March 23, 2025 • 34 mins
On the Early Edition with Full Show Podcast Monday 24th of March 2025, The Public service has been asked by the Government to find areas for cost cutting, PSA Assistant Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons shares the reaction of Public Servants.
A United Nations Committee has questioned the fairness of world tax systems and GST, PWC Partner Sandy Lau shares the issues around fairness in our tax system.
Andrew Alderson shares with Andrew Dickens the latest on sport that happened over the weekend.
UK/ Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey tells Andrew the latest on Pope Francis being discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The issues is the interviews and the inside Andrew Dickens
Fawn early edition with one roof, make your property search simple,
News talks at me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, good morning to you, Welcome to the new week. Yes,
I am back. Coming up over the next sixty minutes
in news that will surprise no one. The United Nations
finds GST disproportionately affects support, So is there anything we
need to do about it? And we'll have that story
for you in five. We've got orders on sport and
the drums are beating for Liam Lawson after only two races,
(00:34):
also Quz Wiley and as the public surface up to
improving their own performance and plotting their own future. We'll
talk to the PSA just before six. We'll have this news.
We'll have news as it breaks. We'll have correspondence from
around the world and around New Zealand. And you can
have your say as well by texting me on ninety
two ninety two, A small towns applies. It's seven minutes
(00:54):
out of five.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
The agenda.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
That is Monday, the twenty fourth of March. Pope Francis
has arrived back in the Vatican after spending five weeks
in hospital being treated for pneumonia. This is the moment
when the eighty eight year old made an appearance on
the balcony of the Gamelli Hospital in Rome, where crowds
of people gathered to see him just before he was discharged.
(01:28):
Nice They, like Frank, the Pope had been continuing to
work during his time in hospital, but doctors have said
he must take two months off full time work. Good
luck with that.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Imagine being eighty eight years old, being on life threatening
you know, having life threatening things every other day, and
still leading meetings, still taking executive decisions.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
It's tenacious if nothing else too.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Israel and Gaza, more than fifty thousand Palestinians have been
killed during Israel's military campaign in Gaza. That is, according
to the territories he must run health ministry. That number
equates to round about two point one percent of the
two point three million pre war population of the territory,
or around one in forty six people in.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The United Nations believe that these figures issued by the
local health ministry in Gaza are considered reliable. Reports of
the number of bodies brought into hospitals and deaths cunted
by local health officials and at times the health officials
that have issued lists of all of those who've been
recorded that including their names.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And the main rival to Turkey's president Duwan has been
formally arrested and charged with corruption. Ekram immam om Sorry
Emma Marghlu, the mayor of Istanbul, is expected to be
selected as the opposition Republic People's Party's twenty twenty eight
presidential candidate. That ballot happens next week. He denies the allegations.
(02:54):
He says they're politically motivated and his attention has sparked
off some of the largest protests in more than a decade.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
They will off.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
The vaults have been actually snapped by the government.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
We are almost losing to the democracy.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
This is very important for us, for children, for feature.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And finally, in breaking news, over the past half hour,
we've had the news of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
is expected to hold a media conference at about five
thirty am our time, where he is expected to call
a snap election. If the election is called, the major
federal parties will enter a period of full swing campaigning
that usually lasts about five to seven weeks. It's ten
(03:35):
out to five.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Get ahead of the headlines on early edition Andrew Dickens
and One Room, Make your Property Search Simple, news Talks.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
It'd be well, it's nice to be back, and it's
nice that you're with me now. Last week I was
going to give you my thoughts on David Seymour and
the lunch program, but I ran out of time And
since then, Richard Prebble and Andrea Varance have come out
and they've echoed a lot of my thoughts. So what
is the best way to run things when it comes
to the school lunch program. There's a school in christ
Church who wants to opt out of the whole thing,
(04:07):
but they've been denied permission by David Seymour. And they're
not the first a school and Huntley also tried to
opt out until they rebellion by parents. But let's talk
about this christ Church school. It's the Hyata Community Campus
in christ Church and it's quite different. It's a new school.
Its facilities are extraordinary. They teach from year one to thirteen.
They preach educational excellence and they have a services program
(04:30):
designed by the Ministry of Education and the Defense Forces
at Burnham and they have an amazing sports program. This
is a great school. They also have a purpose built
commercial kitchen. They need the lunches because they're dealing with
a big cohort of underprivileged kids. But they say the
current fair is just not up to it, and they
cite multiple reasons, so they want to have an exemption.
(04:53):
They want to do it themselves, thank you very much,
but David Seymour says they can't. And David Seymour says
the depends on having all schools in for economy of scale.
He demands a national program and not a local solution,
and frankly, that is totally against Bedrock Act philosophy, which
Richard Prebble talked about last week. Act is about free choice.
(05:16):
In their early days they promoted voucher systems so consumers
had a free choice in procuring public services. And I
know this because I was involved with the party right
at the start in the nineties. But David now says
Wellington knows best. The whole school lunch program is really
not though on brand for Seymour, who was always an
(05:39):
opponent and should be going for a voucher, should be
giving them money so they can buy their lunches, which
is what Richard Prebble said. I wonder whether Christopher leux in.
The Prime Minister gave him the school lunch job just
to put him in his place. It's twelve after five
Andrew Dicks. So every fortnight I'm on the state highways
traveling between cities, and I'm always horrified at the twitching
(06:01):
driving I see on display. I'm like everyone, I like
to get the car up to one hundred and four k,
engage the cruise control rock on home in the fast lane.
So I was fascinated this weekend to learn that it's
illegal in Germany to overtake on the auto barn in
the right lane. We drive on the other side of
the road. So let's just call that undertaking on motorways.
(06:22):
And the reason Germany does this is because drivers don't
expect to be undertook. It's a surprise and it can
cause accidents. I have lost count of the number of
times I'm poodling along in a line of traffic in
the fast lane at one hundred and four k and
had a car undertake me, and of course they flip
me the bird. When I've mentioned this before, I've been
told I'm the problem, even though I'm going the maximum
(06:45):
allowable speed on our roads. I apparently should change lanes
and allow the car that wants to break the law
through so that they can then travel on and hassle
the next guy in the queue. So I'm gratified to
hear that in Germany it's not me but the under
taking speeders who are the real risk on our roads.
And I say all this while the Gisborne District Council
(07:05):
is rebelling against the government's blanket speed limit increases. They
say it will cost rate payers more than three hundred
thousand dollars for little benefit. And also fifteen people injured
on a crash on the only one hundred kilometers an
hour section of the Napiertopo Hardway, they want to make
the whole thing one hundred k Now, maybe, just maybe,
(07:26):
the government's attitude on speed is a little bit of
virtue signaling and vote gathering and not actually logical sense.
It's five all right now. Martin Brundle gave her the
most beautiful eulogy for Eddie Jordan just before the Chinese
Formula one. This lovable rascal who started off selling salmon
(07:48):
out the back of a van. He's died at the
age of seventy six. Aggressive prostate cancer but even while
he was poorly he negotiated the release of Adrian Newey
from Red Bull to go to Aston Martin. He's the
best Formula one engineer on the planet and this might
be way Max Resteppin and Liam Lawson are not in
competitive cars. So we're going to talk more about this
(08:11):
and the bad press that Liam is getting in just
a moment's time with Andrew Ordison here on News Talks, HEBB.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
News and Views You Trust to start your day. It's
early edition with Andrew Dickens and one roof Make your
Property Search Simple, News Talk ZIBB.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Good morning to you. It is now seventeen after five.
