Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Well the Prime Minister is back and all the glamour of her week abroad has quickly evaporated.
Let me just say for the record that she did very well in Japan and New York. She avoided the gnarly politics surrounding Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.  Both men were very welcoming to our country and our future trade and this bodes well.
She was charming in chat shows and a good ambassador for New Zealand and it seems we’re a well liked country at the moment.
But back home this morning she was asked by all and sundry about the poor business confidence figures.  Based on the mood of the boardroom you’d think we were back in the bad black days of the GFC where the fear of not just recession but depression stalked the hallways of parliaments and businesses.
But we’re not.
We’ve slowed. But we’re ticking on. And most of our fundamentals are rock solid yet we do have a government that has put a stop to some plans and is taking an age to institute new ones.  This has been perceived as indecision and indecision breeds insecurity and doubt and when that happens you shut the wallet.
There appears to be just one commentator fighting against the rumours and that is the Herald’s business editor at large, Liam Dann.
As he says most economists say we’ve slipped, most say it will get a little worse and most say it will start improving at the beginning of next year.  Nobody is predicting a recession.
So asked what she’s going to do about the trough we’ve found herself the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister play a game of look over there
As they point out GDP growth at 2.1 per cent - or even 1.9 per cent - still puts us ahead of Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, Europe or the OECD average.
But all these comparisons of growth are relative.  North Korea is growing at 7 per cent under the Rocketman.  But they’re starting at Stone Age levels and 7 per cent of little is still little.
The point I’d like to make is the same as Liam Dann’s.  Talking yourself into a funk because of the government is self fulfilling.  This government prefer to spend on alternative transport options and not on roads and they want to tinker with Labour laws but that will not wreck the economy.
This morning the Prime Minister had the chance to calm the horses and she did not take it.
She needs to put the international spotlight to one side and get down to brass tacks and be a star at home.  As Liam Dann said yesterday she needs to use her verbal skills to reassert the Government's economic plan, to reassure on its execution and to remind New Zealanders that the outlook is not really so grim.

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What a rare and exciting event it was this morning to hear Phil Twyford on the Newstalk ZB breakfast show.  It’d been so long I’d almost forgotten his voice.
So when I walked into work I asked the breakfast producer how long it had been since Phil was on his programme.  He looked back on his records and by his reckoning Phil was last on the programme in February on the Kiwibuild reset. 7 months ago.
This despite repeated invitations from the breakfast show.  Most recently to answer question about the support the government can give to the retailers affected by the rail infrastructure development.
But he never comes on.  Until the day when Mike Hosking is away and Mike Yardley is hosting.
Now we don’t know whether that was purposeful.  Whether when we asked him to talk to us his press secretary asked who with and as soon as it was revealed that it was Yardley not Hosking he agreed, having not agreed for 7 months.
Whatever the truth it’s just a bad look and politics is all about looks.  The most open, honest and transparent government now chooses when and where and with whom they will be open honest and transparent with.
Meanwhile what was he saying.  Well on the compensation for the retailers we heard nothing.  He talked about material support, which means exactly what.  Financial support is still being considered and will be announced in a couple of months.  If Hosking was on he would have blown his fu fu valve.
Secondly on the procurement rules to help the struggling construction industry he was asked how it worked and he replied by telling us why it’s needed which we already know. And on it went. It was PR politician speak and it’s tiring.
So I took a  look at the new procurement guidelines on the government website.  The rules are there to support government agencies to improve the fairness and efficacy of their construction  projects.  If the project is over 50 million dollars then they have to engage with the Infrastructure Transactions Unit.
But at the end of the day the guidelines are just some guidelines.  It’s a checklist and there’s no talk about how this will be enforced or how it will stop private companies continuing to lo-ball for government work.
It’s a suggestion at the end of the day.  A very good suggestion but still a suggestion.
This is this government’s playbook.  Grant Robertson has suggested to a handful of SOEs that they mitigate the pay for their bosses.  It’s still only a suggestion.
