Andrew Dickens Afternoons

A new documentary series has shone a light on the plight of mental health amongst Kiwi men.In My Mind centres around prominent Kiwis, Paul Whatuira, Willy de Wit and David Downs as they examine their mental health issues and their own difficulties. The two-part documentary aired on TVNZ this month and is still available for streaming, and is split into two parts: Breaking Point and Mid-Life Crisis.Comedians Willy de Wit and David Downs have suffered their own medical issues - de Wit suffered from a stroke in 2016, and Downs was diagnosed with cancer in late 2017, which was meant to be terminal. The two joined Andrew Dickens to discuss their involvement in Mid-Life Crisis and how they have fought back against their demons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel Folau has once again faced setbacks in his battle against Rugby Australia - but will this latest move hurt or help his cause? GoFundMe has removed Folau's fundraising page from its website and is issuing refunds to all his donors, saying the campaign breached its terms of service."Today we will be closing Israel Folau's campaign and issuing full refunds to all donors. After a routine period of evaluation, we have concluded that this campaign violates our terms of service," said Nicola Britton, GoFundMe's Australia Regional Manager."As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity. While we welcome GoFundMe's engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion."In the days since Mr Folau's campaign launched, more than one million dollars have been donated to hundreds of other campaigns, large and small, across Australia. Those acts of kindness are the heart of GoFundMe.Folau lau

Hands down the greatest moment of the weekend came during the Tonga league test.The crowd once again was electric, the Sipi Tau and the Haka magnificent and the league was great, particularly young Brandon Smith who scurried and scampered and electrified the backs.  Someone described him as a ball in a pinball machine who knows only one way, forward. Yes all these things were good but for me the pinnacle was Benji Marshall’s tears during the anthem.Seven long years after donning the black jersey, Benji was back and you saw what it meant to him. You saw his pride in representing his country. I shared in that and I realised that I hadn’t felt a good bit of pride in the country for a while. That’s the problem with being a talkback host.  You often explore the bits of the country that you’re not proud of.  The situations and the people who have gone wrong. So it was refreshing to see pride in New Zealand and it’s fair to say my eyes went a little sweaty watching Benji.  And then he came out and played brilliantly

Work's begun to control the rat and wild chicken population in West Auckland.Locals have recently raised concerns about an infestation of huge rats scurrying about in the Titirangi village centre.Many believe the problem is  overfeeding of the village chickens which is giving the rats plenty to feast on.Auckland Council says it's increasing its rodent control activity in local parks and facilities.It's also commissioned a report on chicken control options and is warning residents not to feed the birds.Rats are also on the run in leafy east Auckland, with hundreds of households tooled up and hunting the furry vermin.Today, Kit Parkinson, chairman of the Ōrākei Local Board, which helps fund rat-trapping, told of large numbers of rats plaguing the city's eastern waterfront."We've had a huge inundation of rats in Selwyn Reserve at Mission Bay. It's been reported by dozens of constituents plus businesspeople down there. Our contractors are reporting it as well."Contractors were using bait and traps to control the

Three of Newstalk ZB's newly crowned radio award winners have reacted to their wins. Political Editor Barry Soper claimed Best News or Sports Journalist for his work over the last year. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldgrave picked up Best Sportsreader, Presenter or Commentator for his eponymous show on Radio Sport, alongside Goran Paladin. And Raylene Ramsay won Best Newsreader on her third nomination for the prize.All three joined Andrew Dickens for their regular slots on The Hour, and were pressed for their reactions to their wins. Soper says that his contact book is the secret to his success. "It's about working your contacts, and hopefully keeping the public well informed." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Dad died 24 years ago this month and my Mum died two years ago in July.  Winter has not been kind to my family.24 years ago my Dad’s death was quite hard to take.  I was young, he was young.  Only two years older than I am now.  With hindsight I know that Dad missed so much by leaving so early.  All his family’s adult acheivements.  The birth of four grand children.My Dad’s death was one of the first amongst my mates so they all turned up and Dad’s wake turned epic.  But my friend’s Dad had died even younger and so my mate gave me a word of advice that I have passed on to everyone because it was bang on.He said call me in a six weeks and I’ll come and help.The point of that was that at the time of a death, the adrenaline kicks in.  There’s a funeral to organise. Photos to be found, coffins bought, making an order of service.  The phone is ringing off the hook with well wishers.  People popping round with frozen meals.  She’s all go.Then there’s the funeral.  Then there’s the slow return to normal habits an

We have a government in power right now who right from the get go have been proud to call themselves transformative.The impression they are trying to give is that they are willing to deliberately change things to make things better; to transform the way we do things for the good.But of course that’s not the way things work.  Any act of transformation will have some aspect of it that will come at a price and some things will take a turn for the worse.  The trick is to balance things and so more is improved by the transformation than is damaged. Transformation runs into the law of unintended consequences and the second law that everything is connected.One of the things this government is most proud of transforming is the oil and gas exploration business in New Zealand.  But the fact is they don’t want to transform it.  They just want to eliminate it which is a different thing.So yesterday I got an email from Greenpeace telling me about something that had not been widely reported.Oil majors Chevron and Equinor h

