Andrew Dickens Afternoons

LISTEN ABOVE AS BARRY SOPER SPEAKS TO TIM BEVERIDGE
Jami-Lee Ross' days in the National Party caucus look numbered.
In a series of tweets, Ross claims Bridges pushed him out on medical leave after confronting him with a recording of Bridges discussing unlawful activity.
Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper told Tim Beveridge  the future for both Bridges and Ross is looking messy.
"This is a direct challenge to Simon Bridges' leadership, he has got to go in and ask for the expulsion of Jamie Lee Ross from the National Party caucus tomorrow when they have their meeting."

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I can’t help get the feeling the government is on the cusp of missing a golden opportunity to send a message to us all that it isn’t afraid of addressing the hard problems.
The news that of a teaching crisis in the form of a teacher shortfall of around 850 teachers might have come as a shock to some but for those at the coalface of the education system it is hard to imagine too many were surprised.
In watching interviews with Minister of Education Chris Hipkins one almost gets the impression that he is resentful of finding himself in the position of having to address the demands and needs of teachers after what has, arguably, been a lengthy period of neglect.
But that is this Government’s lot and they have to deal with it.
Yes, perhaps he has a point in placing the blame on the previous government or governments.  The crisis hasn’t happened overnight.  One thing for certain. The problem is here and it’s not going to go away.
We could all spend too much time debating and discussing how or why we got here.
But what is the problem?
It is simply that teachers overtime have become over worked and underpaid. How many parents in discussing their kids futures would honestly encourage them into that profession?
For years it seems teachers have seen their working conditions diminish to the extent that it is hard to see why anyone would be enticed into that profession unless they had the prospect of other financial means of support.
Complaints by the minister about previous government inaction don’t sound like leadership to me. They sound like an excuse to avoid fully addressing the problem that they are being presented with. It doesn’t fill me with confidence that they are prepared to take a position which might demonstrate some real leadership at a time when it is required.
But doesn’t this crisis present the government with an opportunity? A chance for the Minister  and the government to make a statement and say – you know what: we are going to invest in teachers. We are going to turn the tide around the pessimism and despondency which exists in many schools around the country. Yes, this may be a problem that we have inherited but who cares about that - we are here to solve it.
I don’t know about you but I don’t particularly care about the blame game and how we got here. What I think would inspire people would be talk of a solution.
I want to see a message sent out saying that teachers are valued.
Through the course of talkback, you will often here form people who will challenge any point of view and say ‘what has this government done?”
And it’s always difficult to point to any huge moment in a Government’s policies.
I think this is basically an opportunity to stop pussy footing  around  - deal with it and tinkering with a thousand dollars here and there . Deal with it, pay them more, make a commitment and send a loud and clear signal that teachers are valued and get this problem back on track to having a long term solution.

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So I'm a reasonable man and I'm not prone to hyperbolic statements. I believe that most New Zealanders and virtually all New Zealanders in leadership positions are doing their best to do the best thing for New Zealand.
I'm prepared to give any government a fighting chance. This one is wanting to spend money, as money becomes available, on stuff we've neglected for a while as we recovered from a big economic shock in 2008. On a macro level, this government has the same attitude as National's coalition, who also had the same attitude as the Labour-led government before it. Run a surplus, keep debt under control. The difference is how they spend the tax. With this government, the benefit spend is up, education spending is up and one day when all the working groups make their mind up they might do something else.
So they're not the big bad wolf. They just have different priorities to the last lot
But at the moment I facepalm at some of the stances being taken by Government.
Knowing that business is leery of a lefty led government you'd think they'd be aware of what they call these days the optics.
So what have we got? The past week has seen the Prime Minister telling off oil companies and now supermarkets.
I'm no more suspicious of the oil companies than I am of any other business that wants to turn a profit. The fact that petrol is cheaper before taxes than Coca-Cola and bottled water blows my mind, considering how much has happened to get the remains of dinosaurs out of the ground and into my car at the end of the world. Our horror at the price of petrol is more a sign of how much we take this miracle for granted.
But taking aim at the oil companies when 50 per cent of the price of a litre goes into government and Auckland council hands' was always going to be a bit rich. And honestly, what can you do? Regulate the price? Nationalise the industry? Start any of those things and it won’t be business confidence falling, it would be outright rebellion. In reality, this is just a tut tut. And oil companies can do exactly the same back.
So after that, we got questions about supermarkets and calls for inquiries. James Shaw went and compared our prices with Australia. What a mistake. We’re not comparable. Australia's productivity beats ours. They earn more. They're bigger. They have nine chains we have two. Our national population is the size of a big Australian city. And the fact of the matter is that starting a supermarket is a big and expensive affair. There's a supermarket for sale right now in the commercial real estate pages. They want $35 million. To get in the game is a big ask. Frankly, we have all the competition we can afford.
So this week we've had political attacks on our petrol and supermarkets. Earlier this year Shane Jones attacked our airline and Fonterra. So who’s next for a scolding. And they wonder why business is concerned and prepared to tick the “I don’t have confidence in you” box when asked.
A word of advice, look after your own house before you attack others, or you'll just make enemies from the people who make the work, who pay the wages to the people that pay the taxes that we need to make things even better than they already are.

