Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, 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.
Last week, the government announced that they’d be scrapping same-day election enrolments, alongside a number of other changes to electoral laws.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said that current electoral laws were “placing too much strain on the system” and increased the time needed for the vote count.
Earlier this week, the Climate Change Commission released its annual monitoring report on emissions reductions, which showed that Aotearoa New Zealand was on track to meeting its first emissions budget for the period of 2022-2025, but not towards meeting future budgets around the 2050 period.
And the Greens recently launched a petition calling on Rail Minister Winston Peters to reinstate passenger rail services across the country.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the government’s move to scrap same-day election enrolments, the Climate Change Commission’s recent annual monitoring report on emissions reductions and the Greens petition to reinstate passenger rail services across the country.
And for this week’s Get Action! He spoke with Brandon Johnstone, a BDS coordinator at Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about a petition calling on retailers and stockists to swap out SodaStream for more ethical alternatives.
Max spoke with Dr Catherine Morgan from the University of Auckland, to talk about the new project to develop an AI tool that can predict dementia risk.
Tuesday Wire Host Sara spoke with Sadie Mills the invertebrate collection manager at Earth Sciences New Zealand about a study looking into deep sea species in Aotearoa’s waters
About 70,000 people are currently affected by dementia in New Zealand. Because of this, the healthcare cost of the neurological condition is around $274 million per year and is expected to double by 2050. But what if we could predict who was most at risk, years before obvious symptoms appear?
At the moment, health professionals can struggle to assess whether a person is likely to get dementia, based on reports of their memory loss and ability to function from patients and families. As a result, a $4 million project, which includes a team of experts from the University of Auckland and Singapore, has begun to create an AI tool that can identify a person’s dementia risk.
To talk about how this new AI tool would work, as well as how it might impact the future of prevention and treatment of the neurological condition, Producer Max to Dr Catherine Morgan, a senior research fellow from the University of Auckland.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's latest Homelessness Insights Report shows that there has been an increase in homelessness across Aotearoa.
In particular, the report — like other research including a report from Ihi Research last year — highlighted a disproportionate impact of homelessness on Māori and Pacific populations, as well as women and younger demographics.
Tuesday Wire Host Sara was interested in delving into the correlation between these findings about homelessness and health outcomes for the populations who face exacerbated impacts.
She spoke with both Manaaki Rangatahi spokesperson Brooke Stanley, and Māori health researcher Dr Madeline Shelling about the impact of homelessness on Māori and Pacific health.
Her first interview is with Brooke from Manaaki Rangatahi.
She also spoke with Madeline Shelling. I started by asking her to talk about how this latest report connects to previous research on the impact of homelessness on Māori.
The growing usage of AI deepfakes has been for a number of different reasons… Whether it’s just for fun, or to jeopardise someone’s career, these AI-generated images, videos, and voice recordings have become more accessible and easy to make.
Deepfakes have been used for financial fraud, during election campaigns to taint the reputations of mostly female candidates, and also to spread propaganda and misinformation.
However, Denmark has proposed a law to grant individuals copyright over their own face, body, and voice. Although the move has been hailed as world-leading, and a step forward to address the harms of AI deepfakes, it has drawn criticism for not being effective enough. It has also provoked concerns about the act of copyrighting one’s likeness to the same degree as intellectual/artistic property. Producer Faith spoke to Professor Alex Sims from the University of Auckland’s commercial law department about the proposition, and its effectiveness.
On Friday, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced various changes to the electoral system in New Zealand which he says seek to make the process of voting more efficient and effective for future elections.
These include the closing of enrolment 13 days before the official election day, prohibiting the provision of food and drink at polling booths, and a reinstatement of a total prisoner voting ban.
A number of Labour and Greens party politicians have been among those to criticise the changes as a disenfranchisement of voters which will make democratic engagement in New Zealand more difficult.
As well, last week the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development released the latest iteration of the Homelessness Insights Report which reveals that there has been a quantifiable rise in homelessness across Aotearoa.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chats with us about an astronomical discovery, the passing of the great Tom Lehrer, and the latest estimate on your required daily step count
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, I ask about the government’s recent electoral reforms, and the latest Homelessness Insights report
In light of this homelessness report, I also speak with Manaaki Rangatahi spokesperson Brooke Stanley about her views on addressing homelessness in Aotearoa, as well as Dr Madeline Shelling from Ihi Research about the health impacts of housing insecurity for Māori and Pacific populations
Finally, Faith spoke to commercial law Professor Alex Sims from the University of Auckland about the ongoing problems caused by AI deepfakes, and what Denmark is doing to tackle them.
Recently, NZ First has helped pass ACT’s Overseas Investment Bill through its first reading.
The amendment bill, if passed, will make it easier for multinational corporations to purchase land in the country, which has raised concerns over the environmental consequences of such as move.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Gen Toop — a senior campaigner at Greenpeace, on NZ First’s support of ACT’s Overseas Investment Bill, and Greenpeace’s concerns with the bill.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to MP Simon Court about the scrapping of same-day election enrolments, as a part of the government’s changes to the Electoral Act, and ACT Party Leader, David Seymour’s comments that those who enrol late are “drop-kicks”.
Joel spoke to Gen Toop — a senior campaigner at Greenpeace, on NZ First’s support of ACT’s Overseas Investment Bill, and Greenpeace’s concerns with the bill.