A United Nations committee has questioned the fairness of world
tax systems and GST and New Zealand system. A statement
from the Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights calls
for countries to check the taxes being applied proportionally to
the wealthiest individuals, and it says countries could focus on
more direct income taxation rather than taxes like our GST,
(08:52):
and they should tax large companies, particularly multinationals. So I've
got the partner from PwC, Sandy down with me right now.
Good one to you, Sandy.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Good morning, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So the UN says tax policies could disproportionately affect low
income households, women and disadvantage groups.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
How look, I think the topic around Senners and the
tax system is not a new one, and in particular,
you'll probably remember there was quite a lot of discussion
around this in New Zealand in twenty twenty three, where
in then Revenue did a research project on the High
Weald individuals and where they found that group their effective
(09:31):
tax right across their economic income was around nine percent,
while the average income family was about around twenty percent.
But it's not as simple as looking at the tax
rate across different income levels. While the idea of Senners
is important, we want to also need to make sure
that the tax system doesn't create additional barriers for economic growth.
(09:53):
So there's a little bit more nuanced than that then
just saying, you know, we want to increase our corporate
tax rate or putting a higher personal tax rate, because
in the front of corporate tax rate, our company tax
rate needs to be competitive so that we can attract
that really important foreign investment in New Zealand as well.
So there's really a case of growing the pie is
(10:15):
probably likely to be there there for everyone. So it's
important when we think about our tax system we don't
end up with one that creates more barriers for us
to achieve that growth.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
True enough enough, The fundamental foreign our economy though, is
that the government does not have enough revenue to sustain
our development, just to fund you just a business. So
politicians are reticent to get rid of GST. The question
is and what this UN committee asked, should they?
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Yeah, the GCT one's an interesting angle because from New
Zealand's perspective, our GC system is often seen as world class,
and that's because it applies so broadly and at pretty
much everything at the same rate. So there's a very
efficient tax and as you alluded to, it does bring
in quite a lot of taxes collected for New Zealand.
(11:03):
It's about a quarter of it, so I think last
year's around twenty nine billion dollars. It's not small bookies,
And I guess the key question is that it's not
as simple as just reducing that GST rate or maybe
we will record discussions around it making certain things GST free,
because one that's very expensive and to the other things
that's not very well targeted, and it's not really entirely
(11:28):
clear from evidence that that whether that reduction will get
passed on to your end customers, which is your lower
income households and things like that. But there might be
something in it because GS is quite regressive. It can
be regressive, and so looking at how we make that
more progressive could be a good idea.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So Andy, thank you so much for your thoughts and
your expertise. Today it is five twenty. I doubt if
DST will ever go. We can't. It's new so be
Orders is next.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Andrew Diggins all Afili edition where one roof will make
your Property search simple.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Youth talg zibby Andrew Orison, Welcome men to the show.
Greetings Andrew so put on. Liam Lawson is getting just
the most phenomenally bad press.
Speaker 8 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah he is, And well it's gonna be up
to him to turn around, and I like it's this
team as well, But ultimately it falls on him, doesn't it.
He's moved up to twelfth with three DI qualifications after
initially finishing fifteenth in Shanghai but to me, max of
stuff and not doing much better either into fourth as
a result of that. But McLaren going strong, Oscar Piastre
(12:30):
winning the race too.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I think the car is rubbish and the only way
that Red Bull is competitive is that Max is a genius.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
Yeah, yep, that could be the case. It's got so
much experience under the bonnet, so to speak now after
all those years, and is a depending world champion. But
I think Liam Lawson, I mean, the timing's not great
going in there, and it's and ultimately it falls with him,
but it's it's showcased again why Formula ones that are
(12:57):
team sport as much as anything.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yes, and also why it's also the Parana school. Yeah yeah, okay,
it's not far wrong. Very sad news. Gris Wiley has
died at eighty. I mean the first player that I idolized
because I remember the Lions touring seventy one and Grizz
and I remember him being in the back seat with
the sombrero one and the hats, you know, with Tanne
Norton and all that. I didn't think anything would ever
get to Grizz.
Speaker 8 (13:20):
I know, and Gris just such a formidable you know,
two to force really across the game for decades. But
as you say, as a player, all black and of
course such a formidable member of that Canterbury squad in
the sixties and seventies. But then I think probably I
mean for my generation at least remembering him as a
coach as much as anything. I mean, that tremendous record
(13:42):
he had with well, ultimately with Canterbury, winning the Repleet
should in eighty two, leading on through the National Championship
and then the Rapley She'll Challenge of eighty five. When
I was younger, you know what, eight years old at
the time, in just that twenty eight twenty three and
what did you say at halftime that there's the ball.
They've scored twenty four as you can do the same
with something of that, you know, various versions of.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
That magnificent game Lancaster Park full to the gunnals.
Speaker 8 (14:06):
I watched that Kerwin whacking the ball over the dead
ball line, which would be looked upon differently today, and
then going on to coach the All Blacks and so
formidably with you know, in the buckshelf of the Air,
I mean, had that controversy as well with bringback Buck.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
But yeah, he was.
Speaker 8 (14:22):
It was a phenomenal period, wasn't we. I think they
meant nineteen games without a loss there and just taking
over from Briyla wore.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Grauff and tough but lovable underneath.
Speaker 8 (14:31):
I had a couple of dealings with him and he
was tremendous. When you wanted to get hold of him,
he was he was always available. So yeah, Rip Griz.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
Andrew, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Five twenty five.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by
News Talks a B.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
News Talks of B. It is now Flave twenty seven.
Speaker 10 (14:50):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Look, while I was tramping all over the top of
the Commandal peninsula, we had some good and bad news
about our economy. GDP came out better than we expected,
a range of point seven percent in the fourth quarter,
which should signal the start of green shoots and recovery
and confidence. But at the same time, the consumer confidence
figure came out and it was the worst we've seen
since the nineties. And then Paul Bloxham, the Australian economists
(15:13):
who invented the rock Star economy name, came out and said,
our recession has been the worst in the CECD So
what happened there and why aren't we confident and why
was our recession so hard? And here is my take.
The Reserve Bank and the government need to start working together.
During the pandemic, the bank slashed the interest rates while
(15:33):
the government turbocharged spending, leading of course to what we
know the hangover that needed medicine. The previous government rightly
blamed for the mess it was responsible for. But we've
been double hit by the bank and the government. They
pulled all the leavers. So then the new government came
in to fix things and promptly slash spending to reduce boring.
Good move, and also reduced revenue through tax cuts. But
(15:56):
the Reserve Bank had already started attacking inflation a year
before with interest rates, so once again we were doubly
hit and we got some tax cuts. Which was that
the right thing to do at the right time. Ran
O'Sullivan six weeks ago described the tax cuts as badly timed.
It meant we weren't paying back debt. We're still struggling
(16:18):
just to pay the interests. So, as Paul Bloxham has
now described, we had an excessive pandemic reaction followed by
an excessive inflation reaction. Now all the stuff that all
the parties did is technically correct in macroeconomics. And this
is easy to criticize the twenty twenty hindsight, but it
has been as though the left hand and the right
(16:40):
hand doesn't know what each other are doing, which means
it was tough, which means now our recovery will be slow.
