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.
Last Thursday, the Employment Leave bill, which aims to replace the Holidays Act, passed its first reading in Parliament. The bill will reform annual and sick leave calculation, changing from a lump sum system, to an hourly calculation scheme.
While New Zealand workplace relations and safety Minister, Brooke van Velden claimed the bill is meant to simplify leave calculations, criticisms of the bill's other potential impacts have emerged.
Those who work irregular hours will receive less leave, it's been proposed a full day in lieu won’t be provided for people working shorter shifts on public holidays, and leave for people on ACC compensation would be cut.
In response the Public Service Association has called on MPs to sign a pledge to oppose the law change and ensure workers aren’t left worse off.
To explain this pledge and why the PSA opposes the changes in the bill, producer Thomas talked to PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.
Last week, Heinz Watties announced plans to close its factories in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, and cease packing at its frozen lines in Hastings. This will leave 350 workers without jobs in an already tough job market.
Additionally, many seasonal employees, who have worked in the factories for decades, could be left redundant without financial compensation. Concerns have been raised about potential ripple effects the closures will have on the economy, with 220 growers in the Canterbury region alone relying on supplying the Christchurch Factory.
To discuss the consequences of these decisions and what more the government could be doing to protect workers and local New Zealand production producer Thomas talked to E tū Union Director for manufacturing and food Finn O’Dwyer-Cunliffe.
The government is offering pay increases to non-union affiliated primary school teachers in advance of the collective agreement with those belonging to the primary teachers union, NZEI Te Riu Roa.
This circumvents the precedent of settling the union agreement first, which the union sez undercuts their negotiations. The union is currently looking for increased financial and staffing supports from the government, as workloads increase with curriculum changes and an ever rising number of teachers move to Australia.
To discuss the negotiations and the issues that Primary School teachers are facing News Director Castor spoke to NZEI spokesperson Liam Rutherford.
Last week, resource consents were approved for a $3.5 billion AI Data Centre to be constructed near Invercargill. While most of the commentary around the data centre is discussing how it could benefit New Zealand’s economy or connectivity, few are discussing the potential environmental ramifications.
While the consent applications aren’t public, data centres overseas have been known to have varying degrees of environmental impact, including pulling drinking water out of communities and farmlands and subsequently creating droughts and increasing temperatures.
To evaluate how a data centre could operate in New Zealand, News Director Castor spoke to director of Pūtahi research, a consulting firm specialising in water and climate resilience, Daniel Collins.
Labour has reshuffled its portfolios ahead of the election this year.
The Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19 has released its final report for phase two of the inquiry.
And the Education and Workforce Select Committee has released its final report on online harm and young people.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to MP and member of the Education and Workforce Committee Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to MP Shanan Halbert about Labour’s portfolio reshuffle ahead of the election, phase two of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19, and the results of the select committee inquiry into social media harm and young people.
For International Desk this week, they spoke to Deakin University Research Fellow Dr Ali Mamouri about rising islamophobia in Australian politics.
For City Counselling this week, News Director Castor spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about March Madness and changes to PC 120.
And Producer Pranuja spoke with Dr Kelly Garton from the University of Auckland on her recent article comparing New Zealand's Healthy School Lunches Programme to Brazil’s. We discussed the budget cuts to New Zealand's lunch programme and what we could learn from Brazil’s long-running national free school meal scheme.
Last year, the govenment announced siginificant budget cuts to the school lunch programme formerly known as Ka Ora, Ka Ako, reducing the funding available per meal and reshaping how the programme is delivered in schools. Now, New Zealand's Healthy School Lunch Programme covers only a quarter of schools based on the Equity Index, reaching about 240,000 students, so more than half of children experiencing food insecurity do not attend school that recieve the programme.
New research by Dr Kelly Garton, a research fellow in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, and a spokesperson for Health Coalition Aotearoa, compares New Zealand’s programme with Brazil’s national school meal system, which has been running for over 70 years and is considered a global gold standard.
Producer Pranuja spoke with Dr Garton about what New Zealand could learn from Brazil’s approach to school meals, and what a stronger programme here might look like.
In February, Australian politician Pauline Hanson made headlines for an interview with Sky News where she suggested there are no “good” muslims.
Additionally, an independent report from last year found anti-Muslim incidents in Australia had “skyrocketed” since the start of the war in Gaza.
This has been amplified by the charged political environment in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack, and the government’s subsequent Plan to Combat Anti-Semitism, which conflated anti-Semitism with criticism of the state of Israel.
For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Research Fellow at Deakin University, Dr Ali Mamouri, about this rising Islamophobia in Australian politics and its consequences.
Recently, the government legalised their practice of clawing back welfare money from people who receive an ACC claim, leaving thousands of people in debt to the Ministry of Social Development, (MSD).
Last week, we also saw mixed messaging from the government over Iran. One such case saw the Prime Minister claim that those affected by the crisis would receive automatic visa coverage, contradicting his immigration minister.
Finally, a review of the Clean Vehicle Standard could be the final nail in the coffin of the previous Labour government's policies to build an electric vehicle market in New Zealand if the current government chooses to repeal the policy that fines importers who do not also bring in a high enough ratio of electric vehicles.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s response to the government's messaging on Iran, and the review of the clean vehicle standard, but began by talking about the legislation permitting the clawing back of welfare support from ACC recipients.
The Covid 19 Pandemic saw wide-reaching policy interventions to save lives, keeping our hospital open and emergency beds available. Over the course of lockdowns, traffic lights, vaccines and mandates, the government at the time found that increasingly vocal opposition grew in response to their efforts.
This opposition grew into a severe division that marked that period of time can be seen to this day.
The groups protesting the pandemic control measures often viewed these restrictions as conspiratorial threats or vast overreach that infringed their rights, while supporters of the governments actions saw them as neccessary steps to save lives.
Following an inquiry into our pandemic response done by the Labour government that found appropriate actions were taking and no wrongdoing, momentum grew in certain minor parties for another look.
This week, we saw the release of this with the release of a second inquiry.
To get her perspective on the second inquiry, Wire host Manny spoke to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, Doctor Siouxsie Wiles, about the Covid 19 inquiry and her takeaways on social trust and cohesion.
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.
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