Podcast appearances and mentions of andrew dickens

Over summer Andrew Dickens is catching up with the Mayors of Aotearoa in his Summer Road Trip series. Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley joined Dickens to talk about her focus for 2026, the potential for a Tarras Airport, local wineries and upcoming summer events. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Synthony owner and boxing promoter David Higgins joined Andrew Dickens to chat about Synthony's meteoric rise and next steps in the world of boxing. Higgins was always put off by joining the world of music, until he discovered Synthony. "With Synthony, I thought, wow, it's like Cirque du Soleil. It's a brand, I could trademark in 100 countries, which I did. I could then schedule dates and venues, at will and use local orchestras and young talent who are grateful for the opportunity and not be at the behest of global agencies and management," he told Dickens. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Boxing Day Races at Ellerslie, in what is likely the biggest wedding of the year, Louise Savage will become a wife. The Races are expected to have 15,000 attendees. Savage joined Andrew Dickens to chat about the big day. "I will just be imagining and preparing to go for a lovely day out at the races and there happens to be a wedding thrown in between race two and three," she said. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New polls are showing older Australians firmly standing behind One Nation as support for Labour and National wanes. Whereas, Australia Correspondent Murray Olds told Andrew Dickens, "young people are running running 100 miles an hour away from the conservative side of politics." And, questions of rising antisemitism continue as a car with Hanukkah decorations, belonging to Rabbi Effy Block, was firebombed on Christmas Day. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dress Smart Auckland manager Lauri Solecki chats to Andrew Dickens about the best sales, her expectations for Boxing Day busyness, and overviews the Christmas shopping period. "We're expecting strong performance and we remain optimistic," she said. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gavin Grey catches up with Andrew Dickens to discuss the EU and UK news of the day. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson were both absent for the Sandringham Christmas service. Two anti-hate social media campaigners were denied entry to the US as the State Department accuses them of trying to supress free speech. And, 115 people were arrested in Turkey for alleged planned New Years attacks connected to ISIS. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fuel providers NPD and Gull announced a proposed merger of the two entities on Wednesday, December 24. The decision now sits with the Commerce Commission as they decide if the merger will increase or decrease competition in the market. Both companies are already low-cost providers, so, it is hoped the proposed merge could lower prices for consumers. Customers have been awaiting a fuel price drop for a while now, as oil prices have fallen, but the change has not been seen at the till. AA Fuel spokesperson Terry Collins told Andrew Dickens, "it's the largest margin I've seen between landed price and retail price, and these companies, what they need to do is not just offer discounts and specials on particular days, but we need to see across the board drop in our fuel prices currently." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand cruise season got off to a slow start, but from Boxing Day until January 5th over 50 cruise ships will dock in across the country bringing a boost to local economies. Although, NZ Cruise Association CEO Jacqui Lloyd told Andrew Dickens that eco-regulations and increased costs have slowed the industry. "While it's great to have the ships in port, it is disappointing in the numbers that are coming in," Lloyd said. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Red meat may no longer be the star of the Christmas dinner table. The price of sirloin and porterhouse steaks and lamb chops rose about 25-percent in the past year, and beef mince and sausages more than 10-percent. But poultry and pork have stayed at or below the rate of inflation. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Andrew Dickens that a summer salad's more affordable. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Far North District is a hot-spot for Kiwis looking to get away over the holidays. However, due to the impacts of cyclones, storms and COVID - the area's businesses are still struggling. Far North District Mayor Moko Tepania told Andrew Dickens that tourism this summer is key to boosting Northland's struggling businesses. 'We need you all to come up here and spend your money because our businesses bloody need it.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Mission is expecting to welcome hundreds of people for Christmas lunches across the city tomorrow. Five different locations will offer food and quality time for those living within City Mission housing, and those who use its services. Missioner Murray Edridge told Andrew Dickens that it's been the hardest year many have experienced, but tomorrow's a time to come together. He says Christmas can be difficult because it reminds those struggling of what they don't have. