Full Show Podcast: 28 July 2025

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk ZEDB. Follow
this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello you, Great New Zealander, and welcome to Mettin Tyler
Full Show Podcast number one seventy for Monday the twenty
eighth of July twenty twenty five. Very emotional podcast. Talking
to Tom again, great New Zealander that he is, who's
got a terminal diagnosis on with a sarcoma. And we
talked to the Joanne from the Sarcoma New Zealand and

(00:41):
we ask you to donate to Sarcoma dot org dot
enzz because they're doing fantastic work work for people in
the community. So there was quite an emotional chat we
had there at the end of the show. Also we
went into building supplies and whyre houses so much to
build in New Zealand and we're telling you this, we'll
tell you soon at the start of the show imagine.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, yeah, you're and obviously the AI chatbots and kids,
but that was a great discussion as well. Download, subscribe,
give a review.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
And we love you.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Big stories, the big issues, the big trends and everything
in between. Matt Heath and Taylor Adams Afternoons News.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Talk said me, well, good afternoon to you. Welcome into
Monday show. Awesome to have your company as it always is,
and get a to the thousands of new listeners we've got.
We never take it for granted. Thank you for being
with us.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah. Hey, I had a fantastic weekend of entertainment. Had
a great weekend. But as I mentioned before, I went
to the Full Metal Orchestra at Sparkarina. Fantastic performance, just
so many good songs. The orchestra is fantastic. John too
Good was incredible. I forget her name from us. She
was amazing. She's from the band Devilskin. She was from

(01:56):
fantastic as well. The whole thing, Milan from Pluto, Michae
Hall from Pluto, the whole thing was fantastic, right, love
it and then and then who. I was concerned about
watching this movie last night because I was a huge
fan of the original, probably watched it fifty times in
my life yep. So when I pressed play on Happy
Gilmore two on Netflix, I was like, oh, I don't

(02:16):
ruin the legacy of one of the funniest movies of
all time. And it did not ruin the legacy. In fact,
it was so good. It was it was stupid, it
was cheesy. There were gratuitous cameos just splatted all over
the shop. But I was just constantly laughing through Happy
Gilmore too. The gag count was just just so very high,

(02:41):
I mean absolute, I mean everyone, there was a cameo
from everyone, but Scotti Shffler was particularly good. Yeah, Jack Nichols,
he had John Daily living at Happy Gilmore's house.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
It was so good.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Post Malone was in there, Hailey, Joel Osmond. It's looking
very different from the sixteenth Days. But the whole thing.
I just loved it. I laughed so much. Yeah. I
was watching with my son who's fifteen, and you know, he's, oh,
don't make me watch a Needam Sandler movie. And then
we watch it and he was just laughing all the
way through. It's so idiotic and silly. And once again

(03:17):
the juxtaposition between golf and extreme violence is still funny.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, still there still got it when I say.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Extreme violence, extreme slapstick violence. Yeah, but no, they did it.
They did it so well.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Bad Bunny as the caddy, I thought he was really good.
You know, if you don't know who bad Bunny is
very successful rapper and artist, and I thought, oh, is
he gonna nails? He absolutely nailed it. He was so good.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
You also got post malone in there, You've got eminem
in there. But you know, just listening off the cameos
because some people are going here, it's very easy to
get cameos in there. But it's it's so stupid. Travis
Kelsey beating people up in a restaurant.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
It's great.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
That's yeah, highly recommended. Right on to today's show after
three o'clock. So back in April, we were talking about
the cost of funerals and we had a phone call
from a guy called Tom. He is a great New Zealander. Tom.
He flowed us with the news that he was actually
planning his own funeral during that chat, after being diagnosed
with sarcoma.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
That's right. So we're going to have a talk to
Tom again where he's at now, and we're going to
talk to Sarcoma New Zealand. And look, right now, I
encourage you to do donate to these great New Zealanders at
sarcoma dot org dot in Z. But look, we also
want to hear from from people who and who have
or have people who love who they love, who have
dealt with difficult health situations and how you've reached out

(04:35):
for help and who you've reached out to. Because Tom
tells us that sarcoma New Zealand were very important to
him and dealing with his diagnosis. Yep, So you would
love to hear from people that have found a way.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yep. That will be an important chat after three o'clock,
after two o'clock, a confidential helper or an unreliable manipulator.
Either way, AI, as we know, has become a source
of emotional support for many but also companionship for twenty
three percent of New Zealand school children. They are big numbers.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, so it kind of concerns me a little bit
because AI. Look, you don't want children to be lonely,
but do we really want them to have AI friends
over real friends, because you know, human contact, as everyone knows,
is the best thing for us. Definitely, it's the best
thing for our mental health and developments. And you know

(05:24):
you want kids creating healthy human relationships. You don't want
them to replace their friends or worse, they're upstairs not
hanging out with their family because they're talking to an
AI bot that's just telling them exactly what they want
to hear and potentially having hallucinations because AI doesn't get
everything right now, there's certainly true, and strangely, the more
advanced AI gets, the more hallucinations it starts having. So

(05:48):
just be interested to see if you have your kids
on AI or if you are having a relationship with AI,
not like the movie her an actual relationship with AI.
But you know, even people with the way they talk
to groc or chat gp T, they are kind of
talking to it back and forth throughout the day and
feeling like it's their friend and it's there to help them.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
So ye, you know, is absolutely oh eight hundred and
eighty ten eighty on that after two o'clock. But right now,
let's have a chat about the cost of building products.
The government is increasing the number of building products available
right here in New Zealand. That includes the plaster board,
clouding systems, external doors and windows. It was announced by
Construction Minister Chris Pink over the weekend and he says,

(06:27):
I quote, it is fifty percent more expensive to build
a standalone home in New Zealand than in Australia. And
that is frankly outrageous.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, So eight hundred eighty ten eighty. If you have
are in the business, or if you have built something
recently paid for it, what smashed the budget for you?
What was the biggest expense? Was it the materials? Yep,
because this should help with the materials. Was it the
consent or was it the labor? Why is it so
expensive to build stuff in New Zealand's And if this,

(06:56):
do you think this is a good start? Do you
think it will make a material difference, part in the
pun or what else can we do? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call.
So Chris Pink was on with Mike Hosking this morning,
and here's a little bit about what he said when
he was asked when these products will be available and
the products that are likely to be available.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
In some cases it will be immediate effects. In another
cases it will be a rolling more of people importing
and being able to use. As follows, a lot.

Speaker 6 (07:23):
Of attention on plasterboard. Is there genuine savings to be
made on a variety of other stuff?

Speaker 5 (07:28):
Class boards well known as a case study because there
is market dominance with one player at ninety seven percent.
We've specified doors and windows, insulation, and a few other items,
but more to come as well.

Speaker 6 (07:41):
In totality, what do I bring my house price build
down to?

Speaker 5 (07:45):
Let's say twenty five percent of the cost of a
building is materials. So on a six hundred thousand dollars
new build, for example, GE's one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars up for grabs, So you only need a small
percentage across that kind of money to actually get quite
a significant saving of tens of thousands of dollars.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
I love that better. The tens of thousands of dollars.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, twenty five percent of the cost of in a home.
That's big numbers.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
So twenty five percent of the cost of the home
is the materials. Yeah, so that's interesting, isn't it, because
it's made out of material. Exactly twenty five percent is
the material seventy five percent of labor. I suppose I
w eight hundred.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
And eight compliance such Yeah, exactly, oh, eighte hundred and
eighty ten eighty is the number to call. The phones
have lit up, but really keen to hear from you.
If you're in the trade or you've recently gone through
a new home build what was the process like and
is this going to make a difference.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
Probably it's all because New Zealand is a mere pimple
on the back side of the world. Getting product here
costs more. I mean yeah, yep. The factor is isolated
when you look at in the United States of America,
everything's just trucked from place to pace.

Speaker 7 (08:44):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
That will play into it. Absolutely. It is fourteen past
one oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Call the big stories, the big issues, the big trends
and everything in between. Matt Heath and Tyler Adams afternoons
used talks.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
It'd be very good afternoon to here. We are talking
about building products. So the government and Chris Penk, the
Minister of Building and Construction, announced over the weekend they're
going to open the doors for a lot more overseas
products to come into this country with the hope that
it will reduce the cost of a new home build.
So love to hear from you.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Will tell them to change the last name to Plank
because so then this would be more amusing. What blew
your budget out was that the materials, was that the
labor or consent or if you're in the in the business.
Where where will this make a material difference?

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number
to call, Malcolm.

Speaker 8 (09:34):
Hell are here you going? Matt and Taylor?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Very good? Thanks mate your thoughts on this?

Speaker 8 (09:40):
Yeah, well, I think the bottom line is the markup
on materials is still huge to the end user. So
if you know, you get the builder or the spec
built house, you're paying retail for all those materials at
the end of the project, which I thinks you know
that that's where you get this big difference between here

(10:02):
and Australia.

Speaker 9 (10:03):
Maybe I'm not.

Speaker 8 (10:04):
Sure what they do, but you know, fairly big building
a while ago are though seven years ago probably, but
still relative, and the market was huge and it's my
you know, if someone's going to build a new house,
what they really want to do is open their own
account and buy their own materials and employ the builder

(10:26):
to do it. And that's kind of what used to
happen fifty sixty years ago. I think that's probably a
way around it.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
You'd have to everybod of know how to do that, though,
wouldn't you, like I would struggle with that stuff.

Speaker 8 (10:45):
Yeah, yeah, although it's not that hard once you've got
your plans, you know, you basically you just drop your
plans into the building supplier and they quote it or
you know, you can get a couple of those and
you can open your account and you can buy you know,
two or three hundred grands worth of product.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
So what you're saying is basically you're paying for the
cost of the materials that goes to the manufacturer. Then
you're playing to the retail in the middle. So that's
you know, whatever that markup has could be another fifty percent,
just to say, but then sometimes the builder will also
put a a markup themselves on the materials.

Speaker 8 (11:19):
Right, Yeah, he shouldn't really, he wouldn't really normally go
above the retail of a product. That would be a
bit mean, you know, because you can walk off the
walk off the street and by it. You know, would
be a bit rude to charge more than that.

Speaker 5 (11:34):
You know.

Speaker 8 (11:35):
One thing that's always stagger me and this product, which
is one hundred million pipe you know, rain drain pipe,
under the ground, waste pipe in that it hasn't really changed.
I've bought a bit of that way then that hasn't changed.
Should I built one of my houses twenty five years ago.
It was thirty five dollars a lenk back then. It's
still under forty dollars a length now. But on your drainage,

(11:58):
if you get some drainage, donder, they're charging you one
hundred and sixty bucks a length.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
So if the builders, if the builders aren't putting a
markup on top of the retail price. So how is
forming your own business and buying it yourself save you money?
Because are you from retail retail?

Speaker 8 (12:15):
No, no, no no. You would open an account and
sort of a you would start a little company and
just buy if you think there, you go along, you
get your prices and they'll give you a good work.
That's what I did then.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
And so you're still playing retail, but you get a
bitter deal for yourself.

Speaker 8 (12:35):
You aren't paying retail. You'll be playing just cost plush.
When these builders get it, they get it cost plus
about five percent.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
Right, So then the builders aren't buying a retail.

Speaker 8 (12:47):
No hell no, right, they'll charge on the project. They'll
charge in retail. I might get a few people phoning
in now.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Because because because I see it, because because a builder
goes to say I'll just pull pull the name out
of my butt. But bunning Strade for example, so they're
playing paying are you saying that they're only paying a five
percent markup on on what they buy there?

Speaker 8 (13:11):
Most if you're a good builder, you will be here right, Well,
you're paying bigger all And another thing with.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
That, just Bunnings make the money.

Speaker 10 (13:19):
Then we'll just.

Speaker 9 (13:22):
Turn over.

Speaker 8 (13:24):
And from Joe Bloggs is coming off the street, I guess.
But another thing that I heard lux And say this
morning about getting American jib board, for instance, But all
their jib board that I know of is actually Imperial,
so it's all twenty mil, two wide and thirty odd
mel too long, bath standard sort of studs. But the
building I'd done, I used Elephant board on that most

(13:48):
of it where I could. Some of it I couldn't
because you couldn't get the big thick.

Speaker 10 (13:54):
Stuff.

Speaker 8 (13:55):
They don't make nineteen.

Speaker 9 (13:57):
Jib board overseas.

Speaker 8 (13:58):
I to stop at sixteen mil or five eight, so
I had it was stuck to get their stuff, and
it's wanted to go more and more sheets of it.
But yeah, Elephant Boards premium product that is better than
Windstone's board by miles. Yeah, one of the best ones

(14:18):
in the world.

Speaker 10 (14:19):
I would say right.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Well, thank you for your call, Malcolm, I work and WHOLESO.
This guy's not quite right. It's still a bit to
go through your builder, electrical, electricien and plumber. Yeah, and
I thought can get forty percent off retail and it's
normal to add ten percent to materials, so clients still
better off.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
There you go, that's no information builder here.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
The reason that we put markup on the materials is
twofold one. We are expected to warrant every material supplied
as if there is a product fault, we get called
to deal with it. Secondly, construction businesses need to make money,
as does any other builder. We only add ten percent
markup on the materials and subcontractors. The last build I did,
this equated to thirty K on a four hundred and

(14:59):
fifty K built.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Good to know, oh e one hundred and eighty ten eighty.
If you are a builder, love to hear from you
on some of the things that Malcolm just said there.
If you want to push back on some of those elements,
love to hear from you. We are talking about the
cost of building materials and bringing more into New Zealand
from overseas. If you're affected by this, o. E. One hundred
and eighty ten eighties and number to call twenty three past.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
One, putting the tough questions to the newspeakers. The mic
asking breakfast.

