Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Yesterday we discovered that the eighth most expensive city for housing in the world is Tauranga, where it takes more than nine times the median annual income to buy the median house. We also heard that Auckland was not too far behind. The lowest was Manawatu where the ration was five. Now, by the way, it was not widely reported that using the demographic rating system it is believed that the affordable level is three times and under.  Anything over five they class as severely unaffordable. Just about everywhere in this beautiful country is severely unaffordable. So the headlines were full of New Zealand’s housing affordability crisis.And then just like that, as I left the studio, I discovered that an Auckland councillor had come into our building and dropped off a copy of his book to every on-air staff member.The councillor’s name is Greg Sayers and his book is called "How to Fix Auckland’s Housing Crisis". But the problems he documents are spreading so I’d rename it New Zealand’s Housing crisis if you’re do

A story about the country's southernmost bach has sparked a discussion on the necessity of a holiday property.Kidney Fern, a Stewart Island bach only accessible by water or by a lengthy hike, has gone on sale and could be yours for $500,000.However, Andrew Dickens asked baches are still worth the cost. When they are only used several days a year and come with the added taxes, is the idea of a Kiwi bach a thing of the past?Caller Neville shared his story of how owning one simply proved too costly for his family, due to issues like maintenance, and they ended up selling it off.LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's usually women who are accused of dressing the same, but one shirt has proved the old theory wrong.An orange striped shirt has shown up at music festivals all across Australia, sparking much hilarity on social media.The men's shirt, ironically enough called 'Festival Shirt', costs just AU$29.99 from Cotton On, and is seemingly quite popular. One writer for website Junkee went out to find the shirt at the FOMO Festival, and came across dozens of people all adorned in the uniform-like shirtView this post on InstagramI’d like to introduce you to my new religion...

LISTEN TO MIKE KERNAGHAN TALK WITH TIM ROXBOROGH ABOVEAllergic reactions could be one reason why Cancer Society sunscreen didn't work on a young child, the organisation says. The mother of four-month-old baby Noah Watson went public about her son's severe burns over the weekend; even after his mother generously applied Cancer Society SPF50 sunscreen on him.Cancer Society NZ chief Mike Kernaghan said they were in the process of investigating up to 30 complaints from people and were also speaking with Noah’s family..Up to 60 complaints were received by the Cancer Society each year.The process investigated the complaint itself in the first instance, he said, rather than the product.Kernaghan told Tim Roxborogh that his gut response is that could have been some sort of allergic reaction.While he has no certainity around it, Kernaghan says that the fact the sunscreen is manufactured in Australia, where it is classed as a medicine, could have had an effect.“There are strict manufacturing processes around any medici

How do you get your life back on track when everything seems set against you?That's the question Tim Roxborogh put to listeners today, after the tragic story of the fatal police pursuit crash in Christchurch.The three victims were all teenagers, two of them just 13. They died after fleeing police in a stolen car, their lives coming to a fiery end after crashing into a tree.An article today suggested that the one of the boys, Brooklyn Taylor, had his life course pre-determined from the age of four.Roxborogh asked listeners if their life had gone down the wrong path at any point, and how they got out of it. Multiple callers shared their stories of how they turned their lives around.Amongst them was Steve told of how he stopped fighting and stealing thanks to a generous man who took many troublesome youth under his wings, while Paul was taken off a similar path after meeting the love of his life. It was motherhood that helped Robyn, even though her child was conceived through sexual assault. She says she gained

There is much confusion on what the role of a god parent should involve.The boundaries of spoiling your godchildren  compared to keeping a respectable distance can often be blurred.The official definition of a godparent is person who presents a child at baptism and promises to take responsibility for their religious education.Prince Charles has at least 30 godchildren, while Sir Elton John has 10, including Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham and Liz Hurley's son, Damian. Prince Louis, fifth in line to the throne, has six godparents.Talkback callers told Tim Roxborogh it was usually a case by case basis, with different families requiring different styles.One caller said she and her husband were asked 13 years ago to be godparents, and they accepted but were not quite sure what was expected of them."Being a godparent is quite a difficult, especially when it comes to religion. When you have multiple religions in the family, the role of a godparent can become very confusing."LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/li

