Afternoon Edition: 03 March 2025

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 03 March 2025, 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 railing Ramsey. This is your afternoon news
fix for Monday, the third of March. A new government
health package. It's announcing one hundred clinical placements for overseas
trained doctors to work in primary care in New Zealand.
Health Minister Simeon Brown and the Prime Minister are unveiling
the plan this afternoon. Here's political reporter Azaria Howell.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
It would pay GPS and other providers and incentive to
support up to four hundred graduate nurses a year for
three years from this year. The government's also aiming to
set up a twenty four to seven digital healthcare service,
letting kiwis access video consultations with providers. Health New Zealand's
planning on delivering two hundred and eighty five million dollars

(00:49):
in funding across three years for GPS starting in July.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Luca Fairgray can now be revealed as the Auckland schoolboy
rapist who committed more sexual offenses as his victims fought
his name suppression. Fairgray pleaded guilty to ten charges against
sixteen girls in twenty twenty one, including rape and sexual
conduct with a person under sixteen. That offending was when
he was fourteen to seventeen years old. Then, in twenty

(01:18):
twenty three, while still under interim name suppression, he had
sex with a thirteen year old girl, now age twenty two.
He was convicted last month on three charges and will
be sentenced this month. As study has found health star
ratings are largely ineffective, Otaga University has led a probe

(01:38):
of the decade old voluntary system for rating food products,
finding they only slightly improved diet. It says its changes
could save the health system about eight million dollars over
one hundred and ten years, but if it were mandatory,
the savings would reach five hundred and sixty eight million.
Author Christina clecorns her suppliers currently choose which products to rate.

(02:01):
We have seen that it hasn't been taken up. The
aim was to get about seventy percent in November last year,
and it's still sitting around thirty percent. Ukraine's President of
Voladimir Zelenski, has reiterated the need for strong security guarantees
to ensure peace. He's attended a meeting where European and
Canadian leaders agreed a four point support plan. Zelensky says

(02:24):
a rare earth minerals deal is ready to be signed
after a tense meeting with Donald Trump, but as translated
by the BBC, he says he won't seed territory to Russia.
That would be a forceful separation of our lands. This
will be a coercion that will mean a huge risk
of hostilities after a certain time. Microschipping pets is now

(02:47):
common practice. A Companion Animals and z survey has found
a majority of owners d sex animals and nearly ninety
percent of dogs and seventy percent of cats are microchipped.
Dan's Natalie Warren says it's a really pleasing trend. The
percentage of microchip animals, dogs and cats is extremely high
in New Zealand. Now to sport and a decision to

(03:12):
make for Hockey New Zealand after the Black Sticks women
took out the Nation's Cup tournament in Chile. Their penalty
shootout went over Ireland and the final earns them a
birth in next season's Pro League, which they withdrew from
ahead of the twenty twenty three to twenty four season.
Brumby's player Tuaina Tuelema has been diagnosed with dingy fever

(03:35):
after their Super Rugby Pacific match in Fiji last month.
A glowing recommendation from Star Attraction Paul Cole for the
venue for this week's New Zealand Squash open in christ Church.
I'm Raelian Ramsey. That is your latest news fix. We'll
be back with the next update tomorrow morning from the
News Talk ZEDB newsroom