Speaker 6 (15:22):
The timing is Chris of Eleuction's, well, give me some
good news on this foreigners buying houses?

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah, so, I mean you saw Winston last week.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
We're making progress.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
I know it's not the answer you want. You're going
to tell me what the answer is right now, right today? Correct,
I get it.

Speaker 6 (15:34):
We have Chris is being made. What's the holder? He
seems to understand it needs to be rective. No, he does,
he does, And the conversations are good and positive.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
For what we're discussing is a mechanism by help.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
So what are you stuck on numbers for a house?
How high the value of the houses? That's one of
the conversations here, but there'll be other, which one to
make sure you.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Mean they'll be there?

Speaker 7 (15:53):
What are they?

Speaker 6 (15:53):
And I want to make sure we get the mechanisms
right back tomorrow at six am the mic hosking Breakfast
with a Vida News talk z B.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
Very good afternoon to you. We're talking about the cost
of building materials. The government hopes that will come down considerably.
If you are building a homer, you're in the trade
by opening up the gates to allow international products into
the country. What do you say, oh, eight hundred eighteen eighty.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Man Tyler, what do you think? All the trades are
driving around and the latest model utes their profit margins
are horri fact? Think about that? Just had a new
hot water cylinder install three quotes three thy five hundred,
four thousand, six hundred five two hundred materials are fourteen
hundred dollars. Job took five hours. Work it out for yourselves,
cheers Allen? Right, Okay, well you know I just picked

(16:39):
up element and lengths from Chinese input half the price
of New Zealand Australian supplier. All right, but are they
the same colony?

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Exactly? Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number
to call.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
So I mean, I'd like to hear from builders. Eight
hundred eighty ten eighty. Is it true what Chad says?
And the previous text is said one of the previous
previous sixes. Builders must stop making massive profits before the
price of building will come down. Are builders making massive profits?

Speaker 3 (17:01):
Are you absolutely creaming it out there?

Speaker 2 (17:03):
I mean you will make the profits that the market
allows you to make.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Imagine, because otherwise you get under cut by someone else, right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
But also I mean if you're you know, anyone that
runs a construction companies, which a little one knows that,
you know the pressures on finishing a job, you know that,
you know that they take a bit of risk as well.
But I love to hear from you on eight hundred
eighteen eighty. Cody, you've just finished an extension on the deck.
How'd that go? Yeah?

Speaker 11 (17:29):
I'm not a builder, but just just want to side on,
you know, go on the builder side a little there.
They're not making massive profits and new you it'll be
it'll be a text right off. But that's the bloody
home workers. They work harder than I do.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, I mean some people look around and see anyone
making profit is a bad thing. Any profit at all
is not good according to some people.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
Really, Oh, Cody, we just lost year. We'll try and
get Cody back. What a buger, But will carry on
that conversation. It just must have gone through a tunnel. Oh,
eight hundred and eighteen eighty is the number to call.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Guys, Am I the only one concerned about these overseas
products being of poor quality leading to future building nightmares. Craig,
But I think that's been looked at. Yeah, so they're
just pre approving the products. And I think the main
advantage here is when the council looks at it, they
don't go, nah, you can't use that. You go no,
these have been pre approved. These thousands of products are fine.

(18:25):
You don't need to delay dowly. Let's just go.

Speaker 10 (18:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
It's cutting into the monopoly, as we saw with chub
a couple of years back.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Cody, you're back, Yeah, I'm back.

Speaker 11 (18:33):
I don't know what.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
It's great to have your back, you were saying, yeah.

Speaker 11 (18:37):
Yeah, yeah. So I just I did a extension, so
I had like a it's a second story one. So
I had to get it all consented and whatnot, about
forty five grand all up and all done. But fifteen
granded that was drawing drawings and council fees.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
So she's pretty high there, fifteen grand of that.

Speaker 11 (18:54):
Yeah, So the council have three inspections during the process,
as you getting the final one tomorrow, so wish me
luck there, good luck, yeah, thank you. But just the
amount of engineering, the amount of bracing, I've got a
couple of mates that the build as one of them
did the job. You're just blown away by what they require.
The house is going to fall down before the deck
fills down, that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, so I guess how do you balance that because
you want to make sure that your deck stays up
for forever, you know, And yeah it doesn't.

Speaker 11 (19:23):
Well, like I want it to consented just for when
I sell the house one day, Like noneconsented of your
house just puts people off.

Speaker 10 (19:29):
You know.

Speaker 11 (19:30):
I spent about fifteen grand more on fees, and I've
probably been another seven or eight grand on stainless steel
bracing and stainless steel fixings that were required. So she's
pretty out the gate. If I don't myself, it would
have been, you know, under half the dryst Do you
think I know?

Speaker 2 (19:43):
So? So do you think those consenting fees are exorbitant?
Do you think that this.

Speaker 11 (19:49):
Room down the continuing fees weren't bad. It's just what
they require. It's not me making not me saying this,
but my mates at the builders that is blown away
by the amount of bracing and the amount of stainless
they're require. We're close to the ocean here, so everything
had to be stainless because we're in Auckland, but just crazy.
I also couldn't believe that one hundred and fifty grand

(20:10):
sorry six and a grand of a house. One hundred
and fifty is only building materials that blew me away.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that blew me anyway as.

Speaker 11 (20:16):
Well with the other four hundred.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Exactly one hundred and eighty ten eighty. Where's the other
four hundred and fifty grand coming from? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (20:23):
So, but having three times that, the council has to
come around and check it off. And I understand the
chicken process behind it, and we don't want another leaky
building situation. But that feels excessive. That feels really excessive.
And we know when a lot of these guys come around,
it's a tick box exercise. They're there for five minutes
and charge a fortune. So clearly there is some some

(20:44):
you know, fat to cut from that process. Oh we've
lost Cody again.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
You asked Cody again. Yeah, yeah, he didn't think was
that much, but I guess it does delay things. I
always wonder because we you know, rules get added upon
rules and on added upon rules on rules. Yeah, so
sometimes I know there should be some kind of blankets.
Every five year, go and arraise all the rules and
then kind of like a new a new formula and
a formula one regulations love the go back you and

(21:09):
you get rid of all of them, and then you
make sure that you've only got rules and regulations that
are actually count because otherwise people just add one, add one,
add one, add one, and then it becomes a mess.

Speaker 3 (21:18):
Right yep, makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Thanks sheet every five years.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
Oh eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty is the
number to call. Coming up after the headlines. We've had
a call from a gentleman who works as a trade
rep for a building supply material company, so be good
to ask him a few questions. He's coming up very shortly,
but we are keen to hear from you. Oh eight
hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. It's
twenty nine to two.

Speaker 12 (21:41):
Jew's talk said the headlines with blue bubble taxis it's
no trouble with a blue bubble. Workplace Relations and Safety
Minister Brook van Valden is loosening the rules on scaffolding,
meaning it does not have to be used in every situation.
A magnitude four point six earthquake struck near Reutoria, north
of Gisbon just after one It's nine kilometers deep. More

(22:05):
prisoners are being separated with figures OH and correction staff
forcefully segregated inmates four thousand, six hundred times. That's up
two thousand over four years. Stats and Z figures show
energy costs have risen much faster than incomes this century,
with prices now about eleven percent higher than late last year.

(22:27):
Tatadoo District Council is looking into whether someone is stealing
water from its opongod Or water treatment plant after unexplained
drops and water levels. It could also be new leaks.
A student from a Greymouth High school has been charged
with assault on another student on Wednesday. The students due
to appear in youth court next week. The a need

(22:48):
and tech startup taking on the world sport data. You
can see the story at enzid Herald Premium. Now back
to Matt Eath and Tyler Adams.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
Thank you very much. Rallian. Having a great discussion about
the cost of building materials. The government says it's going
to open up the gates to international products coming into
the country and the hope that it will reduce the
cost of building a home. Oh, one hundred eighty ten
eight years and number to call.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Shane, Welcome to the show. So you're going to help
us out here with how the pricing structure actually works
around buying building supplies because there's a lot of a
lot of reckons going on.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
I'll do my best.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
So I was a trade rep for a building supply
chain here in New Zealand for you while, and I'm
still in the building trade as well. But look look
at the price structure. Clearly it's obviously done on volume.
Everyone needs to understand it. You know, the more volume
you buy, the better pricing structure you get. Most of
the larger builders will have pricing structures in place where

(23:42):
they are working on a volume basis, so use to
recommend the retail prices on the store shop floor. But
if let's say a big builder comes in and says
that they've got a certain amount of jobs that are
going through, they're going to go to those particular companies
and get a decent price for it. But what they
also need to understand is that some of these jobs
are pricing are two to three years out and they

(24:03):
need to hold those prices to actually be able to
do those jobs in two or three years time, so
they're not exactly making a massive profit all the time,
which is why you see a lot of companies falling over, especially.

Speaker 13 (24:15):
The larger boys that fall over.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
But the biggest problem that we actually have in New
Zealand it's a gatekeeper, which is brands. I can remember
my time working for the company. There is a large
shipsum company that was coming into New Zealand called USCU Borrow,
one of the largest ones throughout the whole of the world,
and it was going to take too long for them
to come through and actually prove their bracing structure compared

(24:38):
to jib bracing structure, so they pulled out of New Zealand.
Now that would have saved this country a hang of
a lot of money in the building industry just on
jib alone. So it's not necessarily the fact that these
products are no good, it's them trying to get through
those gatekeepers. So maybe what the government's doing by opening
it up and not having brands hammered down on some

(25:02):
of these businesses overseas that have been around far longer
than most of the companies that we've got here in
New Zealand and I'll put it bluntly. Let's face it,
the own by Fletchers and Fletchers don't want the overseas
companies coming in because then it actually affects their bottom line.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Do you think in New Zealand, especially after the after
the leaky building situation, that we are too cautious?

Speaker 4 (25:25):
Well, I think we are because that's the design fault, right,
That's not a building product fault.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
That's a design fault.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
You know, we're building houses with flat roots in an
area that you know, Mediterranean typestyle houses where we we
have rain. So you can't necessarily blame the product itself.
You've got to look at those architects that design those buildings,
you know, I mean, and the guy that was on
before was dead correct. I've also been on the other
side of it, where I've project managed for building companies

(25:53):
and what have you, and also my own family business,
where you look at it and you go, how can
you paying so much money for these guys to quit
the ticket and come out and do three or four
or five inspections on builders that probably have more knowledge
than the guys that are coming out looking at the job. Yeah, yeah,
and you're arguing with them about things. I mean, I
can remember having USG. Burrew on job sites where the

(26:16):
inspector turned up and go Art hasn't got blue screws
were failing it. So we're haled in a second, mate,
it's not Jim, it's USG.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
Burew.

Speaker 4 (26:22):
There's a completely different bracing aspect to this. So yeah,
there's a lot more to it, and I think what
the government's doing is opening the doors to very good
products that are overseas that are going to help us
in New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
So just going back to because a lot of people
are mentioning the leaky home crisis and James Hardy cladding
was you know, one of the products that was mentioned
is being responsible for that leaky house crisis. But you're
saying there was nothing really wrong with the clatting. It
was the design element of the house that meant the
clotting failed, rather than if the plotting was used in

(26:57):
a different way.

Speaker 4 (26:59):
Exactly, and you know, realistically probably James Hardie Shuretarian said no,
we're not putting our product on that because it's not
going to work. But when you've got an architect that
designs it and signs it off and the council then
signs it off as well, what do you do? You
put your product in there, and even if you've told
them it won't work, the council or whoever has signed
that off. So you know, it was alway a bit
hard on poor old James Hardy on that one, But

(27:20):
then on saying that if it was their guys that
were designing it and saying it was okay, well then
it is a manufacturing fault. But you get that in
any industry.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yeah, just on the on the kickback situation, Shane, You're
in the business and there's been a lot of concern
around the kickbacks that tradees may get for buying up products,
you know, reward systems if they go to a certain
brand or manufacturer. Does that still exist and do you
see any issue with those kickback schemes.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
I think the kickback's probably the wrong way to put it.
It's called loyalty. You know, there's a lot of products
out in the market, and to stick with one particular
brand then you should expect to get some kind of
loyalty award back from using their product and not jumping
over to another business. You know, you said, James Hardy,
there's BGC board out there, which is exactly the same

(28:09):
product as exactly the same job. But then it comes
down to user's preference as well. But yeah, it's a
loyalty scheme like any business, not just in the building game.
You go to any other kind of industry and you've
got loyalty schemes as well. You know, there's a lot
of builders that fall over because they've had to take
the tuck when prices have gone up, because they've priced
a job twelve months earlier and then all of a

(28:30):
sudden there's a massive increase on product and they don't
want to lose the job.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yeah, so you don't think so there's a retail price,
let's just say, but a builder is always going to
charge the client the retail price, not the discount that
they've got through volume. Have you said on siting.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
Lower, you know or lower? It depends on what size
the businesses. Because once again, as I said, if there's
a builder that's building four or five houses a year
and they're not very big, you know, they're not buying
a lot of volume. But if you've got a builder
that's building one hundred houses a year, they're buying by volume.
So it depends on how much they want to make
on that markup yep, or think of.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
You a call shame very interesting. Oh, eight hundred eighty
ten eighty is the number to call.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
If Chris plankkreckons one hundred and fifty K of the
six hundred k builders materials, then even if materials we're
fifteen percent cheaper, which is unlikely, you'd only saved twenty
two thousand dollars, which I guess is better than nothing. Yeah,
I mean twenty two k is twenty two K can
go a long way.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Twenty two k. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, coming up after the messages,
we've had a call from a woman called Catherine. She's
tried in the middle of an alpine build at the moment,
and it appears there's a differing of opinion between what
the council requires and what the builders say is actually
need it. So this is going to be interesting. That
is coming up very shortly.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Yeah, we're talking about building in New Zealand. Wise, it's
so much more expensive to build a house here than Australia.
What blows out the budget is that the materials, the labor,
or the consent. Because the government's making it a lot
easier to bring some materials into the country.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call.
It's eighteen to two.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
The issues that affect you and a bit of fun
along the way, mad Heath and Tyler Afternoons News Talks.