It’s the same as Jacinda Ardern suggesting the internet companies crackdown on dodgy posts.  A very good suggestion but still just a suggestion.
I think that the government would do very well top start delivering some concrete policy rather than all these suggestions because there is a suggestion growing that they don’t know what to do
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When it comes to roads, this Government is confused.
National went into the last election with plans for ten big roads. Some were pie in the sky election promises which is not often mentioned but the majority were solid infrastructure for the long term. Roads were their major infrastructural push. 
But they didn’t form the government. The Government we got had different priorities. They wanted to resurrect rail which had seen decades of neglect, which was a false economy. Why build something and then break it. I don’t mind rail investment as trains powered by alternate energy sources will be traversing this country long after he diesel truck becomes extinct. So a billion odd went Kiwirail’s way.
They also decided to spend $1.4 billion making some of the roads we’ve already made safer.  I don’t mind that either because we did a shoddy job in too many places.  Drive a tourist down State Highway 1, 2 and 3 or 5 into Rotorua or 6 into Nelson and watch the whites of their eyes get larger.
But big roads can’t be put on the backburner.
There’s a big stink brewing in Levin.  A decade ago under another government the people of Levin were promised that they would be attached to the grand Kapiti Expressway.  The 40 kmilometres between Levin and Otaki is dangerous. When the 4 lane expressway hits Otaki and then turns into 2 lanes to Levin then there will be massive bottlenecks. The expressway will only get you to the traffic jam faster.
But the NZTA has told the people of Horowhenua that there is no money available for that 40 k stretch. Not until at least 2024. This is nuts. It’s a no brainer road.
It is the gateway from Wellington the Manawatu and vice versa. It would be the making of Levin that has suffered a number of business closures. 
It joins a small list of other no brainer roads waiting to be funded. Like State Highway 2 in Tauranga. Like putting a proper motorway through Hamilton.
Some ideological zealots will argue that the car is on it’s last legs. That might be so but it will still be easier to ride your horse, or your bicycle  to the cities and the motorways could easily be converted to alternative energy public transit options.
Here’s a little factoid to digest.  Laying rail tracks in Germany costs a quarter of laying rail tracks in Britain.  Because they have a policy to lay 200 kilometres every year. So the work is never ending. The supply chains are in. You don’t faff around tendering. IP is retained.
This country needs to subscribe to a long term bipartisan approach to road and rail spending.  And the Government needs to find some money for Otaki to Levin today.

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Conversations about money can be difficult. We don’t like talking about it.
According to research from Sorted, over half of us would rather talk about sex, drugs or politics than the dreaded M word.
As we kick into Money Week, Sorted Editor Tom Hartmann joined Andrew Dickens to discuss how not talking about money can be a source of stress, anxiety and unnecessary problems for many families. 
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With all the talkback about the year fees free this morning the underlying issue was spending.  More specifically, wasteful spending.
The first part of the Government billion dollar free tertiary fee programme was $340 million dollars on the Year One 2018 students.  Over the weekend we discovered that a third of the students in that cohort quit, which raised heckles.
But the fact remains that a third of first years always quit or fail or suffer circumstances that mean they leave study.  In fact less people left tertiary education last year that in 2017 before the policy came in.
The $340 million spent didn’t create more students.  Nor did it make the ones who did take up the offer stay.  So the real shame is that we spent $340 million dollars on nothing.  Though all the kids of 2018 who get their education for a third less are very thankful.  My son who started in uni in 2017 is not best pleased.
Spending also made the news with the allocation of $6 million to extend mental health services at 20 clinics around the country. I was less than impressed. In May $1.9 billion was allocated to mental health services. The government is currently figuring out how to spend that money. This was the first announcement.
Frankly $6 million to extend existing services is not worth a headline or a mention. It’s vastly underwhelming when a pot of $1.9 billion was put aside. And at the glacial speed this government takes to make concrete decisions you have to wonder if anything will be committed before next November.
It joins a lot of other vastly underwhelming spending promises. The Provincial Growth Fund has a budget of $1 billion a year to spend.  It’s not going to get anywhere near that before the next election.
