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.
Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, and Producer Evie, in studio, to discuss young people, social media, and politics.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in London. Starmer thanked Aotearoa for its “support” for its “coalition of the willing” regarding safeguarding the potential peace deal being put forward by the Trump Administration.
However, concerns have been raised about what the administration is proposing, which could result in original Ukraine land annexed by Russia, such as Crimea in 2014, belonging to Moscow, and ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Host, Joel, spoke to Robert Patman, a Professor of International Relations at the University of Otago, about his article on the Conversation, discussing his concerns regarding this and how New Zealand should move forward in reiterating support for Ukraine.
*This caption has been edited to add "safeguarding" regarding Luxon and Starmer's meeting in London while discussing Ukraine and Russia.
Currently, a lot of animal products imported into the country are coming from countries with animal welfare standards behind those of Aotearoa, such as in the US and China.
In a report released earlier this year by Animal Policy International, findings show that 60% of all pork eaten in the country comes from overseas.
In light of these concerns, a petition will be delivered to Parliament tomorrow, aiming to better regulate imports of animal products into the country to fit our standards.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland about this, and what he hopes comes out of this petition.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has announced a total ban on prisoners voting will be reinstated.
The move has been criticised by the opposition parties, as well as those working in criminal justice.
Today is May Day, also known as International Workers Day and unions across Aotearoa are taking action against what they say is an “anti-worker agenda” from this government.
Workers across a wide range of industries are stopping work and taking strike action.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these issues.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni about the government removing voting rights from prisoners and the strikes happening across Aotearoa for May Day today.
For International Desk, they spoke to Aleksi Toiviainen, co-organiser for Vote16 Canada and a democracy advocate, about the recent Canadian election result.
And they spoke to University of Auckland Associate Professor Brendon Dunphy about the threats facing seabirds in Aotearoa and the recent Oceania Seabirds Symposium.
For City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson about the Waitākere Ranges management plan
She also spoke with Professor of Health Economics Paula Lorgelly about the latest review of Pharmac.
A recent review of Pharmac, also known as Te Pātaka Whaioranga, has found their current approach not fit for purpose, calling for an overhaul of their strategy and internal culture.
The pharmaceutical management agency faced criticism last year as a result of a lack of credibility and inconsistency of services.
With the proposal this week to scrap Pharmac’s Māori directorate, concerns were especially emphasised about the equitable outcomes for Maaori and Pasifika populations.
While the aim of the independent review was to look into ways to improve the services of Pharmac, it found that staff were sceptical that any meaningful changes could occur.
Producer Sara spoke with University of Auckland’s Professor of Health Economics Paula Lorgelly about the review and what changes are necessary. She started by asking about the key findings
The change to subsidising teachers registration fees has been well received by teachers across the country. A long anticipated change, it should eliminate a barrier to new teachers and a hurdle for existing teachers to cover.
Education minister Erica Stanford also recently announced new classroom upgrades across the country to areas facing more overcrowding. Many schools across the country face overcrowding as an imminent issue, forcing students into hallways, libraries, or other extra rooms.
To discuss the change to teachers registration fees, overcrowding in schools, and what can be done to address these issues, Tuesday Wire Host Castor spoke to president of the Post Primary Teachers Association, Chris Abercrombie.
Gaza currently has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, with over 23,000 children having sustained conflict-related injuries, and many thousands facing disabilities and needing long-term rehabilitation.
This week it was announced that UNICEF would be launching a groundbreaking project to 3D print prosthetic limbs for war-injured children in Gaza, thanks to funding from the Federation of the Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ).
To talk about this project, as well as the impacts it could have on the children in Gaza, Producer Max spoke with the Head of Communications at UNICEF Aotearoa, Tania Sawicki Mead.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the government’s pre-budget announcement and cuts to the operating allowance, as well as the government rejection suggestions to review carbon subsidies and the Greens’ call to ban engineered stone products.
He spoke to PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimmons (Fit-Simons) for a follow up conversation about the pre-budget announcement.
And, for this week’s Get Action! He speak to Volunteer president of the Associated New Zealand ME Society Fiona Charlton about a petition to roll back the government’s benefit cuts for people experiencing long term hospitalisation.
Max spoke to Tania Sawicki Mead, Head of Communications at UNICEF Aotearoa, about the announcement that UNICEF would be launching a groundbreaking project to 3D print prosthetic limbs for war-injured children in Gaza.
And he spoke to Larah van de Meer, Research and Advocacy Manager at Autism New Zealand, about the recent study by the University of Otago, that showed that autistic pupils attend school at a noticeably lower rate than non-autistic students.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis made her Pre-Budget speech, in the leadup to Budget 2025, in which she announced that the government would be halving the operating allowance from $2.4 Billion to $1.3 Billion, going to a select number of government departments that Willis has described as “the most important priorities.”
The PSA have referred to the government’s cuts to the operating allowance as an “irresponsible recipe for failure” for the health system and public sector and plan to strongly oppose any job cuts for public servants or health workers.
Oto spoke with PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons to discuss the government’s pre-budget announcement.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the fuel crisis - resulting from the US and Israel bombing of Iran, and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz - drags on. Prices have remained high, hitting low-income households hard, and while fuel stocks in or on-the-way to the country sit comfortably above a month’s cover, approaches to conserving fuel remain front-of-mind for many.
One strategy that New Zealanders have been urged to adopt is switching to public transport, which would put fewer cars on the road. However, access is often dependent on location and affordability.
Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education has reviewed numerous rural school bus routes, cancelling some, cutting off students from ready access to their education.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Alicia Hall from Parents for Climate Aotearoa, on their petition to restore rural school bus routes and make public transport free for children, and students under 25.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party leaders, Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick, hosted their state of the planet address, where they launched their call to electrify the nation.
On top of that, events this week have led the party to criticise the government. The first critique, instigated by the floods that swept the nation, hitting the Coromandel and causing a state of emergency in the Wellington Region, led the Greens to question the government's decreased funding of flood responses as harsh weather increases.
The second critique came with a cabinet paper this week that shows the government is planning on moving ahead with reforms to legislation that will see references to the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiriti o Waitangi redefined, in what the government sez is about ‘standardisation’ but what the Green Party sees as dishonouring Te Tiriti.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we discuss their criticisms of the government but start with a discussion of their electrification policy.
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.
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