Speaker 3 (30:11):
It is a quarter to two and we are talking
about the price of building materials the government. A government
expects that to go down somewhat by opening up to
international products. If you've been through this process, love to
have a chat with you. Oh one hundred and eighty
ten eighty is the number to call.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Catherine, Welcome to the show. You want to talk about
cancel products, specifications, well, a bit of.

Speaker 14 (30:31):
I think the problem that we're having is we're doing
a renovation of a property of our home which has
been extended somewhat. Is it trying to fit on new
materials to older materials, and yes, the expense has gone up.
What we've found a chunk of that expense is due
the types of products that are required for a property

(30:52):
to be to be built or to be rebuilt, especially
as a property that was standing or a house that
has been standing for forty years and has withstood you know, earthquakes,
massive wind zones, rain intrential stuff and it will stood
all of that. And yet when we've come to rebuild,
we've had to pull down a whole bunch of the
walls and put up lots of bracing because we're you know,

(31:15):
they think that we're an extreme wind zone and they
haven't actually come down to see what we are, haven't
issue measured it. But all the extra products that we
had to put in stains steel, like I agreed with Cody,
was what he was talking about with his deck, you know,
stain and steel products. And we're in an alpine area
where nowhere near the sea. Couldn't understand why we would
need to do that. And it's costing, like you know,

(31:37):
that adds five ten thousand dollars just on screws, let
alone all the other building products they had to do
to you know, it's what the council requirements are, and
also the engineer's requirements as well. Some of their stuff
is sometimes we think that the engineers can be not
really what's gone on out there in the real workplace.
They haven't actually had to work at themselves. They're just

(31:58):
doing what they've been trained in universities or politics wherever
they get their degrees. And the like from but haven't
actually worked in the work on the coll front and
looking at what they're design is to what's been built
and how in practical some of the products that they're
requiring to be put in that particular area. So that's
a fair chunk of your your build price.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
So you think your house is being forced to be
overspeced basically for what it needs to be to be
completely safe to live in?

Speaker 10 (32:25):
Oh?

Speaker 14 (32:25):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and likely there the council for the
crime and that needs to go back and forth. I
think it's about four or five months before we could
in fact get consent through because there was a lot
of discussion gone on between the architects, the engineer and
the council and it was like, well does the council
wish to design in which case, why are they responsible
for all that sort of stuff. You've got the engineers

(32:46):
and the architects who are building in to code and
in some cases possed over but building to code, So
why do they need a council person to come in
and try and override what they're doing as well? Yeah,
the whole it is a very interesting triangle.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Well, yeah, I mean, just hearing your story, Catherine, I
think what the building, what the builders and the architects say,
should be the way, you know, the way that you go,
rather than the council come in and unless they are
designing the house for you, why should they override the
builders expertise and the architects expertise.

Speaker 14 (33:18):
Absolutely, and I do agree with Graham's comments to around
the building inspectors. I mean, again, you've got the council
building inspectors coming in, but they're not They're just box ticking.
They're not doing the job. They're not they haven't designed
the job. Why can't the engineers come in and take
off and make sure that what they've specified has in
fact being built.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Thank you for your call, Catherine. Yeah. I mean that's
interesting because everyone says safer and safer and safer, more rules,
more and rules, more rules, more rules, more rules. But
if you start overspecting things, then in your rules actually
you start doing damage. They start doing damage to the economy,
they start doing damage to morale of people that are
trying to do things and trying to build things and
trying to make the country a bitter place because you've

(34:02):
taken safety over practicality. And if you're ever involved in
putting something that is safer than it needs to be,
and then you're actually the bad guy in the situation,
not the good guy.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Right, that's the roadblock. Yeah, that's why we can't progress,
and we see it time and time again. Oh eight
hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call if
you're currently building a house or you're in the trade.
What do you think about the announcement of new building
materials coming our way? Love to hear from you. Coming
up very shortly. When have a check to a gentleman
who started his own company importing windows. He reckons that
cheaper and better quality, So he's coming up next. It

(34:34):
is eleven to two.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Matd heath Taylor Adams taking your calls on Oh eight
hundred and eighty ten eighty. It's Mad Heathen Taylor Adams Afternoons,
News Talks Envy.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
Afternoon. It is eight to two.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
You cannot trust a lot of builders to build to specs,
hence the issues we see regards. Yeah, I mean that's
where your argument falls down a little bit, Tyler. So
you can totally get the specks absolutely right, but you know,
maybe you get a builder that's got a few financial
problems going on and they need to cut some corners
to staff loo. There needs to be some oversight.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
But who's got their liability? That's what I always questioned.
Is it the builders and the building company or is
it the council? And I think about the master builders
guarantee that if you trust that anything goes wrong, they've
got your back after ten years. I mean, look, we
tried to utilize them with our property. There was a
few things that went wrong because the builders, I think,
cut a few shortcuts. But they came to the party

(35:32):
with some stuff.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Man, all these people bitching and morning about engineers pricing,
yet they would be the first to complain when we
get hit by the next earthquake.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's a fair point.

Speaker 10 (35:42):
Kim.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
How are you this afternoon?

Speaker 15 (35:44):
I'm good.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
How are you goods Now you started a company importing
cheaper products.

Speaker 15 (35:50):
Yeah, I was building a house in Mornington. I was
living Ragland, south of the Divorce, and.

Speaker 9 (35:57):
The big war.

Speaker 15 (35:59):
Was going on and we're just looking at gous is crazy.
You know, the job's going up, And I said to
my architect, you know, we've got to work out a way.
You start talking to We went to Australia. We did
as Australia found a commercial company over there that builds
commercial windows marketed and I designed and the residential window

(36:19):
and everyone in Australia. That's anybody has a workshop over
in Vietnam, Indonesia or China and it comes over.

Speaker 7 (36:27):
That's the way it is.

Speaker 15 (36:28):
That's why it's stupid over there. So all I was
testing each done in China and then and then we
bring it to Melbourne and we tested at Melbourne. The
reason why we tested in Melbourn again, it's because it's
a bit more scrutinized. So I got prices. I'm not
gonna say any Fians. I've got prices from one one
thows around about eighty to ninety K. I got mine
and exactly what you would pay if he came through.
For fifty K. I've got a doll that looks like

(36:50):
something out a term Rader. I've got this big by
folding door, big carry sliders, windows, double story. I've gone
for fifty K. And the testings out of this world
because they had a bit of a commercial feel to
them as well, and certain commercial aspects. But the testing

(37:10):
the glass of six mill double glazed I was like, yeah,
six minimere double glazed and it's consumly tested, so they're amazing,
and I get people, now, what's happening. It's our businesses.
We'll be doing this for three years. Our business is
really starting to move. I think we pick the right
time to do this, and we've got companies coming and going.

Speaker 10 (37:31):
Yep.

Speaker 15 (37:31):
The only problem is you've got to wait twelve weeks
to get in here. We go off the plan and
what turns up turns up, you know. Actually, but the money,
I mean if you're saving thirty to forty grand on
one days, I mean one hundred thousand four windows in
the house, that's crazy.

Speaker 9 (37:48):
It is.

Speaker 15 (37:48):
Yeah, it's just aluminium glass.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
So these new rules will obviously help you, Kim. But initially,
did you have trouble with builders taking the products off
you that they had concerns that it was important and
it hard to get across the line.

Speaker 15 (38:04):
No, no, because what happened was it took us two
years to get the windows started actually made, and then
we bought them. And we always knew this was coming up.
The government always you're gum and always talked about doing this,
so so it was pretty much we got the grid
light outside the green light and off we went.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
All right, timed it well, well done, thinking ahea.

Speaker 15 (38:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, But I'm just saying that, you know,
I mean, this is another subject, but when you're giving
people two and a half months off alloys, that's where
your money's going as well. I mean on a new dimer.
Shuld belabor only everybody learns about their money. Everybody understands money,
and you make more money.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Yep, fair enough to can thank you very much. I'm
glad it's working out for your timed it well.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, Tyler. Architects, engineers and builders are well known for
making big mistakes. Happens a lot and is picked up
by the building inspectors, so there's a bit of push back.
There's a bit of pro building inspector stuff coming through
as well.

Speaker 9 (38:53):
Tyler.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
Absolutely your hateful words about that, but I think by
and large, a lot of people are happy about, hopefully
the costs coming down for these building materials, including you,
because you've got a big reno coming up.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Oh look, if they're good materials and it makes things
quick and we give them a bit cheaper, and we
can even if we're only saving a mere twenty two
thousand dollars on a six hundred thousand dollar house.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
Yep, it's still twenty two thousand. That's a lot of butter.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
That's a whole lot of butter.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
Right.

Speaker 3 (39:20):
Good discussion coming up after two o'clock. AI for children
as a support our source rather of emotional supporting companionship.
Twenty three percent of New Zealand school children have AI
as a companion, according to cybersecurity firm Norton. How do
you feel about this? I eight one hundred and eighty
ten eighty if you're apparent, love to hear from you.
If you're in the education system, really can to ever

(39:42):
chat with you? Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty nine
to nine two is the text machine, News, Sport and
Weather on its way.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
Talking with you all afternoon. It's Matt Heathen, Taylor Adams
afternoons us talk ZI.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
Be very good afternoon to you. Welcome back into the show.
Seven past too.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
I just got a heated into a heated discussion with
the media inside there about my positive view of happy Gilwill. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
I my eyes over after I came back from the
bathroom and could saw your knee deep in with the
media inside it.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
No, it wasn't heated. Actually, it was just that he
didn't agree with my absolutely glowing review of Happy gil
More too.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
What did he like about it?

Speaker 2 (40:22):
What didn't he like about it? Yeah, Oh, he just
found it a little bit disappointing. So I think the
problem is that you've got to be careful with your
expectations on a movie like that. So I was worried
they were going to ruin the legacy of Happy gil
were one of my favorite movies. And then I thought
it was good, right, Yeah, but I came in from
low expectations. So people like me that come going around
now telling you it was great. People might go in

(40:43):
with high expectations, but I just let it wash over you.
There's enough gags to enjoy, and there's you know, some
people say there's too many cameos, but I love those.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Yeah, it's a fun watch. Go check it out. Right,
This is going to be a very interesting discussion. A
confidential helper or an unreliable manipulator either way. As we know,
AI has become a source of emotional support for a
lot of people, but also compare onionship for twenty three
percent of New Zealand school children. That's according to cybersecurity
firm Norton so Norton Asia Pacific Managing director Mark Corey

(41:17):
told The Herald AI is just exploding everywhere. Kids could
be asking questions to chat GPT or co pilot. There
seems to be growth around AI chatbots and with children's
use of this technology.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah, so what do you think about this? What do
you think about children hanging out with AI? AI companions?
But it's not just AI companions that are designed to
be companions, just general AI, your grocks and your chat GPTs.
You do enter into a relationship with them to a
certain extent. You know a lot of people use pleases
and thank yous with them. The way they are designed

(41:49):
is to be more human like than they actually are
in terms of their interactions. But I would say that's
a you know, development for a child. It's important for
them to learn how to reckon with humans. You know,
whenever you look into mental health, it's our time spent
with other humans that leads to the best outcomes. Yeah,
and that's because you have to reckon with other humans.