Concertgoers have faced backlash over drunken behaviour at a Toto concert.The American soft rockers are in New Zealand for a series 'A Summer's Day Live' concerts.The Africa hitmakers were in New Plymouth on Friday, but their songs were overshadowed by the alcohol-fuelled antics of those in the crowd. Stuff reports that around 20 men were seen groping and pushing women in the crowd, with one women claiming she had to fight the men off.The behaviour became so messy that guitarist Steve Lukather called out the behaviour from the stage. Tim Roxborogh asked listeners if this is a sign that middle aged people are the ones we should be concerned about at concerts, rather than teenagers and young adults.He says that it could spark concerns that see venues adopting a dry policy.LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And so the messy two year saga that has been the appointment of Wally Haumaha to the #2 cop job in the country slithered back into the headlines one more time.This time the Independent Police Conduct Authority has upheld complaints from people under his command that he used bullying behaviour in the workplace. This sparked another round of people demanding he stand down from his job as Deputy Commissior, most vocally from Chris Bishop and the National Party.After consideration by the Government’s legal beagles Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern decided to take no action but expressed her disappointment in Wally’s behaviour. It was an understandable decision as the Commissioners behaviour was on a threshold and any attempt to remove him would have become an employment matter, which would have resulted in the loss of many taxpayer’s dollars into lawyer’s pockets, and you have to wonder the worth of that.I’ve always been torn about Wally Haumaha.  He is one of the last remaining echoes from the days when men were men

A friend of Nathan Kraatskow's family has fired back at the lawyer of the woman charged with his death.Rouxle Le Roux was sentenced to home detention last week for killing the 15-year-old hit and run earlier this year.Kraatskow was riding his bike when he was hit by Le Roux, who was driving over the limit.The sentencing has proved controversial, with over 140,000 people signing a petition calling for the Crown to appeal the sentence.However, they announced today that they won't be pursuing the case.Adrian, who says he is friends with Nathan's parent, called Andrew Dickens to share his reaction. "It's their view that it's time to heal now. No one's giving any further thought to the matter."However, he wanted to hit back at comments made by Le Roux's lawyer on Tuesday.Belinda Sellars told Larry Williams that Le Roux was not solely to blame, pointing out that Nathan had ridden through a red light before the accident. Adrian says that the Kraatskow's have never denied that Nathan went through a red light, but it

Yesterday Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced New Zealand will support the United Nations Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration after receiving legal advice from Crown Law. We voted for it at the UN overnight along with 149 other countries. Five chose not to vote and we had a handful of nations including the US and Australia who pulled out of the process well beforehand.Now I agree with the Crown Law summation and it is broadly similar to the editorial I wrote about the Compact three weeks ago. I have said repeatedly there is nothing to fear in the compact. We already comply and if the compact ever compels us to take any migrants against our will and our laws, or supplants our sovereignty, I’ll eat my hat. And I’ll eat yours too.Speaking about the compact this morning, Winston Peters said there had been unwarranted fear mongering over the thing and he blamed the alt-right. Well, he got that wrong. There were plenty of lefties freaking out too. My thought is that the opponents co-opted t

It has been suggested that not enough is being down to curb drunk driving in New Zealand. Newly released figures from NZTA show that 41 per cent of fatal crashes in the first half of 2018 were caused by people under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. Road safety charity Brake told Stuff that they want to see the blood alcohol limit lowered to 20mg per 100ml for drivers. However, speaking to his listeners, Andrew Dickens says that he thinks there should be zero tolerance for anyone drinking and then driving. He says that there is a zero alcohol limit for people under 20, and people consider that acceptable. His suggestion was met with mixed reaction by listeners, with many saying it was too harsh. Caller Blair was in favour though, saying that he has seen first hand from his experience working in the emergency services that we need to make drastic changes. LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK FEEDBACK ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m surprised that more people aren’t up in arms after a report yesterday found an investigation firm have been spying on New Zealanders and invading their privacy on the behest of State agencies.Security company Thompson and Clark has been barred from doing any more work for the government after the investigation by the State Services Commission found it used an unlicensed private investigator and produced electronic recordings of closed meetings without the consent or knowledge of attendees.To me the report is eye opening.Two brothers who claimed they were physically, sexually and psychologically abused in state care were seeking legal redress and damages from the Government. But rather than taking responsibility the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Crown Law hired private investigators to dig up dirt on witnesses.An entire government department, MBIE, has been found to have abandoned impartiality and become politicised.The report reveals Thompson and Clark also invaded the privacy of political part

