Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Jessica Hopkins, Castor Chacko, Nicholas Lindstrom, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
The flu vaccine will no longer be free for children under 12 or Māori and Pacific people aged 55 to 64.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Associate Professor in Hauora Māori at the University of Otago, Dr Esther Willing, about the impact this will have on the health of our communities, particularly children, Māori, and Pasifika.
She started the interview by asking Willing what her reaction is to this change in eligibility.
Associate Education Minister, David Seymour, has announced the creation of an establishment board to re-open Charter Schools by 2025.
The government is also set to announce plans to increase school attendance, but has not yet said if this will include fining parents for truancy, which the ACT Party campaigned on during the election.
First, news teamer Fath spoke to New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association President, Chris Abercrombie, about their response to the government's plans for the education sector.
Faith also spoke to New Zealand Education Institute President, Mark Potter.
She started off the interview by asking Potter how he thinks the government could address truancy in schools.
Nicholas spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March about Winston Peter’s speech at the UN General Assembly as well as public sector job cuts
He also spoke to Professor Rita Krishnamurthi about new research into the prevalence of dementia in Aotearoa
And he spoke to Dr Kelly Garton of Health Coalition Aotearoa about associate health minister David Seymour using outdated advice to justify defunding school lunch programs
For GetAction! Sofia spoke to Abdul Safi about a petition to place sanctions on Israel
Oto spoke to Dr Thomas Gregory from the University of Auckland, to talk about the use of A.I in military conflicts
Kiwis battling the deadliest form of breast cancer, are a step closer to gaining access to life-saving treatment. There are currently no funded treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer, but hope is on the horizon with Pharmac recommending funding for drug, Keytruda. Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Breast Cancer Foundation Chief Executive, Ah-Leen Rayner, about the path to rollout for patients in Aotearoa.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to OutLine’s volunteer coordinator, Jenn Tamati, about their perspective on how Aotearoa’s rainbow communities are feeling a week on from the vandalism of Karangahape Road's rainbow crossing, one of the most recent acts in increasingly visible hate crimes against our LGBTQIA+ whānau in Aotearoa.
Nicholas spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Fast Track Approval Legislation and the IMF’s recommendations regarding New Zealand’s tax system.
He also spoke to Dr Kevin E Trenberth about why we shouldn’t rely on geo-engineering as a solution to combat climate change.
Sofia spoke to Research fellow Marnie Prickett about public health concerns regarding the in-process fast-track approval bill
Oto spoke to Professor Giovanni Russello, the head of the school of computer science at the University of Auckland and a lecturer in cybersecurity, to discuss the state of cybersecurity in Aotearoa, and possible steps that can be taken to improve it.
Finally, Sofia spoke to Dr Jude Ball joins us to talk about the impending introduction of even MORE oral nicotine and tobacco products
Climate change is a problem that hangs perpetually over the head of humankind.
In an effort to find a solution to this existential issue, some scientists have proposed using geoengineering to “hack” the climate.
Possible geoengineering proposals include injecting sea salt into clouds to increase their brightness and using giant space parasols to block the sun.
However, geoengineering has its critics.
Dr Kevin E Trenberth discussed the pitfalls of geoengineering in his recent newsroom article Hacking planet Earth will not save us from ourselves
In the article Dr Trenberth uses this fable to display ethical problems around who gets to control a hacked climate.
“Once upon a time in an idyllic country, near a small town and a farming community, a rope hung out of the sky. One pull on the rope changed the weather from fine and sunny to cloudy and rainy, and the next pull changed it back. For many years the people cooperated; the farmers used the rains to help grow crops, and the townspeople enjoyed the sunny periods. But there came a time when the townspeople protested the rain and wanted more sunshine. The farmers were concerned about their crops. And so arguments broke out, with a person from the town pulling on the rope, followed quickly by a farmer pulling it again, and they pulled and pulled and . . . broke the rope.”
