Andrew Dickens Afternoons

So the election result in the Hamilton West by-election is proof that this election year is going to be a thrilling ride. The electorate was always a soft blue one which swung hard red after the government's handling of Covid. But now it has swung back to the sort of political leaning it had before the pandemic. In fact it may have gone hard blue. But it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as only 31 per cent of the electorate voted. The election was also missing a Green candidate, Gourav Sharma also took 1200 votes with him, which was a surprisingly good result in my book. Crucially National Leader Christopher Luxon also saw that it wasn't as one sided as some made out and warned the party against arrogance and lethargy. It must be tempting as a National party supporter to hear the constant criticism of this Government and then see the turning of the tide in polls being confirmed by this by election result and think you're home and hosed. And this Government is constantly criticised. "The most incompeten

So I went to Billy Joel on Saturday. Great concert. The sound for the top tiers of the stadium was not good, but I blame that on Billy's team who had a rushed set up. The video walls were also very loose but the music was amazing. The real beef was transport. There were no trains because Kiwirail scheduled maintenance without anyone looking at what was on that weekend. It created a lot of chaos. Now, I live on the Shore and taking a ferry and a train to Eden Park is normally a delight. So instead we opted to take our electric scooters to the Park taking the NW motorway bike path. Not ideal. Had to stay sober but hate delays and not fond of buses. So we ferried to downtown which took 15 minutes. Then rode up Queen Street and on to Eden Park.  That took us 15 minutes. Coming back it was well lit and we were in a hurry so it took us just 12 minutes. So it was surprisingly efficient and a lot of fun. But the real take home is that we were the only people on the bike path. Now, that's not the path's or the council

We are now just moments away from the nationwide vigils and protests against retail crime planned to take place outside dairies and Labour MPs offices. This comes after the murder of 34 year old Janak Patel outside the Rose Cottage Dairy in Sandringham last Wednesday. In the half week of debate after this crime we have seemingly talked about every aspect of crime without touching the major factor behind the Rose Cottage crime. People assumed it was part of the ram raid fad that has taken hold this spring, that it was theft of cigarettes and vapes that have gained a new transactional value due to their high price due to the taxes imposed upon them. That the offenders were youth who have no fear of consequence from the NZ Police or Justice System. That this crime was spurned on by a government that is portrayed as soft on crime. As we have found out in the fullness of time, the alleged offender was 34. His accomplice 42. These were not kids.  It was not a ram raid.  They were after the cash register not the cig

The debacle that was the awarding of the Football World Cup to Qatar is once again back in focus with the start of the tournament. But make no mistake there's been controversy ever since the awarding of the tournament back in 2010. The appointment turned heads.  The smallest country to ever host the cup, the first Arab country. The first country to host the cup that had never qualified for the cup.  A country with little football history.  But a country with a lot of petro dollars The appointment came as 2 FIFA officials were suspended due to allegations of corruption and money laundering. And the appointment process has been tainted ever since even though there is now concrete allegation as yet. Immediately there was concern about human rights of the country's construction workers because they don't have any of their own. Arab countries have long imported their labour from South East Asia, paying them little and taking their passports causing allegations of modern day slavery. Meanwhile 10 years ago, the Gua

Friday saw the committee charged with reviewing public submissions on the Three Waters water reform return their recommendations. Changes to co-governance was not in their list of suggestions It beggars belief that out of the 88,000 New Zealanders that bothered to make their voices heard that co-governance wasn't high on the list of concerns. But as I said on the Friday drive show, the lady is not for turning. Co-governance appears to be a hill that this Labour Government is prepared to die on. But as I also said on Friday, co-governance should be the least of your worries if you're concerned with creeping socialism. The Three Waters reform suggested is property theft and that's the reason that Phil Goff was against it and had to be bought off. This Government wants to seize assets paid for by ratepayers, amalgamate them and then borrow off them, so that funding for water stays off the Governments and Councils books. It's blatant nationalisation by a left wing government It's like needing to do urgent repairs

A couple of weeks ago, I warned you that Winston is back and I was right. The latest political poll by Horizon Research released today finds New Zealand First with 6.75% support – and in a position to decide which parties would form a Government. This result would deliver the party 9 seats in a 120-seat parliament. So, Horizon finds Labour would win 40 seats, the Green party 15. A total of 55.  Not enough to form a Government. Meanwhile, National would win 37 seats and ACT 17. A total of 54.  Again not enough. Meaning that NZ First would be the kingmaker once again.  To get back into parliament the party needs either an electoral seat or 5% of the vote and on this poll it does that. Horizon is a company that involves Graeme Colman, ex of NBR, and other professionals with 30 odd years of experience so I don’t feel it is biased. So the coalition partners are stable. ACT continues to be strong with 13% of the vote but that seems to be coming from National voters.   This result should worry both the main parties.