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Far North District is a hot-spot for Kiwis looking to get away over the holidays. However, due to the impacts of cyclones, storms and COVID - the area's businesses are still struggling. Far North District Mayor Moko Tepania told Andrew Dickens that tourism this summer is key to boosting Northland's struggling businesses. 'We need you all to come up here and spend your money because our businesses bloody need it.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Businesses are cautiously reopening along Sydney's Bondi Beach, after its terror attack. Fifteen people were killed and more than 40 others injured when two gunmen opened fire during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on the beach. Many local businesses sheltered victims during the attack and have struggled in the days since. Australian Correspondent Murray Olds told Andrew Dickens that the area's slowly coming to terms with a new reality. He says cafes are open and people are back surfing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says the new Free Trade Agreement with India is rushed. It reduces or removes 95 percent of export tariffs, offers targeted temporary work visas - and gets preferential treatment for our apples and manuka honey. I comes after nine months of negotiations. Peters says it gives India too many concessions on immigration and investment, and does little for this country's dairy sector. Winston Peters told Andrew Dickens not enough time was given for engagement, because of the time frame set by the Prime Minister. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

71,627, that's how many mobile phones have been diverted from landfill this year. The Telecommunications Forum has been running their re-mobile scheme since 2014, diverted almost a million phones since then. The nationwide shutdown of 3G is leaving a large number of mobile phones obsolete, so many people are looking to get rid of their phones. TCF Chief Executive Paul Brislen told Andrew Dickens that, 'if they can be reused, we get them recycled.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trade Minister claims our new Free Trade Agreement with India, is its best deal struck with any country. It's followed nine months of negotiations, ending with India agreeing to lower or remove tariffs on 95-percent of our exports, with wins for fruit, meat, wool, coal and forestry sectors. Little's changed for dairy - with duty free access only for certain protein products and those for re-export. Todd McClay told Andrew Dickens that all our exporters will benefit. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump has appointed the Governor of Louisiana as a Greenland Envoy. Governor Jeff Landry has said that he will fight to make Greenland part of America. European correspondent Catherine Field told Andrew Dickens that the Danish Prime Minister is 'absolutely furious.' "She has said national borders are are rooted in international law, you can't just annex another country." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's had an interesting year. Leaky pipes, Golden Mile chaos, and of course, they got themselves a brand new mayor out of national politics. Tory Whanau quit the mayoralty race, headed to Melbourne, and now Andrew Little is in office. He told Andrew Dickens that he's looking forward to next year, saying, "There's some pretty exciting things scheduled for 2026." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been an up-and-down year for National, seeing success in some areas and struggles in more. However, the slowly recovering economy is an early Christmas gift ahead of next year's election. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the key talking points of the year in politics, and discuss what Kiwis can expect to see from the government as we head in to the new year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are renewing calls for patience on the roads this holiday period, warning lives are at risk. Fifteen people were killed in crashes between Christmas Eve and early January last summer. The toll has topped 11 for five consecutive years. National Road Policing Manager Superintendent Stephen Greally told Andrew Dickens that too many drivers are focused on getting to the front of the queue. He says that risk taking causes carnage on too many occasions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pet Refuge is urgently appealing for donations, and bracing for demand to surge over Christmas. The charity is receiving daily pleas for help from people escaping family violence - and is currently caring for 29 pets. Founder Dame Julie Chapman told Andrew Dickens that more than half of women delay leaving family violence - because they're scared to leave pets behind. She says the charity takes pets in for up to four months and covers all costs, while people rebuild their lives in emergency housing or women's refuge. https://www.petrefuge.org.nz/ LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US has launched another pursuit of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela - the second operation within days. Reuters reports the US Coast Guard is actively chasing the vessel in international waters, to make it the third tanker seized in less than two weeks. President Donald Trump last week ordered a full blockade of sanctioned oil shipments in and out of Venezuela. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Andrew Dickens that it's not clear what the US plans to do with the tankers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland, where the city's economy isn't firing on all cylinders just yet, but the Chamber of Commerce does say that green shoots are emerging. Crime crackdowns in the CBD and changes to boost events at Eden Park are all part of a push to get Auckland City humming again. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the progress made this year, and talk about what we can expect to see next. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consumers are being warned of a price hike for technology like phones and computers due to the rise of AI creating a shortage of computer chips. The cost for parts like RAMs have also sky rocketed with some products already costing double, or triple, what they did a year ago. "There's only so much production capability on the planet, and what we're seeing is where these chips are fabricated, they are diverting their production away from the RAM that's used in our consumer devices to the high bandwidth memory that is being used in the AI data centres," Gorilla Tech CEO Paul Spain told Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Correspondent Jonathan Kearsley joined Andrew Dickens to chat about the latest news out of America. The alleged Brown University shooter, who killed two and injured more, was found dead. The House Oversight Committee Democrats released 68 more photos from Epstein's estate, including images of Bill Gates, Steve Bannon and Noam Chomsky. And, TikTok has agreed to a deal which will end the threat of a US ban. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has approved OceanaGold's Waihi North mining project, extending gold and silver extraction in the Waihi area until 2043, delighting the pro-mining crowd. It's a decision I agree with. Waihi has already been extensively mined and the environment beaten up. The decision will keep the town alive and provide hundreds of jobs. But make no mistake, this will not be an El Dorado for the whole country. The royalties are still at the excruciatingly low level they've always been at. Waihi North will generate $5.2 billion in additional gold and silver exports over its 18-year lifespan — averaging $286 million per year. Meanwhile, Crown revenue from corporate tax, PAYE, and royalties is expected to total a net present value of $422m over the life of the project. That's not an economy-saving sum, and it represents an 8 per cent yield on the output. But a deal is a deal. What concerns me is thoughts of new claims — the area behind Pauanui and Tairua on the Coromandel. Or the new work proposed for Bendigo. Until the whole nation truly benefits from the work that damages our land, is it worth it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

France has sentenced a doctor to death after he poisoned 30 patients, killing 12. The EU has agreed to provide Ukraine more money after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged leaders to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv. But, the money may not be enough. "Bit by bit it's getting worse and worse for Ukraine, no matter what support they've got," Gavin Grey told Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwibank has scrapped it's plans for partial privatisation after the Reserve Bank announced it's reduction of the amount of capital it requires banks to hold to protect their depositors in the event of a crisis. The bank had been talking to investors, seeking a $500 million capital raise after the Government gave it the green light to raise money to become more competitive. Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich talked to Andrew Dickens about the change and the future of the market. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The self-inflicted deaths of six Northland young people reveals dangerous flaws in our suicide prevention system. An inquiry by Northland Coroner Tania Tetitaha into the deaths calls for a single, coordinated system. The youths had worked with up to 17 agencies - that hadn't seemed to identify or follow up on their need for support. Mindworks psychologist Sara Chatwin told Andrew Dickens we don't need more thinking groups and documentation, but rather people who have the skills and willingness to deal with these issues. She says in New Zealand, we clearly have a huge problem that other countries are very aware of. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's thought there are few silver linings to come from the Government's road cone hotline. The pilot, which encouraged the public to report excessive cone use, ends tomorrow, six months ahead of schedule. Site visits found 86% of worksites were already compliant, and Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden says the trial has done what it needed to do. CEO of traffic management company Parallaxx Dave Tilton told Andrew Dickens some of the data collection may be useful. He says it brought the road control authorities including NZTA, WorkSafe, and councils together well. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm still in slack mouthed shock at Barbara Edmonds' performance on this programme yesterday. After the release of the Government's books showing we're still in deficit and will be in deficit longer and with every day that passes our debt grows, Labour was quick to say National has screwed things up and we should have voted Labour onto the Treasury benches. I would have thought that would mean they knew how to do things better. Therefore, they could perhaps tell you and I what should have been done. So, we gave them the opportunity to share their superior knowledge, particularly with you the voter, yesterday morning And what did we get? Nothing other than slogans and a general tone of "just trust us things could have been better and we'll tell you why next year". Now to be fair, she did criticise National's tax cuts. That was the moving of the thresholds and reinstating the rebates for landlords. That had the effect of reducing government revenue by $14 billion dollars. $14 billion that could have been used to repay the debt or build infrastructure. Now the thresholds were morally wrong, and I agree with resetting them. They were giving the government an automatic tax rise due to wage inflation. But changing them in a time of economic downturn when your revenue was reducing anyway was a self-inflicted wound on the books. But they had promised them in the election, calling them a tool against the rise in the cost of living. But that was no better than Barbara Edmonds yesterday, it was a slogan to get votes. I don't know if National knew that purposely reducing their revenue was unsustainable. Slashing their own revenue undid all the work they did cutting spending. If they did know that was possible then that's a piece of economic foolishness. And this is what worries me the most about this country and all its politicians. They'll say anything to get votes. They care more about keeping their jobs rather than making the country better. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the major banks is predicting some of the best quarterly GDP figures in years. Stats NZ is releasing the economic figures for the three months ending September this morning, with the Reserve Bank's forecasting growth of 0.4%. Westpac predicts a 0.9% gain, putting that down to a jump in activity across the board. Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold told Andrew Dickens it would fill in a hole from the previous quarter. But he says there needs to be two or three quarters of growth before people can be confident the country is on an upward trend. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're broke. The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows we're still in debt and the debt is getting bigger. So, we're broke. Not enough money, everything's more expensive so it's off to the money lender before the bailiffs come in and sell everything. Sounds like a lot of households around me. Ideally, we'd be in a surplus - that's when we have more money than costs. But we aren't and the possibility of that happening has got further away. Make no mistake, deficit is bad, but surplus is only okay. That's how bad we are. And we're getting more and more in debt. The Government has a debt to GDP ratio of 41.8% and it's forecast to rise to over 46% before it starts going down. But lets put another lens on this: the New Zealand Government has posted a surplus 17 times since 1980. That's 17 times in 45 years. So the government has been broke 62% of the time since then. Being broke is our normal. And if I applied the surplus/deficit/debt ratio to my own finances then I've been broke most of my adult life. I mean, who hasn't had a debt-to-equity ratio of 95% in their lives? So if you look at it that way it's not so bad. And we're still in the right half of the indebted nations list. Everyone's broke. We're a bit naïve when we demand surpluses about just how hard it is to do. Listen to Steven Joyce on Heather's show yesterday: government books are hard to turn like a super tanker. As he said yesterday, it can take a decade. But some of us think a few public service cuts and cuts to benefits and we'd be tickety boo. But our fiscal crisis is far more fundamental than that. What we really need to do is make more money in the world, so we have more tax revenue, so we have more good stuff and less debt. So, what are you standing there listening to this for? Get to work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A belief whistleblowers are vital to exposing voting failures after a South Auckland local body election was overturned. Judge Richard McIlraith ruled irregularities altered the outcome of the Papatoetoe vote for the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board. The case involved stolen voting papers and fraudulent use. A new election must be held by April 9. Transparency International NZ CEO Julie Haggie told Andrew Dickens there's no sign of wider system problems nationally. She says it does seem to be picking up them, as someone made a case for a district court inquiry and got a result. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour believes it's more financially responsible than the current Government following the release of Treasury's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update. It's predicting economic growth of just 1.7% in 2026, well down on the May Budget's 2.9% forecast. Labour's Finance and Economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds was asked by Andrew Dickens whether her party would have increased taxes to get back in black faster. She says they would have followed the same plan they had in 2023, before the election, but ultimately it comes down to choices. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A transport voice says there's some sense to the Government's new mega-Ministry idea. It wants to abolish the environment, housing and urban development, and transport ministries and introduce a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport – M CERT. It argues these areas are undergoing reforms and right now the system's too fragmented. Transporting NZ's Dom Kalasih told Andrew Dickens navigating across multiple agencies can carry challenges, and sometimes "less is more". He says transport's one part of a larger eco-system so taking a more unified connected approach makes some sense. However, there's a worry that projects that are already on the go, such as road user and congestion charges, may not be achieved as efficiently. Kalasih says the sector's just started to gain momentum in these areas. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday was a sad, morose day reflecting on the Jewish deaths and their horror, made worse by a never-ending stream of video coverage from every angle. Never has a massacre been as documented and then distributed. The power of citizens with broadcast studios in their phones. The uncensored images spread by the very social media that Australia banned for the under 16s this past week. And we saw the victims - dead, dying, and being given CPR. In their summer shorts and flip flops ready for a day of family fun by the sea. They looked like us. Because they are us. Meanwhile the father and son looked unremarkable. Portly. Fat on the life of comfort Australia gave them and yet they did what they did. The face of evil is so often banal. Second: are you now realising that Winston Peters knew what he was talking about when he refused to back a state of Palestine? I was one of the few who agreed - there is no state, there is no governing authority or governance legitimacy. But underneath it all there was no indication that Palestinians want peace. His concern was Hamas was still armed, and recognition could push Hamas towards a more hardened position. So, in the wake of the killings there was a Jewish bloke interviewed in front of the dead and the dying and he let rip. He talked about October 7th. He talked about Hamas' atrocities and then he railed about Albanese and all the other states and statesman who then sent money to Gaza and made virtue signalling noises about state recognition, and lo and behold what do we see? An empowered people with a big grudge still adopting a hardened position. Benjamin Netanyahu wrote to Anthony Albanese in August, warning that the government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire … emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.” Was he wrong? Apparently, we have a peace process. Obviously, it's not working. Apparently the end game for the end of violence is a two-state solution, but can we really see these two people co-existing any time soon?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A deadly terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach is feeding speculation of potential intelligence errors. Two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more. A 24-year-old suspect remains in hospital under police guard, while his 50-year-old father, the other alleged offender, was shot dead. The younger man, who's suspected of orchestrating the attack, had previously been investigated by the country's security agency and hadn't been considered a threat. But Massey University Defence Studies Professor John Battersby says we shouldn't jump to conclusions until more details emerge. He told Andrew Dickens intelligence capabilities are always limited by the resources put into them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lawyers say they can't pinpoint the reason there's been an increase in complaints. The Law Society's annual report reveals more clients are raising their concerns, particularly around incompetence. New Zealand Law Association Vice President Julie-Anne Kincade told Andrew Dickens with more people using AI to research their legal issues, they're needing to manage expectations. She welcomes clients doing their own research but it's important people remember lawyers are the experts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Bondi It now seems obvious that antisemitism is out the gate. Particularly in Australia with a large population who hail from the middle east, but increasingly so in this country and around the world. and I don't think the genie is going to be put back in the bottle any time soon. The conflict in Gaza starting with the Hamas attack on the music festival in October 2023 has only intensified the conflict between faiths. and you don't want to victim blame but Israel's reaction to the original attack has not calmed the situation but further radicalised Moslems. Presenting talkback on the Gaza situation over the past 2 years I have been at pains to separate the Israel State from the Jewish faith but that has been impossible for both sides. Not helped by Netanyahu who goes out of his way to make sure you know the faith is the state and vice versa. Any talk of Gazan bloodshed by Israel is always pulled back to October the 7th 2023. And any talk about the Hamas atrocity is always linked back to the Israeli counter moves. Any criticism of Israel's actions is always branded antisemitism by supporters of Israel. Both sides now locked in a deadly dance with no middle ground of peace. A dance that has been there since 1948 but today is more furious than ever. Blessed are the peacemakers they say but where are they. One reported blessing is that the Australian hero who disarmed a Bondi attacker was himself an Arab. A