All the parties claim they are the prudent fiscal managers,
and all reserve bank governors claim the same, but if
you look back over the past five years, that's simply
not been true. They've been working against each other other
(17:00):
and we did it hard. And the reason I mentioned
all of this is because we need to learn from
this unless we want to keep on reeling from boom
to bus over and over again.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Andrew Dickens, all right, I've.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Got a number of people saying you don't know the
basic rule of the road, which is keep left. Of
course I do. I've been driving for fifty years. The
basic rule of the road is don't go over one
hundred kilometers an hour. Which rule is more important? Hey,
Uber drivers are going to get time off work so
that more women can actually drive ubers. More on that
with Gavin Gray in a few mothers time.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
This is the news you need this morning, and the
in depth Analysis Early edition with Andrew Dickens and one
roof Make Your Property Search Simple News Talk sid be.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Page wanted to welcome to your week. Thank you so
much the Truth in Program. Imrew Dickinson from iron Bridge,
So thank you to Francesca who filled in for me
on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday and Friday, I was
walking the Pahi Coastal Track which is at the top
of the Coramndler. What a brilliant walk, brilliant weather, brilliant
bunch of people. Lovely couple from Taradown I used to
(18:16):
be at we and Pagett, a lovely couple from Martin
they sell Hamilton jets. And five forty something women from
the North Shore who were an absolute hoot. They spent
the whole walk drinking rose from Jim Bottles and I'm
talking about a twenty one k walk on the second
day and they talked the whole way around is this
and that and kids and that? And they laughed and
(18:38):
they laughed. That is a so they laughed and they laughed.
It was absolutely hilarious. These women were fantastic fun and
we all got together, were all sorts of different agents.
Now look I cannot stress how good this walk is.
It is the Pahi Coastal Track at the top of
the Coramantle and congratulations, it's a private track is run
by farmers. The farmers at the Port Jackson station. They
(19:00):
came up with the idea and it's a classic example
of farm diversification. Make money, not just from the animals
and the grass. Now, of course, everyone's getting stuck into
me about my comments about driving, Linda says Andrew. It's
illegal to sit in the fast lane of the autobarn
in Germany unless you're actively overtaking. I can't believe that
you sit out in the fast lane controlling the speed
of other traffic. I always thought you were intelligent, Linda.
(19:22):
I never said I sit out in the fast lane
controlling the speed of other traffic. I drove home from
the Parki Coastal Track yesterday on the motorway. I'm in
a queue of about twenty cars. We're all going one
hundred k. We're in the fast lane. We're actually going
one hundred and four k. But there was a whole
lot of guys who buzz around and try undertaking because
they think they can get ahead. They never did. Now,
who's being dangerous here at the undertakers or the group
(19:44):
of twenty people who are doing the very fastest speed
on the road. Yes, the basic rule is keep left.
And yes, if I'm the only one in the fast lane,
I will keep left and watch the idiots go screaming past.
And yes, that is the police's job to police that
not mine. How just watch all the drivers, and watch
the undertakers, and watch the risks they take to gain
(20:06):
another two seconds on the rope maybe, and you tell
me whether I'm the dangerous one or they're the dangerous one.
Now on the lunches. By the way, Grant also says
my old school was getting the kids to help make
the lunches. It was teaching them how to cook. Totally agree.
Let the schools decide who needs the lunches. They know
who needs it. It is twenty one to six, Dickens.
(20:28):
Why let's go around the country and we're going to
christ Church first class. Herewood joins us, and good morning
to you.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Claire, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I am so amped for to Kaha the new stadium.
I know it's almost there, is looking brilliant already tell
me the latest.
Speaker 6 (20:42):
Well, yeah, we're.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
Really excited for Takaha. It's hard to miss it if
you're driving around christ Church at the moment. But interestingly
today mark's the penultimate birthday for the temporary stadium that
we've had in christ Church.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Now for the.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Cantabs listening, they'll remember it as the old Rugby League Park.
It has had several names since opened in twenty twelve,
which was post earthquake, and that was due to the
permanent closure of the old Lancaster Park. The stadium that's
now known as Apollo Projects Stadium, was initially intended to
last somewhere between three and five years, but today celebrates
(21:15):
thirteen years since opening. In that time, it's hosted more
than three hundred events, including nine major concerts, five in
Our Roll Games and two major international tournaments as well venues.
AU Tootahi chief executive Carolyn Harvey Tears says the stadium
has played a massive role in christ Church's recovery. The
Council's confirmed the grand stand, as well as some other structures,
(21:37):
will be removed once Tekaha opens in April next year.
The old stadium, though or the temporary one, is set
to host its one hundred and fourteenth Crusaders match this
weekend when we take on Moana Pacifica on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Still a good venue for a concert, that stadium. I
have to say, Now, how's your weather?
Speaker 11 (21:55):
Well, a bit.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Miserable and rainy this morning, but it will clear this afternoon.
Easterly is developing and the h I should be seventeen to.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Wellington we go next. Talk good morning to you. Hello, Max, Hello,
Can you not hear me?
Speaker 9 (22:07):
I can?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Indeed, so public servants, the heat is on again with them.
I see that the Commissioner has actually done a survey
saying figure out how to do stuff better?
Speaker 11 (22:16):
Yeah, that's exactly right. Well, look, first and foremost more
jobs are going this year. That's a given, and perhaps
more of a piecemeal fashion than last year. So in
this latest public service census, thousands of civil servants being
asked to identify potential areas for further cost cutting, to
identify whether their work contributes to better outcomes. It's all
(22:37):
very bureaucratic, whether it provides value for taxpayers In doing this,
Public Service Commission says it wants to seek better value
for money. The focus of its census, it says, changes
year to year, and I think overall this year it
might be more of a scalpel approach than a chain server. Interestingly,
I found staff also being asked about their managers and
(22:57):
whether they think their managers care about deliver and good
value for taxpayers. So if you're a public servants, speak
up now if you don't like your boss.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Very good stuff. And we're talking to the PSA about
this census and what they should do about it and
whether they're into it. Now, how's your weather.
Speaker 11 (23:12):
In partly cloudy today with the odd shower clearing to
find this afternoon eighteen the high central.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
All right, and now to what can we go and
neave a ret a man who joins us come on
in there.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So we've got a piece of work from CF Goldie
Charles Frederick Goldry.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
Yes, no, this is very very exciting Andrew, because this
piece of work is up for auction in Auckland today.
It's called Souvenirs from the Field of Battle. Now this
kick started his career as an artist when it was
first exhibited in eighteen ninety. Emily Gardner, the webs director
of Arts, says, look, it's expected to sell for up
to seventy five thousand. She said it's a good opportunity
(23:47):
for collectors to own a piece of New Zealand art history.
But you know what really makes this one special. It
was painted when he was just nineteen, so it's really
the first time he had exhibited publicly.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Very good South. How's Hawkin's weather?
Speaker 11 (23:59):
Fine?
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Another lovely fine day. No sign of rain at all today,
a high twenty four.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Don't boast it's running in north Otago, terrible ale. Yes,
so it needs some good morning to you, and I
thank you. It is as seventeen minutes to six and
the text through undertakers are not something you want to
see on the motorway by definition, and that's so true.
Good line by the way, the Texas says Winner's head
the coming back, and I can tell you round about.
I think it's April the twelfth, April the thirteenth, round about.
(24:27):
Then everything's going well with her and Barry. Now Pope
Francis has been discharged from hospital. We'll talk to Gavin
Gray about this. And every Uber driver in the UK
will be eligible for twenty hours of free childcare. Why
that's next on news Stork.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Zebbi International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of
Mind for New Zealand Business.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
It's fourteen to six. Gavin Gray from the UK, Good
morning to you, hither, great news. Pope Francis is out
of hospital but needs two months off.
