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 Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin speaks with us about Artemis II, and forever chemicals in bacteria.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Host Alex spoke with Ryan Hamilton about the cabinet reshuffle, the Auckland Housing Amendment Bill, and public transport.
Alex also spoke with Assistant National Secretary of the E tū union, Annie Newman, about the rise in Living Wage, and what it means that minimum wage is lagging behind.
And Producer Liam spoke to Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn, the agricultural campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, about the result of Greenpeace’s lawsuit against Fonterra, which recently admitted to having falsely advertised its butter to consumers, and the impact this will have in New Zealand.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour’s Shanan Halbert about university funding shortfalls, the living wage rise and the default KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
And they spoke to Aaron Gilbert, Professor of Finance and Associate Dean Research at Auckland University of Technology, about the minimum KiwiSaver contribution rate increasing.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about the second round of changes to PC 120 and about the council’s disagreements with central government over fuel crisis support.
Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, on the new Policing Amendment Bill.
A new law change known as the Policing Amendment Bill is raising concerns about privacy and police powers in Aotearoa.
The bill would give police expanded powers, including the ability to record and retain short-lived videos in public.
Supporters say it will help police respond more effectively to crime, but critics are worried the rules are too vague, with a low threshold for collecting personal information and not enough safeguards around how that data is stored or used. There are also concerns that the changes could disproportionately affect Māori and young people.
Wire Producer Pranuja spoke to Gehan Gunasekara, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School, about what this could mean for everyday New Zealanders.
Last week, Thursday Wire host Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about New Zealand’s reliance on cars in the face of a fuel crisis.
Earlier this week the Government announced a fuel crisis relief package, which includes giving 150,000 families an extra $50 a week to help with fuel costs.
The Green Party proposed an alternative support package that includes free public transport for three months on top of targeted relief payments.
Caeden spoke to Dr Timothy Welch again, this time about the government’s response and alternative proposals that focus on increasing public transport usage.
They started by asking if he could give an overview of what is in the Government’s relief package.
This July, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years since the declaration of independence, when the original thirteen colonies broke away from the British Empire under King George III. Recently, however, millions of Americans have taken to the streets to voice their disapproval of a man they see as a new monarchical figure: President Donald J. Trump.
The original ‘No Kings’ protests were held on the fourteenth of June last year, to coincide with Donald Trump’s birthday military parade. The most recent round of demonstrations occurred last weekend, and drew an estimated 8 million people, united by the belief that the President must respect the boundaries of his office.
Producer Toby spoke to Jennifer Frost, professor of history at the University of Auckland and chairperson of the New Zealand chapter of ‘Democrats Abroad’ about the significance of these demonstrations in the context of American history.
Last week, courts in the United States found that Meta and YouTube were responsible for the childhood addiction and mental health issues of a woman known as ‘KGM’, awarding $6 million USD (or $10.4 million NZD) in damages.
Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Meta was fined $375 million USD (or, $650 million NZD) for endangering children.
Internationally, countries are increasingly coming to reckon with the effects of social media. Australia, which last year banned under-16s from accessing social media, is pursuing further potential legal action against the social media giants, while debates around a similar ban in Aotearoa New Zealand continue to polarise.
However, in the light of the harms posed by social media, a ban is not the only solution that has been proposed. To speak to us on some of these alternative approaches, Producer Theo was joined by Professor Terryann Clark, of the University of Auckland’s School of Nursing.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about his Primary Healthcare portfolio.
Then Toby spoke to professor Jennifer Frost about the recent wave of anti-Trump demonstrations in the United States and beyond.
And finally Theo spoke to Professor Terryann Clark about the recent court findings against social media giants, and the implications for Aotearoa New Zealand.
About a month ago, Wednesday Wire host Manny spoke to a researcher sounding the alarm over the state of our primary healthcare, here and globally.
Across the globe, services meant to be the first port of call for health issues such as dental, GPs and pharmacists, were found to be increasingly under stress as costs grow and the workforce fails to keep pace with demand.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Workforce Survey in 2022 raised concerns: Over half of GPs were planning to retire within the next decade, a declining number of GPs work in GP run practices and filling that gap is an increasing number of corporate healthcare providers.
As the holder of the Green parties Primary Healthcare Portfolio, our Green Party interviewee is the perfect subject to discuss his parties platform on the subject.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we talk primary healthcare, it’s current state in Aotearoa, the issues it faces and where the Green Party would like to take it.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman speaks with us about going to the moon, graphene, and alchemy.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire Host Alex spoke with Ryan Hamilton about the Government’s Surcharge ban, the new police amendment, and the continued fuel crisis.
For Green World, Wire Producer Liam spoke to James Russell, Professor of conservation biology at the University of Auckland, about updates to the Predator Free 2050 Strategy, including further funding to make Wellington a predator free city within the next ten years.
And Wire Producer Flo spoke to Chris Bullen, Professor of Public Health at the School of Population Health of the University of Auckland about his criticism’ of the recent RNZ investigation into illicit tobacco and his research-based rejection of the investigation’s findings in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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 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.
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.
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.
Over the past few weeks, the government has been hesitant to call out the US and Israel for their role in the recent conflict in Iran. While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has called for all parties to comply with international law, he refrained from explicitly addressing either aggressor. Only in the past week has Luxon offered any criticism, calling Trump’s Iran policy “unhelpful” and Finance Minister Nicola Willis “alarmed” at Trump’s comments around destruction of civilisation in Iran. Labour has criticised the government for its lack of a hard stance.
Also this past week has seen funding for the Tukituki water security project secured, which could see flooding for significant amounts of conservation land in the Hawke’s Bay. The project could also see acceleration under the Fast Track Approvals bill, which Labour has also criticised since its inception.
Lastly, Auckland Council has repeatedly called for additional support for public transport amidst the fuel crisis. Despite these calls, the government has yet to deliver.
To discuss each of these topics and what the Labour party could bring to the table, News Director Castor spoke to Labour MP Shanan Halbert.
A record number of Aucklanders are using public transport amidst rising fuel costs. The average number of users is up 10% from the same time last year.
And yesterday, Watercare lifted its boil water notice for the suburbs of Hillsborough, Mt Roskill, Royal Oak, and Three Kings after 2 days under the notice.
The notice was due to a detection of bacteria on Monday, which a Watercare investigation found was caused by a single water quality monitoring tap.
For City Counselling this week, The Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
This morning, with negotiations continuing to stall and his own deadline for ending the war approaching, US President Donald Trump threatened civilisational destruction on Iran if they did not concede to the US demands. Whether a sincere threat or an act of brinkmanship may remain unclear, as just before Trump’s deadline, Trump claimed a two week ceasefire had been agreed to.
Last week, the Green Party released their housing policy - a home for everyone. It takes a welfare-based approach, pitching rent controls, reversing tax breaks on the bright line test, and a public housing building program.
For our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Wire host Manny asked about the gravity of Trump's threats on Iran, but began with the Greens' housing platform.
Cabbage, mull, buds, dak, smoke, skunk, hash, chronic, grass, pot, cannabis. It’s the fourth most used recreational drug in New Zealand, coming in behind caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. Back in 2020, alongside the general election, voters were asked in a non-binding referendum whether they supported a proposed cannabis legalisation and control bill. The result was a vote opposing the legalisation of cannabis by a thin margin.
Currently, medicinal cannabis is available via prescription, but cannabis otherwise remains illegal to use, distribute, or produce.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Patrick and Colden from the Reeferendum 2026 campaign, on their petition to legalise cannabis and reform drug laws and policing in Aotearoa New Zealand.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
95bFM 
