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, and Producer Evie in studio to discuss ‘mobility’ and the power that brings to the individual - and the requirement of an economy to support it.
The government has recently removed Relationships and Sexuality Education, or RSE, guidelines in schools without implementing a clear alternative.
The RSE guidelines were changed in 2020, to better support, and include updates to the the 2007 curriculum for primary and secondary school students, on topics such as the prominence of social media, bullying and cyber-bullying, and consent, in an age-appropriate manner.
With the removal of the 2020 guidelines, many educators are wondering how they adequately cover the topics covered in RSE.
As well as this, concerns have been raised about whether a move like this will impact the mental health of students, especially from minority communities, such as the LGBTQIA+ community.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation New Zealand, Shaun Robinson, about the removal of RSE guidelines without the government clearly indicating to an alternative, and the organisations concerns regarding these developments.
As previously discussed, New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, has proposed a new member’s bill to be placed in the ballot, aiming to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, targets in the public sector.
This bill would amend the Public Service Act, which Peters, and NZ First, voted for when in a coalition government with the Labour Party in 2020.
DEI refers to frameworks that aim to equitably represent certain individuals and communities not represented as much as other demographics in the country.
The reception for this bill varies between the parties. Senior National MP, Chris Bishop, says if the bill were to be pulled out of the ballot, that the party would consider the bill, as they believe in “meritocracy,” however, would want a “public service that is reflective of modern New Zealand”.
Opposition Leader from the Labour Party, Chris Hipkins, says he would want a public sector that represents all New Zealanders.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons, about Peter’s members bill, and how she believes this will impact the public sector.
They started off by asking how DEI targets work regarding the public sector.
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about the NZ First Leader, Winston Peter’s anti-DEI members bill, the Infrastructure Investment Summit, and the recent changes regarding Whānau Ora.
For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about one of the key school lunch programme providers going into liquidation, NZ First's anti-DEI members bill and the ACT Party’s critique of University of Auckland TeTiriti Course.
Joel spoke to the National Secretary for the Public Services Association, Fleur Fitzsimons, about Winston Peter’s anti-DEI members bill, and how this will affect the public sector.
Joel also spoke to the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation New Zealand, Shaun Robinson, about the government’s removal of RSE guidelines in schools without implementing a clear alternative.
And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio today to discuss ‘Mobility’ and the power that brings to the individual - and the requirement of an economy to support it.
Labour has announced a caucus reshuffle, giving the Auckland portfolio to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni.
The party has outlined its intention to focus on winning Auckland back in 2026 after a blue wave swept the city in the 2023 election, unseating several Labour MPs in what were thought to be safe seats.
A recent Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll has put Labour up 2.8 points and would mean the centre-right bloc would not be able to form government.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader and new Auckland spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about Labour’s caucus reshuffle and the Taxpayers Union-Curia poll.
For International Desk, they spoke to University of Waikato Senior Lecturer Garritt Van Dyk and Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the emerging protest movements against the Trump administration in the United States.
For City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about the rise in homelessness in Tamaki, as well as Auckland Council’s recent announcement of an AI digital assistant for customer service support.
The United States is seeing a surge in backlash to the Trump administration's policies, particularly those focused on undermining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion domestically and the administration’s foreign policy position on Palestine.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to University of Waikato Senior Lecturer in history Garritt Van Dyk about the history of boycotts and the resurgence of this protest tactic against Trump.
They then spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News for his perspective from the ground on these growing opposition movements, particularly the impact of these movements within Universities.
It seems that the United States continues to be a hot topic for many people and journalists following Trump’s inauguration. This is not only because of his intense challenging of the pre-established international order or his strong determination to turn the world into his view, but also with his alliances with prominent billionaires and tech entrepreneurs.
While he has been successful in his establishment of chaos to rouse the public while quietly enacting new policies fundamentally but slowly changing the country, questions arise around his right-hand man, Elon Musk, and his own personal agenda. It seems as though pretending to be a man of the internet and “i am become meme” archetype has not worked out for him, and he has shown his true colours much like other people in great positions of power and money.
Sasha spoke to Chris Ogden, Associate Professor from The University of Auckland about Elon Musk’s comments about the United States leaving the UN, the potential implications and stability of the world order shifting towards a multipolar governance.
For their weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about Health Minister Simeon Brown’s major overhaul to New Zealand’s public healthcare system, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s favorability falling below Labour Leader Chris Hipkins in the latest Taxpayers’ union Curia poll and The Greens petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations.
He spoke to Dr Sarah Kapeli, A lecturer in the school of psychology at the University of Auckland, about a study she and a team of researchers did on the wellbeing of students from minority communities at the University of Auckland.
And he speak to Dr Kerryn Galokale, a PHD Graduate in Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, about the prevalence of Sorcery Related Violence in the Solomon Islands.
Today, Sasha spoke with Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies at the University of Auckland about the United States potential decision of leaving the United Nations and the implications this may have for global order.
And, to kick off Green Desk for 2025, Producer Leilani speaks to Paul Geraets, New Zealand’s most prolific rammed earth designer and builder, about the benefits and history of these sustainable houses, as well as his related upcoming event for EcoFest 2025 - a month-long celebration of our unique environment and sustainable living across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland!
Throughout many Pacific island nations, the belief in sorcery and black magic as the cause of disease, death and other forms of misfortune is a major contributor to violence amongst a number of families and communities.
Despite outreach from community leaders, church groups and government officials, many say that sorcery-related violent incidents are increasing in bopth rural and urban areas in countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, with many of the victims being women.
Oto spoke to Post-Doctoral Fellow in Pacific Studies Dr Kerryn Sogha Galokale, who is from the Solomon Islands, about the prevalence of sorcery related violence in the west pacific, it’s impacts and what community groups are doing to address it.
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.
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.
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