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.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a major reshuffling of ministerial portfolios within the National party.
Among the most notable portfolio changes was handing over Dr Shane Reti’s role as minister of health to Transport Minister Simeon Brown and the appointment of Nicola Willis as Minister of the newly created portfolio of Minister of Economic Growth, a title formerly known as the Minister of Economic Development.
The cabinet reshuffle has led to concerns about the fate of Health NZ and Aotearoa’s healthcare sector, noting that Shane Reti had over 20 years of experience working in medicine, whereas Simeon Brown has none.
The reshuffle also comes shortly after a recent poll by the Taxpayers Union showed that National’s approval rating had fallen below 30%, the lowest rating they’ve received while in government since 1999.
Oto spoke with Michael Swanson, a PHD candidate in New Zealand politics at the University of Otago, to discuss why National made the decision to shuffle their portfolios at this point in time and the impacts of the portfolio changes for the wider economy, particulary for the healthcare system and constituents in the South Island.
One of Trump’s first measures after taking office was to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that requires it’s signatories to set their own emissions reductions goals and to report regularly on their progress.
Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement makes the United States one of only four countries in the entire world who are not signatories to the Paris Agreement, with the other three non-signatories being Iran, Libya and Yemen.
Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson from Greenpeace Aotearoa to discuss the implications of Trump’s exit from the Paris agreement, and how Aotearoa should adjust its own climate targets in response.
Yesterday marked the inauguration of the newly elected President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Trump’s election marks the second non-consecutive term for any US president, with him winning both the popular vote AND electoral college, contrasting his previous election victory in 2016.
However, despite running on one of his campaign slogans of ‘ending all wars’, Trump frequently made promises to annex a number of territories in North and South America, namely Greenland and the Panama Canal, and made comments about turning Canada into America’s 51st state.
Oto spoke to Associate Professor in Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland - Chris Ogden, to discuss the validity of these claims, why Trump was making them and what military expansion during his presidency could hypothetically look like.
Recently, across the motu, we have seen a variety of fires, most recently being the fire on Māngere Mountain, which had resulted in smoke warnings for 40 kilometres, reaching all the way to Piha in West Auckland.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington, and Fire Ecologist, Dr Nicola Day, about our susceptibility to wildfires amidst the climate crisis, and what needs to be done to better prepare for events such as these recent bouts of blazes in the future.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Dr Cushla McGover chatted to us about lost photos being unveiled of a giant horned dinosaur, analysing for the restoration of a 2100 year old Alexander the Great mosaic, and cartilage similar to bubble wrap, thanks to MOTAT.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, speaks to MP Tom Rutherford about the recent wildfires across the motu, Deputy Police Commissioner, Jevon McSkimming being suspended amidst investigations, and the ceasefire in Gaza.
Joel also speaks to Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington, and Fire Ecologist, Dr Nicola Day, about Aotearoa’s susceptibility to wildfires.
Producer Athena speaks to Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland business school, Dr Stefan Korber, about the important of establishing workplace friendships.
And Athena speaks to Epidemiologist and Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Hannah Chisholm about the current whooping cough epidemic
In November of 2024, Te Whatu Ora declared whooping cough an epidemic, and epidemiologists are expecting it will be the most challenging Aotearoa has seen.
Whooping cough is a respiratory infection caused by a bacteria, and is dangerous for babies and toddlers. However, infection can be prevented by vaccination during pregnancy.
Producer Athena spoke to epidemiologist, and Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Hannah Chisholm, about the circumstances that led to the epidemic, and the necessity of vaccinations.
Following the pandemic, hybrid remote and in office work has become more prevalent. According to data from StatsNZ on the September 2024 quarter, more than 40% of businesses offered a work from home option, while 898,700 people worked from home.
In 2023, 5 academics (and work friends) published a study on the nature of workplace friendships in the absence of physical presence. The study indicated several benefits of having work friends, as well as revealing foundational elements to maintaining these friendships.
Producer Athena spoke to Senior Lecturer Dr Stefan Korber, from the University of Auckland Business School, about the benefits of having work friends, and the ways workplace friendships can flourish.
