Midday Edition: 25 September 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 25 September 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
NEWSFACS for Thursday, the twenty fifth of September. The government's
announced day ramping up of diagnostic tests. An additional seventy
five thousand diagnostic procedures will be delivered this year through
a sixty five million dollar investment. It's things such as
MRI scans, colonoscopies and colposcopies. Lochlan Rennie has more.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Health Minister Simeon Brown says that aims to reduce weight
times for critical diagnostic procedures. He says long waits not
only cause stress and anxiety for patients in their families,
but also delay the start of treatment and put extra
pressure on hospitals. Brown says they're also working to grow
the workforce, with work underway to expand training places to

(00:47):
meet future demant In.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
The past year has gone much better than expected for Fonterra.
The dairy co ops confirmed a record high final farm
gate milk price of ten dollars sixteen compared to the
nine dollars it was forecasting a year ago. It's announced
earnings per share of seventy one cents compared to a
forecast range of forty to sixty cents a year ago.
Business reporter Michael Sergle says the results are positive.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Fatal great revenue up fifteen percent, total cash return to
shareholders up three point six percent, operating revenue up thirteen percent,
Profit after text up thirteen percent Text adjusted.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
A warning government debt will blow out to two hundred
percent of GDP unless policies change. Treasury's long term fiscal
statement contains numerous alarms and highlights the challenge of responding
to an aging population. He is senior political reporter Azaria Howe.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
The report shows fiscal pressures will accelerate in coming decades,
largely driven by healthcare costs and superannuation. To respond to
an aging population, It floats ideas of increasing super payments
in line with inflation or steadily increasing the eligibility age
to seventy two by twenty sixty five.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Please for urgent government action when as student extremism appears
to be rising, PPTA members are seeing more misogyny from
young boys, xenophobia, and anti Maori rhetoric fueled by algorithm
driven social media. The union wants to see professional learning
development for teachers aimed at managing this speaking at its
annual conference in christ Church, teacher Paul Stephens says pastoral

(02:21):
staff are exhausted from this issue. He says this isn't
a future problem, it's a crisis now. The union representing
senior doctors and dentists as getting the ball rolling over
a development in its year long dispute with Health New Zealand.
Around six thousand Association of Salary Medical Specialist members walked
off the job over the last two days over failed

(02:42):
pay negotiations. Health New Zealand asked for help from the
Employment Relations Authority on Monday to fix the terms and
conditions of a collective agreement. Union boss Sarah Dalton doesn't
believe the application will meet the criteria for this process.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
We will have to work our way through their week.
Spect'll be some meetings around there over the next few days.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Always happy to meet to sport. Team Europe Golf captain
Luke donald as rankled rival American fans at the Ryder
Cup opening ceremony by saying his Chargers are playing for
purpose and brotherhood rather than the money that their opponents
will receive. For the first time a second appearance in
football's Europa League will have to wait for all white

(03:25):
Chris Wood. He sat unused on the bench in Nottingham
Forests to all awaydraw with Rayl Bettis and swimmer Cameron
Leslie has earned silver in the fifty meter backstroke SB
four class at the Paraworld Champs in Singapore. 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.