(42:12):
They're not always on your side. You know, you have
to win them over, you know, you have to come
up with good jokes. For them to laugh at at
you know. Yeah, you know, sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're sad.
So I don't know how. I don't know how advantageous
it is for a kid to spend a lot of
time with someone that just gives them exactly what they want.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yeah, because relationships are hard, right, Well, we know that relationships
can be very difficult. Some of them are easier than others.
But you're right. I think as a child, when you're developing,
you've got to go through a bit of conflict in life.
You've got to find those challenges and those foibles of
human nature to be able to establish those skills to
actually build relationships, to negotiate with people, to find out
who is going to be a buddy and who is

(42:53):
going to be someone that you're not going to be
friends with.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
I thought what Norton agea Pacific managing A director Mark
Gory said about this, which I thought was interesting. We
want kids to be having healthy relationships. We don't want
kids replacing family and friends with what is an AI tool? Now,
I think, so this is talking about kids, but one
and wide and up one tight undred eighty ten eighty.
Because I was talking to one of my sisters. I've

(43:17):
got three sisters. They are all great New Zealanders, love
them to bits. Yeah. By talking to one of them,
I'm not gonna say which one was either an Noise Catherine, Imogen, Okay,
by one of them, yep. One of them was saying
to me that she works a lot with AI in
her job, and she actually finds it quite jarring when
she starts talking to humans because the humans push back

(43:37):
and our emotional rollercoaster are aunt as polite as she
would expect them to be considering how much time she's
working with AI, which I thought was a really interesting
concept that you might become conditioned to certain responses and
as a result, you are shocked by the prickly edges
of humanity.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
Yeah, it's really hard to get under AI's skin. I
don't think you can because every time you ask it
a question, great question, and then it gives you that answer.
But even if you push back on AI, it still
comes back with Yeah, good point, good point.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
I was going to do that there. I was just
going to bring up Grock and I was going to
abuse it, and I thought I would never do that.
It's like I get angry with my kids if they
just randomly kill strangers in video games or eck and
a terrible moral fashion and video games. I still won't
do it. Yeah, I won't do it. I'll always be
polite to all ais, every home, home speaker, whatever it is,
I'm always going to be polite.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
Please and thank you? Yeah yeah, Oh eight one hundred
eighty t and eighty. If you're a parent and your
children's using AI, how do you feel about AI becoming
a bit of a companion or emotional support for your children?
Do you see benefits in it? Love to hear from
you on oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty And what
about you?

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Are you in a relationship with your AI? I'm not
talking about her, like, great movie her? Have you seen that?
Yuck Can Finished?

Speaker 3 (44:50):
I haven't, No?

Speaker 2 (44:51):
Fantastic A movie where a guy falls in love with
his operating system. Scarlet Johansen is the voice of her.
It's a fantastic movie. So I'm not talking about that.
But do you feel a sort of are you personifying AI?
Do you feel that the AI that you use as
a person are you? Are you having a relationship with AI?

(45:12):
And do you think that's healthy?

Speaker 3 (45:13):
Oh eight one hundred eighty ten eighty is the number
to call. Love to hear from you on this If
you want to send a TEX ninety two ninety two,
it is bang on twelve past two.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
Your home of afternoon talk Mad Heathen Taylor Adams afternoons
call eight hundred eighty ten eighty us talk said, be.

Speaker 3 (45:33):
Very good afternoon to you. It is a quarter past
two and we're talking about AI chatbots. For many young
kids and actually the general population, they are becoming a companion.
In New Zealand, twenty three percent of New Zealand school
children use AI as a source of emotional support.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
Yeah, e one hundred and eighty ten eighty is your
child using AI for emotional support? Are you using A
for emotional support? And supplementary question, would you ever be
rude to AI? You know, the please and thanks you.
There's been a lot of talk recently about the huge
carbon footprint of people being polite to our The please
and thank you and such take a lot of processing.

(46:09):
But yeah, it's an let's text here. I thought was
very interesting. My girl struggles to find friends. I set
her up with an AI friend. She is much happier
up in her room now. I feel so lucky lucky
she's eleven. She may have been stuck with no friends
right through school. Now she has won. This makes me
sleep better at night. What she up in her room

(46:30):
right now?

Speaker 3 (46:30):
For it school time?

Speaker 2 (46:32):
She should be at school. Which might be the wider question.
But have you really found a friend or is she
just talking to herself? Said them avoid And if she's eleven,
maybe you know some people are living and they struggle
when they're eleven, and then they go to school and
they have some knockbacks, and then they find their people,

(46:53):
and then by the time they're fourteen fifteen, they have
their crew. By the time they're seventeen whatever, they have
their crew. They go to university, they find their people,
whatever it is. But maybe if they're hiding away in
their room talking essentially to them to not a human,
they may never go through that hard bit that it
takes to actually make friends. It's a tough one because

(47:13):
if your child's lonely and upset and this is making
them happy, you'd be hard to take it off them.
But still, you know, you have to go through hard
stuff as a kid, don't you.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
You do? And part a lot of big chunk of
me agrees with that. The more I look at this story, though,
the more I think that hopefully some of these AI
companions can teach those kids a few developmental skills to
hopefully push them out into the world. And not just
for kids. I actually think there's a lot of lonely
people out there in later life. They've got nobody to
chat to. I actually that's a benefit of this technology,

(47:42):
once you get to a certain age that you've got
this ability that you might be home by yourself a
lot of the time, to have an AI chatbot that
you could just have a discussion with, even if you
know it's not real.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
Twenty five percent of New Zealand homes are single people homes,
says this text. I would also say some cohabiting people
would also be as lonely. Some of us just don't
mix with real people, hence having to listen to you
two muppets. That's from Steve good point. Steve, Wow, but
are we real?

Speaker 3 (48:07):
That's right? We could the AI you might just be listening.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
That's going to become a concern more and more, isn't it.
It is because I have responded to a text machine,
a text that came through before, and someone said, is
that really Matt, and I was like, or is this AI?
And I was like, or is me? Well, I hope
it's me. Yeah, this Texas says, this is disgusting from you, Matt.

(48:31):
Parents are so crap these days. Get your kid down
the park playing with friends. Well, it's not my kids
that are on the AI, it's it's some kids are
on the AI. What percentage was it? Twenty three percent?
Twenty three percent using a I for companionship. So that's
one and four.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
That's a huge number.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
That's serious being welcome to the show.

Speaker 13 (48:55):
Yeah, hey guys, Yes, So I've got my father at
the moment. It's just gone into a home. He's seventy one,
and my sister and all set up a system form
like it's through Amazon. And he's got a two way
speaker and it's set up for his tablets and that,
and he can he can control the lighting just by
talking to the speaker. He can ask it questions, get answers,

(49:18):
he can ask it to change the channel on the TV,
control the eating and that. And it wasn't a hell
of a lot of cost to set it up. From
what I understand, it was less than five hundred bucks.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
And is he getting some companionship from it. Do you
think it a point?

Speaker 13 (49:35):
You know, like he'll ask it questions, he'll get answers.
The answers are pretty pretty good, to be honest, especially
you know, like he does a little bit of cooking,
so he asked it a few questions to do with
cooking whatever, and yeah, he gets some pretty good answers.
He just has a general conversation with it. So I

(49:55):
think it's great for an old person on their own.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
So that's that's a setup that you have. That's you know,
it's a search engine, it's you know, for controlling your house.
How would you feel because you can get you know,
you can get an app on whatever system it is,
whether it's Alexa or Siri or Google Home or whatever
it is, where he could actually be talking to AI

(50:18):
that is simulating being a friend. You know. How would you.

Speaker 13 (50:23):
Feel done through Alixa? Yeah, yeah, yeah, this one has
done for Alixa, but it's not all the controls are there.
We haven't implemented them all. So it's just at the
moment it's basic. Because he's he's in the seventies, he
doesn't really know what he's doing, so we've had to
limit what you know what he can he can't do
where he's just going to get frustrated.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Do you do you? But but I guess what I'm
trying to say is would you feel like, so does
he live by himself? Did you say, Ben?

Speaker 10 (50:51):
Yes? Yes?

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah? And and I mean, if you don't mind me asking,
do you does he get lonely?

Speaker 5 (50:57):
Done?

Speaker 13 (50:57):
I would say he would like he You know, these
other people were around in the retirement home. It's not
a managed one, so there's someone there all the time.
So it's it's like I would say, at ninety we
get learnely. We try and chat to them as much
as we can, but it's not possible every day or
every night. And like this isn't full on AI, but

(51:19):
it's basic. Yeah, but it definitely helps. It's definitely helped them.
We've noticed the difference.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
Yeah, And so you would you feel like it would
be filling a gap in his life if he had
one of these AI friends as it were. So it's
not just getting information from it's not just doing something
for him. It is having a conversation like you would
have a conversation with a human, you know, asking you

(51:47):
about your life and discussing the world around you and
it giving you responses as if you were talking to
a human.

Speaker 13 (51:56):
Yeah, we haven't thought about going that far. I'm not
sure about someone in this deveniss someone in their twenties, definitely,
But yeah, I think you've got to have a limit.
You know, there's many people get there in age. There's
only so much second comprehend it, and you can actually
teach them and they'll take on board. So it would
be nice to try it. But yeah, I think you've
got to be.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
If he could take it on board, you'd be happy
with that.

Speaker 13 (52:20):
Yeah, we would be happy. But at the moment he's
happy and he doesn't rely on us as much as
what he did.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Oh, well, good on your being. You sound like a
good son.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
Thank you, great call. I mean that is we're not
too far away from that situation right where you can
have on your Amazon Elixa and it's a simulated AI
chat bot that can have a real life. So far
away from it, well, yeah, it exists, of course it does.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
This is what we're talking about.

Speaker 3 (52:44):
Yeah, we are obviously for the children, but I'm saying
that Alexa at the moment has kind of got that
robotic voice right, and.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
You can you can have any kind of voice you.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
Want if you've got Alexa rhyme, don't you.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
I've got Alexa, Google Home and you know obviously sirih Yeah,
so I've got AI all through my house listen to
me all the time and monitoring me constantly. Do you
ever have a debate with ALIXA? Well, sometimes I'll ask
the wrong AI and they've all got a joke for it,
you know. Yeah, so you'll ask Alexa to do something

(53:15):
thinking it's Google and say you've got the wrong guy.
And then because you know, so, you know, in our
kitchen we've got a Google set up, and and all
the bedrooms we've got the Alexa set up, and you know,
to turn on lights and turn things off, and you know,
it's it covers a lot of a lot of our house.

Speaker 10 (53:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Yeah, but you can have you know, you can. You
can get obviously apps which which you will just talk
back and forth with your your speaker as if they
were a friend, and you get Look, you can do
it with Alexa if you want. Absolutely, you can do
it with Google Home if you want. But there are
also things that are specifically programmed to be more human
and not just there to help you but to be

(53:54):
a friend.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
If I had that, I'd absolutely be having conversations and
debates with Alexa and Google hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
But right, well you think you can?

Speaker 3 (54:02):
Man, Okay, I'm going to go down and BUYOT today.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
Do you have a little Echo expensive?

Speaker 3 (54:07):
It's going to be very happy that she doesn't have
to listen to my punishing Chad anymore. I can set
with AI.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
It might even be more punishing if you're just having
a conversation with you know, she's trying to watch TV
and you're gas bagging a way to it.

Speaker 3 (54:17):
Two, shut up whatever boring stuff you're into. Oh, one
hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. How
do you feel about children having AI as companions not
just children across the board? How do you interact with AI?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Yeah, and look Gary text through here. Hi, guys, I'm
seventy five and still fly planes. We're not all past it.
That's Gary. And I would say, like, my dad's in
his early eighties, and no one is more open to
embracing new technology than my dad. Yeah, Like he's whenever
I spend time with him, he's introducing meat and new
high tech stuff. So it's it's some people as they
get older, are not interested in new tech, and some

(54:53):
people are.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yeah, nicely said, we're all different. Exactly. Oh eight hundred
eighty ten eighty is the number to call. It is
twenty four past.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
Two Matt Heathan Tyler Adams afternoons call oh eight hundred
eighty ten eighty on News Talk ZV.

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Speaker 3 (56:16):
And we aren't talking about AI chatbots replacing friends or
acting as a companion for twenty three percent of New
Zealand children. How do you feel about that? Oh, eight
hundred and eighty ten eighty Is this a step too far?
Or does it make a lot of sense?

Speaker 2 (56:29):
Guys? Says the text, So what the hell has happened
that AI became your companion? Not good in my opinion.
And a child's development and ability to connect with people. Craig, Yeah,
that's what I'd worry about because sometimes and you've got
to wonder as a parent whether you're taking the easy option. So,
you know, when I was a kid, was talking about
using television as a babysitter, right, And then you know,

(56:51):
you go to a restaurant and you'll see a kid
there that's on their iPad with the headphones on while
they're sitting around the table at the restaurant, and that's
just like keep the kid quiet, and then what is
the next step of that is? You know, this kid
doesn't need to find friends. The kids just have be
talking to AI in the other room. No need for
a playdate, no need to drive them across town, no

(57:13):
need for them to join a sports team to find
friends or whatever they were going to do. That's fine,
we've ticked that off. The kids just happy over there
talking with its AI companion.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
Yeah, it starts to get a bit black mirror at
that stage. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty is a
number to call.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Greg. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 7 (57:28):
Yeah, gooday, how's it going?

Speaker 1 (57:30):
Very good?

Speaker 2 (57:31):
Greg? What's your thoughts on this?

Speaker 7 (57:34):
Or it's more than I'm sort of thinking, but the
AI doesn't have a choice whereas a real person would.
But also, as you guys were talking about, like I
think a few weeks ago or something, if we are
living in a simulation that everybody is an AI.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Yeah, well it's something to worry about.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
That's good.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Well yeah, well, unless we're all sitting somewhere else, let's
not go too deep into it. Unless we're all playing
in a sandbox world, so we're all plugged in somewhere else.
I'll other matrix.

