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.
This week it was announced that a visualisation tool was being developed, which would help young people with cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy.
The visualisation tool is being developed by Dr. Annie Jones, a Research fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland. Dr. Jones said that “stress can affect the way our body responds to treatment”, and that “if we can reduce people’s anxiety, that should have positive benefits for their physical recovery as well.”
The visualisation will provide clear information for children, as well as their families and friends, about how radiotherapy works. While making it clear that it’s normal to feel worried and offering coping strategies.
To talk about this, Producer Max spoke with Dr. Annie Jones.
Last week, UNICEF published their latest child wellbeing report, comparing childhood experiences, child poverty rates and mental wellbeing in OECD countries.
In the report, Aotearoa New Zealand was ranked 32 out of 36 OECD countries for child wellbeing and at the very bottom of this list for child mental health.
The report also showed that New Zealand had the highest suicide rate amongst rangatahi in the developed world and the second highest rate of children experiencing bullying.
Chief Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad, said that the findings in the report were unacceptable, that they were attributed to the ongoing issue of child poverty in New Zealand and called on the government to act immediately to combat child poverty and invest in mental health services for tamariki and rangatahi.
Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Achmad about this.
Many experts believe that New Zealand should also be grabbing more opportunities to keep up with the rest of the world, and invest more in “deep tech."
Producer Faith spoke to Professor Frederique Vanholsbeeck from the University of Auckland’s physics department about deep and quantum technologies, and their benefits.
We’ve all heard about NFTs, AI, crytpo, and all those buzzwords... but do we really know what financial technology is, and how prevalent it is in our daily lives?
Producer Faith spoke to Dr. Chanelle Duley from the University of Auckland about financial technology– or the “fintech” frontier.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently spoke to media saying that the government would announce reforms to the Holidays Act that would impact sick leave entitlements for part time workers.
Under the suggested changes, sick leave entitlements would be processed under an accrual system, meaning that part-time workers working half the hours of their full-time counterparts may only earn half of their previously entitled sick leave.
In that same week, a directive was recently given to Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts to perform elective surgeries.
And earlier this week Associate Education David Seymour announced a review of the funding for early childhood education.
For our weekly Catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
This week on Dear Science our expert, Professor Allan Blackman, chatted with us about characterising liquid carbon, a New Zealand led cleanup in Antarctica, and plants making their own pesticide.
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