Speaker 10 (24:58):
Yes, the eight eight year old has been discharged. He
was pictured and offered a blessing the window or on
a very small sort of balcony at the Gamelli Hospital
in Rome where he's being treated. He was admitted there
on the fourteenth of a long stay some five weeks
there and during that time we now know he had
(25:20):
what's been described as two very critical episodes where according
to doctors, his life was in danger, though we now
understand he was never actually intubated that's the tube into
the throat, but always remained alert and orientated. But nevertheless,
I think this shows just how poorly the Pope has
been And yeah, this couple of months off, the doctors
(25:41):
are basically ordering because he he still sounded pretty pretty poor.
Earlier this month there was an audio recording and his
voice there was really pretty breathless. So needs a lot
of rest and recuperation. And there will be plenty around
the world celebrating his release from hospital today.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
All right, yeah, good luck with that though. Pope Francis
is a man married to his job and he wants
to work, but he should take two months off for
his own health. Now every Uber driver in the UK
will now be eligible for twenty hours of free childcait.
Speaker 10 (26:13):
Why well, it's meant to try and encourage and recruit
more staff, particularly more female drivers. Now Here in the UK,
childcare is incredibly expensive. In fact, it's so expensive that
many mothers actually don't return to the workforce because they
think they'll be worse off because the cost of childcare
(26:35):
outweighs their net earnings for the job they're doing. And
so this is an attempt by Uber to try and
get more women in. And what they're saying is they
will allow people to use an app which means they
can book nannying and babysitting. Now, twenty hours of free
childcare doesn't sound like a lot, and I suppose it isn't,
(26:56):
but it is something that they believe really will help
spend the tie up if you was in and around
London and it is always men, so Uber trying to
attract more women drivers. There are one hundred thousand Uber
drivers in the UK and their unions or at least
a union which represents some of those drivers said this
is really a cynical pr stunt. They said they should
(27:17):
pay the drivers more, not fiddle around the edges with
incentives like this and say, according to some anyway that
their wages have fallen in the year despite prices being
increased for customers. So yeah, the union really playing this
down Uber saying it's a great scheme, and certainly one
or two of the drivers that they've put forward to
speak of saying, yeah, it is going to make life
(27:39):
much easier.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Good stuff going, and I thank you. And it is
now eleven to six Andrew Dickens. So, as you heard
with Max told just a few moments ago, the Public
Service has been asked by the government to figure out
how they could make more cuts. Thousands of workers have
been asked in an internal census to identify areas for
further cost cutting across every government agency and the results
are expected in July. So PSA Assistant Secretary flurf that
(28:03):
Simon's joins me. Now, hello, flu, good morning. So Commissioner
Brian Roach commissioned this. He's been very insistent that the
public service start to drive performance themselves. How open is
the service to this sort of thing?
Speaker 12 (28:17):
A lot of people are very willing to share their
ideas about how the public service can be run better.
But it's hard to take this government seriously on this
given they imposed harsh and deep cuts without any consultation
of this nature with public servants. They had government departments
come up with proposals in compete isolation from what people
actually think who are doing the job. So it's really
(28:39):
hard to take them seriously. But also it's important to
remember this is a regular census. It happens every five years.
We don't think that it's going to be able to
deliver the kind of harsh cuts that the government's already
imposed in the future because there is just nothing more
to cut, all.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Right, So you're saying there's nothing more to cut the government, Well.
Speaker 12 (29:00):
The government has already dismissed hundreds of public servants, including
people like dog trainers and customs people who work on
the frontline of stopping the digital harm and exploitation that
happens to children, people who try and help intercept scams
that often target the elderly. So if the government is
(29:21):
actually serious about investing in public services that deliver to
New Zealanders, it won't make further cuts are there rooms
for efficiencies. Absolutely, do public servants have good ideas about
how to find them, Yes, they do, and we really
hope that the government will listen to what public servants
say that not just through the survey, through all sorts
of interactions that including the union actually does and we
(29:43):
actually did ourselves prior to the round of cups do
some surveys with public servants and came up with a
whole range of ways that the public service could be
more efficient that the government never listened to.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
But this is why the census has happened. This is
why Brian Roach has asked. But they're asking you for
the ideas, and you've just said to me there are
no more places for cuts. And there is a there's
a perception that the public servants are so reticent about
this and they don't want to provide better value for money.
Speaker 12 (30:10):
No, the sense has happened every five years anyway. What
I'm saying is it asks a whole range of questions.
For example, it asks about the appetite for risk in
a particular agency. It asks for the workloads, how high
are your workload? Is it manageable? It asks a whole
lot of questions about working from home. Are you paid fairly?
But it's not going to deliver the kind of roadmap
(30:33):
for further cuts that the government is looking for. There
is no room to cut further. It's been cut to
the bone. You are going to further undermine the services
that New Zealanders rely on if you make cuts to
our surisht and important public service.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, you keep saying there's no room for cuts, and
you're you're making an assumption before you know. The results
aren't out until July, and you're already making that assumption.
Speaker 12 (30:58):
Well, what I'll tell you is that this already been
so significant a cut to the work that our public
servants do, we are unable to attract and retain people already.
This government is not going to find through this survey
a whole lot of ways that can cut more jobs
or save more money. What we actually need to see
(31:19):
is a commitment to the public service and more investment.
And that's not the purpose of the survey anyway.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
One final question, though I don't know if you watched
Q and A yesterday and had the outgoing on. Woodsman
Peter Bouchier very critical of the public service, particularly health
and corrections, and he said they were talking about, are
public servants dedicated to providing value for money?
Speaker 12 (31:40):
New Zealand has a corruption free, high quality public service
that is renowned worldwide. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely?
Are we going to stand as a way of positive
improvement that makes the ability of public servants that deliver
their jobs? Well, no we're not, but yes there's grook
to do. But let's also the people that do this
(32:01):
important work too.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Flur, Thank you so much for your time today for
Fitzsimon's PSA's Assistant secretary.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
The first word on the News of the Day early
edition with Andrew Dickens and one Room make your property
surge and symbol you talk sippy.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
See we go I talk about. Question of the day
is that the Gisbon District councilor is taking the government
to court over their demand to raise the speed limits.
They say it's going to cost three hundred and twenty
thousand dollars and they're asking whether the rate payers are
prepared to pay that to get ten k more speed limits?
Are you yes or no? Michael?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
A lot of money being the funger A people met
last week were standing by for a court case. They
were arguing over fluoriding, and so they spent tens of
thousands of dollars they openly admit they don't have, have
not budgeted for to go to court to argue yet
more problems. We're talking about parking finds. Actually I can't
remember last time I got a parking ticket. Anyway, they
don't win. They hand out a parking ticket, turns out
(32:55):
sort of if you don't pay it, which most people
don't because they're so enraged about the reason they got
the park ticket, which is because of bus lanes and
stuff like that. Seems no one follows you up, no,
until the courts do, and then well the courts do.
They eventually in some sort of it arrived in the mail,
but I didn't see it kind of it never really
gets paid kind of way. So there's some sort of
(33:15):
concern about that. This morning, Winston Peter's on a speech
yesterday and his relationship with Hopkinson and your public service thing.
Judith Collins, who's in chargeable all this and doing the survey,
will be with us on the time.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
There is a remarkable interview. The more I see you
can make cats, no we can't, No, we can't, no,
we can't are.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
None so blind as those who will not see.
