Andrew Dickens Afternoons

LISTEN TO CALLER SONJA TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVEThe Government's goal of one million Kiwis speaking basic te reo by 2040 is achievable but needs the resourcing to back it up, the head of the Māori Language Commission says.Maihi Karauna, the Crown's draft Māori language strategy, was launched this month and along with boosting widespread reo levels it set targets of 150,000 Māori speaking it as a primary language, and for te reo to become a key element of national identity.At the 2013 census 148,400 people could hold a basic conversation in te reo, 84.5 percent of whom identified as Māori.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed this week her baby, Neve Te Aroha, would be raised to speak te reo Māori and English.Ardern said it was important to her and her partner Clarke Gayford that Neve has an understanding of Māori culture and believes speaking Te Reo is the first step.Te Taura Whiti i te Reo Māori/Māori Language Commission tumuaki (CEO) Ngahiwi Apanui said te reo was increasingly regarded as part of the

There is mixed reaction to the government's new "dole for apprenticeship" scheme.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today announced the "Mana in Mahi – Strength in Work" scheme would pay employers who give apprenticeship or traineeships to you people the equivalent of the dole for a year.They will also get $3000 to $6000 each for the pastoral care of the young people.It will start with 150 you people, between the ages of 18 to 24, who have been on the benefit for at least six months and will be funded for 4000 people from the middle of next year.Employers will be required to top up the young people's wages to the minimum wage and help them to achieve a Level 4 qualification such as an apprenticeship.Talkback reaction to the scheme has been mixed with some callers praising the scheme while others are not convinced.LISTEN TO ALL THE REACTION ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The nurses deal continues to reverberate on.So to recap the nurses were given a pay increase and an extra $38 million for 500 more nurses. So yesterday, the discussion was on where we could find these 500 nursesBringing nurses back to New Zealand was one idea. Health boards' spokesman Jim Green suggested, to boost staffing numbers, alongside getting those who had left the profession to return, getting more new-graduates, and getting others from elsewhere in healthcare.So let’s look at that. Getting others from elsewhere in healthcare is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Already we’ve heard of aged care staff returning to nursing for more money. Now that might be good for nursing but it’s a blow for aged care which is already in its own staffing crisis.Getting new graduates means enrolling more students. It might happen but there will be a considerable time lag before they come on stream. Plus there will have to be more investment in training capacity which I’m not sure is budgeted forGetting those who have left the

People are questioning whether or not New Zealand taxpayers should have to pay to rescue foreign tourists from our mountains.Terry Harch, 29, was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital last Friday suffering frost bite after activating his distress beacon four days earlier.He spent the following days waiting for a break in the weather until Search and Rescue teams could locate him.Stuff has reported that the mission cost $150,000.Andrew Dickens has asked why we should have to pay for it, and whether or not the cost should be borne by the Australian government.LISTEN TO ANDREW DICKENS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A long winter of discontent and division feels like it’s settling in.The latest political poll is evidence that we’re evenly split and also that truth is in the eye of the beholder. The fact that National has held steady and still scores at 45 percent is taken by some to show that the party still has a legitimate claim to authority.But Labour is within the margin of error at 42 percent. Add on the Greens and you have a 48 percent. A 3 percent margin left over right. And their supporters claim the moral authority. But again that’s within the margin of error. I think it’s only fair to say we are evenly split.The real winner is New Zealand First who keeps on pulling a 5 percent. It keeps them being the judge jury and executioner. I think it’s also fair to say that the predicted collapse of the coalition is still a ways away and the rise of National is a ways away too as their leader fails to excite the middle.So we’re stuck. There is no clear winner. The only differentiating factor is your opinion. How you feel.

One of the more remarkable things happened this week. A Judge actually admitted that he got something wrong and almost apologised.His name is Judge Kevin Phillips and he is a District Court Judge in Dunedin.The whole sorry affair started in May last year.A 16-year-old and his brother were cruising streets of Dunedin looking for a party they had heard about on Facebook and trouble.First, they shook down another 16 year old. They got him to empty his pockets. They punched him in the face knocking him out and taking his phone and wallet.Ten minutes later they spotted five students carrying some booze, beer and cider.  So they too were shaken down. The booze was taken and people were hit. And as they escaped, the offender noticed a woman trying to photograph the car they were in.When this scumball youth appeared in court Judge Phillips granted him electronically monitored bail to his father’s home and orders to receive help and training. Which as it turns out was nearly a fatal mistake.2 months later while at the

