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.
Around the world countries are tackling climate change with net zero targets. This involves offsetting carbon emissions through other initiatives such as planting trees or using technology that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air.
Despite the drive to meet these targets, carbon in the atmosphere is continuing to rise, and even with the current efforts to offset them, they aren’t predicted to drop.
Climate scientist and honorary academic at the University of Auckland, Kevin Trenberth says that world leaders should scrap these net zero targets and instead focus on ‘real zero’, eliminating fossil fuels entirely.
Producer Evie spoke to Trenberth about what the ‘real zero’ initiative involves, how it differs from net zero, and how realistic it is for it to be adopted both in Aotearoa and globally.
On Wednesday, the 30th of October, prominent mental health advocate, Mike King, during an interview with Newstalk ZB, claimed that alcohol is a solution for people with mental health problems.
The interview stems from a suicide prevention fundrasing event in Dunedin struggling to obtain a liquor license.
Following the statements and subsequent controversy, a briefing was released on the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa, providing the facts and evidence around the correlation alcohol can have with mental health concerns.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to co-author of the briefing and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago, Dr Rose Crossin, about the briefing, and Mike King’s claim.
Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111, go to your nearest emergency department, or phone your local DHB Mental Health Crisis Team (find your local number by ringing Healthline on 0800 611 116)
The Police have announced a new phased approach to attending lesser mental health-related callouts, that are not of high risk or are related to crime, with the next phase aimed at handing over these responsibilities to health staff.
The first phase is beginning this month, with the fourth and final phase set to begin from July to September 2025.
Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, in a statement, sez Police received one mental health callout every seven minutes, taking up half a million hours of Police frontline time per year, of which of these callouts, only 11% are given a priority response.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Associate Professor in the School of Health at the University of Waikato, Sarah Gordon, about what this phased approach will look like heading forward.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party's Simon Court, producer Evie spoke to Simon about his members bill to change alcohol laws in West Auckland, Mike King’s controversial comments surrounding alcohol and mental health and the government’s funding of King’s Gumboot Friday initiative, as well as police pulling back from mental health call outs.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago, Dr Rose Crossin, about a briefing she co-authored regarding the correlation between suicide and alcohol, following controversial statements made by I Am Hope and Gumboot Friday campaigner, Mike King, in which he claimed alcohol is a solution for people with mental health problems.
They also spoke to Associate Professor in the School of Health at the University of Waikato, Sarah Gordon, about the police’s phased approach to attending fewer related mental health callouts that are not correlated with a level of high risk or crime.
And Evie spoke to climate scientist and honorary academic at the University of Auckland, Kevin Trenberth about calls for world leaders to scrap net zero targets that look to offset emissions, and instead endeavour to remove all emissions in a ‘real zero’ initiative.
Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News and political commentator Tom Unger about Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally and the feeling on the ground ahead of next week’s United States election.
The Israeli parliament recently passed a law that would ban the United Nations Relief and Works agency, more commonly known as the UNRWA, from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, Dr Ritesh Shah, about this ruling, and what this will mean for those relying on the services of the UNRWA amidst the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to Samoa for CHOGM, as well as a new partnership between Germany and New Zealand to combat agriculture emissions and the Green party’s call to close youth justice residences.
He spoke to Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata - The Human Rights Commission, to discuss the government’s recent changes to the Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa and its impact on Migrant workers in Aotearoa.
And he spoke to Airam Magpantay, a BA Honours student in Politics and International relations at the University of Auckland to talk about the limitations in housing options for Aotearoa’s disabled community.
Sasha spoke to Senior Lecturer Dr Sarosh Mulla, senior lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning about new carbon calculation techniques within construction and building planning.
Sustainability, recycling, carbon emission etcetera are terms commonly overused by corporations and companies who engage in greenwashing to make consumers feel less guilt. However, new groups of architects are dedicated to creating homes which meet all the standards of style and comfort without compromising the environmental impact that comes with construction.
Through a newly developed carbon calculation technology, architects can integrate carbon offsets to prioritise sustainable housing, which can greatly reduce a project’s environmental footprint.
Sasha spoke to Dr Sarosh Mulla, senior lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning, about the new carbon calculation tech and the future of sustainable housing. Additionally we also discussed what generates the greatest amount of waste during a construction project and how carbon calculation aims to fix that.