Speaker 9 (33:34):
Very nice.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
All right, my name is Andrew Dickinson for Ryan Bridge.
Speaker 9 (33:37):
I'll be back again tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Thank you to producing ens.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
The issues is the interviews and the inside Andrew Dickens
Fawn early edition with one roof, make your property search simple,
News talks at me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, good morning to you, Welcome to the new week. Yes,
I am back. Coming up over the next sixty minutes
in news that will surprise no one. The United Nations
finds GST disproportionately affects support, So is there anything we
need to do about it? And we'll have that story
for you in five. We've got orders on sport and
the drums are beating for Liam Lawson after only two races,
(00:34):
also Quz Wiley and as the public surface up to
improving their own performance and plotting their own future. We'll
talk to the PSA just before six. We'll have this news.
We'll have news as it breaks. We'll have correspondence from
around the world and around New Zealand. And you can
have your say as well by texting me on ninety
two ninety two, A small towns applies. It's seven minutes
(00:54):
out of five.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
The agenda.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
That is Monday, the twenty fourth of March. Pope Francis
has arrived back in the Vatican after spending five weeks
in hospital being treated for pneumonia. This is the moment
when the eighty eight year old made an appearance on
the balcony of the Gamelli Hospital in Rome, where crowds
of people gathered to see him just before he was discharged.
(01:28):
Nice They, like Frank, the Pope had been continuing to
work during his time in hospital, but doctors have said
he must take two months off full time work. Good
luck with that.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Imagine being eighty eight years old, being on life threatening
you know, having life threatening things every other day, and
still leading meetings, still taking executive decisions.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
It's tenacious if nothing else too.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Israel and Gaza, more than fifty thousand Palestinians have been
killed during Israel's military campaign in Gaza. That is, according
to the territories he must run health ministry. That number
equates to round about two point one percent of the
two point three million pre war population of the territory,
or around one in forty six people in.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The United Nations believe that these figures issued by the
local health ministry in Gaza are considered reliable. Reports of
the number of bodies brought into hospitals and deaths cunted
by local health officials and at times the health officials
that have issued lists of all of those who've been
recorded that including their names.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And the main rival to Turkey's president Duwan has been
formally arrested and charged with corruption. Ekram immam om Sorry
Emma Marghlu, the mayor of Istanbul, is expected to be
selected as the opposition Republic People's Party's twenty twenty eight
presidential candidate. That ballot happens next week. He denies the allegations.
(02:54):
He says they're politically motivated and his attention has sparked
off some of the largest protests in more than a decade.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
They will off.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
The vaults have been actually snapped by the government.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
We are almost losing to the democracy.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
This is very important for us, for children, for feature.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And finally, in breaking news, over the past half hour,
we've had the news of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
is expected to hold a media conference at about five
thirty am our time, where he is expected to call
a snap election. If the election is called, the major
federal parties will enter a period of full swing campaigning
that usually lasts about five to seven weeks. It's ten
(03:35):
out to five.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Get ahead of the headlines on early edition Andrew Dickens
and One Room, Make your Property Search Simple, news Talks.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
It'd be well, it's nice to be back, and it's
nice that you're with me now. Last week I was
going to give you my thoughts on David Seymour and
the lunch program, but I ran out of time And
since then, Richard Prebble and Andrea Varance have come out
and they've echoed a lot of my thoughts. So what
is the best way to run things when it comes
to the school lunch program. There's a school in christ
Church who wants to opt out of the whole thing,
(04:07):
but they've been denied permission by David Seymour. And they're
not the first a school and Huntley also tried to
opt out until they rebellion by parents. But let's talk
about this christ Church school. It's the Hyata Community Campus
in christ Church and it's quite different. It's a new school.
Its facilities are extraordinary. They teach from year one to thirteen.
They preach educational excellence and they have a services program
(04:30):
designed by the Ministry of Education and the Defense Forces
at Burnham and they have an amazing sports program. This
is a great school. They also have a purpose built
commercial kitchen. They need the lunches because they're dealing with
a big cohort of underprivileged kids. But they say the
current fair is just not up to it, and they
cite multiple reasons, so they want to have an exemption.
(04:53):
They want to do it themselves, thank you very much,
but David Seymour says they can't. And David Seymour says
the depends on having all schools in for economy of scale.
He demands a national program and not a local solution,
and frankly, that is totally against Bedrock Act philosophy, which
Richard Prebble talked about last week. Act is about free choice.
(05:16):
In their early days they promoted voucher systems so consumers
had a free choice in procuring public services. And I
know this because I was involved with the party right
at the start in the nineties. But David now says
Wellington knows best. The whole school lunch program is really
not though on brand for Seymour, who was always an
(05:39):
opponent and should be going for a voucher, should be
giving them money so they can buy their lunches, which
is what Richard Prebble said. I wonder whether Christopher leux in.
The Prime Minister gave him the school lunch job just
to put him in his place. It's twelve after five
Andrew Dicks. So every fortnight I'm on the state highways
traveling between cities, and I'm always horrified at the twitching
(06:01):
driving I see on display. I'm like everyone, I like
to get the car up to one hundred and four k,
engage the cruise control rock on home in the fast lane.
So I was fascinated this weekend to learn that it's
illegal in Germany to overtake on the auto barn in
the right lane. We drive on the other side of
the road. So let's just call that undertaking on motorways.
(06:22):
And the reason Germany does this is because drivers don't
expect to be undertook. It's a surprise and it can
cause accidents. I have lost count of the number of
times I'm poodling along in a line of traffic in
the fast lane at one hundred and four k and
had a car undertake me, and of course they flip
me the bird. When I've mentioned this before, I've been
told I'm the problem, even though I'm going the maximum
(06:45):
allowable speed on our roads. I apparently should change lanes
and allow the car that wants to break the law
through so that they can then travel on and hassle
the next guy in the queue. So I'm gratified to
hear that in Germany it's not me but the under
taking speeders who are the real risk on our roads.
And I say all this while the Gisborne District Council
(07:05):
is rebelling against the government's blanket speed limit increases. They
say it will cost rate payers more than three hundred
thousand dollars for little benefit. And also fifteen people injured
on a crash on the only one hundred kilometers an
hour section of the Napiertopo Hardway, they want to make
the whole thing one hundred k Now, maybe, just maybe,
(07:26):
the government's attitude on speed is a little bit of
virtue signaling and vote gathering and not actually logical sense.
It's five all right now. Martin Brundle gave her the
most beautiful eulogy for Eddie Jordan just before the Chinese
Formula one. This lovable rascal who started off selling salmon
(07:48):
out the back of a van. He's died at the
age of seventy six. Aggressive prostate cancer but even while
he was poorly he negotiated the release of Adrian Newey
from Red Bull to go to Aston Martin. He's the
best Formula one engineer on the planet and this might
be way Max Resteppin and Liam Lawson are not in
competitive cars. So we're going to talk more about this
(08:11):
and the bad press that Liam is getting in just
a moment's time with Andrew Ordison here on News Talks, HEBB.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
News and Views You Trust to start your day. It's
early edition with Andrew Dickens and one roof Make your
Property Search Simple, News Talk ZIBB.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Good morning to you. It is now seventeen after five.
A United Nations committee has questioned the fairness of world
tax systems and GST and New Zealand system. A statement
from the Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights calls
for countries to check the taxes being applied proportionally to
the wealthiest individuals, and it says countries could focus on
more direct income taxation rather than taxes like our GST,
(08:52):
and they should tax large companies, particularly multinationals. So I've
got the partner from PwC, Sandy down with me right now.
