Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Well the culture wars and cancel culture just grows and grows and grows. All Black captain Sam Cane was criticised by some, including himself, when he tripped a pitch invader after the All Black game in Agentina. The invader was one of about 15 that took to the pitch, generally making a nuisance of themselves. The invader ran past Sam who swung a foot and tripped the invader, who then scampered off while security staff ambled along in his wake. Promptly the All Black captain apologised in front of the media, All Black management sought the invader out and apologised and members of New Zealand media including Andrew Gourdie from Newshub castigated the captain for actions. And yet a poll soon after showed that nearly 80% of New Zealanders had no problem with Sam's actions at all. So why did Sam do his mea culpa? Fear of a backlash from the minority who thought his actions were unworthy of an All Black captain. Fear of a media firestorm. Because that's the way the world operates today. There's always someone off

There's an old political wisdom that if you've got bad news to tell, drop the news last thing on Friday so it gets buried by the weekend. So I was a bit confused to be watching One News on Friday with John Campbell oozing and gesticulating all over the screen, telling a story that on the surface seemed to be good news. 1News exclusively revealed that nearly 40,000 charges have been laid with over 8,300 people arrested to date as part of Operation Cobalt, their operation against gang activities. The operation was originally set up after an intensive spate of Killer Beez and Tribesmen-linked shootings in Auckland last year. Police said the arrests include patched gang members, gang prospects, and gang associates. Over 400 firearms have been seized and more than 1,100 search warrants executed. By any metric this is a significant blow against organised crime. Now the cynic in me immediately thought the Labour Party has leaked this before the National Party conference, which we could all tell was going to be hard

The first thing I thought when I heard of the new surgical wait list criteria policy which includes ethnicity is that Labour wants to lose this election. If their strategists didn't immediately see the risks in this policy then what are they doing in the job. After an autumn full of racially tinged politics where it is obvious that that National and Labour are more than willing to hoe into any policy favouring Maori and Pacific Islanders, this should have been placed in the "not now, not ever" pile. And I say not ever because this is fundamentally bad policy. It asks doctors to award care based on race and not need which is against the fundamental tenet of providing care to everyone with no fear of favour. From the Hippocratic Oath through to the Geneva Convention doctors are taught to treat people humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. But not in New Zealand. If the doctors are moaning about it then you know i

It must be election year because the signature polices are coming out to play. The latest is the Greens wishlist policy of more taxes on more stuff and income owned by well off people. Which, in my opinion, is barely worth the paper it's written on. Three reasons: first of all, as James Shaw told Mike this morning it's not a bottom line policy for coalition formation. And Labour is not politically stupid, well. They might be, but they’re not that stupid, and they know this will not aid them forming a government. I mean, this thing isn’t happening. This is virtue signalling; this is them saying “this is what we would do if we could, but we can’t, so we probably won’t.” Secondly the policy is a radical and revolutionary change to the very foundations of New Zealand’s economy and people's economic planning. And New Zealand is no longer a place where revolutions happen. We're cautious and afraid of change and like turkeys we don't vote for Christmas. So why should any ambitious generation vote against a system th

So I come to you fresh from 12 days holiday in Japan. For those of you who are keen but the language difficulties keep you from going, I've got 2 words for you. Google Translate. The free app that translates anything written in most languages. It's the key to unlocking a different culture. Japan is the home of high performing public transport. The government decided to put all its effort into trains and subways, letting private enterprise build the motorways.  As a result the roads are tolled and expensive.  While the trains are plentiful and cheap and so on time. No one is ever late for work. Meanwhile bicycles and cycle lanes are everywhere because the costs associated with cars are prohibitive. Watching mums cycling around with 2 kids on their mama chariot bikes was eye-opening. It was my first big trip overseas since 2015 and Japan had only just lifted Covid vaccination controls the week beforehand. I was bracing myself for all the people calling New Zealand a laughing stock because of our overreaction to

So why are so many mainstream media outlets so poor at telling the news? I say this after tuning into One News coverage of the coronation only to blunder into a 5 minute piece about Harry, followed by how to cook coronation quiche. Maybe they thought they were being entertaining, but instead they came off as infantile. So I tuned over to BBC World. There, they were talking about the King’s involvement in the arts and they followed it with more details about the ceremony. The story was about the King and his country, not his errant son. In fact, Harry arrived on a commercial flight, gave no interviews, joined the rest of the family, sat with other retired or non working royals (which is what he is), and afterwards he went to the airport to go home to see his own family. No fights, no showdowns, no dramas. Yet the Mirror alone, over the week ran 100 articles about Harry, mostly derogatory. People have described the onslaught as 'hate for hire'. Even when Mike Hosking wrote 1000 words about the Coronation for th

