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.
The government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
The Parent Boost Visa is designed to support migrants who may be struggling with workloads or who want to bring their parents here through a more clear pathway.
Wire host Castor spoke to CEO of immigration advisory and support group Aims Global, Arunima Dhingra, about how this parent boost visa will benefit migrants and address the issues they face more generally.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial and Monday Wire Host Joel speaks to her about the proposed suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke standing, and NZ First Party Leader, Winston Peters’ comments about Waititi’s moko kanohi during the debate.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, they speak to him about David Seymour being sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, Seymour’s claims that bots drove fake submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill, and the proposed suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs being held.
They speak to Margaret Mutu — a Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland about the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs and her concerns around the ruling.
Joel speaks to Michael Swanson — a PhD Candidate in New Zealand Politics at the University of Otago, about ACT Party leader, David Seymour, about being sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, and if this will impact how the current government operates.
And Producer Samantha speaks to Renee Hosking, the lead medical student researcher at the University of Otago about a study showing that a large proportion of vape juice packaging misstates the nicotine content present.
Recent research by the University of Otago has revealed that more than half of all vape juice and e-liquid products on the shelves misstate the amount of nicotine contained inside.
The study showed that 58% of samples tested had an over 10% difference in nicotine content than what was stated on the label. Of these, 95% had less than advertised and 5% had more.
Producer Samantha spoke with the lead medical student in the research, Renee Hosking, about what it means for the health of the consumer and regulatory implications of these business practices.
Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke have been suspended in Parliament. Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi faced a suspension of 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a suspension of seven days, over their haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Margaret Mutu, a Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland about the ruling, and what impact this will have on the party heading forward.
David Seymour has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister as per coalition agreements. He will be taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
During his first speech as Deputy Prime Minister, Seymour said that the ACT Party would be “Labour’s worst nightmare”.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Michael Swanson — a PHD Candidate in New Zealand Politics from the University of Otago about what this will mean heading forward, what the role of deputy is, and if this will have an impact on the re-election of the current coalition government.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about the recent 1News-Verian poll and calls for a bipartisan approach to Resource Management Act reform.
For International Desk, they spoke to Professor Richard Krever, Professor of Tax Law at the University of Western Australia, about taxing tech giants with a Digital Services Tax.
For this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about Auckland’s congestion problem, specifically relating to Mount Smart Road, as well as the funding of community-led projects through Nga Hapori Momoho
As well, she spoke to Waikato University Bronwyn Isaacs and Maori tech expert Dr Karaitiana Taiuru on the emergence of AI and deep fakes in politics ahead of New Zealand’s elections.
The proliferation of deep fakes and AI-generated content on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, is playing an ever-increasing role in political campaigns.
Recent elections in Australia and the United States, among other countries, have demonstrated the role of deep fakes in representing, or misrepresenting political figures, as well as spreading sensationalist mis- and disinformation on key political issues.
University of Waikato Anthropology lecturer Bronwyn Isaacs published a piece in the Conversation this week, calling for new legislation in Aotearoa while expressing her concern of the role of AI in politics, as echoed by other academics across the globe witnessing the impact of artificially generated content on their own elections.
Leading expert in Māori Data, Tech Ethics and Data Governance, Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, has also raised concern recently with the impact of AI and other emerging technologies on institutional trust and security.
Producer Sara talks to both Bronwyn Isaacs and Dr Karaitiana Taiuru about the role deep fakes and AI might play in New Zealand’s upcoming elections
Earlier this week, 26 climate scientists wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, accusing the government of ignoring scientific evidence of methane emissions and urging him to work towards reducing emissions.
The letter also criticised the government’s method of reducing emissions to the level of “no additional warming”, a concept approved by the Federated Farmers and Beef + Lamb, to keep New Zealand’s contribution to global heating at the levels they were in 2017.
However, Chris Luxon reportedly dismissed the open letter, referring to the climate scientists as “worthies” and insisting that the government was managing methane emissions better than "every other country on the planet,” despite the fact that New Zealand has one of the highest per-capita methane emissions rates in the world.
Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson, Senior Campaign manager for Greenpeace Aotearoa about the open letter sent to Christopher Luxon by 26 climate scientists, Luxon’s reaction to it and the concept of “no additional warming.”
The 2025 Budget included almost $40 million over four years on science kits for Year 0 to 8 students, which the Education Minister yesterday announced will "support teachers to confidently deliver practical science learning, aligned with the new science curriculum".