Infrastructure spending on road was cut and in its place other promises. Money was then put aside for trams and trains and the Sky Bridge, all of which seems stagnant due to planning paralysis.
Last week we also learnt of home loan provisions created as part of KiwiBuild that have not been subscribed to at all. Another $400 million has been promised to KiwiBuild but when pressed last week Megan Woods had no detail and promised some before the end of the year.
Last night of the telly Paula Bennett called the extra spending of $6 million on mental health a fail. It’s not a complete fail because this is more than was spent before.
The thing about spending is that you’ve actually got to spend it. And that’s the fail.
There’s only one thing worse that promising something. It’s not delivering it. But then again, every dollar not spent is a dollar saved.

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A view that prisoners should be encouraged to be an active part of society, rather than shut out.
A Waitangi Tribunal report says the 2010 law change which bans prisoners from voting, goes against the Crown's treaty obligations.
 
It says it leads to a significant prejudice against Maori.
Newstalkzb's political editor Barry Soper told Andrew Dickens while many rights are denied to prisoners, the right to vote shouldn't be one of them.
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It’s not often when you’re watching television when you see a news item and you cheer and think 'well that’s about time', but it happened last night.
I was watching TVNZ's Sunday programme and Jehan Casinader was presenting a piece on Oranga Tamariki.  But it wasn’t like the media we’ve been seeing on the child agency lately.  It was covering the thorny issue of child uplifts but this time from the point of view of social workers.
This is something that has been sorely missing ever since Melanie Reid's 40 minute video of an attempted uplift in Hawkes Bay in June. That video shocked many and provoked a series of protests around the country.
At these protests social workers have been labelled as baby snatchers and kidnappers and accused of creating a new “stolen generation”.  It’s become a nationwide movement calling for the state to stop stealing Maori children and the protests are being led by Maori including elders such as Tariana Turia.
We now have 4, count them 4, reviews of Oranga Tamariki and most are centring on the role of Maori whanau in these children’s survival.
So Jehan’s piece showed a Bay Of Plenty Oranga Tamariki agency going into lockdown because of protesters threats and the fears for the social workers safety. This  is a deep irony. Our kids are safe in our hands but social workers are not. Violence runs deep.
But what made me whoop is when we finally heard from Maori social workers who were defending themselves and the agency against the non stop negative press the protesters and the media have summoned against them.
In their own words these Maori social workers explained how they are proud to work for Oranga Tamariki.
How they are developing new models of care, built on tikanga Māori. How they support vulnerable children and reunite them, safely, with their whanau.
And how they already partner with iwi to allow children from those iwi to be diverted away from the state-run system.  Another programme is being launched this week with Tainui.
We see the danger they put themselves in by caring for kids in dangerous homes. The fear and the dread as they approach a broken home.
One social worker on the programme said that social workers are accused of destroying families.  But, she says, families are already destroyed when we get there. 
Another said that if Maori really what to improve the situation for vulnerable kids then they should direct their anger towards the real cause of child abuse which he said was the 3 Ps: poverty piss and P not Oranga Tamariki
The media on this has all been one sided from Melanie Reid's documentary which purposefully left out half the story and then the coverage of all the protests. The squeaky wheel of the protesters has been heard far too much on this issue as if we forgot that there’s two sides to every story.
So well done to Jehan and the brave social workers he spoke to. And to the social workers that are making a positive difference in New Zealand, I thank you. Because it is thankless work that not enough people acknowledge.

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Women can delay the menopause by up to 20 years with a new 30-minute operation that tricks their biological clocks into thinking they are much younger than they are.
The revolutionary procedure is set to transform the lives of thousands of women who suffer severe side effects of the menopause, such as osteoporosis and heart problems.
For millions more, the appeal of delaying the menopause would be a reduction of often debilitating physical and emotional problems such as hot flushes, a reduced sex drive, night sweats and mood swings.
The surgical procedure, devised by the fertility expert who pioneered IVF, sees tissue from the ovaries, thawed, and then transplanted back into the armpit, the Daily Mail reports. 