A warning to the paparazzi from the Prime Ministers minders.Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard is threatening to expel Press Gallery journalists if they take unauthorised photos of the Prime Minister or Clarke Gayford on their return next week.Newstalk ZB Political editor Barry Soper says Mallard is promising that if his rules are breached, he will withdraw the offending journalist's accreditation and penalise their employer.Mallard says he wants to make Parliament more family friendly. He has posed in the Speaker's chair holding an MP's baby.As an example, if the first couple happens to walk behind an interview being videoed with baby Neve, he expects that part of the interview to be deleted.The Gallery will meet Mallard next week.LISTEN ABOVE AS BARRY SOPER JOINS ANDREW DICKENS TO DISCUSS THE SPEAKERS DECISIONSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I suppose with Leighton on holiday you could say we’ve all had a break from being told that resilience is something modern New Zealand lacks. So maybe it should fall to me to hand out some resilience calls. A little bit of 'harden up snowflake and stop moaning' stuff.Firstly, the Shortland Street Down’s Syndrome plotline stoush where supporters of Down Syndrome children are upset, particularly with the distressed mother character who in a moment of fear and emotion wails about the possibility of having a munted child. Now it’s confronting, for sure, but it’s the reality. It is absolutely part of the process and the thinking that happens when you first learn your child has an issue to deal with.To depict the situation as a happy uplifting experience and to block any discussion of the possibility of abortion would do a worse disservice to people trying to understand what parents go through. Ask any parent who discovers an in utero defect in their child and dealing with the initial anger is part of the process.

Winston Peters’ brief time as Prime Minister is nearly over, but he’s waded in to what might be his most controversial topic yet.Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull raised eyebrows after revealing on social media that he eats pies with a knife and fork, as opposed to simply picking it up with his hands.It’s time we admitted there’s nothing wrong with using a knife and fork to eat a pie. Discuss. pic.twitter.com/O28x3lStXJ— BenFordham (@BenFordham) July 26, 2018One Twitter user suggest Winston Peters should be sought for comment on it - and the Acting Prime Minister threw his two cents into the arena.In support of @TurnbullMalcolm, I don't give a rat's derriere what people think I'll eat a pie with a knife and fork. Some pies are very flaky, and sometimes you want to put sauce on.— Winston Peters (@winstonpeters) July 31, 2018Is this un-Prime Ministerial? Andrew Dickens and Political Editor turned Food Critic Barry Soper debate above.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The father of an Auckland who died from a synthetic drugs overdose is calling for the Government to do more to.Yesterday, Cabinet received a coroner’s report that shows deaths related to the drug rose to 45 over the last month.Lewis Jones lost his son, Callum, in September last year after taking synthetic cannabis, a drug he was addicted to for five years.He told Andrew Dickens that his son had been addicted for around five years, and that he had resorted to having Calum committed to a detox centre.“He was in their care, and then to realise there is no system out there to help these people in rehabiliation, that’s been my biggest... open my eyes.”He says that police are restricted in their ability to stop synthetic drug dealers due to a lack of policy.“Why aren’t they putting the restrictions in place to actually prevent people from selling it?”Jones says that there are limited programs available to help synthetic drug addicts rehabilitate.  LISTEN TO LEWIS JONES TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENSSee omnystudio.com/lis

A New Zealander deported from Australia says he supports Andrew Little’s comments taking on the Australian government.William told Andrew Dickens that he moved to Australia in order to escape the gang lifestyle in New Zealand.However, he breached the country’s strict rules around good character. He says that he started taking drugs after his wife died, but he was deported because his girlfriend would come to his house, breaching a protection act.“I went to Australia and spent almost 30 years there. My children are stuck there because of this situation.”He supports what Little has been saying, and says that more needs to be done over this growing conflict.LISTEN TO WILLIAM TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve spent the last few days wondering if I’d been transported to an alternative universe. Everything seems topsy turvy. Some things were normal.The Crusaders were still dominating and moving towards a title just as they have done now for near enough 20 years. I read a report that said that the Crusaders are 20 per cent better than any other team in the competition and another comment on social media that the Crusaders are the best sporting club in the world.  I’d agree with both of those statements.The Warriors were losing a game they should have won. Their form was topsy turvy again but that’s not topsy turvy at all - that’s 100 per cent normal. And then there was the news that Joseph Parker had been put down and lost gallantly.  Again that didn’t surprise me.  I saw a comment that Joe is a talented but polite boxer who was shocked at Whyte’s brawling. Joe talks about unleashing the mongrel but the problem is there’s no mongrel in him.So so far transmission as normal. But then there was this headline from L

Entertainment reporter Karl Puschmann joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the next big TV reboot in the works.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To end the week some points.If you were listening yesterday at 3.30 pm I exploded that the bid to have a concert at Eden Park was over.  It was another example of long term dithering over public assets by local and central governments that blight our public policy.10 years ago tax payers money was sunk into a facility for the Rugby World Cup.  $250 million worth.  The ratepayers of Auckland also had to pony up.  And for all the money we spent we have a venue too small for cricket, too big for league and club rugby, and not available at all for any other events.  In other words unfit for purpose. Rip the thing down and build something that works.The minority that prevented the concert could also prevent the Indian cricket tour at Eden park.  Because of time differences the Indians would like the day night games to start an hour later so their fans can watch their team on telly. To do that needs a resource consent. We’ve just seen how well that went and how much that costs.The point is why did the government an

