inquiry is due to be published on July 24th at 4pm. The report will discuss historic and present issues of abuse in state care, particularly how it affects marginalised groups such as Māori, Pasifika, and disabled children and young people. The report will then provide a recommendation to parliament on potential policy or funding changes.
Additionally, last week, associate Health Minister and minister in charge of Pharmac, David Seymour, issued new instructions regarding the organisation’s focus. Particularly notable in the instructions were discussions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with Seymour
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the abuse in state care inquiry and the government's advice to Pharmac.
On July 1st, the excise tax on heated tobacco products (or HTPs) was dropped unannounced by fifty percent.
Speaking on the change, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello sez the reduction will help the government test the effectiveness of HTPs as a tool to help people quit smoking.
However, given Costello’s previous parroting of tobacco industry talking points, there are worries that this change could also be coming from industry backed research. In addition, the scientific research to support the use of HTPs is slim to nonexistent.
Wire host Castor to professor of public health at the University of Otago and co-director of the Aspire Aotearoa Research Centre, Janet Hoek, about heated tobacco products and the evidence to support them.
For Dear Science this week, we chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about plants not holding as much carbon as previously thought, low pressure making tea taste worse, and a giant millipede that was thought to be extinct.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the abuse in state care inquiry and the government’s recent instructions to Pharmac.
He also talked to Associate Professor of Politics and International relations, Stephen Noakes, about New Zealand’s relationship with China.
And he spoke to Professor Janet Hoek from the University of Otago about the implications of reducing the excise tax on Heated Tobacco Products.
And producer Josef spoke to Professor Emeritus Ralph Sims about the newly released draft of the second emissions reduction plan.
An Official Information Act request reported on last week by Newsroom revealed Minister for Resources Shane Jones obscured the nature of an undeclared meeting with multiple mining companies about the Fast-Track Approvals process in February.
Initially, Jones told Newsroom the dinner was a “last minute thing”, however he corrected the record the following day saying the dinner was arranged in advance with two other participants.
In response, Communities Against the Fast-Track, a coalition of communities, groups and other individual community organisers, have called for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to remove Jones from his portfolio.
Wire host Sofia Roger Williams spoke to spokesperson for Communities Against the Fast-Track, Augusta Macassey-Pickard, about this, starting the interview asking her how concerned she and the Communities Against the Fast-Track groups were about this behaviour.
Producer Evie speaks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the government’s expectations for Pharmac in light of one of the directors stepping down.
Wire host Sofia speaks to Professor of health economics in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Paula Lorgelly, about last week’s announced instructions for Pharmac.
She also speaks to Senior Lecturer in Screen, Audio and Journalism at AUT, Merja Myllylahti, about AI and New Zealand news in light of the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
Evie also speaks to Geopolitical Analyst from the University of Otago, Geoffrey Miller, about Joe Biden’s recent decision to end his re-election campaign.
Sofia speaks to spokesperson for Communities Against the Fast-Track, Augusta Macassey-Pickard, about Minister for Resources Shane Jones’ undeclared meeting with mining companies about the fast-track
And she also speaks to Lecturer at the University of Canterbury Faculty of Law, Rachael Evans, about courts using mana in judgements.
The Healthcare exec Brian Thompson was shot dead by a masked assailant last week.
The crime has gained significant controversy and attention online, with many using it to restart the debate on the inequities of the United States healthcare system.
And this week Yale University was the latest college to commit to divesting from weapons manufacturing after a student vote.
For State of the States this week Wire Host Caeden speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
The government as announced their plan for the Cook Strait ferry a year after they scrapped Labour’s plan, including cancelling the ferries the Labour government had ordered.
And a new report from the Ministry of Social Development has revealed nearly a quarter of beneficiaries are not receiving their correct entitlements.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
For City Counselling this week, producer Sofia caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about proposed time-of-use charging to solve congestion problems in Tāmaki and Council selling their remaining Auckland Airport shares last week.
The Green party recently released He Ara Anamata - the Green party’s emissions reduction plan.
The document covers more than 10 areas of the economy and energy Sector that a Greens-led government would be looking to adapt to minimise carbon emissions and protect the natural landscapes of Aotearoa.
It also comes 5 months after the government released their own draft emissions plan. Numerous experts pointed out that the government is behind on their own plan’s targets to meet the crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the party’s new emissions reduction plan and how they would address climate and the economy in a greens-led government.
Last election, one of the National Party’s main campaign promises was to be ‘tough on crime’, promising to increase police coverage and penalties for crimes. A target was set to increase the number of police officers by 500 by November 2025, however some police leaders today say this goal is unrealistic.
The government also announced this week some shakeups to insulation standards, which they say should make houses more affordable.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about police staffing targets and new insulation standards.
This week on Dear Science, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about what latrines teach us about people, climate variation affecting Chinese dynasties, and invasive species becoming threatened.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Last week it was revealed that two of the ten participants in the government's pilot bootcamp programme were on the run.
The youth were two months into the community rehabilitation phase of the programme, following the three month youth justice residence phase. Both teens were found in the weekend, but had allegedly reoffended, and are now set to come before the court.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, who have been heavily advocating for this programme, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about this incident.
She also talks to him about proposed changes to employment law which would give employers the power to dismiss workers earning over $180,000 without the employee refuting the decision.
And finally, she talks to him about David Seymour’s incumbent run as Deputy Prime Minister, which is set to begin in May of next year.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about changes to Auckland Transport’s responsibilities, nationwide bus and train fare hikes, and concerns over the opening of the City Rail Link.
For State of the States this week, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa'aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was due to be sentenced next week for three felony charges.
They also discuss Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, who is the latest in a long list of unorthodox picks for government positions from Trump
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