Midday Edition: 03 July 2024

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 03 July 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 midday
news fix for Wednesday, the third of July. Wiro is
getting another half a million dollars in emergency management funding
to help it recover from last week's severe weather event.
It brings the meror relief funding allocated so far up
to six hundred thousand dollars. Political editor Jason Walls has more.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell is in the region this
morning and says it's clear the district council requires financial
support to clean up the damage. Meanwhile, the Ministry for
the Environment will lead an urgent review into the flood
response given the significant concerns raised by the community about
the management of the Wairoa River.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Bar Wiroa's state of emergency has now been lifted. The
Prime Minister is heading off to the US next week
to attend the NATO summit in Washington, d C. It
comes as the presidential race is in false wing and
Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to dominate NATO's focus. Luxon
will fly out on July nine and return on the twelfth.

(01:07):
He'll be flying with Air New Zealand, not the Defense Force.
Seven five seven, the governments clarified the timeline on plans
to make student testing more consistent. Starting next year, all
children in their first year of schooling will be offered
a phonics a check by sounding out letters after twenty
weeks and again after forty Education Minister Ericus Stanford says

(01:31):
it will help teachers understand a child's reading level. Stanford
says teachers will be able to identify and arrange additional
support if needed, right at the start of the child's education.
A belief the government's hit the nail on the head
for sorting month long driving test wait times. The last
government removed reset fees for theory and practical tests, significantly

(01:56):
increasing the numbers of people applying to sit, but test
fails and no shows also spiked. The Transport Minister yesterday
announced drivers now only get one free reset. Institute of
Driving Educator's President Mark Revel Johnson says it's a good move.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Research were the thing that we saw as causing the block.
If if people aren't invested in the process, they tend
not to treat it well. They'll just use it and
it's been sort of used and abused.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Belief that dairy prices could still go up despite prices falling.
In the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, they've plummeted nearly
seven percent, the biggest drop in almost a year. Skim
milk powders down six point one percent and whole milk
powder four point three percent. Federated Farmer's Dairy chair Richard
McIntyre says it's the first auction of the season and

(02:45):
prices can quickly rise. International student enrollments are recovering from
border closures, with more than sixty nine thousand signing up
with education providers in twenty twenty three. Thirty five percent
come from China. Former UK nurse Lucy Letby, who was
found guilty last August of murdering seven babies and trying

(03:07):
to kill six more, has been found guilty in a
retrial of trying to murder another baby. The original jury
failed to reach a verdict to sport All Blacks Locke
Patrick Tuipolotu has declared himself fit to face England in
the first Test on Saturday in Dunedin. Turkey will meet
the Netherlands in the quarter finals of Football's zero twenty four.

(03:29):
After defeating Austria two to one. Former England cricketer Sir
Jeffrey Boycott has revealed he's been diagnosed with throat cancer
for a second time. The eighty three year old will
have surgery this month. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's your latest
news fix. We'll be back with the next update at
five pm from the newstalk zb newsroom.