Afternoon Edition: 06 June 2024

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 06 June 2024, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good afternoon. I'm Malcolm Jordan and this is your afternoon
news fix for Thursday, the sixth of June. The Justice
Ministry has opened a month long consultation period with staff
on scrapping one hundred and seventy eight jobs. The proposal
includes sixty seven vacant roles and would create fifty five
new positions for a net reduction of one hundred and

(00:26):
twenty three jobs. Blake Benny reports.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Justice Secretary Andrew kibble White says that's almost exclusively made
up of staff at the National Office. He says the
heart of its savings decisions has been the need to
deliver on poor functions and strategy. Chibble White says they
want to keep doing the things that make the strongest
contribution to strengthening trust in the law.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Hope's a major bump, and funding for pothole repairs will
do more than smooth the bumpy journey. The transport agencies
confirmed it'll put just over two billion dollars into prevention
on state highways nearly two billion four local roads. It'll
go into resealing, rehabilitation and drainage maintenance after sixty two

(01:07):
thousand potholes needed repair on state highways last year. Transport
Minister Simeon Brown says it's important to invest in future proofing.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
And that's a really key principle of what we're doing here.
This funding is ring fenced to those activities which will
prevent those potholes from forming in the first place.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Grim realities faced by mental health nurses have been laid bare.
In a nurse's organization survey, many report feeling unsafe. Seventy
six percent say they've been physically threatened, and forty percent
say they've been assaulted in the past twelve months. Nurses
Organization Delegate Grant Brooks says the violence is a direct

(01:44):
result of understaffing.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
When we have adequate staff and we're able to identify
incidents that are likely to happen and inter been early
and de escalate people and spend the time sitting with
them and talking when we don't have the staff we're
not able to do that.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Are the Prime ministers denying breaking a pro Thomas over
possible changes to the Holiday Act. The Workplace Relations ministers
announced legislations being drafted, which which will put out for
consultation in September. It'll include proposals to pro rata sick
leave and base annual leave on a cruel rather than entitlement.

(02:19):
Pre election, Chris Luxon said sick leave wouldn't change. He
says this is only consultation. That's a full eyes, open consultation.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
No predetermined outcomes, definitely not. It's just an opportunity to
actually say we know that's an area of irritation, we
know that's not a very clear piece of legislation.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Advocacy groups and consultant hematologists have written an open letter
to government begging it not to leave blood cancer patients behind.
It outlines disappointment about the absence of funding in last
week's budget. It's written on behalf of the twenty one
thousand patients in New Zealand leukemia and blood cancer. New
Zealand Chief Executive Tim Edmonds says they had hoped they

(02:58):
would be looked after in the latest government announcement.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
We talk with patients every day who are needing two
self owned medicines, who under all sorts of streetsons chain
on top of being unwell to sport.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Scott Barrett's keeping his options open with a sabbatical clause
written into his new contract with New Zealand Rugby. The
thirty year old Locke has committed through to the next
World Cup in twenty twenty seven. Joseph Sua Lee is
promising to reach out to Reese Walsh after his high
shot on the Queensland fallback in the State of Origin opener.

(03:29):
The Blues debutante was sent off for the dangerous tackle
and Uganda have beaten Papu and New Guinea by three
wickets for their first ever win at a T twenty
Cricket World Cup. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's your latest news fix.
We'll be back with the next update tomorrow morning from
the newstalk ZB newsroom.