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, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman chats with us about personalised gene therapy treatment, using molecules to crack passcodes, and Olympic pool bombing.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about Pay Equity in light of the government’s recent changes.
They also spoke to Professor Terryann Clark from the University of Auckland about social media use among young people.
Producer Faith spoke to the Dr Chanelle Duley, an economics lecturer at the university of Auckland, about how financial technology can be used for good, and what we need to be cautious of.
She also spoke to Professor Frederique Vanholsbeeck from the university’s physics department about deep tech, and how NZ can better utilise it.
Social media use among young people has been the subject of recent conversation, sparked by National MP Catherine Wedd’s private members bill. While the bill hasn’t been drawn, the proposal to restrict social media from those under sixteen was met with criticism and support from other political parties.
Wire host Castor spoke to Professor Terryann Clark from the University of Auckland about how a social media ban might affect young people and address the issues they face around mental health.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to her about the Privileges Committee’s recommendations to suspend co-leader’s Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21-days and MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for their haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, and the Waitangi Tribunals recommendations regarding the Regulatory Standards Bill.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie speaks to Simon Court about the Waitangi Tribunal recommending an ‘immediate halt’ to the Regulatory Standards Bill and the government opening a review into the Waitangi Tribunal.
Evie also spekas to The University of Auckland’s Tom Baker about the government’s newly announced Social Investment Fund.
Joel speaks to Mark Thomas, an Associate Professor in Infectious Diseases at the University of Auckland, about the World Health Organisation declaring an outbreak of Polio in Papua New Guinea.
Recently, the World Health Organisation has declared an outbreak of Polio in Papua New Guinea.
Previously, the nation had been declared polio-free in 2000. However, Papua New Guinea faced an outbreak in 2018. This was eradicated in the same year.
Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, said that New Zealand is ready anytime to assist Papua New Guinea if needed, however, he says he has not received a formal request for help as of this morning.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Mark Thomas, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Auckland, about the World Health Organisation’s declaration, and what needs to be done to mitigate future outbreaks heading forward.
Last week Finance minister Nicola Willis announced a $190 million social investment fund that will invest in at least 20 social service initiatives over the next year.
Three projects will receive initial funding: an Autism New Zealand programme providing early support to 50 families; an expansion of Emerge Aotearoa’s work with at-risk youth; and He Piringa Whare, a data-informed programme to support at-risk Māori.
Social Investment is a policy that has been seen from previous National governments, largely associated with former prime minister Bill English.
Under English, the policy involved using data to calculate which groups of people cost the government the most over a lifetime. Interventions aimed at reducing that cost are then targeted at those people.
However critics say this often leads to fiscal outcomes being valued over social outcomes, or profit over people.
This time around the government claims they’ll focus on social outcomes over financial ones - but the policy’s real effects are yet to be seen.
Producer Evie spoke to the University of Auckland’s Associate Professor in Environment Tom Baker about the fund, and how we can expect it to take effect this time around.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour’s Shanan Halbert about Chris Hipkins pre-budget speech at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, the government’s review into the Waitangi Tribunal, and the cost of National’s FamilyBoost policy.
For International Desk, they spoke to Associate Professor in Political Science at Paris Cité University, Speranta Dumitru, about Pope Leo XIV’s views on migration and what this means for the papacy more broadly.
For City Counselling, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson, about how much of an impact the climate crisis will have on voters heading into local elections and incorrectly recycling lithium-ion batteries.
And Tuesday Wire Host Castor spoke to PhD student in Education at the University of Auckland and primary school teacher Tom Pearce about the government's stance towards testing in schools and his concerns of over-testing.
This week the government announced some of its education funding allocation in advance of next week’s budget. The announcement included $100 million for expert maths teachers and new maths tests in school.
$4 million has been allocated for a new maths test for students in their first two years of schooling. Education Minister Erica Stanford sez the test will help teachers identify students in need of additional support, with these additional needs to be met by the new team of specialist maths teachers.
These tests join a series of other tests introduced by the current government across all levels of primary and secondary education. To discuss how tests like this work for students and teachers on the ground, Wire host Castor spoke to PhD student in Education at the University of Auckland and primary school teacher, Tom Pearce.
Just this week, New Zealand’s first measles case in 2 years was reported in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
The patient contracted the disease while travelling in Asia before coming back to Aotearoa and, with global measles cases on the rise, concerns have been raised about the potential for an outbreak and its impacts on New Zealand’s already overburdened healthcare system.
Oto spoke to Helen Petousis-Harris, an Associate Professor in General Practice & Primary Healthcare at the University of Auckland, to discuss the recent measles case in Aotearoa and its potential implications.
Yesterday, the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, delivered a petition, which was signed by more than 16,000 citizens. The petition calls on the government to stop the Police’s hasty withdrawal from mental health callouts, until an alternative service is up and running.
Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, Shaun Robinson, has said that “The Police are a critical safety net for people in distress needing urgent access to mental health support”, and that the government removing the support of the police without an alternative in place is comparable to removing the engine of a car while it is running. Robinson believes that both situations are “dangerous, and likely to lead to an accident”.
To talk about the dangers of this development, Producer Max spoke with Shaun Robinson
Recently, the US military indicated that it wants to increase the number of space launches from Rocket Lab’s launchpad on the Mahia Peninsula, including launching satellites that are involved in Nuclear command-control-and-comms.
Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington, has questioned this development over the lack of transparency from the US military about what they are launching into space, and urged New Zealand to stay firm on it’s stance on Nuclear Weapons.
To talk about this, as well as what it means for New Zealand’s independence, Producer Max spoke with Valerie Morse.
Last week, fuel stocks in the country went down by three or four days across each fuel type. The government recognised this as not enough to change to phase two in the national fuel plan, drawing some concerned comments from the political opposition around the state of our stocks, and when the government plans to actually move up phases.
Following a week that saw both Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon comment on the state of the Strait of Hormuz, and the way the United States has handled the ongoing conflict, Willis also travelled to the US to meet with White House advisors.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these fuel crisis developments, and what the government’s approach going forward may look like.
To start our discussion, however, we spoke briefly about the confidence in Christopher Luxon’s Leadership.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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