local fruit shop owner. Showing that the killers are not indicative of all Moslems. Hopefully that might ease the wave of Islamophobia that is almost inevitable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't want to ask what America is thinking, but what are they thinking? As more details of their social media information requests to enter the States came to light yesterday, the less I wanted to go there. To get in I need to supply a wealth of personal information, including DNA and all my social media links. Now I love America and its people, but if I have to jump through all those hoops my first reaction is "forget it". The Land of the Free is no longer the Land of the Free Speech. Say the wrong thing on social media and they may cancel you. This is worse than anything under Biden or Obama, it's cancel culture writ large. And the irony is that it's so dumb. If you're really an enemy of the States, you've already cancelled all your social media. This will cancel the tourists, not the terrorists. Righto: here's the most bonkers thing I heard yesterday out of Trump's America Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted the State Department's official use of the typeface Calibri, calling the Biden-era move “wasteful,” and ordered the return of Times New Roman. He called it a part of a push to stamp out diversity. Now how does that work? Well in 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ordered the typeface change to Calibri to improve accessibility for readers with disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia, and people who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Now that was true, it was invented for people with low vision, and by the way it's Microsoft Office's default font and apparently it works, but apparently that's woke. So back to Times New Roman we go, and the left are saying it tallies with MAGA's obsession with all things Roman. And it would all be just a funny margin in history if it wasn't so expensive and therefore wasteful. You'd think that you'd just ask everyone to change their default and off we go. But no. Teams are going to have to check every little unit. Apparently, that's $145 thousand an agency, and there's a lot of agencies in American bureaucracy. And here's the real rub: Times New Roman takes more ink. And then when you calculate the sheer volume of wordage coming out of the American state, the cost actually mounts into the many millions. The right often complains about the cost of crazy left-wing ideology, seemingly blissfully unaware that they're just as ideologically crazy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Costs to fix our water infrastructure are increasing as we get a better picture of its current state. Every council has now submitted their plan under the Government's Local Water Done Well programme. As Newstalk ZB first revealed last week, the final bill is expected to be almost $48 billion - about $9 billion more than first thought. Water New Zealand Chief Executive Gillian Blythe told Andrew Dickens with all the plans submitted, we've now got a better picture of water infrastructure than we ever have before. She says it's like when you look at your own house and realise you've got to spend some money fixing a roof or painting a window. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Swings and roundabouts for the dairy sector, with prices set to weaken. Research by Rabobank suggests overall global production peaked last quarter, and this quarter won't be far behind. EU and UK are seeing their strongest growth since 2017 and US milk output has increased for five consecutive months. Lincoln University Adjunct Professor Jacqueline Rowarth told Andrew Dickens dairy farmers aren't feeling too glum, coming off good margins. She says they feel good when people want their product, and that joy's clearly spreading to other countries. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Primary school principals are doubling down on their call for a better pay offer. Principals belonging to the NZEI union have rejected the Government's latest collective agreement offer, including a 4.6% pay rise. They say it's substantially inferior to the deal accepted by secondary school principals. Principal Karl Vasau, the principal for Rowandale Primary School, told Andrew Dickens they're working hard to get huge changes implemented quickly, and they want acknowledgement. He says they're drawing a line in the sand. The Public Service Commissioner says he's disappointed the offer hasn't been accepted. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story that keeps getting my goat this week has been the accusation that New Zealanders take too many holidays over the Christmas-January period. It's burbled along since the weekend. Business owners, economists, Simon Bridges, and talkback callers all alleging that the country closes down for a month and that's killing our productivity. But there's no proof of that and the allegations seem little better than reckons. Let's remember that the rest of the Christian world are also off for Christmas-New Year, so we're not losing competitiveness over that week. And the northern hemisphere closes down for August while we're working our butts off. Maybe some of the people moaning about the summer break have lost track of reality for most New Zealand workers. The minimum statuary leave for most New Zealanders is 4 weeks after a year of employment. 