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.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following his clash with US President, Donald Trump, has once initiated discussions to move forward a minerals deal with his US counterpart.
During the original discussions, Trump, alongside US Vice President, JD Vance, berated Zelenskyy, which resulted in the Ukrainian President walking out of the Oval Office without signing a minerals deal between the two nations, which the White House says is a precursor to peace talks.
This all comes as the US has abruptly halted US military aid to Ukraine.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the honorary academic and retired Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, Stephen Hoadley, about this clash, and his opinion that Trump will do a u-turn and start providing military aid to Ukraine, despite the US aligning closer to Russia.
They started off by asking how important this minerals deal is regarding the relationship between the US and Ukraine.
The United States has frequently been in the news cycle recently for the Trump administration’s unstable foreign policy decisions.
This includes their decisions to cut 90% of USAID foreign contracts and to pause military aid to Ukraine following a fiery meeting between the leaders of both countries.
University of Otago’s Professor Richard Jackson describes President Trump’s behaviours as a threat to global order and security.
For International Desk this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to him about the instability of United States foreign policy and the global ramifications of this.
Earlier this week, an investigation was launched into the school lunch programme after baked-in plastic was found in several lunches.
However, principals say the programme has already had various issues since Associate Education Minister David Seymour switched providers as a cost-saving measure last year.
And the coalition government is set to introduce legislation that would give the option of 4 year parliamentary terms.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy LeaderCarmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
On 1 March 1954, the Castle Bravo nuclear bomb was detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a nuclear weapons test.
The bomb, which was 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, required the atolls 200 indigenous inhabitants to be relocated to the Rongerik Atoll before being allowed to return in the 1960s.
However, has had devastating impacts on the Islands ecosystem and has created lasting health impacts that Marshall islanders face today.
As such, Greenpeace have issued a call to the US government to pay reparations to the Marshallese people for the impacts of nuclear testing and to comply with Marshallese demands for recognition and nuclear justice.
Oto spoke to Shiva Gounden from Greenpeace Australia Pacific to discuss their calls for reparations, as well as the rainbow warrior voyage, which will be travelling to the marshall islands to conduct research on the impacts of nuclear testing.
Recently, the Trump Administration has cut 90% of funding to USAID; the largest international aid organisation.
This move has received wide condemnation regarding what this will mean for those reliant on the support provided through the initiative.
At the same time, in his opinion piece on Newsroom, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Ritesh Shah, analyses the current international aid structure with the substantial funding cuts to USAID, and calls for international aid agencies to redirect what he says are their vested interests
News and Editorial Director, Joel, started off by asking him should other prominent aid agencies, including the New Zealand Agency for International Development, reevaluate how foreign aid is delivered.
Recent developments within global politics have been under great scrutiny by many journalists and political thinkers, and now the meme phrase “nothing ever happens” may not be so true.
This past month has seen the inauguration of Trump into office and his cozying up with Putin and the billionaires. He has also implemented great tariffs onto many countries meaning everything will continue to rise in price.
Sasha spoke to Professor Robert Patman from the University of Otago, Dunedin, about these recent global developments and the implications for the world. We also briefly touched on New Zealand’s response and potential implications for AUKUS
As global temperatures continue to rise through unprecedented global warming, the risk of urban and wildfires continues to expand. Many countries continue to fight increasing global warming by phasing out the sale of petrol cars. These countries include most in the European Union, and additionally Canada and China are expecting to do so by the 2030’s.
However, with the United States leaving the Paris Agreement following president Trump’s inauguration, the future of mitigating global warming becomes more unlikely. A temperature rise of four degrees is projected should we not take any action to reduce it.
Producer Sasha spoke with Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University about these issues in addition to urban fire planning in New Zealand. We talked about how we can avoid urban fire scenarios and the world’s state of global warming.
For their weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the 4th government investigation into school lunches, The proposal to cut Te Reo Māori resource teachers and the Greens call to the government to rule out joining AUKUS.
He spoke to Esmé Hulbert-Putt from Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine about the open letter from Christian leaders calling for humanitarian visas for Palestinians, as well as the Gaza ceasefire pilgrimages that will be happening across the motu later today.
And he spoke to Shiva Gounden from Greenpeace Aotearoa about Greenpeace’s call for reparations from the United States to the Marshall Islands for the impacts of the Castle Bravo nuclear bomb’s detonation in the Bikini Atoll in the 1950s.
Sasha spoke with Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University about Urban Fire planning and Global Warming.
And he also spoke to Professor Robert Patman, from the University of Otago about recent global political developments.
Recently an open letter was sent by 100 Christian leaders across Aotearoa to the government, calling for humanitarian visas to be granted to Palestinians in Gaza who have family in New Zealand.
The letter’s delivery to parliament grounds will be accompanied by nationwide Gaza ceasefire pilgrimages held today on Ash Wednesday, symbolising the walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and stopping to pray at points that also symbolise Israeli checkpoints in the West bank.
The open letter’s writing and delivery are part of a wider movement in Aotearoa spearheaded by Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine - a cross-denominational group of Christians in support of Palestinians in the occupied territories looking to counteract the Christian Zionist Evangelical movement.