Speaker 7 (58:10):
It remembers what you say and about your conversations and
stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Yeah, you could build.

Speaker 7 (58:17):
A sort of a rapport or like a friendship per
se with it. But it doesn't have a choice. So
are you really learning thing from it?

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Yeah, well that's the thing. So the idea of a
friend is that you've met them, you've got over that
threshold of the first time you introduce them to each other,
you find out you've got shared interest. You grow them together,
but you've got to butt heads with them sometimes you'll
have an argument. You've got to win them over a
little bit with your jokes all that kind of stuff.
And that's how you become a robust human being that

(58:48):
can meet other human beings and you take those skills
onto other human beings. If your companion that's filling that gap,
scratching that itch of being social is AI, then you
don't have to win it over. As you say, Greg's
it doesn't have a choice.

Speaker 7 (59:03):
What's it is going to agree with you? Yeah, you know,
it's not really going to push those sort of conversational
boundary you know.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
Yeah, And I'm sure you could probably you could probably
select things to say to make it more argumentative, but
then you're choosing that, so it's not the same, Yeah,
because it's quite full on sending kids to school to
make friends, and as a parent, you're worry about them.
You go, I hope they make friends, but that cauldron
of school and you know, the socializing is really what

(59:36):
makes you who you are as a member of society.

Speaker 3 (59:40):
So the deep end.

Speaker 7 (59:41):
Of socializing needs to be learned as well. And if
you're sort of cutting those corners, and I think you're
sort of going to block that put out from learning
those skills, yeah, learning how to react to other people's
reactions and stuff.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
And then they go and then they get a job
and on the first day someone is incredibly rude to
them and they're like, oh my god, and it hurts
fifty eight thousand times more than it would if you'd
had you know, you'd experienced a of that before at school,
you know.

Speaker 7 (01:00:10):
Yeah, well, yeah, that's exactly that they might come across
from of these wokies that are all offended in that,
and they'll probably sort of learn, oh, if I'm offended,
then that other people's problems instead of my own.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
As a parent, would you be being a pet apparent, Greig, Greg,
then if you set your kid's AI companion to just
be really mean to them so they get absolutely hardened up,
so when they hit the world, actually humans are nicer.

Speaker 15 (01:00:39):
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:00:40):
I'd probably say you're better off, but he hanging out
with you, getting them to hang out with their cousins
or you know.

Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
I think I think that you know what you say
about cousins. I think that is that is a huge
part of the world that is kind of missing a
little bit now, I see, because there's nothing like nothing
like hanging with your cousins, your cousins because they've got
a connection to you where a kind of already you're
already built in connection to you. So that's that means something.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
But you know, but unlikely they'll push back, exactly, Greg.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
If you anything like my cousin, they'll not only push back,
but they'll push you out of a sycamore tree and
twist your arm back.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
That's a good cousin right there, Greg, Thank you very much.
Great points. Oh eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty
is the number to call Love to hear your thoughts
about AI chatbots replacing friends. For twenty three percent of
New Zealand kids is it a step too far? And
coming up after the headlines, we are going to chat
to Papaitoe High High School Principal Worn Koyoh. He's got
a lot to say about AI and the use of

(01:01:41):
it by his students. So that is coming up. It
is twenty seven to three headlines with ray Leane on
its way.

Speaker 12 (01:01:49):
You talk said, be headlines with blue bubble taxis it's
no trouble with a blue bubble. The Comments and Consumer
Affairs Minister says plans to ban sneaky surcharges on card
transactions from next May could collectively save Kiwei's up to
one hundred and fifty million dollars in fees a year.

(01:02:10):
The government's running the tape measure over rules on using
scaffolding during construction. It says the protective measure is often
used regardless of the level of risk and the legislation
needs to be tailored to simplify jobs and cut costs.
Mixed news on employment, with Stats and Z figures showing
zero point one percent rise and filled jobs last month,

(01:02:33):
led by work in primary industries going up zero point
nine percent. A fifty seven year old is due in
court accused of smuggling more than a kilo of meth
into Auckland Airport in carry on luggage over the weekend
after flying it from Kuala Lumpur. Tadadua District Council is
trying to work out if someone's been stealing water after

(01:02:55):
major unexplained drops at the Pongo or a water treatment
plant in the past week. Another explanation could be new
leaks a revived threat for Scott Robertson's All Blacks. You
can see Phil Gifford's full column at enzid Herald Premium.
Back to matt Ethan Tyler Adams.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
Saying to you very much, Raylean, and we are talking
about artificial intelligence chatbots. They are replacing friends for twenty
three percent of New Zealand kids, that is according to
Norton Anti Virus and Cybersecurity. To chat further about this,
we're now joined by Papatoe Toe High School Principal Vaughn.
Call you Vaughan, very good afternoon to you. Nice to

(01:03:34):
have your company.

Speaker 16 (01:03:35):
All good.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
Now, what do you see as the risks that come
with kids using AI chatbods instead of human bodies?

Speaker 16 (01:03:44):
Yeah, Interestingly, I'd just like to say that I'm not
sure the sample size that Norton used in their research
was particularly problematic, was particularly decent. He of a thousand people. Yeah,
it's very light, and there's more people at my school,
and it's sampled and surveys, so I don't think my
school is indicative of the entire New Zealand population. But nonetheless,

(01:04:06):
we are getting increasing numbers of young people who are
overly connected to their device, whatever that might be. So
it could be from a social media perspective, or now
as the AI technologies improve or advance, I should say
to someone who's actually not a human that they're developing
a relationship with. So it can be problematic.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Schools can be brutal, of course, and you know parents
worry about their kids, you know, dropping them off at
the gate. They have to interact with so many different people,
But so is life. Life is brutal as well. So
as part of the school experience learning how to deal
with people that maybe not well, some people are actually
out to get you all through life. And is that
part of the school experience, learning how to deal with

(01:04:51):
complex interactions and the foeables of other humans.

Speaker 16 (01:04:56):
I'd like to rephrase that a bit. Some relationships can
be complicated with people in a large space. Schools can
also be incredibly warm and supportive when you're in need.
So sometimes some particular relationships can be problematic, and you
do have to develop a degree of resilience as a human.

(01:05:17):
When you think about how my own family banters around
the dining room table, some of it can be pretty
harsh when you look at it from the outside, but
the reality is actually I love those people across the
table and don't do anything I could to help them
and support them. And so schools have a very similar vibe.
Most of the grown ups and a school really like
being there and want to look after the young ones

(01:05:38):
and fostering that relationship between humans and also giving people
skills to know what to do when things get hard
are particularly important.

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
Well, you talk about banter, and that's you know, banter
is a way that you win people over, and you know,
like making someone laugh is important for friendship, and so
I guess my point is if you're talking to an
AI chatbot, what you're really getting is what you want
back and as opposed to having to win the chat

(01:06:11):
bot over. So while schools can be warm environments, as
you say, even In that case, you still have to
be saying something funny every couple of minutes in your
circle of friends to really move that friendship forwarden.

Speaker 16 (01:06:24):
Yeah, absolutely, And as with any sort of algorithm, it
will give you back what you're sort of seeking. So
in a short term, think of it like a band
aid or a Moro bar at the supermarket. It might
be quite useful in the short term. It's when you
become dependent on that type of interaction and unable to

(01:06:45):
engage in other interactions with real humans that you're developing
yourself a bit of a problem. You there's nothing wrong
with you grabbing that Moro bar as you go through
the checkout counter because you skip lunch and you've done
it once in the last three months. But if you're
eating a chocolate bar instead of a meal every day,
suddenly you've got some nutritional issues.

Speaker 3 (01:07:02):
Yeah, how do you deal with that? As a principal? Warm,
Because I imagine you've got a lot of students at
your school that are utilizing this technology AI to ask
various questions they have about life that they're too afraid
to ask a teacher or the parent or even a friend.
And some of that information, as we know comes back
and it's.

Speaker 2 (01:07:19):
A lot hallucinations they call hallucination.

Speaker 3 (01:07:22):
So how do you deal with that as a school
principle and someone in the education sector to talk with
kids about that sort of stuff.

Speaker 16 (01:07:29):
Yeah, so the AI flane of thing is really rapidly evolving,
as you'll know. So i'd have to say in most
cases we're all playing a bit of rapid catch up
with regard to that. But in terms of conflict, in
terms of relationships, in terms of building resilience between two people's,
schools have been doing that for a long long time.
And so you remember when you and I were back
at school. I don't know how old you guys are,

(01:07:50):
but for me, it was very jurassic. But you know,
we had counselor as we had deans, we had support people.
In a high school space. In a primary school space,
you got to know that classroom teacher of yours really
well and they got to know you really well, so
they could tell when you were off color and the
importance of that human interaction. So in the secondary space,

(01:08:10):
which is where my skill set is, there's lots of
work that goes in and year nine in your turn
about what a healthy relationship looks like not only will
another person, but with digital devices keeping yourself safe online
what you can do when you don't know what to do.
Lots of lots of education happens in terms of promoting
options for connection when connection is something you are seeking.

Speaker 2 (01:08:32):
It's an interesting one because people say, look, you can
have these AI chatbots or just AI in general coming
up with these hallucinations, which it's when they feed you
something that as if it's true, but it's just the
way they've gathered the information in the larger language models,
so it comes not true. But the thing is that
can happen with humans. Humans are always giving you information
that's not true, that their straw is true. So you

(01:08:55):
know that, you know that is part of life as well,
learning what is true and what is not true and
finding your way through the information that's not right.

Speaker 16 (01:09:07):
Yeah, absolutely always had to You've always had to filter
your sources. You know, you're getting some feedback after a
sports game and someone saw that that was a fowl
and the other person didn't think that was a foul,
and who do you believe because they actually were both
watching the same game. So in every aspect of life,
you've got to filter the information you're given and try
to work out what is the best course of action
for you. But given that humans are pack animals and

(01:09:29):
we don't do well by ourselves, it's really important that
we help provide our young people with the skills to
engage in the majority with other humans. And it might
be good that you embellish what you're doing with in
the digital space, but actually your your your primary connection's
got to be with real people.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
And finally, Vaughn, do you think the government should be
jumping in and regulating this kind of thing a ban
for under sixteens like has been suggested for social media
or do you think that's not practical.

Speaker 16 (01:09:57):
Practically that's particularly challenging. You know, I'm a very proactive parent.
My wife and I are very pro parents with our
children when they were younger, and very very, very difficult
to work out what they're doing every minute of every day.
And the reality is the practicalities of how to create
consequence for the provider of those social media services should

(01:10:21):
they have been found to be in breach would be
particularly challenging. And we can lock to overseas jurisdictions around that,
and they're all fumbling with the same thing. The reality
is what it comes down to is healthy, strong families
and people knowing what their kids are doing.

Speaker 3 (01:10:36):
Vaughn, great to chat with you. Thank you very much.
You're at the cold front of a very interesting time
in education. But really appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:43):
And look this, Texas says AI wise, New Zealand is
like a cyclist pedaling and slow motion while the rest
of the world races ahead in high speed bullet trains.
As global advances and AI education wise, new Zealand's like
a cyclist peddling and low mation. Okay, that was repeated
itself twice that tex So maybe this's from AI that one.
But but that's the thing as well. If you restrict

(01:11:07):
New Zealand's young people from where the future is going,
then that could have consequences as well, because we're already
behind the eight ball here exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:11:14):
Oh one hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number
to call if you allow your children to use AI.
What is the feedback you're getting? And are you okay
with kids having companion bots?

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
And are you like one of my sisters who said
that she's struggling to deal with humans now because they're
too rude compared to check GPT.

Speaker 3 (01:11:31):
It is quarter to three.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
Matt Heath, Tyler Adams with you as your afternoon rolls
on Matt Heath and Tyler Adams Afternoons news talks.

Speaker 3 (01:11:40):
It'd be it is twelve to three.

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
Richard, welcome to show your thoughts on AI, companions and
AI in general.

Speaker 17 (01:11:47):
Hello, yeah, man goo, Well I'm here, sad a text
and then I sit in a space where we're for
organizations that try to get people more active, especially the inactive.

Speaker 18 (01:12:01):
And one of the challenges we're facing is an increased
amount of people not being active because of screen time.
You talk about companions, and I suppose the psychological effects
of that connection that people may have because they don't
get it in their day to day life. You're probably
drawing more people into more screen time, and so one
one of the mental health benefits of that and the

(01:12:24):
longer term perature.

Speaker 10 (01:12:26):
Two, the world has been.