It also has the potential to extend fertility – though doctors say the aim is to postpone the menopause rather than give women the chance to have babies into their 60s.
According to The Sunday Times, nine British women, aged between 22 and 36, have already undergone the surgical procedure, which is being offered privately to any British woman up to the age of 40. 
The 33-year-old teacher had been diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 20 and underwent a hysterectomy last year.
She underwent the operation at the same time as having the pioneering menopause treatment, and had her ovarian tissue immediately placed back inside her.
As a result, she claims she no longer suffers from side effects such as pain, mood wings and a bad night's sleep. 
She said: 'I was first diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 20 years old. I had about 12 years of going through all sorts of different things. 
'I'd had six laparoscopies and I'd got to the point where I needed to do something to take control of the situation.
'I thought my final option to win the battle was to have a hysterectomy. 
'It was something I had thought about for a number of years. My husband and I decided together that my quality of life was more important than anything else.'
But when she came in for her consultation, specialists told her about a procedure called ovarian grafting - and that she could treat her condition - and delay the onset of menopause at the same time.   
She said: 'I was a little anxious at first because I hadn't heard of it. 
'But going away from the hospital I felt really lucky that I'd been chosen to have surgery like that, because it was so new and because of the benefits it could have. 
'I'd had symptoms in the past, so I didn't want to experience the hot flushes, the mood swings and all the things that go along with the menopause. That was a huge bonus for me.'
More than a year after her surgery, Dixie-Louise is fully recovered and pain-free, adding: 'My quality of life has improved dramatically. 
'I am pain free. I no longer have mood swings, hot flushes, I don't wake up in the night any more.
'I can't believe something so simple that was already inside me has changed my life completely.
'It's been a really hard road to get here, but I would choose this a million times over.'   
The procedure works by taking some of ovarian tissue and freezing it at minus 150C, before storing it in an ice bank.
When the woman reaches the menopause, it is thawed and transplanted back, kick-starting the natural hormones that stave off the menopause.
The operation is currently only available at the Birmingham-based private company ProFam (Protecting Family and Menopause), which is run by Professor Simon Fishel, an IVF pioneer whose work led to the birth of Natalie Brown, the sister of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown. 
It costs between £3,000 and £7,000 for the removal and storage of ovarian tissue,
'I have to say I never felt any pain, and it seems quite miraculous that it's something so straightforward,' said the 34-year-old married mother-of-one.
Professor Fishel said: 'Women are living longer than at any time in...

Women can delay the menopause by up to 20 years with a new 30-minute operation that tricks their biological clocks into thinking they are much younger than they are.
The revolutionary procedure is set to transform the lives of thousands of women who suffer severe side effects of the menopause, such as osteoporosis and heart problems.
For millions more, the appeal of delaying the menopause would be a reduction of often debilitating physical and emotional problems such as hot flushes, a reduced sex drive, night sweats and mood swings.
The surgical procedure, devised by the fertility expert who pioneered IVF, sees tissue from the ovaries, thawed, and then transplanted back into the armpit, the Daily Mail reports. 
It also has the potential to extend fertility – though doctors say the aim is to postpone the menopause rather than give women the chance to have babies into their 60s.
According to The Sunday Times, nine British women, aged between 22 and 36, have already undergone the surgical procedure, which is being offered privately to any British woman up to the age of 40. 
The 33-year-old teacher had been diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 20 and underwent a hysterectomy last year.
She underwent the operation at the same time as having the pioneering menopause treatment, and had her ovarian tissue immediately placed back inside her.
As a result, she claims she no longer suffers from side effects such as pain, mood wings and a bad night's sleep. 
She said: 'I was first diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 20 years old. I had about 12 years of going through all sorts of different things. 
'I'd had six laparoscopies and I'd got to the point where I needed to do something to take control of the situation.
'I thought my final option to win the battle was to have a hysterectomy. 
'It was something I had thought about for a number of years. My husband and I decided together that my quality of life was more important than anything else.'