Nicholas spoke to Dr Trenberth about his article and the implications of pursuing geoengineering as a solution to climate change
In August 2021, New Zealand’s intelligence agency was hit with a cyberattack carried out by a group allegedly backed by the government of China, part of a series of attacks that also hit government offices in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
However, the parliament data breach wasn’t the only cyberattack to happen here in Aotearoa. More than 100 staff members were the victim of cybercrime in 2023 alone, disrupting the operations of more than than a third of businesses nationwide. The repeated string of cyberattacks across the country has created discourse surrounding the vulnerability of cybersecurity systems in New Zealand.
Oto spoke to Professor Giovanni Russello, the head of the school of computer science at the University of Auckland and a lecturer in cybersecurity, to discuss the state of cybersecurity in Aotearoa, and possible steps that can be taken to improve it.
A Māori and Pasifika study space at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, has engendered wide discourse about safe spaces in universities.
Commentary has included ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar saying the space is a form of segregation, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters saying it is comparable to the Ku Klux Klan and apartheid in South Africa.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Dr Julie Douglas, the National Co-President for the Tertiary Education Union, about this commentary and the importance of these spaces for these tauira.
A nationwide climate strike organised by a coalition of organisations including Fridays for Future, School Strike 4 Climate, and Toitū te Tiriti is happening this Friday April 5th.
The strike is demanding the coalition government to slow down the Fast Track Approvals Bill, keep the ban on oil and gas, uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, protect land and moana, and more.
It will also stand in solidarity with the call to free Palestine, demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and calling for the New Zealand government to provide emergency humanitarian visas to Palestinians with family in Aotearoa.
Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to one of the organisers of the Tāmaki Makaurau strike, Sophora from Fridays for Future, about these demands, youth-led activism, and how people can get involved.
Disability communities have been rallying against a surprise change in purchasing rules in the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha. Communities have said the changes will have massive impact, despite no consultation on these changes or a formal announcement.
The Department of Conversation also recently proposed staffing cuts to meet funding demands. DoC controls a third of Aotearoa’s landmass which is all conservation land. It remains uncertain how job losses in the Ministry could impact conservation land management.
For weekly catch-up with the Labour party Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour spokesperson for Disability Issues and Conservation Priyanca Rahdakrishnan about both of these issues.
For our weekly interview with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to MP Simon Court about the government’s proposal to increase student attendance rates and his post on X last week, in which he stated he stands with Israel.
A proposal to merge the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local boards has been met with criticism, with consultation opening at the end of next month.
A new report has also been released on the quality of living in Tāmaki Makaurau with our city receiving mixed results by scoring high on some areas (the environment), and lower on others (education).
Wire Host Caeden speaks to Counsellor Lotu Fuli about both these topics for City Counselling.
The Ministry of Social Development is not immune to job cuts seen in other public service departments, with MSD calling for voluntary redundancies after cost-saving efforts failed to meet Government targets. For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni Wire Host Caeden asks her about the impact of cuts at MSD, especially amongst other Government policies disadvantaging beneficiaries.
They also ask about the Samoan Citizenship Bill led by Teanau Tuiono, and the impact of losing independent media giants such as Newshub for democracy.
For this week's Get Action! Sofia spoke to petitioner Abdul Safi and his campaign to place sanctions on Israel amidst genocidal acts that are widely considered war crimes.
If you want to sign this petition, you can find it here:
For City Counselling this week, Wire host Caeden spoke with Counsellor Lotu Fuli about the early morning vandalisation of the Rainbow Crossing on Karangahape Road.
They also ask about the end of half-price fares for under 25s, and the relationship Wayne Brown, as well as Auckland Council more generally, has with Auckland Transport.
It is estimated that 50 million people worldwide are currently involved in some form of slavery. Many of those who have been enslaved for their labour, and work as child labourers, produce goods that we import and consume on a regular basis here in Aotearoa.
Currently, there is no existing legislation in Aotearoa that requires companies to disclose the source of their goods, or to ensure that their products are being ethically produced; giving them free rein to indulge in modern slavery in order to cut their production costs.
Producer Oto spoke to Dr Susan Maiava, Co-Founder of the ethical directory Fair & Good who have created a petition and open letter urging the government to introduce modern slavery legislation.