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.
Last week the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 was released.
The report delved into the lessons learnt during the pandemic, featuring 39 primary recommendations within the 713 page report.
These recommendations explored a number of social, economic and health impacts of the pandemic, how the government responded and how the country could be better prepared for future pandemics.
The report explores the good and not so good moves by the government, and how they could have been more efficient in their response.
However, research fellow at the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute, Dr Anna Brooks says that the report fails to consider the long term impacts of Covid-19 that continue to affect many New Zealanders today.
Producer Evie spoke to Dr Brooks about these concerns, and how realistic it is that the recommendations will actually be implemented.
Producer Evie speaks to Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about the thousands who have enrolled in the Māori Roll following the hīkoi mō te tiriti, the gang patch legislation coming into effect, and the COP29 climate summit talks.
Evie also catches up with the ACT Party's Simon Court about the party marking one year in government and how they think they’ve done so far, along with the gang patch ban legislation officially coming into power.
Producer Yesenia speaks to the PSA’s National Health Sector lead, Ashok Shankar, on the Government planning to axe 1500 public health care roles.
She also speaks to Associate Professor of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, Chris Ogden, about Donald J. Trump's return to the oval office and his push to authoritarianism.
And finally, producer Evie speaks to senior research fellow at the University of Auckland Dr Anna Brooks on the just released Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19 and how it fails to address the long term impacts of the disease.
With his return to the oval office in the United States, Donald Trump's second presidential term has begun to flesh out fears of an authoritarianism like countries such as China and Russia.
Producer Yesenia spoke to University of Auckland Associate Professor of Global Studies, Chris Ogden about the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump returning to the oval office, the upcoming concerns people should be aware of and the reduction of freedom of speech happening as a result.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour spokesperson for Auckland and Rainbow issues Shanan Halbert about the new Federal Street Police Station in the Auckland CBD, a potential 70% surge in Public Transport pricing, and an evidence brief on Puberty Blockers from the Ministry of Health.
For State of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about new targeted tariffs proposed by Trump, the case against Trump for election interference being dropped, and the new Attorney-General Nominee.
For City Counselling this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about the new police station on Federal Street in Auckland CBD which was announced earlier this week.
She also speaks to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Mark Henaghan, about calls to reform children’s housing rights.
And she speaks to Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Dr Olga Pantos, who is on the ground in Busan, Korea for the final International Plastics Treaty negotiations.
In 2022, world leaders made a historic agreement to negotiate a global and legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution by 2024. This week, negotiators from across the globe are in Busan, Korea for the final negotiations on this International Plastics Treaty to end plastic pollution.
Producer Sofia spoke to Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Dr Olga Pantos, who is on the ground in Busan for these final negotiations
The University of Auckland’s Professor Mark Henaghan and researcher Christian Poland argue that children’s rights to a stable home are neglected by laws that prioritise adult interests.
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP29, concluded in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku last week.
This year’s climate change conference was particularly controversial, with the host - Azerbaijan, being a major oil producer, with almost 2,000 lobbyists from the oil and gas industry attending and with many small island nation states in attendance objecting to the conference’s $300 billion financial agreement to help them address the impacts of extreme weather events.
Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Bronwyn Hayward a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury, to discuss the outcomes of the COP29 conference and the New Quantified Goal in Climate Finance that came from it.
Last week, Judges at the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister - Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister - Yoav Gallant and the military commander of Hamas - Mohammad Deif.
As a result of the warrants, any countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court would be required to arrest those charged and hand them over to the court in the Hague.
The move is considered to be particularly significant, as it’s the first incident in which the leaders of a western-allied country are receiving warrants from the court.
Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Treasa Dunworth - An Associate Professor in the Faculty of :aw at the University of Auckland, to discuss the warrants, their significance and efficacy.
On the 25th of November, the University of Auckland’s new recreation and wellness centre officially opened for students and staff members.
The recreation centre boasts a 26,000 square metre facility equipped with amenities such as an 8-lane swimming pool, two sports halls and a large gym.
However, around the time of the centre’s opening, a protest was held outside the building by students, lecturers, university staff and members of the Tertiary education union in opposition to the rec centres opening and the expenditure that went into it.
According to the protestors in attendance, the $320 million expenditure that went into the rec centre’s development could not be justified, while staff were still fighting for fair pay agreements with university management and while numerous courses are facing cuts.
Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Java Grant - A Representative of the student led-advocacy group - We Are the University, and Sean Sturn - an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Member of the Tertiary Education Union, to discuss why the protest outside the new rec centre was held, and the concerns that staff and students had with UoA management.
What does the future hold for the world’s children? Twenty-fifty is now twenty-six years away, and a recent report made by UNICEF makes predictions based off of three megatrends they have developed.
By the twenty-fifties, the global child population is expected to stabilise at 2.3 billion, the most substantial areas of growth being in South Asia and most of the African continent. These areas already struggle to meet children’s basic needs, which are also now affected by a rapidly changing climate and a lack of adequate digital infrastructure.
Half of the world’s children today - 1 billion - live in countries where there is a greater risk of climate and environmental hazards. Adding on to this is the gradual increase of urbanisation, the development of compact city living. Without adequate infrastructure to support this influx, these factors will jeopardise the future development of children.
The future is ours to shape, and to continue down a ‘business as usual’ is the easiest path, but will create a worse reality. To understand these ideas in full, Sasha spoke to UNICEF Aotearoa Director of Communications, Tania Sawicki Mead about the recent report and its implications for the future of global childhood.
As part of its submission on a Local Government New Zealand issues paper exploring electoral reform, Auckland Council has expressed its support for a four-year electoral term.
In exploring local government reform, the LGNZ paper also looks at public understanding of local government, public awareness of candidates and policies, and voting methods for local elections, raising questions about who’s responsible for improving these areas and what the future of local government voting might look like.
For the first interview of 2025, producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about Council’s LGNZ submission as well as Council’s general plans for 2025.
The Eaton and Palisades fires, the two major fires making up the Los Angeles fires, are now the two most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The fires have sparked significant debate about insurance in high-risk natural disaster areas as thousands of Californians lost their home insurance not long before the fires.
And president-elect Donald Trump has returned to the centre stage of United States foreign policy in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
Trump has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada as well as reclaim the Panama Canal for the United States.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
Submissions on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill were set to close last week, when on the final few days of submissions the portal to submit suffered technical difficulties.
Due to this, many people were unable to send in their submissions on time. Parliament made the decision to extend the submission period to make up for the issue. With thousands also handing their submissions in person.
The bill is estimated to have had more than 300,000 submissions prior to the original deadline, making it the most highly submitted on bill in history.
For the weekly catchup with the Green Party Evie spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the submission process.
They also talked about the contested Regulatory Standards Bill which has also recently come into the spotlight.
The submission period for the Treaty Principles Bill was due to close last week, however, due to mass amounts of last minute submissions leading to software issues, the deadline was extended to 1 pm on Tuesday, 14th January.
Similarly, the submissions for the consultation period on the regulatory standards bill ended yesterday, another bill primarily pushed by David Seymour and the ACT party that would change how the government processes legislation.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about these bills and how the party plans to operate in 2025.
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 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 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.
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