I hate to bang on about the Oranga Tamariki baby uplift story again but daily I am reminded how one sided the whole debate has become.By allowing Melanie Reid into the hospital room to film the attempted uplift from Hastings Hospital, the family lifted the secrecy on actions that happen 5 times every week.  Maori and non-Maori.  Understandably it’s unsettling and shocking and difficult.  But it’s the reality in a country whose child abuse statistics are amongst the worst in the world. In that regard the video did a good job of reminding us of this dishonour.But it did a terrible job of addressing all of the issues and it’s done a dishonour to Oranga Tamariki. Last week I said that we need a look at Oranga Tamariki’s side of the story before we should comment.  But the child agency is constrained from telling their story due to privacy law and concerns. That hasn’t stopped Maori elders and social workers have a good crack at the processes even though Oranga Tamariki is powerless to respond publically.A family

The moves yesterday to enlarge the marine sanctuary for Maui and Hector’s dolphins comes with a side order of irony.The Government announced plans to extend the area where set netting and trawl nets are banned to most of the lower west coast of the North Island and the areas around Banks Peninsula.The move is to protect the two native species of dolphins.  Apparently, there are only 63 Maui dolphins left in the world.  The Hector’s dolphin has better numbers with their population estimated at 15,000.  Currently, it’s thought that commercial fishing kills 40 odd Hector’s dolphins a year as part of the bycatch.It’s harder to know what’s killing the Maui dolphin because there’s so little of them.  One fisher who phoned my programme yesterday, Curly from New Plymouth, contended that biological factors are a greater factor in the slow demise of the Maui dolphin. They like the murky water at the mouth of rivers and it’s estimated that two Maui dolphins die every year from toxoplasmosis that comes from sheep and cat

An advocacy group has called for a ban on the imports of certain vehicles, and talkback callers have a mixed reaction. Older Suzuki Swifts and Toyota Corollas could be banned from entering the country, under suggested changes to vehicle safety rules.The Government's set to consider a reference group's recommendations which include banning vehicles with fewer than three safety stars from entering the fleet.These are some of the most popular imported models.The Motor Trade Association is part of the reference group it says the import ban would create a level playing field for vehicle safety.The MTA says the number of fatal crashes caused by vehicle faults has been on the rise since 2015.Other recommendations from the reference group include getting unsafe vehicles off the road quicker, and promoting vehicle features that better protect pedestrians.Callers to Andrew Dickens made their thoughts very clear on the matter. Caller Marie says she doesn’t think this is the right thing to do, but does see the government

Last night I chose to watch Melanie Reid’s 40 minute documentary of the uplifting of a baby from her parents by Oranga Tamariki at Hawkes Bay hospital.It is a very tough watch.There were at least three attempts by the child welfare agency to take the baby from her 18-year-old mother who was cuddling the baby in her hospital bed. The attempts went on until the early hours of the morning.  The room was full of the baby's whānau, midwives, iwi leaders and the Melanie Reid.  Everyone was filming with their phones.  The baby’s 17-year-old father was there throughout quietly sitting.The case workers from Oranga Tamariki were in and out of the room constantly calling back to their own lawyers.  The whanau were also getting legal advice.Eventually, Oranga Tamariki gave up and instead the mother was allowed to go with her baby to a care facility while the matter was further discussed ahead of a new Family Court hearing next week.It was traumatic and dramatic but it is important to watch to understand what families and

With all the positives and negatives that come attached with it, intergenerational living is fast becoming the new norm for many Kiwi families.Intergenerational living is when family members of all ages - from grandparents to young children - are living together under one roof. A TVNZ investigation for What's Next has examined how medical advances and longer life expectancy has influenced this, but other factors such as the rising cost of living and housing unaffordability has seen this impact multiple families.Andrew Dickens put the message out to his listeners, and several came back with their own experiences, from German-inspired living to boarding with grandmothers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is investing almost $30 million into maternity services.Minister of Health David Clark has made the announcement at a Health Select Committee meeting .The $29.7 million package is part of Budget 2019 and its wider four billion dollar health package.Clark says it will continue the investment into community midwives.It comes as amid growing criticism aimed at the government over the closure of the Lumsden maternity centre, which has led to numerous reports of women having to give birth in less than ideal circumstances.Earlier today, the New Zealand Herald reported that 90 per cent of maternity wards in New Zealand hospitals have no senior doctors or consultants on site at night.A midwife and a Lumsden local whose wife had two difficult births shared their takes on these latest developments with Andrew Dickens. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The campaign by bureaucrats to lower the speed limits on New Zealand roads because they believe the roads are just not good enough to support a 100km an hour speed limit continues to bubble away.But now opponents have found a real life situation that appears to sink the idea.On State Highway 1 in the South Island, there’s a section of about 12km linking Cheviot and Kaikōura over the Hundalee Hills.  It’s tricky and windy and prone to crashes. The average speed through the section is 55 to 59 kmh.So after the 2016 quake which further degraded the road the NZTA lowered the speed limit to 80kmh and then again to 60kmh.Which makes sense because that’s the speed your average driver drives at through that bit of road and with a speed limit it might make the fools who drive too fast slow down and stay on their side of the road - actually, stay on the road full stop.But according to the local fire chief it has made absolutely no difference at all to the number of incidents on the road. In fact it might have made it w