Joel spoke to Calvin Cochran — a spokesperson for the Smokefree Expert Advisory Group, about a recent RNZ investigation alleging close connections between NZ First Party Leader, Winston Peters and multinational tobacco company, Philip Morris, and what needs to be done to combat tobacco industry lobbying.
And Joel spoke to Dr Saira Raza Khan — a Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Auckland, on the need to move away from ‘scare tactics’ in health advertising.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that the government would be announcing its position on the recognition of a Palestinian state over the next month.
This announcement was made in the lead up to the UN general assembly in September, where world leaders such as the prime ministers of France and Australia promised to recognise a Palestinian state.
Also this week, Green party Wellington MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul recently launched a petition calling for Māori place names to be restored to Wellington electorates after the Rongotai electorate was recently renamed to the English name Wellington Bays.
And the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll was recently released, which showed that Labour had overtaken National as the largest party, gaining 2 points to 33.6 percent, while National’ dropped 2.1 points to 31.8 percent.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March to get the party’s take on all of these issues
Last week, Treasury delivered the Long Term Insights Briefing entitled ‘Te Ara Mokopuna’ which examines the use of fiscal policy in New Zealand to respond to challenges and economic shocks.
The report used stakeholder feedback and consultation to underscore how the government can seek to promote “fiscal sustainability and improving wellbeing for future generations of New Zealanders”.
Of particular interest, the report highlights the effect of spending decisions made during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As well, Transportation Minister Chris Bishop has announced the government’s plans to change up the road user charges system in what he says is the ‘biggest change to how we fund our roading network in 50 years’.
The changes are aimed at making charges fairer across road usage, reflecting the evolution in the types of cars now available.
Legislative work will be carried out in 2026, with changes expected to come into effect in 2027.
Last week, the government announced a proposal to replace NCEA with an alternative educational curriculum.
NCEA, which has been in place since 2002, has received mixed responses. In announcing the move, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, says that due to the flexibility of NCEA, this has “come at a cost” for young people to develop critical thinking skills and knowledge for future pathways.
The proposed changes include replacing NCEA level 1 with a foundational test, solely focusing on numeracy and literacy, replacing NCEA’s level 2 and 3 with two new qualifications, requiring students take five subjects, and having to pass at least four to obtain a certificate.
This move is not without its criticisms and concerns, however. For example, Many teachers have told RNZ that the changes, which are set to be phased in from next year, are too swift, with teachers saying they will need additional support during the transition process.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about potentially moving away from NCEA.
The deadline for enrolling to vote in Local elections and nominations for candidates closed last week, with last minute pushes across the country to make sure as many seats as possible were being contested.
There were concerns from the Electoral Commission and Local Councils across the country that some seats might go uncontested or only have one person running.
Producer Sanat wanted to understand what the state of local democracy is in Auckland and whether the council is doing enough to make sure it is healthy and thriving.
Also in today’s discussion is a conversation about Regional Deals. Recently Auckland Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the government in order to begin “negotiating” a regional deal.
Producer Sanat wanted to understand what a regional deal is and what it can do for Auckland, especially as recent unemployment and homelessness figures suggest that our city has been hit hardest by the recent economic downturn.
He started off by asking Councillor Shane Henderson about the state of Auckland's Local Democracy.
“When Genocide Wasn’t News” is a recently released Canadian book that documents major Canadian news organisations' reporting on Gaza.
The book claims the media has “whitewashed Israeli violence, dehumanised Palestinians and smeared a growing protest movement.”
Gabriela Perdomo Páez, Assistant Professor of journalism at Mount Royal University, says journalists who support peace efforts can easily be accused of being “biased” in favour of those promoting peace.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Perdomo Páez about Canadian news coverage of Gaza.
Earlier this week the government announced they’d be replacing the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) with a new set of national secondary school qualifications.
Minister of Education Erica Stanford says the current NCEA system was failing to help students develop critical thinking skills and was difficult for parents to navigate as well.
In that same week, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the FBI would be opening a dedicated law enforcement attaché office in Wellington. Defence Minister Judith Collins and Police Minister Mark Mitchell said that the new office would strengthen our ties with the five eyes alliance, with Patel additionally saying the move would counter Chinese influence in the region.
And the Green party recently launched a petition calling on the government to reverse policies of theirs related to emergency housing access that the Greens say have led to an increase in homelessness across the country.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez-March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.
On Thursday last week, the coalition government passed legislation to reverse the ban on oil and gas exploration — a ban which had been initiated by the previous government in 2018.
Minister Shane Jones who drove the reversal, highlighted the impact of the ban on economic growth and energy supply in New Zealand. Opposition parties have voiced concerns about the impact of this decision for New Zealand’s climate commitments.
As well, yesterday Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced an overhaul of the NCEA system, to be replaced with qualifications that they say will be better to understand, and more aligned with international standards.
Finally, as the United States places 15% tariffs on NZ exports, the Labour party have said the government needs to do more to strengthen our trade relationships to avoid a rise in the cost of living for kiwis.
Host Sara spoke with National MP Carl Bates about all these topics. Sara started by asking him to explain the government’s decision to reverse the ban on oil and gas exploration in New Zealand.
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