20 precious days that week out over 12 months. There are four big school holiday periods that parents need to think about. For most New Zealanders, a big summer holiday might last until the second week of January and the longer you take over summer the longer you have to work over the rest of the year. Only a few people casually skive off for January. The successful business owners who have managers in place. The semi retired. And the superstars whose success during the year grants them privilege - I'm looking at you Mike Hosking. And the other group are the lawyers, partly because courts close down. But while judges have nice summer holidays they're only allowed a week in Spring during the rest of the year. So the lawyers bugger off to their beautiful baches. And that's why lawyers were the most concerned at the dropping of the new Resource Management system this week with a 6 week submission period. It means they're going to have to work all summer. Like the rest of us. And that's why they're grumpy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT says New Zealand isn't ready to follow Australia with a youth social media ban. An interim report from Parliament's education committee suggests we consider taking a similar approach to our neighbours, who introduced a ban yesterday. It's found social media is exposing young people to a wide range of harm. Act representative Parmjeet Parmar told Andrew Dickens we should watch how the policy unfolds in Australia before moving ahead with our own. She says this is a natural experiment happening in real time, and it would be irresponsible to rush forward with a ban. LISTEN ABOVESSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are areas for improvement in how we prevent cancer, with the number of new cases expected to jump in the next two decades. The Cancer Control Agency's latest State of Cancer report shows cancer's on the rise. Diagnoses are expected to rise from 30 thousand this year to more than 45 thousand in 2044. Cancer Society National Chief Executive Nicola Coom told Andrew Dickens people with cancer are living longer, but we could have less cancer to begin with if we introduced more screening. She says other OECD countries we compare ourselves to are preventing more cancer because they do far more in the cancer prevention space than we do. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could the worst of the brain drain be over? Though migration remains low year-on-year, provisional figures show that net migration for October was up 7% on 2024. Massey University Sociologist Paul Spoonley told Andrew Dickens he's optimistic we're starting to see it plateauing, if not turning around. He says the pull of Australia is still very strong, but in terms on non-New Zealand migrant departures, that's looking a bit healthier. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So today is the day the Australians lead the world with a social media ban for people under 16. Good luck with that. The kids who still want to be online will get around it. Because, you know, kids and computers. They can't speak the Queen's English, but they sure can speak computer. They'll VPN and forge and weasel their way through the same way we all got our hands on booze when we were underage. And the kids who'll actively skirt the law are either the ones who believe social media benefits their life in society, or they're hoping one day that they'll get some positive self-affirmation even though more often than not they're bullied, and of course, the bullies themselves, because bullying is fun for them. They're not going to pay attention to some words in black and white written by some old parliamentarians in a grand hall wearing their fancy clothes. And the kids aren't going to be thankful. You've taken away their town hall, their community centre, their pub. They're going to be resentful. And I reckon there's a lot of parents who think social media has rotted their kids' brains. Why? Well, they've gone socialist haven't they? So, it's virtue signalling and we all know how we feel about virtue signalling, even if the virtue is a good one. And speaking of which, I found the whole argy bargy between the B416 crew and the Prime Minister to be generally distasteful. It seemed like the parties were more concerned about who got the credit for the posturing rather than helping the kids themselves. But the message is out there and it's a good one. Keep your kid's social media usage as low as possible. You're the parent. Parent. So, my boys are in their 20s and they grew up with all of this. I remember asking them if they'd been cyber bullied on social media. Their reply was not really. If you're being hassled, you block the idiots. And turn the phone off. I was so proud. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's pioneering social media ban is casting ripples around the world. The new law sets a mandatory age limit of 16 or older for accounts on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Now countries like Malaysia and Denmark are following the Australian lead with similar approaches. AUT communications studies professor Patrick Usmar told Andrew Dickens enforcement will be difficult, but it should limit exposure to the thousands of ads kids had been seeing every week. He says parents now won't need to persuade their kids to get off it, and teachers won't need to monitor it as much, because they can just say it's the law now. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.