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.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s calls to former MP Darleen Tana to resign and housing minister Chris Bishop’s new legislation to boost housing development.
He spoke to Dr Michelle McCrystal from the University of Auckland to discuss a project she led assessing the impacts of extreme weather events on hospitals in the Pacific Islands.
And He spoke to Professor Sue Crengle, from the University of Otago, to discuss a project she was involved in with Te Whatu Ora to create a national cancer screening program in Aotearoa.
Rawan spoke with Debra Ashton from SAFE animal rights group about their interception of the proposal to build intensive chicken farms in Waikato
She also spoke with John Minto from Palestinian Solidarity network about the illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, what the government needs to do and solidarity rallies.
For Dear Science this week, Wire host Castor chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about fighting cancer with gold nanoparticles, trends in the melodies of popular music, and NASA’s Mars mission crew.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Castor spoke to MP Sam Uffindell about the residential tenancies amendment bill and tolls on the roads of national significance.
He also spoke to Dayle Takitimu from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission about indigenous rights in Aotearoa.
Producer Elle spoke to the University of Auckland’s Tom Pearce about standardised testing in primary schools.
She also spoke to Massey University’s Professor Joanne Hort about New Zealanders’ use of spices.
From 2026 the government will introduce standardised testing for reading, writing and maths across all primary schools.
Year one students will be required to sit phonics tests at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling and years 3-6 will be required to take PAT and e-asTTle. Around 60% of schools already use this type of testing.
The reason for the introduction of testing is to improve education levels which are not up to standard, according to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Education minister Erica Standford stated testing is important to keep parents informed about their child’s progress. Stanford continued that the tests will allow teachers and principals with the data to track in aggregate their school’s performance.
Producer Elle spoke to Faculty of Education and Social Work PhD student Tom Pearce about the policy.
The United Nations hosted Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) 2024 is taking place in Geneva this week, with Aotearoa’s Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in attendance.
Particularly, the commission will be commenting on Aotearoa’s historical approach to indigenous rights in Aotearoa as well as the approach of the current government.
Wire host Castor spoke to Te Kāhui Tika Tangata’s indigenous rights governance partner, Dayle Takitimu, about the EMRIP assessment and what it could mean for our current and future governments.
This story mentions eating disorders and disordered eating.
A new study from researchers at the University of Auckland has found that there was an increase in hospital admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The study found that 10-19 year old girls with diagnoses of anorexia nervosa had the most significant increase; and that Māori had proportionately more hospital admissions for eating disorders than others.
Admissions for other mental health disorders mostly stayed the same or decreased during the pandemic.
Josef spoke to Dr David Menkes, an Academic Psychiatrist at the University of Auckland and co-author of the study, about the study’s findings and what can be done to avoid similar spikes in the future.
If you need support, talking to someone you know or contacting formal support services can be helpful. For support, call the Eating Disorder Association New Zealand 0800 2 EDANZ or (09) 5222 679. Or you can free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
The government’s plan to introduce boot camps for youth offenders and other more punitive law and order reforms have come under fire by experts for failing to address the root causes of crime and antisocial behaviour in Aotearoa.
The recently implemented measures and rhetoric from the government have prompted a variety of discussions about how Aotearoa can properly tackle youth crime, the resources public agencies have to address and the measures that have worked so far.
Oto spoke to Aaron Hendry, a youth worker and co-founder of Kickback, to discuss the government’s recent youth crime reforms, and the measures that have worked in the past that the government should be looking into instead.
Children in New Zealand have among the highest rates of screen use in the world, with Māori and low socioeconomic-background young people over-represented.
A group of researchers have come up with advice on children’s screen use to better assist educators in Aotearoa to balance health risks of digital technologies with educational benefits.
Wire host Sofia spoke to the lead author, masters researcher at the University of Auckland and paediatric physiotherapist, Julie Cullen, about this advice, starting the interview asking her about the main risks this research identified that are of concern when it comes to digital technology use by children and young people.
For their weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, Wire host Sofia speaks to ACT MP Cameron Luxton about ACT invoking the ‘agree to disagree’ provision over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, the government’s plans to ‘flood’ the country with more housing, and the Easter Trading Bill.
She also speaks to University of Auckland senior lecturer of Architecture and Planning, Dr Elizabeth Aitken Rose, about the government’s plans to address the housing crisis
And she speaks to masters researcher at the University of Auckland and paediatric physiotherapist, Julie Cullen, about advice for children’s digital technology use in kura.
Producer Oto speaks to youth worker Aaron Hendry from Kickback to discuss the best approaches to tackling youth offending.
Producer Josef speaks to Academic Psychiatrist, David Menkes about the rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last week, Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced six key changes to housing policy to "flood" the country with new homes. These include freeing up land for development, removing unnecessary planning barriers and relaxing standards.
Wire host Sofia spoke to University of Auckland senior lecturer of Architecture and Planning, Dr Elizabeth Aitken Rose, about the government’s plans to address the housing crisis in light of Bishop’s announcements last week.