Oto spoke to Esmé Hulbert-Putt - a coordinator at Christians United for Refuge Aotearoa, to discuss the open letter, the ceasefire pilgrimages and why Christians should support the Palestinian people.
The government’s new school lunch program, spearheaded by ACT party leader David Seymour, has come under fire for a raft of problems related to its implementation.
With rollout issues continuing since the first week alongside quality and quantity concerns, many are questioning whether the program change was necessary.
School lunches often support struggling families and students to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.
Tuesday Wire Host, Castor, speaks to Co-Chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Professor Lisa Te Morenga, about why a school lunch program is necessary and how the new program stacks up.
Last week the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul made comments about police presence in Wellington, particularly how increased police activity made some feel unsafe. She also noted some discriminatory and harmful behaviour from police officers towards Wellington’s homeless population. These comments, presented at a panel hosted by the University of Canterbury’s Greens and Peace Action Ōtautahi, were Paul restating feedback she had received from her constituents in Wellington central.
The response to Tamatha Paul’s comments was extremely critical from all sides of the political spectrum, involving feedback such as “insane” from prime minister Christopher Luxon, “unwise” and “stupid” from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and “just weird” from ACT leader David Seymour. The comments and their responses lead to a series of articles across all major New Zealand news networks.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the substance of Tamatha Paul’s comments and whether the seemingly disproportionate reaction is appropriate.
This week on Dear Science our expert Dr. Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about various April Fools pranks in the world of science, including the 'Sheep Albedo Hypothesis' from here in Aotearoa.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
On Sunday, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced plans to combat the supermarket duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths. This could include breaking-up or restructuring the current chains, with Cabinet also announcing a formal request for information, or RFI, into the matter.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this announcement, and whether she, and the party, thinks this will be enough to address food accessibility in Aotearoa.
We also discussed the comments made by Green MP, Tamatha Paul, about the police, and whether she believes these comments have become sensationalised.
Finally, we discussed the party’s calls for mandatory police body cameras.
But first, they started off by asking Kemp about how the party are feeling about Nicola Willis’ most recent announcements into the supermarket duopoly.
Last week, the government announced its plans for reforming the Resource Management Act, or the RMA, introducing two acts to replace the current RMA. The plan is to bring the two acts before the select committee next year, passing them just before the next election.
For our weekly catch up News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about this reform, working with the opposition, and the lack of a Treaty clause.
We also talked about concerns that the health and police system in Aotearoa are failing, following an 11-year old being misidentified as a 20-year old by police and being administered antipsychotic drugs.
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat with top United States security officials who were discussing military plans for strikes on Yemen.
The group chat discussed operational details, and officials, including the Vice President JD Vance, seemed unaware of Goldberg’s presence.
Jeffrey Goldberg initially left out some of these sensitive details in his article on the group chat but has released more specific information after the Trump administration downplayed the situation and said no classified information was shared.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about this issue.
Public submissions regarding Auckland Council’s annual plan from 2025/2026 are set to close tomorrow at 11:59pm, with the plan set to take place from the 1st of July.
These submissions give the public the opportunity to provide feedback on proposals from the coming year.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about this, and the council’s ‘bed tax’.
They also spoke about the recent discussions regarding ensuring fair and equal representation in the upcoming 2025 local election.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”
The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.
And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Ever wondered what it would be like to bike in an Art Gallery? Well now you can, for the city is your gallery. In collaboration with EcoFest 2025 and various New Zealand artists, Bike Hubs have set up a Street Art Bike Challenge. Now, anyone can ride around the city, discover amazing works of art and win great prizes.
This week, Green Desk Producer Liam speaks to Brent Bielby, manager of EcoMatters’ Bike Hubs, a community project aimed at encouraging more people to take up cycling. He explains the goal behind the challenge, as well as how cycling can contribute to a healthy lifestyle and provide a source of freedom and fun.
You can take part in this challenge yourself. All you need to do is take out your bike, pedal over to the artworks, and upload a photo of you and your bike. The challenge will run until the 22nd of April, and you can find a map of all the locations and trails on the EcoMatters website.
A petition was launched by Te Taiao o Kawhia Moana, a group dedicated to the protection and conservation of the Kāwhia harbour, calling on the Ōtorohanga District Council to remove vehicle access from vulnerable areas of the inner harbour and to Support the development of new alternative access infrastructure.
The group says that local taonga species and ecosystems are being put at risk by current vehicle access and that The proposed Ocean Beach access way would provide a sustainable alternative that balances community access needs with environmental protection.
For this week’s Gert Action! Oto spoke to John Forbes, founding Chair of Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana, to discuss the petition and the importance of protecting the harbour.
If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:
Just two days ago, the government announced a complete overhaul of the Resource Management Act.
The RMA as it is would be dismantled and then split into two acts; a planning act regulating the use and development of land, and a Natural Environment Act focusing on the use and protection of land, air, water and other natural resources.
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court said that the reforms were intended to streamline development more efficiently while also protecting the environment.
The week before, the Greens issued a call for the compassionate release of 77-year old inmate Dean Wickliffe, who is currently on a hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility after being arrested for being made houseless in violation of his probation conditions.
And Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick made a renewed call to the government calling on them to support a members bill of hers that would sanction Israel for their occupation of the Palestinian territories.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
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