Afternoon Edition: 16 July 2025

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 16 July 2025, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good afternoon. I'm Rayleen Ramsey. This is your afternoon news
fixed for Wednesday, the sixteenth of July. The coalition's cautioning
councils to spend ratepayer money carefully. Cabinet Minister Chris Bishop
has spoken it today's Local Government z conference. He's telling
counsels to make hard decisions about spending and says members

(00:24):
will be judged in voting this year on whether they've
helped boots the local economy. Prime Minister Chris Luckson is
singing from the same song sheet.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Get focused. Now's the time to be very focused to
make sure that every dollar rate payer dollar is spent
in the appropriate way.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
The Education Minister says government moves to ditch open planned
classrooms will help students learn. Erica Stanford says all new
classrooms from now will be built using standard designs that
prioritize flexibility over open plan She says principles and teachers
have told her for some time open planned classes aren't

(01:00):
fit for purpose, so we've changed the way that we
are designing classrooms to be more flexible, so you can
close them off, have your single cell classrooms, and then
open up when you need more flexible space doubts consumers
will get much of a buzz from power code changes.
The Electricity Authority hopes giving customers more choice on using, buying,
and selling supply will drive prices down. It's giving large

(01:24):
companies a year to introduce time of use plans that
offer customers cheaper off peak power, but Major Electricity Users
Group chair John Harbard says most households won't use it.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Demand for electricity is reasonably inelastic. When you're going to
give your kids a shower or a bath and put.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Them to bed, you know you can't push that time
out two hours to avoid peak time. Electricity pricing retention
of overseas doctors is being named as the biggest issues
as tweaks are made to medical registration pathways. The Medical
Councils confirmed doctors trained in Chile, Luxembourg and Croatia will
be added to provisional eligibility lists. Other registrations are being

(02:03):
fast tracked, and some specialist assessment time frames are being trimmed.
GP Alteriro A chair buzz Beryl says we're easily short
five hundred doctors.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
The problem is that the Medical Council data shows that
within twelve months of doctors arriving here, forty percent leave,
and by two years sixty percent of.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Lad architect and design workers drying up across the country.
The EBOSS twenty twenty four architect and Designers Sentimental Report
surveys eight hundred and forty architectural practitioners. Jordan Dunn has more.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
The report suggests well over half of architects are starting
fewer projects than twelve months ago. It also found the
number of practices with less than three months workbooked more
than tripled between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty four,
from six percent to twenty one. The majority of respondents
have low confidence for the construction industry in the coming

(02:59):
year to.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Sport and the blues of signed chiefs Hooker, Bradley Slater
and loose forward Mallechai Rampling for the next two Super
Rugby seasons. World golf number one Scottish Scheffler's revealed he's
wrestling with motivation heading into the Open Major at Royal Port,
Russian Northern Ireland. He's openly admitted his success has come
with minimal fulfillment fall back. Oriyan Pappenhausen has been ruled

(03:24):
out of Melbourne's NRL clash with the Manly Sea Eagles
due to a calf strain half Cameron Munster there's no
certainty to play as he grieves the death of his father.
That is your latest news faxs and will be back
with the next update tomorrow morning from the News Talk
ze'd be Newsroom