Midday Edition: 04 March 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 04 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 Malcolm Jordan and this is your midday
news fix for Tuesday, the fourth of March. An urgent
meeting between David Seymour and the Minister of Education around
issues with the school lunch program. Students in Murchison were
yesterday fed a meal with melted plastic in it. It's
the latest and a number of issues with the cut
price lunches, with complaints around taste, dietary requirements and timeliness.

(00:29):
Education Minister Ericus Stanford says they have an obligation to
provide a quality service.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I've asked David seymol for a meeting this morning to
go through some of the issues on the school lunch
program to make sure that they are being cleared up.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
And Prime Minister Chris Luxon says if parents have a
real issue with the program, they can pack a lunch,
a loaf of bread, Ajar and Marmie an apple asn't
rocket science. Actually, parents should take responsibility for providing your lunches.
In the first in six decades, work towards pay parity
is being charted as a better way to help fill
up shorter in GP clinics. The government's announced incentives for

(01:04):
clinics who help out graduating nurses. They'll be capped at
four hundred graduates a year. NZNO College of Primary Healthcare
Nurses chair Tracy Morgan says the better option is making
sure hospital nurses and GP nurses earn the same. She
says the incentives will be a temporary reprieve.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Because once season centers run out, and they will run out,
these clinics are going to struggle again, and we're going
to struggle to keep the doors open.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
One of the largest tariff increases in US history will
take effect in a matter of ours. US President Donald
Trump's confirmed his tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China will
go ahead as planned, saying there's no room left to
avoid them. CNN's Richard quest says it's sent stock markets tumbling.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Twenty five percent, tariffs on Mexico and Canada, undouble some
existing tariffs on China from ten to twenty percent, and
bearing in mind, of course, that there are tariffs from
the last Trump administration that are still in place.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Police are asking anyone worth information on a man fatally
hit by a car last night in central Otago's Gibston
Valley to come forward. Emergency services were called to State
Highway six near Covido Bridge Historic Reserve around ten pm,
finding the man dead. Officers are trying to piece together
what happened and are working to formally identify the victim.

(02:24):
They say they ask anyone who saw a man wearing
black pants and shirt walking nearby before ten pm, or
who has dashcam footage to get in touch. Meanwhile, a
woman's facing multiple charges after a vehicle hit and killed
an eleven year old girl in Hastings earlier this year.
A thirty four year old woman's due in court today

(02:44):
charged with manslaughter, excessive breath alcohol, dangerous driving and failing
to stop to ascertain injury. Christchurch City Councils received almost
one hundred email complaints over its handling of a Destiny
Church pro test disrupting the city's Pride March over the weekend,
and Pope Francis has required mechanical ventilation following two episodes

(03:09):
of acute respiratory failure. To Sport Blues Loose forward Hoskins
Setutu has been handed a three week Super Rugby ban,
which can reduce to two with a stint at Tackle
School for a dangerous attempt in the win over the
Hurricanes in Wellington. Elsewhere, Highlander's first five cam Miller has
been diagnosed with concussion after a collision with Moana Pasifica

(03:32):
midfielder Danny Toala during round three. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's
your latest news fix. We'll be back with the next
update at five pm from the news Talk zb newsroom.