Speaker 18 (01:12:28):
Dominated by AAIs you guys have been acknowledging, and everyone's acknowledging.
But that means people don't need the skills anymore to operate.
They actually need the people's skills to work. That's probably
where a lot of the work and the future will
be because you know, AI in three or four years
time will have radio producers doing it more efficiently. They'll
have ces because they can make better judgments based on

(01:12:49):
the invenits out there. Once all the information is joined up,
And so it's going to be more critical to understand
connects and be with people. You'd almost say it TWM
review the importance of being with your fucker partper and
aligning with people and looking after your family and extensions
will be ready critical. But the third part is we're
going to horrendous health build now and an increase in

(01:13:09):
obesity and how young people are more inactive than they
been ever before. So having this companion scenario and the
algorithms that go with all that could actually just accentuate
the time that people spend away from people. So there's
just a whole heap of unintended consequences that probably we
even even thought about it. And if you asked a
high about it now, they'll probably tell you please. They'll

(01:13:30):
be on the screen for more than thirty minutes a day,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So there you go.
There's the over things I've thrown out of the amcope.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
Yeah, I think you might. I think you might be
absolutely right. And I've got this theory on that as
well that I think I've shared before that I think
human interactions and just humanity and human created things, handcrafted
things will become more and more important as AIS is
able to do so many more things. We want the

(01:13:58):
I think authenticity and human authenticity because if you look
at it, for example, we still admire how, you know,
we've got a car that can go one hundred meters
very quickly, but we still admire that the fastest runner
in the world, right, and we admire them because because
because they're a human and so I think being able
to do human things is always going to have a

(01:14:21):
lot of value. So I think, I think if I
get what you're saying, Richard, is that if you're spending
all your time with the human and AI companion, then
actually you're you're going to lose that human advantage that
is still going to be really important in the future
in terms of relationships with family and friends and also
the ability to do, you know, demonstrate yourself as a human.

(01:14:43):
Is that kind of what you're saying, Yeah.

Speaker 18 (01:14:45):
I suppose that the connection piece and reading people face
to face you know, I could could evolved those skills.
And we've seen the generation and the visuals are very good.
But you know what I think of the time yourself
where you've had difficul conversations, whether your partner, your wife,
your guilfred and the best mates, and have you come
out of that? And you know, maybe those those subtle

(01:15:07):
body language is the bit you pick up the emotional
intelligence piece A. Yeah, you can learn it by being intelligent,
but are you reading it? Communications not just about information
one way, it's all the other pieces that come from
social direction. And I'm sure in the workplace now we
need people that can actually work together. You made a
comment earlier about oh, I'll get passed off when someone

(01:15:28):
gives me the hard facts. We already know that the
generation that has come out, we're into Generation lo BESA
now it was Generation Alpha. They're already fragile. They Generation
ZENA are already suffering anxiety at work. Twenty five percent
of young people that are in the workplace and Generations
zen are suffering anxiety just by being a work I mean,

(01:15:49):
you know.

Speaker 3 (01:15:49):
It's good for health.

Speaker 2 (01:15:51):
Not really so interesting enough. Everyone's saying that we need
to embrace ais as quickly as possible, and it's a
huge advantage for your life. But there might actually be
the big advantage for young people are those that don't
those people that embrace human reactions interactions, because we're not
going to give up and human interaction are so important
to us, we're not going to give on that. So counterintuitively,
the kids just that embrace old school might actually have

(01:16:13):
a huge advantage in the future, just because maybe.

Speaker 18 (01:16:15):
That's the point. We don't know, right But what we
do know is our mental health issues are getting greater
and our younger people suffer from more issues. And we
also know our physical health is decreasing in the Western world,
you know, so our realities that exists. So let's look
at the evidence of where we're going and and we
have to be adaptive and aware. But the world is

(01:16:36):
changing very quickly of the ais and technology is going
really fast. We don't know what we don't know, so
we can't assume it's going to be all one or
the other. We've actually got to mix it up. The
research is coming out about phone time for young people
now and it's actually quite horrifically effect of hand and
that even ai this is the last phase of mobile
phone two thousand and eight or nine when it really
took off and AI and software was.

Speaker 3 (01:16:59):
In your hand spotted.

Speaker 18 (01:17:00):
So we so you know, we don't even know the
full effect of that, and they are already talking about
the next thing because it's going so fast, as.

Speaker 3 (01:17:07):
Rich, very refreshing to hear your thoughts on that, Thank
you very much, and that will make a lot of
people feel a lot better about the rise of AI.
Have a great afternoon, and really nice to chat with you.
Right back very shortly here on News talks 'B it
is seven to three.

Speaker 2 (01:17:22):
I want to next, I want to share this very
abusive text towards me, which I think is fear and unfair.

Speaker 3 (01:17:29):
Now this is going to be good.

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
The issues that affect you, and a bit of fun
along the way. Matt Heath and Tyler Adams Afternoons News TALKSB.

Speaker 3 (01:17:40):
News Talks the Betters four to three. Humans need to
accept our time is done. We're too harmful to ourselves
and the planet. Enough is enough, end us. Wow, that's
a weird attitude. That's the extinction lists. They're everywhere now.

Speaker 2 (01:17:52):
That they think there's not In my opinion, there's not
much point of the planet and if this human's there
to observe it, just give up. I mean, the dinosas
there for a long time, no one was writing poetry
about her, or looking around or writing tunes. If the
humans aren't here, then there's no point of planet Earth exactly.
But we don't have time now. But I'll get to
that abuse of text about my support of AI that
I didn't really have any after the.

Speaker 3 (01:18:11):
Break that is coming up very shortly. News, Sport and
weather on its way. You're listening to matt and Tyler.
I hope you're having a great afternoon. Thanks for listening
to us. We'll see you on the other side.

Speaker 1 (01:18:24):
Your new homes are insightful and entertaining. Talk It's Mattie
and Taylor Adams afternoons on News Talk Sebby.

Speaker 3 (01:18:33):
We'll get out of you. Welcome back into the program.
Seven past three. Just before we get into our next topic,
it's fair to say I got so excited.

Speaker 2 (01:18:42):
Yeah, that's right. I've dubed you the time lord, and
it's your job to make sure everything on the show
runs to time. But Tyler, I might have to replace
you with AI because we ran out of time for
some texts that I wanted to share because I thought
they were quite they were quite insightful texts, yeah, or
quite shocking text.

Speaker 3 (01:18:59):
Right, very shocking.

Speaker 2 (01:19:00):
So before we put the last topic to bed, which
is how much time people are spending with AI chatbots
instead of real humans, thought I'd read the text out.
COVID did not help it isolated people. A therapists will
tell you it is mentally healthy to have multiple groups
of real friends, not even just one. Hey, guys, I
can tell you this. I've had far more intelligent conversations

(01:19:20):
with AI than I've had with a lot of people lately.

Speaker 3 (01:19:23):
That's good stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:19:25):
Yeah, but it's not really intelligent. You're staring into the mirror. Now.
This is where AI does come into handy to help
the ego or whatever makes you feel hurt. Just to
ask AI on the phone, who is the most beautiful
of all? In League's deep love? That is that's deeper
than what you think.

Speaker 3 (01:19:42):
Yeah, that is very deep with's AI.

Speaker 2 (01:19:44):
In some ways you're just talking to yourself. But this
text I found, Ah, I just answered so many ask
so many more questions than it answers. Nice for you, Matt,
You can make friends some of us can't. Sick of
people like you who think that the way you live
is the only way you may like banter. I do
not boris thugs like you may like to make fun.

(01:20:05):
Maybe the rest of us don't want to be made
fun of. Now I finish work when no one talks
to me. At home, I have an AI companion. It
makes my life livable. But tune into the radio and
you judge us. Now that The interesting thing I thought
about that is it ended with judge us. So them
and their AI companion. Yeah, I mean that is getting deep.
And I didn't say any of those things, by the way,

(01:20:27):
No you didn't.

Speaker 3 (01:20:28):
And I don't want to be mean here, but judging
by the tone of that text, I just say to
that person, there may be a reason why you're finding
it hard to make friends, because that's quite that's quite
a bit of anger there.

Speaker 2 (01:20:38):
Well yeah, but you've got to feel for someone that
struggles to make friends at work. And sometimes the banter
is a little bit much, I guess, but that's just
the world you live in. But there's something deeply sad
about not talking to any at work and not saying
it's your fault. But then you go home and then
you talking to your AI and then and then you
tune into the radio and I'm judging both of you.
I don't even know you AI, or are you certainly

(01:21:00):
not judging you? We were just having a conversation. But
all the best to you.

Speaker 3 (01:21:03):
Yeah, good luck.

Speaker 2 (01:21:04):
My heart goes out to you.

Speaker 3 (01:21:05):
I'll be your friends.

Speaker 2 (01:21:06):
And look, if it works for works and the AI
companion is making you happy, then I certainly would not
judge you.

Speaker 3 (01:21:12):
Yep, what a great discussion that was, thanks to everybody
who phoned and text on that right coming up a
couple of months ago, you might have remembered this. We're
having a chat about the cost of funerals and a
great key we call Tom called in and he was
planning his own funeral after being diagnosed with sarcoma. So
it is Sarcoma Awareness month and we wanted to catch
up with Tom to see how he's going and have

(01:21:33):
a chat about donating to that fantastic foundation. So that
is coming up after the break. We're going to catch
up with Tom and then ask you the question, how
do you deal or how did you deal with some
pretty significant news if you've been dealt at oh one
hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number call. It
is ten past three New Storks VB New Storks EDB.
So back in April we were talking about the cost

(01:21:55):
of funerals. A great New Zealander called Tom. He called
in and he's back with us today. Tom, get a tou.

Speaker 10 (01:22:03):
Go man, go Tyler. How are you lads?

Speaker 2 (01:22:06):
Fantastic one of the most popular callers to our show.
We were talking about planning funerals and you rang and
said you were planning your own funeral, which should have
knocked us from six. But your attitude was phenomenal and
as a result we got about a thousand texts on
the back of it. So it's so good to have
you back on the show to chat. Now. Tom tell
us about your condition and when you were diagnosed and

(01:22:28):
how you were diagnosed.

Speaker 10 (01:22:30):
Well, thank you so much for this opportunity. It really
does mean a lot to me. So I was diagnosed
with a very rare type of cancer called a sarcoma
back in February nineteen, nineteen two and twenty two show
Amazing and at the time, of course, my diagnosis was
a stage four cancer. So it was started in my

(01:22:54):
small bowel thing and it already metastasized to my liver,
so the outcome didn't look great. So you go through
a period of time where you know what's there, but
you don't know what it is. And then I got
told of what I had, this rare known as JUST,
and I'm a bit of a researcher by nature, so
I jumped on and I was looking for as much

(01:23:16):
information as I could find out about JUST. And some
of it as good stuff. I mean, you can live
a reasonably well and long and healthy life with JUST
if you get the right treatments and you get it early.
But what I found was that there was not a
lot of information available that was New Zealand relevant. So

(01:23:37):
you could get support groups online and there were other
foundations Australia America mainly where there was a lot of information,
but you would often get directed to go look at
a drug trial here or there, or you know Sloan
Keddering in New York and because none of that's really available.
So what I'm ringing today is that since my diagnosis,

(01:24:00):
there's been too wonderful on cologists in Auckland. Andrew and
Joanna have established the Sarcoma Foundation, which is a small
charity that's aimed at at supplying information two people like
me that is New Zealand relevant if you like, what
treatments are available for us, here, what we can expect

(01:24:24):
to get, what is funded, what isn't. Sarcoma makes up
only one percent were just over of all cancers each year,
so there's only several hundred people a year. So because
there's so few people with these rare cancers, we do
tend to fall between the cracks when it comes to

(01:24:44):
not just funding, but access to drug trials, just connection
with other people. Know what the foundation and for me
means is that there's a place there where we can go.
Because it's a very personal journey living with a terminal illness.
It's very hard to describe, to be honest. I think
I've watched a documentary done by Dineward where he ascribed

(01:25:08):
his journey and he is so right. We said in
one part there were it actually occupies ninety five pc
of your thoughts every day, that's all you really think about.
And to be able to connect with other people that
are going through the same thing as very cathartic. I
guess I could say, you know, that's another benefit. I

(01:25:31):
think that the Sarcoma Foundation will offer. My journey would
have been a lot less stressful in the beginning had
I been able to tap into a resource like the
Sarcona Foundation. And you know, people feel they could maybe
jump onto the Sarcoma website. They're just making a little

(01:25:53):
seven dollar donation for the seventh month. Every little bit helps.
I mean, I'm I'm kind of in the final stages now.
I've gone through the funded medications. You know, I have
funded to a point some medication that they all failed.
So yeah, you know, anyone understood the planning's all done

(01:26:16):
on or we've got it all sorted now we're just
still carrying on. You know, I still come to work
pretty much every day because I think that's very important
where you can just for your own mental health and
your own well being to be able to just keep
doing stuff right sitting back and what do you sit

(01:26:38):
at home and think about?

Speaker 2 (01:26:39):
Well, I was thinking about that, actually, Tom. You know,
your response to something most of us could can't get
our heads around from the position we're in, it's been
and our interaction has been so sort of full of
warmth and humor towards your condition. So you know, you
say that you've kept working and what other ways have
you managed to cope mentally well.

Speaker 10 (01:26:59):
I've always been very open and honest with people about
where I'm at and what I'm going through. So what
I've found that with all my friends and family, just
by always being open and honest with them and telling
them where I'm at, and people that I established relationships
within my work life as well, it sort of lessens

(01:27:22):
the burden for me because I've shared it so much.
But it's also if we gather somewhere, it's not like
the elephant in the room that no one wants to
talk about. Everybody knows about it, and for me, as
we're sort of getting closer to that end, I know
that they've got each other as well. That eases my

(01:27:46):
mind a little bit because it's such a mental battle.