Talkback callers have made clear their dissatisfaction with the minimum and living wage.K-Mart has agreed to pay its unionised workforce the living wage, following a similar commitment from Bunnings last year.The living wage is currently set at $21.15 an hour, with the adult minimum wage $17.70.Andrew Dickens raised the topic with callers today, and the general consensus was that the higher wage is too costly for businesses and ultimately not worthwhile. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are no rational reasons for why Maori are treated differently in the justice system, a lawyer says. The criminal justice system has come under fire after a damning report that laid bare the many issues throughout the system. An advisory group report recommends a complete overhaul of the system, which it says is failing offenders, victims, and communities.Kingi, who works as a defence lawyer in Manukau, told Andrew Dickens that this is an area New Zealand has been lacking coverage on.He says that, until things change, unconscious bias and colonisation have played a big part of these issues. "The legacy of colonisation is still alive today. The fact that if you are a Maori person charged with the same crime as a non-Maori person, you are more likely to be arrested for that crime, you are more likely to face charges in the court, you are more likely to go to jail. There's evidence to suggest that Maori are treated differently."Kingi wants to see fewer people end up in the justice system, as young Maori men

COMMENT:The Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group has finished its tour of New Zealand and reported back to the Government.The working group is chaired by former National MP Chester Borrows. He’s an interesting chap, Chester. Firstly Chester in not his name, it’s a nickname. It took him three goes to get the Whanganui seat. He’s a lay preacher who gave Israel Folau a serve in 2018. He proposed a softening of the smacking law and after a visit to Parihaka had a road to Damascus experience regarding the teaching of Māori history in our schools, which will become obvious soon.So the Advisory Group has had a good hard look at our justice system and come up with the hardly surprising conclusion that the system is broken, and that we need to transform it into something better and fairer.Chester Borrows told us the report is particularly critical of how victims are treated within the system, saying people have a lack of faith in it, and that suggests it is not fit for purpose.Victims are interrogated and presume

COMMENT:So I’ve kept out of the speed limit debate because there’s no point in debating something that so many seem to disagree with.I don’t need to open the lines and have people mansplain to me that it’s actually slow drivers that cause all these high-speed crashes. That it’s people from other countries or even races that are at fault. Or the National Party’s response this week which seemed to say make every road a four-lane, gold plated highway. How they afford that, pay the teachers, loosen Pharmac’s purse strings, and lower taxes all at the same time is a magic trick I’d like to see.But the nation is reacting to the news that the NZTA reckons only five per cent of our roads are safe at 100km/h and that we need to lower speed limits, as a nanny state gone mad and they have a point.I think they’ve exaggerated the risk, but that’s not to say the risk isn’t there.I think we all can go through the New Zealand atlas and mark the roads that you would drive at 90km/h or 80km/h or 60km/h or even less - because we

A service of commemoration was held in southern England to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, with a  notable absence.Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. President Donald Trump, other leaders of the wartime Allies such as Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau — as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel — joined some 300 World War II veterans at the seaside ceremony in Portsmouth Wednesday.The service was held to mark 75 years since troops began to embark from Portsmouth on June 5, 1944, landing in Normandy the next morning.The ceremony kicked off with the recollections of those who took part in the landings, broadcast from a giant screen, setting the tone for a ceremony meant to focus on veterans' sacrifices.New Zealand’s Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy attended on behalf of the New Zealand Government, with no appearance from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern or Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.Andrew Dickens asked why neither of them had gone to the event, when other world leaders – including Australia’s

COMMENT:Hello, my name is Andrew Dickens and today I took a bus to work.I thought I’d run you through the reason I chose public transportation today and can I stress it was my choice.So the reason is highly bourgeois. Tonight I’m going to the Opera. The performance starts at 7.30 and if you’re not seated by then you miss half the opera. So I’ve booked a little Japanese place I know for Yakitori at 5.45pm. Here’s the plan - I’ll leave work at 5pm, walk to the restaurant, meet my date, eat my skewers, go to the Opera and Uber home.So why did I bus in?Total transportation cost for me will be $1.95 on the bus and I know that on a Thursday at 10pm it’ll cost $12 on the Uber. So that comes to $14. I know from last night when I went to the cinema that a car park for the Opera costs $16 for the night. So I’ve saved $2. But I also don’t have to worry about daytime carpark costs, or the running costs of the car. It was an economic choice to bus in and Uber home.I’m saying this because with transportation issues in the