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LISTEN ABOVE AS MARK TIERNEY SPEAKS WITH ANDREW DICKENS
Mark Tierney is the founding member of Strawpeople, the multi-platinum ambient pop duo of the 1990s.
Mark won the APRA Silver Scroll in 1996 for his song ‘Sweet Disorder’ and also individual awards for Engineer Of The Year, and Producer Of The Year.
Tierney has spent the last 20 years away from the music business, but is back with new single ‘Drowning’. He explains to Andrew Dickens his love of music, and what made him get back into the recording studio.

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Michael Van de Elzen is releasing his new book on October 5 – this one is particularly close to his heart because he’s created it with kids in mind.

The Good From Scratch Kids Cookbook is Michael’s fifth cookbook, and is a collection of his favourite recipes to cook with his two daughters, and recipes that they love to cook themselves!
 
The book is beautifully illustrated, and has recipes for everything from kick starter breakfasts through to party food.

LISTEN ABOVE AS MICHAEL VAN DE ELZEN SPEAKS TO ANDREW DICKENS

Michael Van de Elzen is releasing his new book on October 5 – this one is particularly close to his heart because he’s created it with kids in mind.

The Good From Scratch Kids Cookbook is Michael’s fifth cookbook, and is a collection of his favourite recipes to cook with his two daughters, and recipes that they love to cook themselves!
 
The book is beautifully illustrated, and has recipes for everything from kick starter breakfasts through to party food.

LISTEN ABOVE AS MICHAEL VAN DE ELZEN SPEAKS TO ANDREW DICKENS

Wellington's Rainbow Crossing is being officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The crossing has been installed at the intersection of Dixon St and Cuba Mall.
Mayor Justin Lester says Cuba Street is considered by many to be the spiritual home of Wellington’s Pride movement.
"We want to celebrate our support of the Pride community, our support and solidarity as well, and doing that with a real token, a tangible sign of our support."
The cost has proved controversial though, with some estimates putting the cost at $30,000 - double the cost of a normal level crossing.
The cost was slammed by callers on Andrew Dickens Afternoons, with many criticising the cost of installing a new pedestrian crossing in general.
LISTEN TO THE TALKBACK FEEDBACK ABOVE

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Who better to represent the US at the United Nations than the President's daughter?
That's what Donald Trump seemed to think when asked by a reporter earlier.
The President is seeking a new ambassador, after Nikki Haley resigned from her post this morning.
Asked about the possibility of Ivanka Trump taking the role, Trump said she would be "incredible" in the role.
"There's nothing to do with nepotism, but I want to tell you, the people that know know that Ivanka would be dynamite."
Ivanka has tweeted out to say that she will not replace Haley.
Trump says he's narrowed down a short list of five people to replace U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley at the United Nations.
Talking with reporters aboard Air Force One, he said that former White House adviser Dina Powell is among those on the short list.
Asked about U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, Trump said he "absolutely" would consider him but would rather keep him where he is because he is "doing such a good job."
He is expected to announce Haley's successor in a few weeks.
- with content from AP
LISTEN TO BARRY SOPER TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVE

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An emotional video is being shared across the internet, showing one man's attempt to help out injured elephants in Thailand.
57-year-old Paul Barton of England performs for a herd of 28 elephants at the Elephant World sanctuary in Kanchanaburi, Inside Edition reports. 
Barton says the elephants sway and sing to the musics and sometimes drape their trunks over the instrument.
"Almost all elephants react in a visible way," Barton told Caters News.
He says that even monkeys nearby take part in the fun.

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So I could start these thoughts with the call for property managers to become licensed and accredited.
26 organisations, including the Real Estate Institute and large real estate firms, say the issue is so important that they united and have presented an open letter to the Housing Minister.
Now, Phil Twyford understands the problems but wants to finish laws to protect tenants first.  This seems a strange thing to say to me since it sort of says that the government’s only capable of one thing at a time.
This sort of thing is worth fast tracking because in the business of renting a home both tenants and landlords have skin in the game. Both need the income and shelter but property managers are just providing a service.  Churn is in their interest which is why they are strong advocates for shorter tenancies.
And let’s not minimise the job.  Providing shelter for yourself and your family is a basic necessity of human life and when a third party can become involved you should be able to implicitly trust that they will act fairly as a true intermediary between tenants and landlords.
My question is not whether we should do this but why hasn’t this been done before and why isn’t it being done quickly.
Now yesterday I did a bit of talk back about climate change after the strident IPCC report that said we now have just a decade to radically change our lifestyle or we’ll consign millions to heat related death. I also said that the climate change bandwagon is so far down the track there is no way you can negate the belief amongst a sizeable chunk of humans and countries.
Today, I find my inbox full of pseudo scientific rants from listeners about all the reasons why the perceived human effect on climate change is a fiction.  All of which I’ve read before and much of which I don’t disagree with.
My point has always been this: To say there is no human effect on the environment is as myopic and unprovable as the climate change advocates who say that human activity is causing any global warming.  It’s not either or, it’s exactly how much or how little.  
My stance switched a while ago to stopping any ridiculously abstract ideas and policies that are waiting to defraud us and on that count I’m happy to say I don’t like or trust the Emission Trading Scheme.
But here’s an observation: maybe the whole thing is dying a slow death.  I’ve seen little or no comment on the IPCC’s grave warning from any leader. Nothing from Presidents Xi or Putin.  The White House just shrugged and said their emissions have dropped since 2005.  Even here on the day the report came out the Labour leader was busier trying to lower the price of petrol than she was trying to stop global apocalypse.
Maybe the climate change advocates have cried wolf so often and now so loudly that bit by bit people aren’t listening.

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