Speaker 2 (01:27:49):
Tom As I said before, you're one of the most
popular callers to our show when you rang in with
the human that you did, and that you're an aspiring guy.
Thanks so much for talking to us and absolutely all
the best you made. People like you who's instincts in
the face of just unimaginably huge things, when your instincts
are hell others, it's I find it really humbling. For

(01:28:11):
the rest of us, and and it's it's an amazing
and beautiful thing. So it's it's been great to chat
to you again.

Speaker 13 (01:28:17):
Mate.

Speaker 10 (01:28:18):
Well, thank you, Matt. That's equally humbling for me to
have you say that. So I'll just go back to
sitting here and swearing at you guys.

Speaker 3 (01:28:27):
Please don we love it.

Speaker 2 (01:28:29):
We deserve it.

Speaker 10 (01:28:29):
Yeah right, yeah, look, I just I just hope that
this little chat, you know, raises a bit more awareness
for the foundation and the wonderful work that Andrew and
Joanna are doing.

Speaker 3 (01:28:39):
Yeah, well, Tom, thank you very much again mate. We
love you and hopefully we chat again soon.

Speaker 10 (01:28:45):
A yeah, well, next time I can come in and
give me some cake or something.

Speaker 3 (01:28:48):
We can do that. What's your favorite cake made?

Speaker 10 (01:28:51):
Anything? Anything?

Speaker 1 (01:28:55):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:28:55):
Matt's pretty good baker. No, Tyler will bake you a
banana cake. I'll have to get Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:29:01):
Yeah, I feel sorry for you. Now you're gonna eat
my cake? Thanks you guys, All right, mate, chat see
you Tom. That is Tom. What an absolute great New
Zealand there it is news talks there be you're listening
to Matt and Tyler beg for it. Shortly, how do
we donate against sarcoma dot org dot n z' donate
seven bucks. Yep, they're good people. News talks there be

(01:29:22):
you're listening to Matt and Tyler back very shortly.

Speaker 1 (01:29:28):
Matt Heathen Tyler Adams afternoons call oh eight hundred and
eighty ten eighty on News Talk ZB.

Speaker 3 (01:29:33):
Doctor Joanna Connor is a UK trained medical oncologert specializing
in sarcoma and breast cancers and as tumor lead for
Sarcoma at the Auckland Regional Cancer and Blood Service. She
is a founding member of Sarcoma New Zealand and being
Sarcoma Awareness Month, she joins us now doctor Connor, very
good afternoon.

Speaker 19 (01:29:52):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:29:53):
Now for those of us that are unaware, what exactly
is sarcoma, Yeah.

Speaker 19 (01:29:58):
So sarcoma is it's a word for tumors. So they
can be cancerous or benign of the supportive tissues of
our body, so that can be that muscle, bone. And
actually they can occur anywhere in the body at any age,
and they're usually very rare cancers, which is why many
people might not have heard of that term before.

Speaker 2 (01:30:20):
So it's a variety of cancers.

Speaker 19 (01:30:22):
Yes, so sarcoma is the umbrella term, and within that
there's actually many different types of sarcoma, right, And.

Speaker 2 (01:30:28):
How many people are affected in New.

Speaker 19 (01:30:30):
Zealand per year several hundred people per year and of
course some sarcoma's there might only be one per year
even but so some of the more common types of
sarcoma we might get fifty to one hundred throughout.

Speaker 2 (01:30:46):
Alto And what are the symptoms that people need to
watch out for?

Speaker 19 (01:30:50):
So this is this is one of the challenges of
sarcoma because they can occur anywhere in the body. They
can present actually in many different ways. For sarcomas that
might present on the extremity, so our arms or our legs,
that might be in the formers of lump or even
bone pain particular at night that comes. For socoma's that

(01:31:13):
are in the tummy, that can be more problematic because
they can be very vague, just general sort of fullness, discomfort,
maybe even from vomiting. So there's no one clear symptom,
but there's usually a collection of abnormal symptoms and we
usually say, look, if you're getting some symptoms that aren't
quite right, go and get them checked out. That's one

(01:31:34):
of the most important.

Speaker 3 (01:31:34):
Things for those that are diagnosed, Joanna. Are there hurdles
that they may face in getting treatment or what are
the challenges that those diagnosed can come across.

Speaker 14 (01:31:46):
Well, there's a.

Speaker 19 (01:31:47):
Couple of main challenges. The first challenge is getting the
right diagnosis, and we know that the path to diagnosis
can often be long, and that's because they're rare. We're
not always in the community, we're not always expecting it
to be a sarcoma, and so often we hear about
people being having lots of different investigations over a long

(01:32:08):
period of time. And then really importantly the diagnosis pathway
is that those once we've got a biopsy that has
to be reviewed by a sarcoma specialist because we know
sometimes they're so rare that we need the right people
to look at those, so that time to diagnosis can
actually be really long and a really challenging journey for people.

(01:32:30):
And then I think the second challenge is what is sarcoma?
What am I living with or what's my treatment plan?
And feeling quite alone because it's so rare.

Speaker 2 (01:32:40):
If you have concerns and nothing is being found, but
this discomfortable one of these symptoms that you're talking about continues.
How do you just keep going with it? How do
you keep asking for more tests.

Speaker 19 (01:32:53):
One of the really good things is that Sarcoma Foundation
New Zealand has some advice for healthcare professionals. And what
we've found is that that advice can really empower patients
to advocate for themselves if they feel like they're not
getting the right work up. And there's some really good
criteria about what needs investigations so imaging, what might need

(01:33:17):
an ultrasound, etc. And X ray and there's a really
clear referral pathway to get onto the right track. So
we hope that the information from the Sarcoma Foundation can
help empower patients to advocate for themselves, you know, to
getting that workup that they need.

Speaker 2 (01:33:35):
Is there a point where you, as like as a doctor,
you can go, you definitely don't have this, You've got
the symptoms, but we can rule this out. You see
what I'm getting at. Because people feel like they have
something and you can go on this journey and investigation investigation,
is there a point where you can just go, look,
you're clear, this isn't the thing that you need to

(01:33:56):
worry about Yeah.

Speaker 19 (01:33:57):
Absolutely, and although we're talking about farcoma today, I think
reassuring word from me would be that most of the
time these lumps on bumps are not sarcoma's. You know
these are really but unless you get them worked up,
we just need that reassurance. And usually that might be
a simple scam or an X ray, or for some

(01:34:18):
people they might need a biopsy. But usually one of
those two things is the key. A reassuring imaging or
a clear biopsy.

Speaker 2 (01:34:26):
We're talking to doctor Joanna Connor, founding member of this
of Sarcoma and New Zealand. So once you've been diagnosed,
what sort of treatments are available A.

Speaker 19 (01:34:35):
Whole bunch of treatments depending on the type of sarcoma
that has been diagnosed. Usually surgery is the cornerstone of treatment.
Most sarcomas need surgery to remove them. There are some sarcomas, however,
that need some treatment before we get to that surgery,
So that might be for some people radiation treatment or

(01:34:57):
even some chemotherapy, or even a combination of both. But
your treatment plan would be recommended by a specialist sarcoma team.

Speaker 3 (01:35:05):
So for people listening at the moment, Joanna, and they
might be a bit worried or for those who are
going through the journey, what would be your message to
those people?

Speaker 19 (01:35:14):
I think you're not alone. So it can feel immensely isolating,
but go to the website. There's lots of resources for
people in New Zealand affected by socoma and the family
as as well. And look, talk to us, you know,
if you're not sure, talk to us, particularly through Socoma

(01:35:36):
Foundation New Zealand. We can help make sure you're orientated
on the right path where the charities we're not your
treating team, but we can help advocate for you.

Speaker 2 (01:35:46):
How are you guys funded and how can people donate?

Speaker 19 (01:35:48):
So we're a charity, so we're very new in the
first couple of years have been launched to the public,
so we're welcoming all donations to keep us running. And
one of the goals this year is to start up
a support network for patients and consumers across our heroa.

Speaker 2 (01:36:06):
And so I had directly can they donate to go to.

Speaker 19 (01:36:08):
Socoma dot org dot inside and they can go there
through our.

Speaker 2 (01:36:12):
Website Sarcoma dot org dot INZID.

Speaker 19 (01:36:14):
Perfect.

Speaker 3 (01:36:14):
Yeah, doctor, really great to chat with you keep up
the good work and we'll catch up again soon hopefully.

Speaker 19 (01:36:20):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (01:36:21):
That is doctor Joanna Connor. She's a UK trained medical
oncologist and a founding member of Sarcoma New Zealand. You're
listening to Matt and Tyler. Very good afternoon to you.

Speaker 12 (01:36:32):
You talk zby headlines with blue bubble taxis, it's no
trouble with a blue bubble. The Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Minister says payment cards serve charges which are often excessive,
will be gone by May next year. Concerns about protesters
at Stockton Mine have climbed into an aerial rope way
bucket to prevent coal leaving the West Coast mine. This morning,

(01:36:56):
the governments and talks on changing rules aiming to strike
a balance between cutting red tape and keeping people safe,
with plans to reduce requirements for worksite is scaffolding. A
deadly reach of the Kaitia Arwardo Road near Northland's Kaitaire
is getting our first average speed cameras. The government's welcoming

(01:37:17):
a dramatic turnaround, and farmer's sentiment with confidence at an
eight year high. Thirty five Kiwi soldiers have been deployed.
To the Republic of Korea to train with Korean and
US forces. A second deployment is planned next year, and
Ed Sharon's added a second Auckland concert to his Kiwi
leg of the Loop World Tour. New Zealand shows from

(01:37:38):
January and tickets go on sale tomorrow. Top chefs on
where they eat, what to drink and how much to
tip in Auckland. You can read more at zienthrald Premium
back mail to matt Ethan Tyler Adams.

Speaker 3 (01:37:51):
Thank you very much, Array Lean and for those that
missed it, we just spoke a little bit earlier to
Tom who we chatted in two in April when we
were having a chat about funerals and he rang and
floored us in so many of our listeners that he
was planning for his own funeral. But it is Sarcoma
awareness month this month and so many texts again have
come in after hearing Tom's story.

Speaker 2 (01:38:13):
This Texas says time is my workmatee He's a brave man.
Love you brother. That's from Simon Yeah d Now Simon
Dean says Tom truly an inspirational human. On a side note,
I'm not sick, but my son is a funeral director,
and Barma has already planned my funeral and has told
me if I ever upset him, he will glue my
finger up my nose. I said, I want to be
buried in his favorite suit, whether it fits or not.

Speaker 3 (01:38:33):
Okay, very good, Yeah, you've got that sort. It's but
O one hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call,
so we're keen to hear from you. Look if you
are going through the Sarkom journey yourself, but also how
you've dealt with staying positive when you or your family
member has had a serious diagnosis. O one hundred eighty

(01:38:54):
ten eighty is that number to call.

Speaker 2 (01:38:56):
Nikki, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 19 (01:38:58):
Hi, how are you.

Speaker 2 (01:39:00):
Yeah, you've got it. You've got a very good thank you,
Thank you for calling. You've got You've got an interesting
story here.

Speaker 19 (01:39:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 20 (01:39:08):
I guess Tom's story piqued me a bit. I lost
my best friend to a starcoma of five years ago
called it was a very rare one, which often they
are called Lao Mayo sarcoma, and I just thought it's
fantastic to hear that there's this foundation that's been started

(01:39:32):
around Psycoonomist because I at the time as sort of
a support person. None of us had any awareness of.

Speaker 8 (01:39:40):
What the disease was.

Speaker 20 (01:39:43):
It was found kind of accidentally in some ways through
saw back, which led to X ray, which led to,
you know, a diagnosis. It's very hard to diagnose. And
then of course trying to get information and from my
perspective of a support it was hard. There was not

(01:40:03):
nothing that I found in New Zealand. So I found
a group in America and got some brilliant for interesting information.
But of course in New Zealand, our drug regime is
so different, Every case is so different. So yeah, just
I just think it's stabulous that they started something. And

(01:40:25):
also from a patient perspective, when my friend Tania went through,
I think at the time there was two other people
in New Zealand that had this particular type of cancer.
So really, yeah, it was a really difficult set of years.

Speaker 2 (01:40:45):
Yeah. Well, it takes people, you know, to start these things,
don't They kind of expect that they will exist, but
they often don't. So you know, for the Sarcoma Foundation
to start what they're doing and help the people that
they can help, it's they're just there's just the best
of us. It's it's I think it's amazing that people
will do that and pretty they that the equivalent wasn't

(01:41:08):
there for you guys?

Speaker 20 (01:41:10):
Yeah, absolutely, I think, you know, and it builds momentum,
and people like Tom are fantastic who are open that
just front foot. It's not everyone goes through their journey
that way. A lot of people are very private about
what they share. But I found with Tanya she was
quite open about and black and white about what was

(01:41:31):
going on, which helped, you know. I didn't feel like
I needed to be pressing her for information because she
could give it to me. But equally we were sort
of researching around the world for different things. Other family
members too, just just to try and get support.