The Rouxle Le Roux case has generated a lot of feelings throughout the country, but for some, the incident hits close to home.Le Roux was sentenced to 11 months home detention last week after killing 15-year-old Nathan Kraatskow in a hit and run earlier this year. The 19-year-old has earned backlash over an apparent lack of remorse and her limited sentence.Caller Chris phoned in to Andrew Dickens Afternoons today, and says that his family has been through a similar situation.His son was killed by boy racers in Australia last year while crossing the road Chris said that they went to jail for two and half years, which doesn't change what happened but it made a difference.He explains why he's so angry about this Le Roux case.LISTEN TO CHRIS TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Canadian rap artist Drake has secured the top spot of the New Zealand 2018 singles chart with his single God's Plan, which spent nine consecutive weeks at number one. His album Scorpion came in at number six on the charts.Drake is also Spotify's most-streamed artist of all-time.Newstalk ZB host Andrew Dickens gave his best Drake impersonation a shot on the show today in respect to the rappers achievement. Not a bad effort Andrew! LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So this morning I listened to the Prime Minister’s last Tuesday morning slot with our breakfast show, today hosted by Mike Yardley. And I was under-impressed, to be honest. Now I know we’re all a little bit over it this week and it’s been a massive year for her, but I felt the fairy dust had fallen off. Princess Jacinda was absent. There was no echo of Jacindamania.It wasn’t that anything she was saying was particularly wrong, it was more that, she was just saying nothing at all.It started with questions about the Le Roux petition being presented to parliament. A petition complaining about overly lenient sentencing. Her answer was a long-winded conversation about the processes of lawmaking and how there needs to be an absence of political influence on the judicial system. It made me feel like she was talking to us like we were children.At the time of the interview, 134,000 New Zealanders had expressed a very real concern about the sentencing and she didn’t talk to those people at all. She didn’t empathise wit

Forest and Bird is calling for the Hauraki Gulf-to-Bay of Plenty cray-fishery to be closed for three years to allow the species to start recovering.It says the crayfish population in the region has undergone a significant decline.The Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash halved the total allowable catch in April. However, Forest and Bird marine conservation advocate Katrina Goddard says that while the quota reduction did have a small impact on some operators, but had no impact on a large majority.Talkback callers to Andrew Dickens shared their feelings, and most seemed in favour of the move if it means allowing more crayfish for future generations.Andrew called on people to spread out the types of fish and options that they eat so the pressure is not on one species to meet the demand, a call many listeners were in favour of. LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK FEEDBACK ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who would have thought that on the first day I’d be waking up thinking, “Where’s Leighton Smith when you need him”.I thought of him as I heard the news that there was a breakthrough in the COP 24 talks on climate change in Poland. Leighton would have railed at the so-called breakthrough and continued his rearguard action to remove man-made climate change from the world’s consciousness and it would have been very entertaining indeed.But I come at this in another way. The so-called breakthrough in Poland is actually proof that the whole process is essentially powerless and is more about posturing than anything else.The language around the meeting was all about providing a rulebook for the control of emissions with the hope that controlling emissions may reduce the temperature on Earth over the next few decades. Yet by my reading, there are no rules here. All there is is a ruler.Rules are not rules unless they have consequences. Rules are not rules unless if they’re broken there are penalties. And the weakness o

Following up someone's final ever show on air after 33 years is no easy task.Still, the show must go on, though Andrew Dickens wasn't going to begin without recognising the man who came before him.Dickens told his audience that it had been lovely listening to all the good wishes being sent to Leighton Smith during his final show."I have little to be said about Leighton Smith that has not been said so well by you.  I’m a child of 1ZB It has murmured in the background of my family’s kitchen my whole life and so I have listened through Leighton’s entire 33 year tenure.  "A tenure of unrivalled quality, consistency and intelligence.  And I heard a listener this morning talk about Leighton being gentle and I thought that so very profound.  He could be grumpy angry or argumentative.  But he was always gentle.  Farewell mate."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two people have complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that vaping products have been promoted on TV.ASA chief executive Hilary Souter says both parties questioned why vaping ads were being shown when there's a blanket ban on advertising cigarettes.The complaints have sparked a furore of feedback on talkback over what sort of ads are acceptable.Callers to Andrew Dickens shot down the idea of vaping ads as promoting a dangerous product.However, callers Aiya and Tyson also raised concerns over ads for fast food and alcohol and whether those are acceptable. John said that putting these ads on television will only lead to an epidemic. LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK FEEDBACK ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump's eldest son says his father is a "regifter" who "may or may not" have once given him the same gift he presented to his dad the year before.Donald Trump Jr. says in an interview with the entertainment program "Extra" that because he is his father's namesake, he "got regifted all the things that were monogrammed for him at times". And he says that one Christmas he called his dad out on the regifting, explaining that he was the one who'd had the item monogrammed.Trump Jr. also says he'll be spending the holidays with his family and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle at his dad's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.He also jokes that "it would be a wonderful thing" if he could tweet his father's holiday dinner commentary.LISTEN TO RAYLENE TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.