She started the interview asking her what the key changes Bishop announced were.
Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.
In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025.
However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.
And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
In 2014, Victoria University of Wellington made an official promise to divest $650,000 worth of investments in fossil fuel companies which, at the time, comprised of 2.1% of the University’s total investments.
However, more than 10 years on, a student-led investigation found that the university still held significant investments in companies like Exxon Mobil and SHELL through third-party investment managers.
A year after a successful petition by Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling on the university to divest funding from Israeli companies, a group of students from Climate Action Victoria University of Wellington have made renewed calls to the university to divest from fossil fuel companies.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Hugh Acton, a member of Climate Action Victoria of University of Wellington, who’s launched a petition calling on the university to disclose their investments in companies involved in fossil fuel production and to divest from them immediately.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
National Party MP Catherine Wedd recently filed a private members bill that would look at restricting social media use for young people, mainly those under 16. While the bill has received some criticism from the ACT party, other parties such as Labour have agreed that legislation around this issue is important.
At the end of April New Zealand First MP Jenny Marcroft put forward a private members bill forward that would seek to define the word ‘woman’ in New Zealand law. The bill was received with criticism from opposition parties and the general public, who say the bill is drawing on transphobic sentiments to distract from more important issues.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with the potential social media restrictions.
Last week, the controversial Pay Equity Amendment Bill passed under urgency.
The bill makes drastic changes to the Equal Pay Act 1972, making the criteria for equity claims stricter, and could can the 33 existing claims, affecting 150,000 female workers.
The passing of the bill has faced significant opposition from the Labour Party, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori, over concerns this bill would set women back, and resulted in nationwide protests.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the passing of the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and how this would impact marginalised communities.
They also spoke about the Ministry of Education releasing the draft relationships and sexuality education, or RSE, framework, for students years 0 to 13, and the party’s concerns regarding this.
But first, they discussed the Pay Equity Amendment Bill
The ACT Party has defended the Government’s controversial move to pass changes to pay equity law under urgency — a move that immediately halted all current claims and raised the bar for future ones. The Government argues the new rules will provide more “clarity” and prevent costly legal disputes, while unions and advocates say the bill is a rollback of hard-won gains for women in low-paid sectors.
Critics also slammed the lack of consultation and the speed of the legislative process, while questions are raised over whether the move was made to plug a hole in the upcoming budget. For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about why ACT supports the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and whether it risks undermining efforts to close the gender pay gap.
They also discussed a National Party member’s bill that would ban under-16s from using social media — a proposal ACT has declined to back for now. National says the ban would protect young people’s mental health, while ACT argues it raises serious questions about freedom of speech and parental responsibility.
International relations experts are fearing a major conflict between India and Pakistan after sharp, escalating tensions, following a deadly terrorist attack in militarised Kashmir that killed 26 people.
Kashmiris have a long history of oppression. In modern times, this has been as India and Pakistan fight over the region while Kashmiris fight for independence.
Human Rights Watch reports on Kashmir reveal examples of forced displacement, sexual violence, disappearances and allegations of torture and death in custody.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Rohan Davis about the recent terrorist attack and ongoing military escalation, as well as the historical and political context of the Kashmir crisis.
Davis is a video essayist on YouTube from Kerala, India, who covers Indian history and politics.
The government has changed pay equality laws, halting all existing claims and reducing the number of workers who can argue for better pay based on gender discrimination.
New figures show the unemployment rate has remained unchanged from last quarter at 5.1%.
And National has put forward a member's bill proposal that would ban social media for under-16s.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Earlier this week, defence Minister Judith Collins announced that $2 billion would be set aside in this year’s budget to replace the Defence Force’s maritime helicopters.
This would be outside the additional $12 billion dollars that the government will be investing in the Defence Capability plan and would include another separate $1 Billion investment in the defence force over the next four years.
In that same week, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith recently announced that Cabinet had reinstated a total ban on prisoners voting in general elections, overturning laws under the previous Labour government allowing prisoners serving less than three years to vote.
And Green Party MP Steve Abel recently added The Animal Products (Closing the Welfare Gap) Amendment Bill to the biscuit tin, which would ensure that imported products in New Zealand met our animal welfare standards.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Greens MP Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss all of these issues.
Winter is coming, and so is a projected increase in respiratory illnesses and COVID cases. Schools are particularly notorious breeding grounds for such diseases with children being more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.
Ultimately, this results in teachers also being subject to COVID and respiratory illnesses at a higher rate than other professions, and an increased number of teachers leaving the profession due to long COVID symptoms is worsening Aotearoa’s already severe teacher shortage.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Tara Forde from Aotearoa Covid Action, to discuss a petition of hers calling for the government to prevent the spread of COVID in our schools by making improvements to school air quality and improving accessibility to Booster Vaccines and Rapid Antigen Tests.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
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