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.
A new study was published by Leueta Mulipola, a masters graduate in Public Health at the University of Auckland, which was published in the Australian and New Zealand Health Journal of Public Health.
The study, incorporating the Samoan concept of Talanoa in it’s methodology, explored feelings of anger among the lens of New Zealand-born, Samoan youth, partially motivated by the transition from Fa’aSamoa, the Samoan way of life, to westernised contemporary society here in New Zealand.
Oto spoke to Leueta to talk about her study, and how anger is expressed amongst Samoan youth in Aotearoa.
The government recently announced its New National Land Transport Plan for 2024- 2027. The plan would consist of a $32.9 billion package, largely going towards the development of new roads, many of which are part of the Roads of National Significance programme, as well as maintaining and repairing existing highways and improving public transport in Aotearoa’s major cities.
Based on the it's large expenditure on road and highway development, the Greens issued statements calling out the plan for increasing car dependency and the potential for greater emissions shortly after it was announced.
For our weekly catchup, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about the party’s take on the National Land Transport plan.
They also had a chat about the Ministry of Education removing information on previous iterations of charter schools from their website, as well as the party’s nomination for bird of the year and why it’s important.
The latest poverty report, authored by the Ministry of Social Development Principal Advisor, Bryan Perry, shows New Zealand is behind regarding child poverty statistics, when compared with European nations.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, speaks to Staff Researcher for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Harry Yu Shi, about the findings of the report, and what policy proposals CPAG have outlined to mitigate the statistics.
For Dear Science this week, we chatted with our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin about bats with glowing toes, glue sealing wounds inside the body, and new technology to make green and yellow lasers.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia, Candace Owens potentially visiting Aotearoa, and the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan.
They also spoke to Doctor Timothy Welch about the government’s recently announced transport funding allocation.
With the return of the Green Desk, Jack Marshall talked to Sophie Journee from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust about the waterways in an Auckland golf course.
And News and Editorial Director, Joel Armstrong, spoke to Staff Researcher at Child Poverty Action Group, Harry Yu Shi, about a recent report showing Aotearoa has poor child poverty statistics compared to European countries.
The government announced its transport budget yesterday, a record 32.9 billion dollars, mostly going towards the campaign promise of ‘roads of national significance’. This focus on large highway projects has led the government to pull funding from other areas, such as public transport, walking, and cycling.
Wire host Castor spoke to Senior lecturer of Urban planning at the University of Auckland, Doctor Timothy Welch, about the government’s funding allocation and its potential impact on congestion and the environment.
In our catchup with the National party this week, Wire Host Castor asked MP Katie Nimon about several issues in the recent week of politics. Firstly, I asked about the death of Kiingi Tuheitia and the government’s response. I then asked about the potential arrival of Candace Owens, a far-right speaker from the United States who has been known for engaging in anti-semitism and holocaust denial.
Castor then asked about a recent submission by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Simon Upton, regarding the government’s second draft emissions reduction plan. The submission makes several critiques of the government’s attitude towards emissions reduction, particularly criticising its promotion of short term solutions which could end up offloading responsibility onto future generations.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Katie Nimon about each of these issues, starting off with the recent passing of Kīngi Tūheitia.
Last week Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand announced they were offering voluntary redundancies to admin and advisory staff. This follows 268 roles already being cut from Te Whatu Ora’s commissioning team.
The organisation has said that the “majority of their expenditure is on people costs, and Health NZ needs to review its size and structure.” Adding that “they are providing the opportunity for eligible staff to consider voluntary redundancy ahead of likely formal change consultation processes over the coming months.”
However many health staff say a cut to admin will put more pressure on the already understaffed and overworked nurses, doctors and primary care workers.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Chief Executive Paul Goulter says Te Whatu Ora did not follow the correct consultation processes before arriving at the conclusion that there should be redundancies.
He added that any reduction of staff will impact on the people who remain. Saying removal of supporting roles means that other staff must pick the work they’re doing, something he calls unacceptable.
Producer Evie spoke to Goulter about Te Whatu Ora’s voluntary redundancies and the impacts they will have on other healthcare workers.
Recently, the government has amended gang legislation that would allow police officers to enter private properties of repeat offenders showcasing emblems, patches, and insignia.
The New Zealand Law Society sent an open letter, sent by the society’s vice president, David Campbell, outlining their concerns for the proposal.
The concerns raised include how gang insignia is identified, which if the clause is taken literally, could be interpreted as printed reproductions of logos, which could make it illegal to own newspapers or certain books with gang insignia in it, increasing in the risk of someone to be criminally liable around someone in possession of gang memorabilia, concerns that the amendment will have detrimental effects to communities and whānau in which gang members reside in, as well as infringing on rights protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the committee’s open letter and the ethics of the amendment.
Calls have been made to deny the visa of far-right figure, Candace Owens, from visiting New Zealand as a part of her scheduled speaking tour at the end of the year.
Owens, who has a history of Islamophobia, homophobia, and anti-semetism, recently, on recent videos uploaded to her YouTube channel, questioned key elements of the Holocaust, such as the well-documented human experiments conducted by Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele as “bizzare propaganda,” calling the Holocaust “an ethnic cleansing that almost took place”.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Co-Founder of Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation, Justine Sachs, on calls for far-right figure and Holocaust denier, Candice Owens.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie talks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about more cuts to the health sector and the government’s solutions to the ‘energy crisis’.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Host, Joel, speaks to Convenor for the New Zealand Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Chris Macklin, about the government's new amendments to gang patch legislation.
Evie speaks to Chief executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter about Te Whatu Ora offering voluntary redundancies.
Joel speaks to Co-Founder of Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation, Justine Sachs, about calls for far-right figure and Holocaust denier, Candice Owens’ visa to be denied entry to Aotearoa.
And Evie talks to Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper about Shane Jones slashing fishing levies by FIVE million dollars.
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.
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.
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.
The ACT Party has recently announced that candidates standing in local elections, if elected, will oppose attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
ACT Local Government spokesperson, Cameron Luxton, says council’s should “focus on what they can control,” and not “costly symbolic declarations”.
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.
We also discussed the government’s sanctions on Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
New Zealand has joined countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway, in banning Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over allegedly “inciting extremist violence" against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and “undermin[ing] peace” for a two-state solution.
Finally, we discussed changes being made to the proposed anti-stalking laws.
But first, we discussed ACT candidates opposing attempts to mitigate emissions at a local level.
95bFM 