In less than a week, King Charles the Third will be crowned, sealed and delivered. Officially invested as the new King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and our official head of state. What a thing. In 2023. Which has led to a number of protests and general grumbling about the anachronism of the monarchy. Then to make things worse Charles wants us all to stand up and say this in the middle of the ceremony.  “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God” That’s not going down well with some saying Swear At the King rather than Swear For the King. But that’s not enough for me to go off the whole palava. I think it’s a marvellous folly. A useful sideshow from the drudgery of everyday life. A bit of fun with a handy side serving of pragmatism and finance. Firstly why should the UK persevere with the monarchy? Well, it’s a real money-spinner. A recent study found the British people paid 100 million pounds in costs to keep royalt

It didn't take long, did it, for the headlines to change. One moment the Prime Ministers of both New Zealand and Australia were trumpeting a new deal for Kiwis living in Oz. Nek minnit. New Zealand is petrified about a brain drain. The new deal means a faster and cheaper path to residency more in line with the pat for Aussies here in New Zealand. And that means a faster line to the dole, and pensions and healthcare for Kiwis in Australia. That makes it more attractive if you're wanting to plant some roots in a place. But the real kicker that makes Australia so attractive for New Zealanders is the pay. You get paid more there. You pay more tax principally because there are 3 tax levels. Rates, State taxes, and federal taxes. But you get paid more and stuff is cheaper there. So on balance it's more attractive. So my real question is why do you get paid more in OZ? Many say that the population is bigger which means more demand and there's a mineral wealth that flows into the economy. And while that is true it ma

There's an ad on ZB these days about reversible vasectomies. It talks about how easy it is to make the wrong decision and then have regrets. The example it uses is the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which has become famous as the bridge that austerity failed to build sufficiently. Back in the 50s the Bridge was proposed to be 6 lanes wide with a movable centre barrier. But to keep the cost down both economically and politically, only 4 lanes were built. Within 2 years the bridge was packed and 10 years later we had to add 4 more lanes at great expense. It's a lesson we fail to learn. We're currently in the middle of the same thing with Dunedin's new hospital. For the sake of a saving of 100 million on a 1.7 billion dollar project we were on the verge of cutting the construction of operating theatres and ward rooms. Facilities that will invariably need to be built in the future and ill inevitably be far more expensive to build. It's the Bridge all over again. The government is slowly crumbling on the issue but you h

Some of the things that have scuppered the Labour Government are their use of hyperbole, and exaggeration, and magical word salads that are easily debunked and ridiculed The good old favourites like the 100,000 houses from Kiwibuild or the light rail that would be started by 2021. Too many times the words and promises have not matched the deeds and that reduces trust in their ability to govern. So with this quite obvious it's a gimme for Opposition parties in their campaigning. All they have to do is project competence, and common sense, and achievable goals and aspirations and we'd consider them a government in waiting. So on Friday, Chris Bishop launched National's Electrify NZ policy. This is designed to create more renewable electricity to power on a green future away from oil, gas, and coal. I was doing Drive so I got the first crack which is always hard because you haven't had long to digest the policy. But right from the start, I realised that the policy principally involved shortening the resource con

Welcome to the new world of performative politics and the battle of the outraged. Though it's not a new world, but the same old world now amplified by social media and our move away from the written and spoken word and into pictures on screens. The visit of Posie Parker went exactly as anyone could predict over the weekend and the fallout is just as predictable. All sides played their part in this passionless play. All feeding on each other for validation. All throwing out vast generalisations. It all started with with the calls to ban her entry. Free speech crusaders railed against it. Trans activists bellowed for it.  Ignoring the fact that entry could only de denied on criminal record. Posie Parker is many things but she's never been a criminal. But the drama acted out broadcast by media entities both professional and social who only report what's right before their eyes Posie Parker is nothing without opposition and we'd all be ignorant of her stance if opponents hadn't highlighted it. She claimed to be r

So, it's been a week since I was last on ZB, and last Monday we were talking law and order and what really needs to happen. But of course in the week since, the former Police Minister Stuart Nash has had a spectacular meltdown and we now have our 5th Police Minister in 5 years. In fact, it's our 10th in 14 years. Police would like the revolving door to stop spinning so fast, but that's not in their control. But the funny thing I noticed about Stuart Nash's supposed crime is how little anybody really cared. In fact, one woman questioned by telly over the weekend said the classic line: he was just saying what everybody is thinking. The people who were most vocal about Nashie's misbehaviour were the opposition MPs. Particularly Mark Mitchell and David Seymour. "A flagrant overreach of ministerial authority and an instantly sackable offence" they chanted in unison. What Stuart Nash did was suggest what the police should do operationally. The Cabinet manual for all parties forbids this. It also forbids instructing