Good one to you, Sandy.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Good morning, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So the UN says tax policies could disproportionately affect low
income households, women and disadvantage groups.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
How look, I think the topic around Senners and the
tax system is not a new one, and in particular,
you'll probably remember there was quite a lot of discussion
around this in New Zealand in twenty twenty three, where
in then Revenue did a research project on the High
Weald individuals and where they found that group their effective
(09:31):
tax right across their economic income was around nine percent,
while the average income family was about around twenty percent.
But it's not as simple as looking at the tax
rate across different income levels. While the idea of Senners
is important, we want to also need to make sure
that the tax system doesn't create additional barriers for economic growth.
(09:53):
So there's a little bit more nuanced than that then
just saying, you know, we want to increase our corporate
tax rate or putting a higher personal tax rate, because
in the front of corporate tax rate, our company tax
rate needs to be competitive so that we can attract
that really important foreign investment in New Zealand as well.
So there's really a case of growing the pie is
(10:15):
probably likely to be there there for everyone. So it's
important when we think about our tax system we don't
end up with one that creates more barriers for us
to achieve that growth.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
True enough enough, The fundamental foreign our economy though, is
that the government does not have enough revenue to sustain
our development, just to fund you just a business. So
politicians are reticent to get rid of GST. The question
is and what this UN committee asked, should they?
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Yeah, the GCT one's an interesting angle because from New
Zealand's perspective, our GC system is often seen as world class,
and that's because it applies so broadly and at pretty
much everything at the same rate. So there's a very
efficient tax and as you alluded to, it does bring
in quite a lot of taxes collected for New Zealand.
(11:03):
It's about a quarter of it, so I think last
year's around twenty nine billion dollars. It's not small bookies,
And I guess the key question is that it's not
as simple as just reducing that GST rate or maybe
we will record discussions around it making certain things GST free,
because one that's very expensive and to the other things
that's not very well targeted, and it's not really entirely
(11:28):
clear from evidence that that whether that reduction will get
passed on to your end customers, which is your lower
income households and things like that. But there might be
something in it because GS is quite regressive. It can
be regressive, and so looking at how we make that
more progressive could be a good idea.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So Andy, thank you so much for your thoughts and
your expertise. Today it is five twenty. I doubt if
DST will ever go. We can't. It's new so be
Orders is next.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Andrew Diggins all Afili edition where one roof will make
your Property search simple.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Youth talg zibby Andrew Orison, Welcome men to the show.
Greetings Andrew so put on. Liam Lawson is getting just
the most phenomenally bad press.
Speaker 8 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah he is, And well it's gonna be up
to him to turn around, and I like it's this
team as well, But ultimately it falls on him, doesn't it.
He's moved up to twelfth with three DI qualifications after
initially finishing fifteenth in Shanghai but to me, max of
stuff and not doing much better either into fourth as
a result of that. But McLaren going strong, Oscar Piastre
(12:30):
winning the race too.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I think the car is rubbish and the only way
that Red Bull is competitive is that Max is a genius.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
Yeah, yep, that could be the case. It's got so
much experience under the bonnet, so to speak now after
all those years, and is a depending world champion. But
I think Liam Lawson, I mean, the timing's not great
going in there, and it's and ultimately it falls with him,
but it's it's showcased again why Formula ones that are
(12:57):
team sport as much as anything.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yes, and also why it's also the Parana school. Yeah yeah, okay,
it's not far wrong. Very sad news. Gris Wiley has
died at eighty. I mean the first player that I idolized
because I remember the Lions touring seventy one and Grizz
and I remember him being in the back seat with
the sombrero one and the hats, you know, with Tanne
Norton and all that. I didn't think anything would ever
get to Grizz.
Speaker 8 (13:20):
I know, and Gris just such a formidable you know,
two to force really across the game for decades. But
as you say, as a player, all black and of
course such a formidable member of that Canterbury squad in
the sixties and seventies. But then I think probably I
mean for my generation at least remembering him as a
coach as much as anything. I mean, that tremendous record
(13:42):
he had with well, ultimately with Canterbury, winning the Repleet
should in eighty two, leading on through the National Championship
and then the Rapley She'll Challenge of eighty five. When
I was younger, you know what, eight years old at
the time, in just that twenty eight twenty three and
what did you say at halftime that there's the ball.
They've scored twenty four as you can do the same
with something of that, you know, various versions of.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
That magnificent game Lancaster Park full to the gunnals.
Speaker 8 (14:06):
I watched that Kerwin whacking the ball over the dead
ball line, which would be looked upon differently today, and
then going on to coach the All Blacks and so
formidably with you know, in the buckshelf of the Air,
I mean, had that controversy as well with bringback Buck.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
But yeah, he was.
Speaker 8 (14:22):
It was a phenomenal period, wasn't we. I think they
meant nineteen games without a loss there and just taking
over from Briyla wore.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Grauff and tough but lovable underneath.
Speaker 8 (14:31):
I had a couple of dealings with him and he
was tremendous. When you wanted to get hold of him,
he was he was always available. So yeah, Rip Griz.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
Andrew, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Five twenty five.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by
News Talks a B.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
News Talks of B. It is now Flave twenty seven.
Speaker 10 (14:50):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Look, while I was tramping all over the top of
the Commandal peninsula, we had some good and bad news
about our economy. GDP came out better than we expected,
a range of point seven percent in the fourth quarter,
which should signal the start of green shoots and recovery
and confidence. But at the same time, the consumer confidence
figure came out and it was the worst we've seen
since the nineties. And then Paul Bloxham, the Australian economists
(15:13):
who invented the rock Star economy name, came out and said,
our recession has been the worst in the CECD So
what happened there and why aren't we confident and why
was our recession so hard? And here is my take.
The Reserve Bank and the government need to start working together.
During the pandemic, the bank slashed the interest rates while
(15:33):
the government turbocharged spending, leading of course to what we
know the hangover that needed medicine. The previous government rightly
blamed for the mess it was responsible for. But we've
been double hit by the bank and the government. They
pulled all the leavers. So then the new government came
in to fix things and promptly slash spending to reduce boring.
Good move, and also reduced revenue through tax cuts. But
(15:56):
the Reserve Bank had already started attacking inflation a year
before with interest rates, so once again we were doubly
hit and we got some tax cuts. Which was that
the right thing to do at the right time. Ran
O'Sullivan six weeks ago described the tax cuts as badly timed.
It meant we weren't paying back debt. We're still struggling
(16:18):
just to pay the interests. So, as Paul Bloxham has
now described, we had an excessive pandemic reaction followed by
an excessive inflation reaction. Now all the stuff that all
the parties did is technically correct in macroeconomics. And this
is easy to criticize the twenty twenty hindsight, but it
has been as though the left hand and the right
(16:40):
hand doesn't know what each other are doing, which means
it was tough, which means now our recovery will be slow.