As we digest the local government elections, it's important to realise that in the wider world our concerns are small change. Roadcones, cycleways and speed limits are small fry compared with Ukrainian war, global recessions and rampant inflation worldwide. And then there's climate change and controls on our emissions. In the past fortnight, you may not have noticed stories that put climate issues into perspective. The sabotage of the Russian gas pipe was the single greatest man-made climate disaster in history. The pure mass of methane that escaped into the atmosphere was incredible. Remember that methane is over 80 times more effective at warming the atmosphere than CO2. Decades of emission controls were written off in just a few days. Meanwhile, the Government admitted that the drive to replace the entire Government fleet with electric vehicles by 2025 is way off track. It's looking like 25% of the fleet will be electric, and not by 2025 but more like 2030. Why? There are just not enough electric vehicles

As this is my first time on ZB since the death of Elizabeth the Second, may I add my gratitude to the many who have praised her exceptional service. In the days since the expected but still devastating news I have been struck by how history is unfolding before our eyes. History is made up of milestones and crossroads and we are in the middle of an astounding period of change that we will all point to in the future. We are at the end of the Second Elizabethan age.  A 70 year period of incredible progress and modernisation, where technology has aided and abetted more individuality and self-determination than ever before. In coincides with the greatest pandemic for 100 years. The most impactful war since the World conflicts of last century.  Brexit and other economic developments changing world trade patterns. A worldwide inflation outbreak. And a climate that is becoming increasingly volatile. I feel people in the future will look back to this point as a significant point in this planet's history and here we ar

Another day and another debate on crime and what to do with it. There is no doubt the craze for ram raiding amongst the young has contributed to the perception that crime is out of control. Add to that the growing number of gun crimes particularly amongst the gangs.  It has led to a feeling that our streets are more unsafe than they've ever been before. It has led to the debate on crime to be all about punishment and all about crimes of violence and trespass. But the iceberg of crime is far bigger than we mostly hear and like an iceberg the biggest crimes are unreported. Jarrod Gilbert writes today about the incredible level of white collar crime we have in New Zealand and our laissez faire attitude towards it. He cites a couple of cases recently. The bloke charged with stealing $ 600,000 by defrauding the Covid wage subsidy.  Another case saw an allegation of an employer pocketing his staff's PAYE payments to the tune of $300,000. The size of the problem is even more evident when you look at the assets of cr

So last week, my opening comments centred on how opposition MPs and anti-government commentators have been fear mongering about the state of the economy. When it was published online it became one of our most commented on pieces of the day with over 500 people expressing what they thought. Many called me a Labour party apologist. A lot asked why I was praising Labour's management of the economy. Problem is; I wasn't.  Nowhere did I say Labour was doing a good job. In fact I'm on record as saying the Government and the Reserve Bank have not handled the reality of the economic situation appropriately. But, I'm also pointing out how many are exaggerating the possibility of economic gloom and doom for political effect. And the more it's said the more chances it has of becoming real. Last week a number of economists from home and abroad came out and said they don't believe New Zealand will fall into recession. But on Friday, retail figures came out with a 2.6 percent fall. The headline was "Fears of a recession as

I only work at Newstalk ZB one day a week so I've been spared having to talk about the Guarav Sharma drama. Or as we now know the Sharma Drama. But my god it's still going.   Over the weekend he revealed that Kieran McAnulty called him a terrible MP and that was bullying. Knowing how fruity Kieran's language can be, I think Gourav got off lightly. There's a reason Kieran's a whip. He's good with the old don't argue. I've realised that the MP for Hamilton West really doesn't like being yelled at. Sharma's maiden speech in February 2021 alleges a paediatric surgeon bullied him while he was at university. It also contained many claims of bullying and racism while he was on the campaign trail. Sharma appears to feel he's been bullied his entire life. It was the Prime Minister's turn this morning and she once again ruled out an investigation saying that there needs to be a threshold to instigate these things. Otherwise any time anyone called anyone a bully or a racist we'd have investigation after investigation. W

So let's be honest with each other Did you, in your darkest heart, secretly hope the All Blacks would lose to prove that Ian Foster was always the wrong man. To get Scott Robertson into the driving seat? C'mon. Many did. Some even admitted it on social media. Now if you did, it's quite a dark place really. Actively rooting against your own team, even if you think it would be best for the team eventually.   Diehard fans would be disgusted. They'd call you a fairweather fan. Not there for the team, only to share in their glory. If you're important enough or your voice is loud enough the players may hear of it and it may crush their spirit which no-one wants. It's OK to think that others could do a better job but there is no benefit in wishing for failure. I say this because for some time I've been appalled by the number of people who appear to want New Zealand to fail because they don't like the current Government. It's almost like they're hoping for a recession just to prove to everybody, or maybe just to them

So the National Party conference was held over the past weekend in Christchurch. Things went well until late on Sunday night when planes started being cancelled and MPs and party members went mumbling off into the wet cold winters’ night in search of a bed. The conference was organised and dull which is just what a party wants. An action filled conference is not the sign of a settled party. But they seem settled on Luxon and Willis and so the game continues with a policy thrown out to keep the party in public discussion. Maybe I've just been in the game too long, but I could have guessed it would be some sort of benefit policy that says something along the line of kids don't want to work, benefits are a lifestyle and the Ministry of Social Development are useless. Which is exactly what they said. I've heard these plans so many times in so many guises. I wonder where this army of competent community advisors are going to come from in a time of skilled staff shortages, and I wonder about the cost of bureaucracy