About two weeks ago, the government announced a series of changes to the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa.
Some of the changes included updating the definition of migrant exploitation to specify incidents occuring only under an official employment contract and excluding measures falling under lawful employment terminations.
Immigration minister Erica Stanford has said that the new changes would specify the terms of the visa and reduce the time migrants may be in vulnerable situations, however a number of human rights advocates have disagreed with this reasoning, saying the changes to the visa would reduce support for migrant workers and put more power in the hands of employers.
Oto spoke to Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata - The Human Rights Commission, to discuss the recent changes to the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visas and how it’ll impact migrant workers.
Airam Magpantay is a BA (Hons) student in at the University of Auckland in Politics and International relations at the University of Auckland who recently released a report on the state of housing for the people living with disabilities in Aotearoa after completing an internship at the disability advisory service - Disability Connect.
In her report, Airam revealed that there was a significant deficiency in the availability of housing for those living with disabilities, with disabled New Zealanders struggling to find accommodation with accessible infrastructure in a market already heavily impacted by a nationwide housing crisis.
Oto spoke to Airam about her internship, her subsequent report and the state of housing for people living with disabilities in Aotearoa.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about changes to Auckland Transport’s responsibilities, nationwide bus and train fare hikes, and concerns over the opening of the City Rail Link.
For State of the States this week, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa'aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was due to be sentenced next week for three felony charges.
They also discuss Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, who is the latest in a long list of unorthodox picks for government positions from Trump
This week saw the Labour Party’s annual conference, during which party leader Chris Hipkins spoke about the party’s goals and criticised the current National-led government.
Hipkins named the Dunedin hospital delays, interislander ferry fiasco, and tax breaks for tobacco companies as several issues that would be targeted by a future Labour government. Hipkins then called the government divisive and suggested their policies are taking the country backwards, both due to the Treaty Principles bill and this government’s approach more broadly.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about these issues and how the government would respond as it moves into 2025.
For Dear Science this week our expert Doctor Joel Rindelaub chatted to us about fungi recognising patterns, trees reducing inflammation, and how to give good gifts.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Last week officially marked one year since the coalition government came into power.
It’s been a busy year for all three parties, with many new bills introduced, and many more repealed or abolished.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie checks in with Simon Court to see how well the party thinks they’ve done this past year. We explore what they have and haven’t been able to do, and whether they’ll continue to push for these things throughout the rest of their term in government. As well as how well the coalition parties have been working together.
She also asks about the government's gang patch ban legislation coming into effect, and how effective it’s really going to be.
Following the recent hīkoi mō te tiriti, statistics show that thousands of people have joined the Māori Roll; either switching from the General Roll, or signing up for the first time.
As a part of hīkoi efforts, organisers pushed for participants of the hīkoi to use their voices and vote, with co-leader of Te Pāti Māori, Rawiri Waititi, saying “if supporters were not enrolled to vote, nothing would change”.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori, Producer Evie spoke to Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about this shift in enrollments to the Māori Roll, and why this shift is important to the party.
They also discussed the gang patch legislation recently coming into effect, as well as the COP29 climate summit.
President-elect Donald Trump has announced a plan to enact tariffs that target China, Mexico, and Canada.
Prosecutors have dropped the election interference case against Trump, with the reasoning it will not be completed ahead of Trump taking up the presidency.
The cases against Trump’s co-defendants are continuing, although it is unclear if these charges will continue under Trump’s new nominee for Attorney-General Pam Bondi.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about all of these topics.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about the new police station on Federal Street in Auckland CBD which was announced earlier this week to be opened in mid-2025.
Last week, the government’s ban on wearing gang patches in public went into effect. The legislation was debated heavily from its inception, with some questioning whether it was necessary or raising potential human rights concerns. The legislation passed regardless.
The annual COP29 talks also concluded last week, with countries discussing measures to reduce global emissions to reach climate change targets. The discussions bring about an opportunity to assess our national efforts to reduce emissions, and make projections for our Paris Agreement targets.
This week in our catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire Host Castor speaks to him about the gang patch ban and Aotearoa’s emissions targets in light of COP29.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Shanan Halbert, spokesperson for Auckland and Rainbow Issues, about the recently announced new Auckland CBD police station, a potential surge in public transport pricing, and the Ministry of Health evidence brief on puberty blockers.
95bFM 