All the parties claim they are the prudent fiscal managers,
and all reserve bank governors claim the same, but if
you look back over the past five years, that's simply
not been true. They've been working against each other other
(17:00):
and we did it hard. And the reason I mentioned
all of this is because we need to learn from
this unless we want to keep on reeling from boom
to bus over and over again.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Andrew Dickens, all right, I've.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Got a number of people saying you don't know the
basic rule of the road, which is keep left. Of
course I do. I've been driving for fifty years. The
basic rule of the road is don't go over one
hundred kilometers an hour. Which rule is more important? Hey,
Uber drivers are going to get time off work so
that more women can actually drive ubers. More on that
with Gavin Gray in a few mothers time.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
This is the news you need this morning, and the
in depth Analysis Early edition with Andrew Dickens and one
roof Make Your Property Search Simple News Talk sid be.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Page wanted to welcome to your week. Thank you so
much the Truth in Program. Imrew Dickinson from iron Bridge,
So thank you to Francesca who filled in for me
on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday and Friday, I was
walking the Pahi Coastal Track which is at the top
of the Coramndler. What a brilliant walk, brilliant weather, brilliant
bunch of people. Lovely couple from Taradown I used to
(18:16):
be at we and Pagett, a lovely couple from Martin
they sell Hamilton jets. And five forty something women from
the North Shore who were an absolute hoot. They spent
the whole walk drinking rose from Jim Bottles and I'm
talking about a twenty one k walk on the second
day and they talked the whole way around is this
and that and kids and that? And they laughed and
(18:38):
they laughed. That is a so they laughed and they laughed.
It was absolutely hilarious. These women were fantastic fun and
we all got together, were all sorts of different agents.
Now look I cannot stress how good this walk is.
It is the Pahi Coastal Track at the top of
the Coramantle and congratulations, it's a private track is run
by farmers. The farmers at the Port Jackson station. They
(19:00):
came up with the idea and it's a classic example
of farm diversification. Make money, not just from the animals
and the grass. Now, of course, everyone's getting stuck into
me about my comments about driving, Linda says Andrew. It's
illegal to sit in the fast lane of the autobarn
in Germany unless you're actively overtaking. I can't believe that
you sit out in the fast lane controlling the speed
of other traffic. I always thought you were intelligent, Linda.
(19:22):
I never said I sit out in the fast lane
controlling the speed of other traffic. I drove home from
the Parki Coastal Track yesterday on the motorway. I'm in
a queue of about twenty cars. We're all going one
hundred k. We're in the fast lane. We're actually going
one hundred and four k. But there was a whole
lot of guys who buzz around and try undertaking because
they think they can get ahead. They never did. Now,
who's being dangerous here at the undertakers or the group
(19:44):
of twenty people who are doing the very fastest speed
on the road. Yes, the basic rule is keep left.
And yes, if I'm the only one in the fast lane,
I will keep left and watch the idiots go screaming past.
And yes, that is the police's job to police that
not mine. How just watch all the drivers, and watch
the undertakers, and watch the risks they take to gain
(20:06):
another two seconds on the rope maybe, and you tell
me whether I'm the dangerous one or they're the dangerous one.
Now on the lunches. By the way, Grant also says
my old school was getting the kids to help make
the lunches. It was teaching them how to cook. Totally agree.
Let the schools decide who needs the lunches. They know
who needs it. It is twenty one to six, Dickens.
(20:28):
Why let's go around the country and we're going to
christ Church first class. Herewood joins us, and good morning
to you.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Claire, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I am so amped for to Kaha the new stadium.
I know it's almost there, is looking brilliant already tell
me the latest.
Speaker 6 (20:42):
Well, yeah, we're.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
Really excited for Takaha. It's hard to miss it if
you're driving around christ Church at the moment. But interestingly
today mark's the penultimate birthday for the temporary stadium that
we've had in christ Church.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Now for the.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Cantabs listening, they'll remember it as the old Rugby League Park.
It has had several names since opened in twenty twelve,
which was post earthquake, and that was due to the
permanent closure of the old Lancaster Park. The stadium that's
now known as Apollo Projects Stadium, was initially intended to
last somewhere between three and five years, but today celebrates
(21:15):
thirteen years since opening. In that time, it's hosted more
than three hundred events, including nine major concerts, five in
Our Roll Games and two major international tournaments as well venues.
AU Tootahi chief executive Carolyn Harvey Tears says the stadium
has played a massive role in christ Church's recovery. The
Council's confirmed the grand stand, as well as some other structures,
(21:37):
will be removed once Tekaha opens in April next year.
The old stadium, though or the temporary one, is set
to host its one hundred and fourteenth Crusaders match this
weekend when we take on Moana Pacifica on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Still a good venue for a concert, that stadium. I
have to say, Now, how's your weather?
Speaker 11 (21:55):
Well, a bit.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Miserable and rainy this morning, but it will clear this afternoon.
Easterly is developing and the h I should be seventeen to.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Wellington we go next. Talk good morning to you. Hello, Max, Hello,
Can you not hear me?
Speaker 9 (22:07):
I can?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Indeed, so public servants, the heat is on again with them.
I see that the Commissioner has actually done a survey
saying figure out how to do stuff better?
Speaker 11 (22:16):
Yeah, that's exactly right. Well, look, first and foremost more
jobs are going this year. That's a given, and perhaps
more of a piecemeal fashion than last year. So in
this latest public service census, thousands of civil servants being
asked to identify potential areas for further cost cutting, to
identify whether their work contributes to better outcomes. It's all
(22:37):
very bureaucratic, whether it provides value for taxpayers In doing this,
Public Service Commission says it wants to seek better value
for money. The focus of its census, it says, changes
year to year, and I think overall this year it
might be more of a scalpel approach than a chain server. Interestingly,
I found staff also being asked about their managers and
(22:57):
whether they think their managers care about deliver and good
value for taxpayers. So if you're a public servants, speak
up now if you don't like your boss.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Very good stuff. And we're talking to the PSA about
this census and what they should do about it and
whether they're into it. Now, how's your weather.
Speaker 11 (23:12):
In partly cloudy today with the odd shower clearing to
find this afternoon eighteen the high central.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
All right, and now to what can we go and
neave a ret a man who joins us come on
in there.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So we've got a piece of work from CF Goldie
Charles Frederick Goldry.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
Yes, no, this is very very exciting Andrew, because this
piece of work is up for auction in Auckland today.
It's called Souvenirs from the Field of Battle. Now this
kick started his career as an artist when it was
first exhibited in eighteen ninety. Emily Gardner, the webs director
of Arts, says, look, it's expected to sell for up
to seventy five thousand. She said it's a good opportunity
(23:47):
for collectors to own a piece of New Zealand art history.
But you know what really makes this one special. It
was painted when he was just nineteen, so it's really
the first time he had exhibited publicly.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Very good South. How's Hawkin's weather?
Speaker 11 (23:59):
Fine?
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Another lovely fine day. No sign of rain at all today,
a high twenty four.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Don't boast it's running in north Otago, terrible ale. Yes,
so it needs some good morning to you, and I
thank you. It is as seventeen minutes to six and
the text through undertakers are not something you want to
see on the motorway by definition, and that's so true.
Good line by the way, the Texas says Winner's head
the coming back, and I can tell you round about.
I think it's April the twelfth, April the thirteenth, round about.
(24:27):
Then everything's going well with her and Barry. Now Pope
Francis has been discharged from hospital. We'll talk to Gavin
Gray about this. And every Uber driver in the UK
will be eligible for twenty hours of free childcare. Why
that's next on news Stork.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Zebbi International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of
Mind for New Zealand Business.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
It's fourteen to six. Gavin Gray from the UK, Good
morning to you, hither, great news. Pope Francis is out
of hospital but needs two months off.