The most widely discussed move from yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle was the Prime Minister's decision to demote Dr Shane Reti from his position as Minister for Health and replace him with Transport minister, Simeon Brown.
Notably, Simeon Brown has zero experience working in the health sector, opposed to Reti’s 20 plus years practising as a doctor.
However, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation say they’re not concerned with who the minister fronting the portfolio is, but instead with how the government is going to aptly fund and resource the health sector.
Producer Evie spoke to Chief Executive of the organisation, Paul Goulter about the key issues that nurses are facing in the healthcare sector currently. They discussed how the cabinet reshuffle may possibly alter things in the healthcare sector, and what moves need to be made by the government in order to pick it up from the crisis it’s currently facing.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Evie speaks to Simon about yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, the Regulatory Standards Bill, and the technical issues with the Treaty Principles Bill submissions.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to a Lecturer in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Otago, Dr Olivier Jutel, about the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes there are any bases for this ban in the United States.
Joel also speaks to 95bFM’s own Sam Ashton, aka ‘Smashton;’ co-host of the Top Ten, who is also a TikTok content creator with over 307k followers, about his thoughts on the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes this will create implications for New Zealand-based content creators.
Evie speaks to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter about Simeon Brown replacing Dr Shane Reti as Minister of Health.
And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss part-time jobs and summer jobs.
The US is currently deciding the fate of the short-form video content sharing app, TikTok, in its country.
The ban is currently in a grey area — over the weekend, US users were unable to use the platform, being greeted with a message about the legislation put in place, however, that ban has been lifted for the time being.
US President-elect, Donald Trump, who is set to take office later today as the nation’s 47th President, who had also previously supported banning TikTok’s operations in the country, has since shifted opinion, vowing to give the app a 90-day reprieve for more time to establish a deal between the nation and ByteDance: the Chinese-based company that operates TikTok.
The reasoning for the ban stems from what the US states are national security threats.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to a Lecturer in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Otago, Dr Olivier Jutel, about the US’ ban of the app, and whether he believes the app has reasonable grounds to be banned in the nation.
As well as this, ahead of the potential ban, many non-US based content creators are questioning what implications they could see if the United States does deny TikTok’s operations to the millions of US users on the app.
Joel also spoke to Sam Ashton, otherwise known as ‘Smashton,’ who not only co-hosts 95bFM’s Top Ten, but is also an Aotearoa-based TikTok content creator with over 307k followers.
They spoke to him about whether he is concerned about what will happen if this move goes ahead, and what changes he might expect as a content creator based in New Zealand.
Since its inception in 2008, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (or ETS) has been, according to the government, its primary tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis. As part of the scheme, the government sets a price for carbon units, which companies must pay to offset their emissions. The Climate Change Commission has recently highlighted that the scheme was not stable and susceptible to changes in the market, and did not have sufficient carbon units to last until 2030, requiring urgent reform.
For Green World, Wire producer Liam spoke with Scott Burnett, the Regional Conservation Manager for the top of the South Island and Forest and Bird’s climate spokesperson about why Forest and Bird has called the system broken, what impact this has on Aotearoa and what reforms should be implemented.
Last week, NZ First MP and Government Minister Shane Jones was criticised over using derogatory language towards Indian Immigrants. These comments were condemned by the National Party and Christopher Luxon, who labelled NZ First’s belief system as ‘anti-immigrant’, and saidd Jones was ‘scaremongering’.
That was not the extent of criticism between NZ First and National, however, with tensions between the two sparking after NZ First Leader Winston Peters calling out Luxon for not giving coalition partners prior notice of his confidence vote during a national party caucus meeting last week. In turn, these comments have been dismissed, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Luxon accused NZ First and Peters of putting Labour Governments, like Arderns, into power. Despite all of this, however, Peters has insisted the coalition is as stable as a ‘three-legged stool’.
Last week also saw the Treasury announce that they would revisit their forecasts for the economy ahead of the impending government budget. The Government also announced some changes to the way Infrastructure is run by the government, giving more power to the Independent Infrastructure Commission, increasing their oversight and changing the way that Ministers receive advice and information.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these developments, beginning with Shane Jones’ comments.
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.
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, 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.
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