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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In a recent RNZ investigation, the investigation alleges that NZ First Party Leader, Winston Peters, has close connections to the multinational tobacco company, Philip Morris.
This has raised concerns about what impact alleged tobacco lobbying has on government policies and decisions.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Calvin Cochran, a spokesperson for the Smokefree Expert Advisory Group about RNZ’s investigation, and what needs to be done to tackle tobacco-industry lobbying in Aotearoa.
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.
Justice Minister, Paul Goldsmith, recently announced a proposal to the Electoral Act and Constitution Act, removing the ability for an individual to enrol on election day.
Alongside this comes the proposal of halting the ability to enrol during the advanced voting period.
This move has received backlash - including from within the government. This morning, Attorney-General, Judith Collins KC, says the move goes against the Bill of Rights Act.
During the 2023 general election, over 450,000 enrolled in the 12-day period, with 110,000 enrolling on election day.
A significant proportion of those later enrolments consist of young people, and in areas of bigger Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities.
In light of this move, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, says those who have left voting to the last minute are “drop-kicks”. As well as this, the ACT Party’s justice spokesperson, Todd Stephenson, added to this, saying “Democracy works best when voters are informed, engaged, and take the process seriously,” and that “It’s outrageous that someone completely disengaged and lazy can rock up to the voting booth, get registered there and then, and then vote to tax other people’s money away.”
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.
In a recent study by Dr Saira Raza Khan — a Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Auckland, published in the Journal of Advertising Research, the study looks at the advertising of health campaigns, with the need to move away from ‘scare tactics’.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about her study, and why we should move away from these ‘scare tactics’.
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.
Earlier this week, Councillor Julie Fairey moved a resolution to investigate Auckland Council’s involvement with companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
And this week, Auckland Council launched an AI virtual assistant to report issues such as graffiti, roaming dogs, and noise complaints.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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