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.
Following the arrest of Freedom Flotilla activists last week including New Zealanders Rana Hamida, Youssef Sammour and Sam Leason, the families of these activists alongside the Green Party coleaders held a press conference yesterday where they called for the New Zealand government to fulfil its obligations to international humanitarian law and answered questions from the media.
First, Wire Host Sara shares some recordings from the press conference.
As political leaders appear conflicted in their response to the situation in Gaza, especially in light of the attempts of citizens to put pressure on politicians as well as by-pass blockades themselves with the Freedom Flotilla, I was interested in the legal frameworks that exist for responding to this conflict.
To discuss this topic, Sara spoke with both Victoria University of Wellington legal professor Marnie Lloydd and University of Waikato law expert Alexander Gillespie about the obligations of other nations including New Zealand to act.
Her first interview was with Marnie Lloydd.
Then, further to this topic international law expert Alexander Gillespie speaks to New Zealand’s capacity to respond to the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Love all things trams? LIVE Day: Trams is on at MOTAT next Sunday 19 October! Check out their impressive collection and catch a ride on one of the steam trains.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Today, Professor Allan Blackman joins Sara and Jasmine in the studio to commemorate Dame Jane Goodall, reveal the hidden treasures of Bearded Vulture nests, and discuss new developments in discovering 'Planet Y'.
This week in Aotearoa, the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill is set to pass its third reading in parliament. The legislation extends existing protections and introduces new areas of marine reserve. The move is providing what many have described as long overdue in Aotearoa’s conservation efforts, as only 0.3% of our waters are currently under full marine protection. However, experts have also raised concerns about the balance of consideration of commercial fisheries comparative to that of local whānau and hapū groups.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Fiona McCormack, an Associate Marine Anthropology Professor at the University of Waikato, about the nature of this legislation and what it means for wider marine conservation efforts.
On Wednesday, the government announced new energy reforms in its Energy Package.
This follows a review into the sector being undertaken by Frontier Economics. Despite this, the government has decided not to follow a significant amount of recommendations within the review.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Court about this package, and some of the backlash the government has received from the sector regarding it.
They also discussed Samuel Leason, Rana Hamida, and Youssef Sammour, being detained in Israel by attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.
The interception of these vessels is illegal under international law, as the interceptions took place in the Mediterranean Sea between 70-80 nautical miles off of the Gazan coast.
This comes a month after over a hundred humanitarian groups have signed an open letter calling for Israel to allow essential aid into the besieged Gaza Strip. They say they are “not authorised” to deliver aid, unless they comply with tough Israeli measures.
Joel also spoke to Court about the three New Zealand detainees, and what the government is doing to get them home.
Over the last few months, concerns have been raised over the hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Particularly, concerns over human rights in the country, VISA worries, and accusations of sportswashing have been increasingly levied towards the country.
The relative lack of coverage of these concerns, comparatively to concerns over the previous tournament in Qatar, or those in the future in countries like Saudi Arabia, complicate the history that Football and FIFA have with questionable regimes and funding. Despite Trump Administration policies that seem to threaten the tournament, there continues to be a lack of noise around whether or not the three host countries should be reduced to two, removing the US.
Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to a Doctoral Candidate in the Faculty of Arts and Education at the University of Auckland, Luke Bird, about this Sportwashing, its background, and why the US and countries like Qatar are treated differently.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about the government's recent energy reforms, and about the three New Zealanders aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla who have been intercepted by Israel.
Producer Alex spoke to Doctoral Candidate at the University of Auckland Luke Bird about concerns around Sportwashing with the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States in the midst of human rights concerns under the Trump Administration.
Joel spoke to the National President of the Tertiary Education Union or TEU, Julie Douglas, about the University of Auckland, Massey University, and the Victoria University of Wellington, all announcing they will not be using software to detect AI in student’s work, and what this means heading forward.
Following their chat with Douglas, Joel also spoke to Shahper Richter, a Senior Marketing Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about using “interactive oral assessments” or IOA’s, as a way to combat AI in testing students.
Recently, the University of Auckland, Massey University, and the Victoria University of Wellington, have announced they will not be using software to check over student’s work for AI plagiarism.
This has left concerns over what the future of checking for AI will mean in these universities, and whether other universities, and tertiary institutions as a whole, will follow suit.
On Friday, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the National President of the Tertiary Education Union, or TEU, Julie Douglas, about this announcement and the union’s thoughts on it.
Following on from my chat with Douglas, Joel spoke to Shahper Richter, a Senior Marketing Lecturer at the University of Auckland about using “interactive oral assessments” or IOA’s, as a way to combat AI in testing students.
She has been testing IOA’s over the past couple of years. In a piece on the Conversation which she co-authors with the University of Auckland’s Patrick Dodd, she says this method of testing is “one of the most effective and authentic ways to see what students really know in the age of AI.”
Joel spoke to her about this method of testing, and what it entails.
The Israeli military has intercepted the Freedom Flotilla, which is trying to break Israel’s aid blockade by delivering food and medicine to Gaza.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Acacia O’Connor, actor and on-the-ground spokesperson for the Global Movement to Gaza, about Israel's interception of the flotilla, and what we know about the whereabouts of the New Zealanders on board.
Update: All three New Zealanders who are part of the Freedom Flotilla are confirmed to be taken by the Israeli Military. There will be a snap action taking place in Te Komititanga from 3pm today to protest what has happened.
For Oto's final wire 😢 he spoke with Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March for our weekly catchup with the Green Party. They discussed: Winston Peters' refusal to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly and The government’s decision to reopen applications for oil and gas exploration across New Zealand.
And he spoke with Heba Mortaja from Aotearoa for Palestine for a follow up conversation about Winston Peters’ decision not to recognise Palestine, and the upcoming march for humanity on the Auckland harbour bridge they’ve announced in response.
Max spoke with co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa John Minto, to discuss the Gaza peace proposal suggested by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu yesterday at the White House and he spoke to retired professor in international relations Stephen Hoadley on this topic as well.
And Manny spoke to Associate Professor George Laking on the government's amendments to change the purpose, objectives, and functions of Pae ora legislation of Health New Zealand.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced the signing of a new ‘City Deal’.
The deal will see closer partnership between the central government and Auckland Council, coordinating planning in areas such as infrastructure and transportation.
The deal will see a long-term partnership between the government and council, with regular meetings and cooperation on strategies for innovation and transportation, with reviews of sporting venues such as Eden Park and the Auckland Tennis Centre.
However, the deal has been critiqued by some as being a collection of promises without any new funding.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, he and producer Theo discussed the signing of the Auckland City Deal, and how the Green Party would work with Auckland Council on issues such as transportation and infrastructure.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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