But when she came in for her consultation, specialists told her about a procedure called ovarian grafting - and that she could treat her condition - and delay the onset of menopause at the same time.   
She said: 'I was a little anxious at first because I hadn't heard of it. 
'But going away from the hospital I felt really lucky that I'd been chosen to have surgery like that, because it was so new and because of the benefits it could have. 
'I'd had symptoms in the past, so I didn't want to experience the hot flushes, the mood swings and all the things that go along with the menopause. That was a huge bonus for me.'
More than a year after her surgery, Dixie-Louise is fully recovered and pain-free, adding: 'My quality of life has improved dramatically. 
'I am pain free. I no longer have mood swings, hot flushes, I don't wake up in the night any more.
'I can't believe something so simple that was already inside me has changed my life completely.
'It's been a really hard road to get here, but I would choose this a million times over.'   
The procedure works by taking some of ovarian tissue and freezing it at minus 150C, before storing it in an ice bank.
When the woman reaches the menopause, it is thawed and transplanted back, kick-starting the natural hormones that stave off the menopause.
The operation is currently only available at the Birmingham-based private company ProFam (Protecting Family and Menopause), which is run by Professor Simon Fishel, an IVF pioneer whose work led to the birth of Natalie Brown, the sister of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown. 
It costs between £3,000 and £7,000 for the removal and storage of ovarian tissue,
'I have to say I never felt any pain, and it seems quite miraculous that it's something so straightforward,' said the 34-year-old married mother-of-one.
Professor Fishel said: 'Women are living longer than at any time in...

The Greens conference was over the weekend and it highlighted a party for whom confusion is always their middle name.
The Greens: two leaders, two strands.  A party is split between the social justice side of things and the environmental side of things, with the two leaders standing for the different halves of the party.
So moderate James Shaw used his Saturday address to get stuck into Simon Bridges and National. He called Mr Bridges a climate change denier.  He said calling climate change an emergency or a crisis is not an exaggeration but an accurate description about the situation. 
And then he announced the climate change policy for the Government which is to adopt 43 of the Productivity Commission’s recommendations which include reforming the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme rather than replace it with a carbon tax.
So far, so green.
Then Social Justice Warrior Marama Davidson spoke on Sunday and announced a proposal for a state run rent to own scheme.  Which is a lovely idea if the state owned enough homes to rent out to buyers but they obviously don’t.  And I guess housing is about the environment since it is the environment humans live in, but it’s this sort of thing that muddys the Greens waters. 
Rent to own schemes doesn’t save kauris or endangered snails.
James Shaw seems more green that many of the greens. Yet many of the Greens don't think so.
Some bloke called Jack MacDonald, a man I’ve barely heard of but someone who is a big cheese in the party, comes out and stands down because James Shaw is too centrist for him.  Mr MacDonald describes himself as an indigenous eco-socialist.  Yikes. He says because of the impending climate catastrophe in 12 years time, we simply don't have time for centrism, moderation or fiscal austerity.
So in reply he’s just not going to stand for parliament anymore or do anything.  This is very similar to a petulant toddler who sits in the corner, refuses to move and cries until he gets his way.  I just don’t get his attitude at all. When the going gets tough, Jack, the tough stand up and get going, they don’t run away complaining and grizzling.
Meanwhile every time the Greens actually do something like increase the DOC budget or ban plastic bags former members like Russell Norman and Kevin Hague jump into the media and diss them.  With friends like those, who need enemies.
But there is a point here.  The Greens could write themselves a long term pass to parliament if they ditched the preaching, the moralistic high ground taking and the ideological bump they often spout.
The biggest ecological crisis this country faced this year was the Fox River dump disaster.  A disaster that Eugenie Sage appeared to ignore for months. Then there’s all the imported coal to keep the power networks and Fonterra going. They're great on theory but not on concrete steps to help the ecology.
It’s almost as if the Greens are not green enough.  It’s not James Shaw’s moderatism that’s taking the party off focus.  It’s the social justice division that has taken their focus away.

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