Speaker 10 (24:58):
Yes, the eight eight year old has been discharged. He
was pictured and offered a blessing the window or on
a very small sort of balcony at the Gamelli Hospital
in Rome where he's being treated. He was admitted there
on the fourteenth of a long stay some five weeks
there and during that time we now know he had
(25:20):
what's been described as two very critical episodes where according
to doctors, his life was in danger, though we now
understand he was never actually intubated that's the tube into
the throat, but always remained alert and orientated. But nevertheless,
I think this shows just how poorly the Pope has
been And yeah, this couple of months off, the doctors
(25:41):
are basically ordering because he he still sounded pretty pretty poor.
Earlier this month there was an audio recording and his
voice there was really pretty breathless. So needs a lot
of rest and recuperation. And there will be plenty around
the world celebrating his release from hospital today.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
All right, yeah, good luck with that though. Pope Francis
is a man married to his job and he wants
to work, but he should take two months off for
his own health. Now every Uber driver in the UK
will now be eligible for twenty hours of free childcait.
Speaker 10 (26:13):
Why well, it's meant to try and encourage and recruit
more staff, particularly more female drivers. Now Here in the UK,
childcare is incredibly expensive. In fact, it's so expensive that
many mothers actually don't return to the workforce because they
think they'll be worse off because the cost of childcare
(26:35):
outweighs their net earnings for the job they're doing. And
so this is an attempt by Uber to try and
get more women in. And what they're saying is they
will allow people to use an app which means they
can book nannying and babysitting. Now, twenty hours of free
childcare doesn't sound like a lot, and I suppose it isn't,
(26:56):
but it is something that they believe really will help
spend the tie up if you was in and around
London and it is always men, so Uber trying to
attract more women drivers. There are one hundred thousand Uber
drivers in the UK and their unions or at least
a union which represents some of those drivers said this
is really a cynical pr stunt. They said they should
(27:17):
pay the drivers more, not fiddle around the edges with
incentives like this and say, according to some anyway that
their wages have fallen in the year despite prices being
increased for customers. So yeah, the union really playing this
down Uber saying it's a great scheme, and certainly one
or two of the drivers that they've put forward to
speak of saying, yeah, it is going to make life
(27:39):
much easier.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Good stuff going, and I thank you. And it is
now eleven to six Andrew Dickens. So, as you heard
with Max told just a few moments ago, the Public
Service has been asked by the government to figure out
how they could make more cuts. Thousands of workers have
been asked in an internal census to identify areas for
further cost cutting across every government agency and the results
are expected in July. So PSA Assistant Secretary flurf that
(28:03):
Simon's joins me. Now, hello, flu, good morning. So Commissioner
Brian Roach commissioned this. He's been very insistent that the
public service start to drive performance themselves. How open is
the service to this sort of thing?
Speaker 12 (28:17):
A lot of people are very willing to share their
ideas about how the public service can be run better.
But it's hard to take this government seriously on this
given they imposed harsh and deep cuts without any consultation
of this nature with public servants. They had government departments
come up with proposals in compete isolation from what people
actually think who are doing the job. So it's really
(28:39):
hard to take them seriously. But also it's important to
remember this is a regular census. It happens every five years.
We don't think that it's going to be able to
deliver the kind of harsh cuts that the government's already
imposed in the future because there is just nothing more
to cut, all.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Right, So you're saying there's nothing more to cut the government, Well.
Speaker 12 (29:00):
The government has already dismissed hundreds of public servants, including
people like dog trainers and customs people who work on
the frontline of stopping the digital harm and exploitation that
happens to children, people who try and help intercept scams
that often target the elderly. So if the government is
(29:21):
actually serious about investing in public services that deliver to
New Zealanders, it won't make further cuts are there rooms
for efficiencies. Absolutely, do public servants have good ideas about
how to find them, Yes, they do, and we really
hope that the government will listen to what public servants
say that not just through the survey, through all sorts
of interactions that including the union actually does and we
(29:43):
actually did ourselves prior to the round of cups do
some surveys with public servants and came up with a
whole range of ways that the public service could be
more efficient that the government never listened to.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
But this is why the census has happened. This is
why Brian Roach has asked. But they're asking you for
the ideas, and you've just said to me there are
no more places for cuts. And there is a there's
a perception that the public servants are so reticent about
this and they don't want to provide better value for money.
Speaker 12 (30:10):
No, the sense has happened every five years anyway. What
I'm saying is it asks a whole range of questions.
For example, it asks about the appetite for risk in
a particular agency. It asks for the workloads, how high
are your workload? Is it manageable? It asks a whole
lot of questions about working from home. Are you paid fairly?
But it's not going to deliver the kind of roadmap
(30:33):
for further cuts that the government is looking for. There
is no room to cut further. It's been cut to
the bone. You are going to further undermine the services
that New Zealanders rely on if you make cuts to
our surisht and important public service.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, you keep saying there's no room for cuts, and
you're you're making an assumption before you know. The results
aren't out until July, and you're already making that assumption.
Speaker 12 (30:58):
Well, what I'll tell you is that this already been
so significant a cut to the work that our public
servants do, we are unable to attract and retain people already.
This government is not going to find through this survey
a whole lot of ways that can cut more jobs
or save more money. What we actually need to see
(31:19):
is a commitment to the public service and more investment.
And that's not the purpose of the survey anyway.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
One final question, though I don't know if you watched
Q and A yesterday and had the outgoing on. Woodsman
Peter Bouchier very critical of the public service, particularly health
and corrections, and he said they were talking about, are
public servants dedicated to providing value for money?
Speaker 12 (31:40):
New Zealand has a corruption free, high quality public service
that is renowned worldwide. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely?
Are we going to stand as a way of positive
improvement that makes the ability of public servants that deliver
their jobs? Well, no we're not, but yes there's grook
to do. But let's also the people that do this
(32:01):
important work too.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Flur, Thank you so much for your time today for
Fitzsimon's PSA's Assistant secretary.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
The first word on the News of the Day early
edition with Andrew Dickens and one Room make your property
surge and symbol you talk sippy.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
See we go I talk about. Question of the day
is that the Gisbon District councilor is taking the government
to court over their demand to raise the speed limits.
They say it's going to cost three hundred and twenty
thousand dollars and they're asking whether the rate payers are
prepared to pay that to get ten k more speed limits?
Are you yes or no? Michael?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
A lot of money being the funger A people met
last week were standing by for a court case. They
were arguing over fluoriding, and so they spent tens of
thousands of dollars they openly admit they don't have, have
not budgeted for to go to court to argue yet
more problems. We're talking about parking finds. Actually I can't
remember last time I got a parking ticket. Anyway, they
don't win. They hand out a parking ticket, turns out
(32:55):
sort of if you don't pay it, which most people
don't because they're so enraged about the reason they got
the park ticket, which is because of bus lanes and
stuff like that. Seems no one follows you up, no,
until the courts do, and then well the courts do.
They eventually in some sort of it arrived in the mail,
but I didn't see it kind of it never really
gets paid kind of way. So there's some sort of
(33:15):
concern about that. This morning, Winston Peter's on a speech
yesterday and his relationship with Hopkinson and your public service thing.
Judith Collins, who's in chargeable all this and doing the survey,
will be with us on the time.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
There is a remarkable interview. The more I see you
can make cats, no we can't, No, we can't, no,
we can't are.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
None so blind as those who will not see.
Speaker 9 (33:34):
Very nice.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
All right, my name is Andrew Dickinson for Ryan Bridge.
Speaker 9 (33:37):
I'll be back again tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Thank you to producing ens.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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