Dr Carrie Swanson, a senior lecturer in teacher education at AUT called the announcement of investment in primary science education welcoming, and that while the curriculum is not announced yet, “it appears that the curriculum is heading towards educating future scientists”.
To talk about the current state of science education at primary schools in New Zealand, and the incoming investments, Producer Max spoke to Dr Carrie Swanson.
A global study of more than 230 million people found those infected with Covid-19 were around three times more likely to develop Guillain-Barre Syndrome or GBS, within six weeks of infection compared to other times.
GBS is a rare, but serious neurological condition that can cause progressive limb weakness and eventual paralysis.
To explain the findings of the study and the link between Covid and GBS, Producer Max spoke to Helen Petousis-Harris, an associate professor at the University of Auckland.
Recently the Green Party commissioned independent legal advice to look into the government’s $200 million investment in new gas fields that was carried out last month and found out that the investment was in breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS).
NZ First MP Shane Jones recently announced that he’d be drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement, which would prevent hapū from negotiating separate commercial redresses and remove any reference to hapū sovereignty from the settlement terms.
And the Green party recently issued a call to the New Zealand government to condemn the US strikes on Iranian Nuclear facilities, almost a week after Iran and Israel had both been trading missile strikes between each other.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke with MP Hūhana Lyndon to get the party’s take on all of these issues
Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the nationwide census moving forward. The census is the largest statistical survey done in Aotearoa, and provides the bulk of population data used in research and decision-making. Reti says the census is “no longer financially viable” and will be replaced with a combination of smaller annual surveys and administrative data.
While the change looks good on paper, there are concerns around how the change in data collection could affect representation of marginalised and minority groups. Census data tends to be more protected from bias than administrative data and smaller surveys, meaning there are more opportunities for misrepresentation. Some statisticians are particularly concerned about the potential exclusion of marginalised rural communities.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about the census decision and its implications on marginalised and minority groups.
Associate Health Minister, David Seymour, has recently announced changes to Psilocybin and Melatonin availability.
Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, will be available for certain patients suffering from poor mental health outcomes. Melatonin, which is used for insomnia and jetlag, is set to be available over the counter.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to him about this move, and the potential accessibility concerns with accessing these medications.
They also discussed taxpayers set to be funding newly-funded cancer medicines for private facilities.
Finally, they discuss opposition parties criticised Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, over a lack of transparency regarding the effectiveness of boot camps for youth offenders, especially as boot camps have received a boost of $30 million, despite the pilot programme still being ongoing.
But first, they discussed Psilocybin and Melatonin.
Housing intensification is a key priority for Auckland Council as Auckland's population is forecast to reach 2.3 million by 2050.
But as planning for growth continues, some Auckland residents have expressed concern about the approval of developments in areas on flood plains or particularly prone to natural disasters.
With Kāinga Ora selling homes as ‘high risk investments’ in areas which were impacted by flooding in recent years, and 15 percent of all granted consents for new builds by Auckland Council being on floodplains, I spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about how the council is taking into account these issues for the coming years.
Last Saturday, over 2,000 protests took place across all 50 American States against President Donald Trump.
The protests coincided with Trump’s birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and they served as a direct response to the military parade in Washington, DC.
The organisers of the protests say they aimed to reject “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Jeremy Pressman, Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut about the protests and the backlash towards them from the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently spoke to media saying that the government would announce reforms to the Holidays Act that would impact sick leave entitlements for part time workers.
Under the suggested changes, sick leave entitlements would be processed under an accrual system, meaning that part-time workers working half the hours of their full-time counterparts may only earn half of their previously entitled sick leave.
In that same week, a directive was recently given to Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts to perform elective surgeries.
And earlier this week Associate Education David Seymour announced a review of the funding for early childhood education.
For our weekly Catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
This week on Dear Science our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about characterising liquid carbon, a New Zealand led cleanup in Antarctica, and plants making their own pesticide.
Last week, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced plans to double the tourism value by 2034, with increased funding to support the country in reaching this goal. The funding is primarily targeted at increasing the marketing of New Zealand tourism overseas, which has been met with mixed reactions from tourism operators in Aotearoa, many of whom have been struggling with existing tourist numbers.
Also this past week, the New Zealand government imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers for ‘inciting extremist violence’ against Palestinians. While the move has received cross-party support, opposition parties such as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have criticised the government for not taking further action against Israel.
In our weekly catchup with National's Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the new tourism funding.
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