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 Dear Science this week, our expert, Doctor Cushla McGoverin, chatted with us about night vision contact lenses, giant sloths, and how to best break down biofilms.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about Kiwisaver and the Jobseeker benefit in light of the Budget announcements last week.
Producer Faith spoke to the University of Auckland’s Dr. Brian Don about the links between economic hardship and wellbeing.
She also spoke to Dr. Joel Rindelaub about microplastics, and how they’re more common than we think.
For our weekly catchup with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to her about Budget 2025 and its impacts on Māori initiatives, and the deferral of the debate into the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Joel speaks to him also about Budget 2025, specifically around spending on education and how the Budget will impact young people.
They speak to Brian Roper — an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Otago, about the 2025 Budget, and how much of an impact this Budget will have for the National Party’s chances of a re-election.
And they speak to the Co-Founder and General Manager of KickBack, Aaron Hendry, about his concerns with Budget 2025 in addressing the youth homelessness crisis.
With the announcement of how the government is planning to spend money over the next year comes the question of how this will impact the National Party’s chances of being re-elected into power in next year’s General Election.
When presenting her work to Parliament, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, said that “every Kiwi knows this government has their back”.
However, elements of the Budget have been criticised by opposition parties and various activist groups, with opposition leader, Chris Hipkins, calling funding decisions in the Budget “strange and unnecessary”.
The Budget can play a major role in whether a government will be re-elected or not.
Labour’s 1958 Budget, for example, which has since become known as the ‘Black Budget,’ resulted in Finance Minister at the time, Arnold Nordmeyer, imposing additional taxes on cars, alcohol, and tobacco, in an attempt to limit the need for international goods during the payments crisis in late 1957. This caused political tensions, and as a result, Labour lost the 1960 general election after one term.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Brian Roper — an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Otago, about how Budget 2025 will impact National’s chances to be re-elected, and his opinion on what party, or parties, will make up the next government.
Concerns have been raised about how little youth homelessness has been addressed in Budget 2025, as well as how funding is being allocated, that will impact vulnerable rangatahi and tamariki.
Boot camps have received a $33 million boost over four years to create more camps, $1 billion has been stripped from emergency accommodations, and 18 and 19 year olds are set to have their Jobseeker and emergency benefits tested against their parents.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Aaron Hendry - the co-founder and general manager at Kickback; an organisation aimed at tackling youth homelessness, about Budget 2025, and how youth homelessness should have been addressed in the Budget.
Since Covid-19 shocked the global health system with the impacts of lack of pandemic preparedness, the World Health Assembly has undertaken intense negotiations to help develop a stronger and more equitable response to future pandemics.
Producer Sara spoke with the Chief Scientist at Toha, and founder of Te Pūnaha Matatini about the pandemic treaty adopted by the World Health Organisation, and how New Zealand should be preparing for future health crises.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about Budget Day today and the suspensions of three Te Paati Māori MPs over the Treaty Principles Bill haka.
For International Desk, they spoke to Professor of International Law at Australian National University, Donald Rothwell, about the ongoing famine in Gaza due to Israeli blockades and the response under international law.
And ahead of Budget 2025 being announced, they spoke to University of Auckland Associate Professor Susan St John and Isaac Gunson from the Child Poverty Action Group about the potential social impact of the budget.
For her interview with Julie Fairey for this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara discusses the issue of littering in Auckland, including the rise of illegal dumping. They also talk about Mayor Wayne Brown’s interest in transforming Auckland into the ‘premier tech city’ of New Zealand.
She also interviewed Chief Scientist at Toha, and founder of Te Pūnaha Matatini about the recent global pandemic treaty adopted by the World Health Organisation.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.
The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.
It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.
Today is Budget Day 2025, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is calling it a “no BS” budget that will create growth for New Zealand.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Susan St John, Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Business, about the potential social impact of the Budget.
They also spoke to Isaac Gunson from the Child Poverty Action Group about the particular impact of the Budget on child poverty.
Is it time for New Zealand to shine in the space economy?
Dr. Denis Odlin, of the Management and International Business Department at the University of Auckland, as well as other co-authors, have published an analysis that looks into how the space race is being reshaped due to current ongoing geopolitical tensions.
They analyse how Aotearoa New Zealand has found itself in an ideal position to take advantage of the situation, because of its historically neutral position in the space economy.
To talk about New Zealand’s space history, the benefits of neutrality, and the current reshaping of the global space economy, Producer Max spoke with Dr. Denis Odlin.
Last week, the council’s Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Committee said they would be seeking to implement a number of recommendations that improve emergency readiness for disabled populations.
Following a hui last year where community members were invited to bring forward issues relating to future planning for natural disasters, Sara was interested to hear about how the council is taking suggestions on board.
As well, Auckland Council has been considering proposals to mitigate flood risks around the Wairau catchment, including one which would see the reduction of the size of the Takapuna Golf Course, to convert the space into a flood catchment.
Producer Sara spoke to Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson on both of these topics, firstly by asking him to discuss the desired outcomes relating to emergency preparedness for disabled people, and the council’s first steps to implementation
Zohran Mamdani has all but won the Democratic Primary in New York City after key competitor Andrew Cuomo conceded the race.
Mamdani will now be the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor.
His campaign was built on cost-of-living, where Mamdani presented himself as an authentic, Democratic Socialist, grassroots campaign leader.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to 95bFM reporter and South Asia correspondent Sanat Singh about Momdani’s win, what this means for the communities he represents, and where to from here.
A reported 131,000 submissions were made on the Regulatory Standards Bill.
The Bill, proposed by the ACT party, includes a set of principles outlining “responsible regulation.” Notably, it does not include any mention of either version of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Last weekend, hundreds of Destiny Church members marched on Queen Street in a rally that they called “in defence of faith, flag, and family.”
And the Labour Party has criticised the framing of a poll question by the Taxpayers Union/Curia on whether or not Cook Islanders should retain automatic New Zealand citizenship.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Recently the Green Party commissioned independent legal advice to look into the government’s $200 million investment in new gas fields that was carried out last month and found out that the investment was in breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS).
NZ First MP Shane Jones recently announced that he’d be drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement, which would prevent hapū from negotiating separate commercial redresses and remove any reference to hapū sovereignty from the settlement terms.
And the Green party recently issued a call to the New Zealand government to condemn the US strikes on Iranian Nuclear facilities, almost a week after Iran and Israel had both been trading missile strikes between each other.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke with MP Hūhana Lyndon to get the party’s take on all of these issues
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.
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.
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.
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