Eden Park has been forced to withdraw from holding the "Million Babies" LifePod Appeal concert.The Eden Park Trust announced this afternoon that due to time constraints and the prospect of substantial Environment Court costs, it has been forced to cancel the concert, planned for Waitangi Day.At the start of the week, the Trust's lawyers advised that the process to obtain a consent for the concert was likely to stretch beyond October and cost in excess of $750,000, not including The Trust's legal costs.Trustees then had a meeting and concluded that it is not viable for the stadium to continue with its application due to the likely costs and timeframe for court proceedings.The Trust hoped it could work with the minority who objected to reach an agreement for this one-off worthy event. This would have avoided the Environment Court process but unfortunately, that was not to be the case.Chief Executive Nick Sautner said, "Although we respect the process in place, to bring events like concerts to our stadium we als

So here we go again.The nurses are now voting on the fifth offer from DHB’s in what is becoming a long-running saga.There’s no real new money in the latest offer other than further addressing the issue of safer staffing, and it brings forward a new top salary step for senior nurses.The union, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, is suggesting once again that nurses accept the offer. They say the nurses now have some concrete mechanisms to address the main issuess and they want to crack on putting some money in the nurse’s pockets and implement the positive stuff.So will they go for it? Who knows? Certainly, there are some nurses who are staying staunch.Comments made overnight on a Facebook group for nurses are overwhelmingly negative about the offer. The page is run by registered nurse, Danni Wilkinson, who spoke with Mike Hosking this morning.She thinks the union negotiators are over it and have lost the will to fight. She says they should be going back to DHBs and saying okay 15 percent is catch-up and we n

In the age of Spotify and Apple Music, it may seem hard to believe, but CD compilations are still going strong.The UK edition of Now! That’s What I Call Music has released it’s 100th edition, 35 years after the first edition was released.In honour of the album’s centenary, the latest version includes a series of greatest hits from the last four decades, with hits ranging from Red, Red Wine to Can’t Get You Out of My Head.The former got a little on Andrew’s nerves when he learnt the news the other day.LISTEN TO ANDREW'S TORTURE ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, Tauranga’s Bella Vista debacle stumbles on with the Council announcing its plans to compensate the 21 property owners caught up in a schemozzle of a project.And true to this story’s form, it’s got people up in arms.At its essence, the council deal is the cost of the house they purchased about 3 years ago plus around $10,000 - that’s to cover expenses. You know, lawyers, engineers and the like.The homeowners had already said they wanted market value and so this sort of deal was never going to make them happy. And of course, that’s the market value of a house that was actually worth anything, because the current market value of the Bella Vista development is approximately nothing, zilch, five-eighths of F.A.And the $10,000 is a bit of a slap in the face because could you put a value on the homelessness of 2 years, the insecurity of whether your entire life savings have been destroyed, the fear that you owe a house load of money but have no house? 2 years of staying still. Actually no. 2 years of going bac

LISTEN ABOVE AS PETER BURLING AND BLAIR TUKE SPEAK WITH ANDREW DICKENS Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have confirmed their intention to try to win another gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as well as being part of Emirates Team New Zealand's defence of the America's Cup.Burling and Tuke dominated the 49er class in the last Olympic cycle, winning every major regatta after the 2012 Olympics, including four consecutive world titles and an Olympic gold in Rio 2016.Since Rio they have dedicated themselves to helping Team NZ win the 35th America's Cup in 2017 and more recently completed the 2017/18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.The pair have made no secret that another Olympic campaign was high on their agenda but wanted to wait until the Volvo Ocean Race had concluded to reset goals with their core team.Burling and Tuke will once again work closely with Hamish Willcox and David Slyfield to try to win another Olympic gold medal in 2020."It's not a decision we made lightly" said Tuke. "Representing your cou

Another day and another survey commissioned by a player with skin in the game. Today it’s cannabis law reformYesterday we had a survey on hardship commissioned by the Salvation Army.  Because of the method of the survey, it was an opt in on a website offering financial rewards, it was easy to doubt it and I think it actually rebounded of the Sallies. Too many people said that the survey was exaggerating the hardship, which meant that those people also ended out minimising the extent of hardship in New Zealand and on reflection, I was not proud to be one of those.So today, the headline reads “Support for legalising cannabis getting higher - NZ Drug Foundation”Well, it was never going to read that support was decreasing was it? Given the interests of the commissioner of the survey. Too much skin in the game for anyone to believe that the survey was objective.   The results were released in a press release from the NZ Drug Foundation.  Now if they wanted more currency I would have given the results to other part