Have you ever considered how amazing it is that the health system operates at all. If you think about the pure logistics of every operation that will happen in New Zealand today, it is an awesome collaborative exercise that most industries couldn't match. A half dozen extensively skilled practitioners have to meet in a purpose built room. Some of them will have studied for 15 years or more to be at this level. The surgeons not only need knowledge but physical prowess and stamina as surgeries can last as long as 12 hours or more. The whole team need to be spotlessly clean and hygienic.  As does every piece of highly technical equipment they're about to use. An army of post operative carers need to be ready to provide 24 hour attention after the procedures. It's a small miracle that happens every day and we take it for granted. But at the same time as recognising the brilliance of our health system, we also have to admit the system is broken. The past weeks' headlines of staff shortages, room shortages and bure

So it is now officially the silly season as Christopher Luxon finally got off his State of the Nation speech and released his first policy in the election year. And who saw that coming? National has promised it would give households with a joint income of up to 180-thousand dollars a year a 25 percent rebate on their child care costs. Now strangely enough the last politician to use an early education bribe was Jacinda Ardern. And that was only last November and the new settings come in next month. National has taken that policy a bit further.  It's a classic case of not staying in your lane, hijacking another party's policy to swing some of their supporters your way. And that makes it good politics. The policy is not cheap at $249 million dollars. But National says it will claw that money back from the amount consultants currently charge the government.  There's a certain irony that National will fire consultants to give tax rebates so that parents can hire consultants to look after their children. Now painti

Former National MP Chester Borrows has died, aged 65. He was diagnosed with cancer last year. Borrows campaigned in two elections before winning the Whanganui seat in 2005, which he held for four terms. He served as Courts Minister and Deputy Speaker of the House in John Key's Government, before retiring in 2017. Andrew Dickens reflected on the political legacy of Chester Borrows after his death. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of getting back to basics and bread and butter, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that Three Waters is over. Just the name, mind It's an acknowledgement that the Opposition's campaign against Three Waters has tarnished its’ name.  So it's gone.  Not the reform. Just the name That was met by crowing by National Party members. In reply, I have said all along that I will not be voting for any party that doesn't have a cogent water reform policy. If you've listened to me you'll know that Labour's water reform rankles with me because of the appropriation and redistribution of assets and debt raised on them.  It penalised the councils doing well and rewarded councils that have been slack in investment and maintenance. But it did address the issue of raising enough equity to fund the work that is necessary for a water system we can be confident in So I was quite excited to see that National had finally stirred itself to present a water reform policy which they've called "Local Water Done Well". So what

It's been a week since I was on the radio. It's been one of the worst weeks in New Zealand as Cyclone Gabrielle did its worst in areas that were not expecting it. There's much to talk about the present but talk has started about the future. To fix our battered country up is going to take a lot of money. 13 billion was Grant Robertson's first forecast. Where do we find that? Over summer I was bailed up by a grandfather who felt for his grandchildren who were being lumbered with a crippling debt because of this bloody socialist government. I said the debt is not that bad in reality. This weekend Stephen Toplis the BNZ economist talked about our current debt to GDP target of 21.4%. Currently we're about 30 percent. Now to give you some context on that debt. Japan tops the list at over 250% debt to GDP, The United States is around 120%, Canada 110%, the UK at 100%.  Now sure, these are not levels to aspire to. So let's look at our brothers Australia. They're on 36%. My point is that we're not the macro financial

Philip Duncan from WeatherWatch joined Andrew Dickens to give an update on Cyclone Gabrielle and the current weather around the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is so much to unpack from the great Auckland anniversary weekend flood and organisational screw up that I’m just going to detail a few points. Firstly that the storm was unexpected and unforecasted. Well, it was and it wasn’t. All Spring we were told that La Nina was into its third successive cycle. The implication of that was a very warm, wet, and windy summer. Well that sure came true. Some have immediately jumped onto the storm as evidence of climate change. Except this weather cycle was already predicted and has happened many times before. Climate change may be adding to the impact of La Nina, but that’s a very difficult calculation to make and certainly not one that should be barked at local body politicians hours after the event. Forecasters knew it would be a significant event, but not quite as significant as it turned out to be. That said, the fact that we sent 40,000 Elton John fans out into the eye of that storm and the concert was not cancelled until 15 minutes before showtime is still inexpl

Happy New Year. It's nice to be back after a long summer break during a summer that was both brilliant and awful. When it was beautiful it was very beautiful and when it was horrible it was appalling. The East Coast mutilated not just by the elements but by the slash washed down from the hills. This is not the first time this has happened by any stretch and it has to stop.  The industry is well aware of the risk.  Like any industry you need to be able to clean up after you. And now the new year welcomes a new Prime Minister. Firstly, the resignation of Jacinda Ardern saw the most incredible outbreak of Jacinda Derangement Syndrome I've ever seen. Fans and acolytes from the left were left wailing and despairing. Truly bereft. Grown men crying. Meanwhile champagne corks were popping in the Koru Lounge, rural pubs filled up and the right wingers felt that all their troubles were over. All of which was a wild over exaggeration of Jacinda Ardern and her acheivements and abilities. For the past 5 years I've been sa