Just at the moment when New Zealand should be getting back to business, the wheels keep falling off for this Government. On Sunday, we finally opened up completely to the rest of the world.  After two and a half years the so-called hermit kingdom was over. There's even a cruise ship scheduled to arrive in a few weeks We should be emerging triumphant, but we're not. Today we're bickering over a government handout that's supposed to help with the cost of living crisis but is proving to be a thorn in the side of the Labour Government. And it is probably just going to make inflation worse. Nicola Willis and the National Party are claiming that overseas residents are going to be getting the three instalments of $116.67, even though they don't live here. Ms Willis claims a man living in Dubai who has not been a NZ resident for 22 years is going to be getting the payments and he's feeling embarrassed. This is an outrage, if it's true. But you should never totally believe a politician. So 2.1 million people are in th

I’ve spent the weekend trying to figure out if the New Zealand Prime Minister has done a good job for the country in her overseas trip or not.Firstly, the new extended OE deal which sees working holiday visas extended by a year both in the UK and for UK citizens coming here. And allows it for up to 35 year oldsIt’s not surprising that the UK was prepared to give a little on this. Their labour shortage is even more acute than ours. Not only have they suffered Covid lockdowns and all the other pandemic related economic pressure, but it all came on top of Brexit.Brexit saw a lot of cheap European labour excluded from the UK and according to the Office for National Statistics, there were 1.3 million positions waiting to be filled in the first quarter of 2022, nearly 500,000 more than before the pandemic struck.  Of course they want more New Zealanders.UK citizens have reciprocal rights but will that influx match the outflow of Kiwis.I doubt if it will.  Firstly, there are too many people telling our young folk th

You’ll be pleased to know you’re not about to hear another white middle-aged man pontificate about abortion.  But I will talk about the effect of the ruling. That Christopher Luxon felt compelled to make a public statement on the future of this country’s laws based on a decision in another sovereignty with a completely different system shows the emotion and polarity behind the issue. Now, the decision is not a surprise.  Republicans have been working towards this outcome for years and when it comes to Supreme Court judges, we’re talking very long games. The Democrats also play the game which is why there was so much pressure on Ruth Bader Ginsburg to resign during Obama’s tenure.  She didn’t, but then died under Trump meaning he had the card to play in the game of “stack the Supreme Court”. As an outsider I am always amazed at the political influence in choosing the Supreme Court in the United States.  It flies in the face of the traditional pillars of democracy and society. The four pillars are the judiciary

We live in a world beset by problems right now.Having spent 2 years being ravaged by a pandemic we have entered an age of inflation and economic uncertainty.The world is full of bear markets crashing around us with the exception of crude oil prices that are up 6 per cent in the past month fuelling on more inflation. It’s a vicious cycle.And one of the most immediate crises is in the health sector.Tomorrow is the Winter solstice and the official start of deepest winter.For a long time now this has meant a crunch time for our health system. Respiratory illnesses like flu and RSV overwhelm our hospitals. But now we have the victims of Covid added into the mix.For weeks now we’ve had health workers saying it’s an emergency, that we’re at breaking point. We’re understaffed, under resourced, underfunded and that people will die because of it.The Health Minister maintains his line to maintain public confidence that we are coping. But the stories of brain bleed victims uncared for 8 hours who then die puts lie to tha

Has everyone else been as blown away as I have about the vigour and speed with which China has decided to woo our Pacific neighbours? And is everyone else as worried as I am about our preparations for a new geo politics in our backyard? The Chinese Foreign Minister is in the middle of a whistle-stop tour of 8 Pacific nations. He carries with him millions and millions of dollars in aid and development funds and in return, all he wants is Chinese access and influence. Over the weekend he was in Samoa. They signed up immediately. They spoke about climate change, the pandemic and peace and security. Things that Australia, New Zealand and the United States have consistently failed to do. The things the Pacific are really worried about. We have taken the Pacific for granted and paid them lip service and now we have competition for our influence. This is prompting a wave of concern about what we can do. Which is all a little too little and too late Yesterday on Q&A, one expert said it's time to invest more in de

Welcome to budget week and welcome to the immediate aftermath of the Covid pandemic. Is the pandemic over? No, far from it. Temporary labour shortages as the virus works its way through the population means everything will be difficult for some time yet. Nearly half our music station staff were off last week after one company super spreader event. Productivity was knocked for 6. Who needs the Government to lock us down when we do it to ourselves. Meanwhile, the post-pandemic hangover affects the whole world and it's having a political fall-out. In Australia, Scott Morrison looks in doubt as Labour blames him for a cost-of-living crisis. In America, Biden is losing ground because he's blamed for a cost-of-living crisis. Boris Johnson will be lucky to survive as Labour hammers him for a cost-of-living crisis. All the Governments that have steered the world through Covid are now being made to pay for it. They're being blamed for the profligate spending that kept businesses afloat. But at the time they were blame

Newstalk ZB Chief Political Reporter Jason Walls joined the show to unpack the Emissions Reduction Plan and explain how it all works and what it will cover.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.