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.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s Shanan Halbert about the Treaty Principles Bill submissions, Regulatory Standards Bill, and Labour’s plans for 2025.
For State of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the devastating Los Angeles Fires and president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to annex Greenland and Canada and take back the sovereign Panama Canal for the United States.
For City Counselling this week producer Sofia speaks to Councillor Julie Fairey about Council’s submission on the Local Government New Zealand issues paper exploring electoral reform and Auckland Council’s plans for 2025.
She also speaks to President of PATHA - the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa - Jennifer Shields, about public consultation on puberty blockers closing next week.
The Eaton and Palisades fires, the two major fires making up the Los Angeles fires, are now the two most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The fires have sparked significant debate about insurance in high-risk natural disaster areas as thousands of Californians lost their home insurance not long before the fires.
And president-elect Donald Trump has returned to the centre stage of United States foreign policy in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
Trump has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada as well as reclaim the Panama Canal for the United States.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
Public consultation on the use of puberty blockers in Aotearoa closes on the 20th January 2025; asking the public if further precautions or restrictions are needed, and what impacts these could have on young people.
Leading transgender health professionals have expressed concern over the government directing the Ministry to consult the public over gender affirming healthcare, questioning the appropriateness of opening consultation on a medical matter that has become highly politicised and subject to misinformation.
Producer Sofia spoke to President of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA), Jennifer Shields.
If you want to make a submission, you can email pbconsultation@health.govt.nz
Last week Meta made an announcement that it was going to ditch its third party fact checkers, and replace them with a ‘community notes’ system similar to X.
This means all content would be moderated and fact checked by its own users. The move has received a large amount of backlash amid concerns that it will cause a rise in hate speech, disinformation and fraud. The move has also been slated as catering to Donald Trump’s attitude to online moderation, ahead of him taking office as President next week.
Shortly after this announcement, Meta also announced it was ditching its Diversity, Inclusion and Equity program.
Evie spoke to the University of Waikato’s Joe Ulatowski about these changes, what he thinks it means for the future of misinformation on social media, and what impact it may have in Aotearoa.
The recent social security amendment bill is an extension of the government’s agenda to cut those on benefits by 50,000. While this may seem like a strategic move by the government, it is important to consider that they are not creating any new jobs and unemployment is at 4.8 percent as of September 2024.
The proposed changes aim to make it harder for those struggling to receive the benefit, additionally introducing 'money management' schemes, which splits the MSD payment onto a card which can only be used at specific locations. These changes are unrealistic, because many people already pay more than half of their income for rent.
Anti-Poverty groups have spoken out about this amendment and are aiming to raise awareness around this. These groups want the government to move away from using sanctions against people who need income support.
Sasha spoke to the Child Poverty Action Group’s Executive Officer, Sarita Divis about the social security bill amendment, and potential consequences for those seeking support.
For our weekly catch up with the Green Party Evie speaks to Ricardo Menendez March about the Treaty Principles Bill submissions and the Regulatory Standards Bill.
Sasha speaks with Sarita Divis, Executive Officer of the Child Poverty Action Group about the recent social security bill amendment and its implications for New Zealand’s human rights.
And Evie also speaks to the University of Waikato’s Joe Ulatowski about Meta deciding to ditch its third party fact checkers, and the risk of disinformation on social media as a result.
A study published this week in the European Journal of Public Health has revealed 87% of children in Aotearoa have experienced significant trauma before the age of 8, which is much more than previously thought.
The study observed the effects of 8 kinds of traumatic childhood experiences, and found there can be a link between childhood trauma and obesity. It was also revealed that positive experiences can mitigate the effects of trauma.
Producer Athena spoke to Senior Researcher at City University of London and Honorary Researcher at the University of Auckland, Ladan Hashemi, about the effects of childhood trauma, its links to obesity, and ways to prevent and mitigate its effects.
The New Zealand Drug Trend Survey (NZDTS) for 2024 has been released, and results have revealed an increase in participation in the 2020 Medicinal Cannabis Scheme.
The percentage of people with prescriptions for medicinal cannabis increased from just 9% in 2022 and 2023, to 37% last year, while the percentage of users who have never asked for prescriptions decreased from 85% to 60%.
Producer Athena spoke to Associate Professor at the Massey University College of Health, Marta Rychert, about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and what the survey results suggest about the current culture surrounding cannabis.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about analysing massive ice chunks, air pollution in ancient Rome, and a mystery volcano from 1831.
In our first weekly catchup with the National Party of the year, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the Treaty Principles Bill, Regulatory Standards Bill, and the party’s plans for the rest of the year.
Producer Athena spoke to associate professor at Massey University’s College of Health, Marta Rychert, about the results of the latest New Zealand Drug Trends Survey
They also spoke to senior researcher at City University of London and Honorary researcher at the University of Auckland, Ladan Hashemi, about the effects of childhood trauma
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Principal Scientist at GNS Science, Dr Nick Cradock-Henry, about NIWA’s annual climate summary, showing that 2024 was the 10th warmest year on record in Aotearoa.
They also speak to the Co-Director and Senior Research Fellow for the Centre of Pacific & Global Health at the University of Auckland, Dr Roannie Ng Shiu, about a report she was involved in in December, showing that vulnerable Pacific nations will be facing a multitude of devastating consequences due to the climate crisis.
Producer Evie speaks to the Director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, Chris Ogden, about what we can expect from Donald Trump’s inauguration, one week out from him taking office.
She also speaks to Climate Justice Taranaki’s Catherine Cheung about the government’s controversial Regulatory Standards Bill.
And finally, Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss the concept of new year resolutions.
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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