Speaker 10 (01:41:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:41:50):
Yeah, it affects a lot of people, doesn't it, Because
you think about the you know, the person that's suffering
with the illness, but everyone around them as just floundering
around and trying to work out how they can help
and how they can be useful. So it's sort of
as a wide ranging effect, doesn't it.

Speaker 20 (01:42:10):
Yeah, it absolutely does.

Speaker 10 (01:42:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 20 (01:42:12):
Not you know, day to day family, how do you
support the family, how do you support your friend? When's
the right time to talk about it? Not talk about it.
Yeah it's yeah, it's it's a really hard journey, but yeah,
but yeah, my well one takeout is it's just you know,
really get out there and support. I will definitely be donating,

(01:42:34):
really really thrilled. We've got some fantastic on colleges in
New Zealand. But you know, information, you know can be
a huge help for patients, but you know also family
and friends.

Speaker 3 (01:42:47):
Yeah, Nikki, you're a fantastic human beings. Thank you very
much for giving us a call and and you're bang
on what these guys do, the SOCMA Foundation of New
Zealand providing that support and information for those going through it.
It means the world to those people, right.

Speaker 20 (01:43:01):
Yeah, Yeah, it's fabulous.

Speaker 2 (01:43:03):
Yeah, and you can do it.

Speaker 20 (01:43:05):
Thanks for raising it.

Speaker 2 (01:43:06):
Yeah, well thanks for thanks for bringing in Nick and
all the Bestsarcoma dot org, dot z as where you
go if you want to make a little donation.

Speaker 3 (01:43:15):
Yep, absolutely support them. Oh eight hundred eight huge donation.
Yeah please Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the
number of call love to hear from you. If you've
been through this junior or a family member has been
through this journey, really can have a chat with you.
It is Sarcoma Awareness month, but not just sarcoma. You
heard Tom and the chat that we had with him,
but his attitude an outlock on on what's happened with him,

(01:43:36):
his optimism and his positivity. How did you manage to
find that when you were a family member had a
serious diagnosis?

Speaker 2 (01:43:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:43:43):
Absolutely, Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number call.
It's twenty one to four.

Speaker 1 (01:43:48):
Have a chat with the lads on eight hundred eighty
ten eighty. Matt Heathan Tyler Adams afternoons used talks that'd.

Speaker 3 (01:43:54):
Be very good afternoons to you. It is eighteen to
four and it is Sarcoma Awareness month and we are
chatting about your stories and journeys, not just with sarcoma,
but how do you stay positive after getting a serious diagnosis? Oh,
eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call?

Speaker 2 (01:44:09):
And how do you support as a family member of
a friend someone who has has had a serious diagnosis? John,
you had a tumor that was initially classified as sarcoma.

Speaker 3 (01:44:20):
Oh get John? Just having some issues with their line
got you there?

Speaker 11 (01:44:22):
How are you hello?

Speaker 9 (01:44:24):
You got me one two three.

Speaker 2 (01:44:25):
Yep, you're there, You're in you know what there was me.
I didn't press the button. That was all on me,
John oh Man, come on disaster.

Speaker 9 (01:44:33):
Yeah no, just by chance. Well, I had a car ackson,
got hit behind my young lady who was texting on
the phone not paying attention, and had quite a serious
back and neck injury. And there was a follow up
examination done by my back specialist and he rang me
after the CT scan that I had that day, and

(01:44:56):
he called me late in the evening and he sorry
to bother you at the time of night, but I've
spotted a mass and a lot of part of your
back which needs further investigation. And so it was found
by chance, and it was in my gluteous minimus muscle.
My friends say it was just in your butt, John, Yeah,
that's right. And so and the special said that I've

(01:45:18):
classified it as a soft tissue sarcoma. He said, do
not google sarcoma. He said, I've done that to expedite things,
just in case it's the worst case. Anyway, So the
first thing I did when I got off the phone,
of course, was to googlecoma, and so I had to
go back for more scans. Of the particular area, and

(01:45:40):
they did a lovely three D model of it and said, yes,
and I did have a bulge down in that area,
which you know, I kind of I had all the
swelling related to the back injury, and I really didn't
focus on it that much. It was just the part
and parcel of what I thought was injury. Anyway, it
was definitely there, and so they did a punch biopsy

(01:46:02):
where they put a needle in and take samples out,
and then that was inconclusive, so they had to do
an open and biopsy where they go in to cut
it out. And so if in the worst case it
was COMA, they couldn't just take it out without first
radiating it and shrinking it and trying to harden it
up so they could get it all out. So you know,
I said, well, when you're going in there to do

(01:46:24):
a biop, so won't you take it out? And they said,
we can't, and we won't, so we have to find
out what it is, which will then determine the treatment plan.
So they did the open biopsy. They had the samples
looked at locally, but it was all inconclusive. So that
I should have said that the punch biopsy was inconclusive,
and now the open biopsy, the tissue samples they took out,

(01:46:45):
it was also inconclusive. But what was disclosed to me
was that we didn't really have the right testing equipment
to screen the tissue here in New Zealand or Australia,
so they had to send the tissue samples the way
to the United States. So this took months to get through,
and in the meantime, of course, you have to think, well,

(01:47:07):
you know, it's human anxious to think of the worst,
So when you're thinking of preparedness, I'm sorry, didn't hear
the previous quarter who's obviously talking about his experience and
mine is nothing like his because I had a happy outcome.
But but in that in that period of time when
when it hasn't been conclusive, you're just also wondering, you know,

(01:47:27):
because basically a sarcoma can be pretty deadly you can
take in a very short period of time. So anyway,
eventually the panel of specialists in the United States still
were inconclusive as to what it was. So eventually I

(01:47:47):
engaged specialists in the United Kingdom and and there was
sufficient tissue samples left over for it to be tested
as well, so ultimately it was sound to be not
a sarcoma. It was a mix omer. Well it's less,
it's less dangerous, but it's a twoman. Nonetheless, it was benign.

(01:48:11):
Well you know, all these all these growth inside one's
body had always have a low level of cancer cells.
But it was benign and they could go in and
take it out, and they did so shortly thereafter. But
it was many, many months of distress, probably not so
much for me, but me and my family and going

(01:48:31):
through the what is and trying to rapidly get my
life all wrapped up just in case. And it's no
fault of the medical professionals involved at the time, but
it's just a process. And upon reflection that is quite fortunate.
I had a very good specialist with a keen eye
that my spine specialists saw it in the first place,

(01:48:52):
you know, because had he not seen it and it
was came, it could have killed me.

Speaker 2 (01:48:57):
And you said, you know, you're getting it looked at
in the States and then in the UK. How much
did that cost you? Did it cost you personally or
did you have health insurance or how did you bathite it?

Speaker 9 (01:49:06):
I had Sealth insurance. Yeah, I was covered for that,
So it was a matter of driving at the end
of the day to make sure that I was going
to get a result because it was hanging too long
and so yeah, a bit of research and a bit
of direction and we got a conclusive result. So yeah,

(01:49:27):
I was very thankful, well.

Speaker 2 (01:49:29):
Very pleased to hear that, John, and absolutely all the
best and thanks for sharing that story with us.

Speaker 1 (01:49:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:49:35):
I mean it's important for people who have these diagnoses
is to ask as many questions I can and ensure
that the treatment plan has mapped out for them. But
the testing is the key thing. And I was a
bit surprised to find that we didn't have the appropriate
screening equipment both here in Australia to actually properly determine

(01:49:57):
the nature of the nasty little things growing inside of me.

Speaker 2 (01:50:00):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a scary what a story.

Speaker 3 (01:50:02):
Thank you very much, John Checky.

Speaker 2 (01:50:04):
Because you know, like if he didn't have insurance, then
we wouldn't move followed it through and would have just
been continually worried about it exactly. Jackie, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (01:50:15):
Oh hi, Hi, Yeah, so Jackie, you are currently in remission,
is that right?

Speaker 10 (01:50:23):
Yes.

Speaker 21 (01:50:23):
I've been in remission for three years now from breast
cancer and had it once and then I had a mastectomy,
and then a little bit came back and I had
another surgery and then decided they decided I had to
have keno into a sceptem, which was successful, thank goodness.
But I did a lot of other things along the way,

(01:50:44):
metabolic therapy and intimate and fasting, things like that.

Speaker 18 (01:50:49):
I wanted it out there about what should.

Speaker 21 (01:50:53):
See more, and that's DNA testing and RNA expressions.

Speaker 3 (01:50:58):
Yep.

Speaker 21 (01:50:58):
And I've learned that there's places overseas that do it
a lot better than we.

Speaker 9 (01:51:04):
Do it here.

Speaker 18 (01:51:05):
I could be wrong, so Lea's correct me if I'm wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:51:10):
Oh Jackie, what a blow. I think you've just gone
through a tunnel. We've just got your back, Jackie. We
we just lost you. Sorry, picked back up. Oh no,
I think we've lost Jackie. What a blow. Yeah, no,
we've lost Jackie. Oh eight hundred eighty teen eighty is
the number to call. So many texts coming through as well.

(01:51:32):
This one says guys. When I was diagnosed in two
thousand and four with a just tumor, my story was
covered by the media when I did this year's Coast
to Coast. Been a bloody tough years, twenty years rather,
but so glad that I've made it this far. That's
from Phil right. We've got to play some messages, but oh,
eight hundred eighty, ten eighty is the number to call.

(01:51:53):
It is ten to four.

Speaker 1 (01:51:56):
The big stories, the big issues, to the big trends
and everything in between. Matt Heath and Tyler Adams afternoons
used talks.

Speaker 3 (01:52:04):
It'd be very good afternoon to you. And we have
been talking about sarcoma. It is sarcoma Awareness month this month,
and had so many texts came through like this one gidday, guys,
my partner had a four point five kilogram sarcoma on
his leg. As you can imagine, that's huge. As you
can imagine, it was a huge shock at the time.
He had radiation and an operation, a few hiccups but

(01:52:27):
got through and the support surgeons, nursing, rehab crew, all
the departments were absolutely incredible helping us through. It was
heard and a long few months and time for him
from being so active and then this hitting affecting getting
back to work as a firefighter. He thought his career
was over, but his crew supported and we couldn't have

(01:52:48):
done it without them. And now back to the fire
crew and all regular checkups continue. It's like you know,
you never know where or when again hopefully not, but yes,
there is support out there. Sarcoma Foundation is an amazing
orc You just have to stay positive and talk talk talk.

Speaker 2 (01:53:04):
The sixth says my daughter had to have life saving
brain surgery. My wife and other kids went to Wellington
with her. I stayed home to earn the money to
pay for the motel, etc. My daughter later told me
she was confident on the day because she knew I
would be there if I could. My absence gave her confidence.

Speaker 3 (01:53:21):
Yeah, thank you to everybody who takes through over that hour,
some incredible stories coming through. And again thank you to
Tom Favor to chat with us again and Sarcoma New
Zealand Foundation. They absolutely do incredible work.

Speaker 2 (01:53:35):
Yeah, that's right. You can donate now at Sarcoma dot
org dot z. Their great New Zealander is doing great,
great work, as he said, Tyler, and thanks so much
to Tom for talking to us again and today. He's
a truly inspirational dude.

Speaker 3 (01:53:51):
Yeah, such a good guy and a friend in the show,
and hopefully we'll have a catch up with Tom a
little bit down the track. He's a very good man.

Speaker 2 (01:53:57):
Yeah, that's right, Salok and thank you so much to
you for listening to the show. We've loved talking to you.
The full show podcast will be out in an hour
or so. So if you missed our chats on why
it costs so much to build a New Zealand? Is
it the consent? Is it the materials? Is it the labor?
Because it costs twice as much to build a house

(01:54:17):
here than in Aussy. And also we had a fantastic
chat on AI companions, are they good for your kids
or not?

Speaker 3 (01:54:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:54:24):
If you miss those and follow our podcast wherever you
get your pods. The Poor Homes broadcast over the heather
The duplasy Ellen is up next. But right now, Tyler,
my good friend, why am I playing this song from Starship?

Speaker 1 (01:54:36):
Ah?

Speaker 3 (01:54:36):
But we built the city on rock and roll building materials.
Hopefully going to cod I cost a lot less. And
good luck with your reno mate, Oh, thank you, hopefully
that you're going to save a couple of thoul On that.

Speaker 2 (01:54:47):
Controversial song, this one, some people say it's got the
worst lyrics of all time, but interesting. The lyrics were
written by Bernie Teplin. What's his name, the guy that
wrote the lyrics for Elton John.

Speaker 3 (01:54:58):
Yeah, and he's a very yeah tawkin and he's a
very successful lyric writer.

Speaker 2 (01:55:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:55:01):
What a tune and what a show. Thank you very much.
As always, we love you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:55:06):
Yeah, see you tomorrow. Until then, give them a taste. Hey,
week from last, I think I'm looking out of what
that gold to game rich other than a gorgeous sunny Saturday,
and I'm seeing that bummer a bummers trapping. It's your
favorite radio station, your favorite radio city in the city
by the main the city of the Rock State. Never speak.

Speaker 18 (01:55:33):
To Miss.

Speaker 22 (01:55:38):
Waddy, Why Maddie and Tyler readams

Speaker 1 (01:56:42):
For more from news Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.

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