Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Jessica Hopkins, Castor Chacko, Nicholas Lindstrom, 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.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the National Land transport Programme, the Ministry of Education removing information on charter schools from their website and the party’s nomination for bird of the year.
He spoke to Professor Christine Rubie-Davies from the University of Auckland to talk about the practice of streaming in classrooms and the Kōkirihia initiative led by Ngāi Tahu which looks to replace it with High expectation teaching and mixed ability classrooms.
And he spoke to Researcher Leueta Mulipola from the University of Auckland to talk about a study she conducted on anger studying anger through the lens of Samoan youth in Aotearoa.
Sasha spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about double standards in New Zealand's media coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.
He also spoke to Professor Barry Barton from the University of Waikato about the government’s intention to reverse the oil and gas exploration ban.
Following a call of urgent action from energy minister Simeon Brown and the coalition government, the government intends to reverse the ban on oil and gas exploration beyond onshore Taranaki.
This decision comes after Simeon Brown declared New Zealand to have an energy shortage, leading to the highest wholesale electricity prices of comparable countries. At the same time however, there has been a continual increase in solar panel power which may solve New Zealand’s energy crisis.
Sasha spoke to Professor Barry Barton from the University of Waikato about the governments’ intention to remove the oil and gas exploration ban.
New Zealanders continue to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza and on Israel’s illegal occupation of West-Bank, mainstream New Zealand media continue a narrative of double standards.
A recent report made by TVNZ, presented the Israeli military operation on the illegally-occupied West Bank. The report focused on Israeli narratives, justification and propaganda, with nothing coming from the Palestinian side to put such an issue into perspective. TVNZ presented an inversion of the truth.
I spoke to John Minto of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa about appalling mainstream media reporting on Palestine, as well as the government’s silence on the issue and a justification for the ongoing rallies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For States of the States, 95bFM’s United States election coverage, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from Yale Daily News about the only vice presidential debate of the election.
For our weekly catch up with the Labour Party Wire host Caeden speaks to Labour education spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, on education unions opposition to charter schools, the reallocation of te reo Māori funding towards the maths curriculum, and the government’s new plan to lift school attendance rates.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council's progress on emergency response systems and the buyout scheme for homeowners impacted by floods.
Last week, infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Health Minister Shane Reti announced that the planned redevelopment of the new Dunedin Hospital would need to be scaled back, based on projections that the upgrade costs could reach or exceed $3 billion New Zealand dollars.
Advice given to Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand, has been to either reduce the scale of the hospital’s infrastructural development or to develop the project in stages.
The decision has been widely criticised, both by the general public and local government officials in Dunedin, who say that the announcement contradicts the coalition’s promise to continue a project started by the previous Labour government to rebuild Dunedin hospital to full capacity and capabilities.
For their weekly catchup, I spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the decision to roll back on the development of Dunedin Hospital.
They also had a kōrero about the end of free covid test distribution and the government’s sign off on changes to increase speed limits.
The government has finally delivered on a long talked about policy, a major crackdown on truancy in schools.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced a three part ‘STAR’ plan, to be put in place by the beginning of the 2026 school year. There are various consequences for students absent between five and 10 days, but for students absent for 15 days, parents may be fined and prosecuted.
Many schools and teachers have taken issue with the policy, saying everyone wants their child at school, but the root of the issue can often be much deeper.
For their weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the crackdown, and why the government believes it will be effective.
They also talk about public submissions on the oil and gas ban reversal bill, which are open for only four business days, considerably shorter than submission time for most bills.
Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News on the latest United States election polling numbers and the execution of Marcellus Williams for State of the States.
For our weekly catch-up the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary on Mental Health Awareness Week and broader mental health policy in Aotearoa.
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has directed ministry bosses to tighten up on working from home.
Heart of the City has said workers returning to the office will help struggling businesses in Auckland's city centre and that Auckland Council could lead the way to revitalising the CBD.
However, after reviewing its working from home policies, Council has decided it is not going to change its flexible working arrangements.
Additionally, this week a large rubbish bin graveyard in central Auckland has sparked public outrage.
This comes after Council’s removal of public bins as a part of Council’s cost-saving drive, promising to save ratepayers $9 million by getting rid of 30% of the region’s public bins.
Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
Over the last two years, there have been a multitude of mechanical failures regarding the inter-islander ferries between the North and the South Island, which has brought great attention to the government. KiwiRail has requested a one-point-seven billion dollar funding request for a project to see the ferries repaired and ensure capacity for train transport as well.
Unfortunately, the government has declined the funding request, which could seriously impact the travel potential of goods and services, not to mention general transport, between the North and South island.
For this week’s Get Action! Sasha spoke to Dave Macpherson from The Future is Rail about a petition he started to ensure replacement Cook Strait ferries can carry trains.
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