Tova

In an exclusive interview, perhaps the most famous health figure in Aotearoa takes aim at talk of a failing system and bloated bureaucracy - but doesn’t dispute that both staff and patients are at risk. He talks hospitals without doctors, how the reforms have been handled, funding, patient equity - and has strong words about the tobacco industry and its newly-gained tax breaks.

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After losing confidence in the leadership and financial acumen of Health New Zealand-Te Whatu Ora, the Government has parachuted in an all-powerful specialist to fix the broken service. Health Commissioner Lester Levy has his work cut out - long waiting lists, budget woes, staff shortages, protests, doctorless hospitals, ramping ambulances, police pulling out of some mental health call outs ... Can he fix it? “I will do whatever I have to that's ethical and legal to get patients what they need and deserve,” he promises in an extended interview.

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The welfare of children, particularly the at-risk and vulnerable, is rarely far from the headlines. The Royal Commission report on abuse in care, the opening of the Government’s pilot youth justice facility (AKA military-style academy) ((AKA bootcamp)), cuts to Oranga Tamariki community providers … we had a lot to ask the Children’s Minister. We ran out of time and the interview ended rather abruptly, but there’s plenty to chew on, whatever your politics.

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As the fallout from an acrimonious pay dispute continues, frontline cops told the Tova pod this week that the Government had “destroyed morale”. The minister responsible fronts to talk about rebuilding the relationship, how the gang unit is shaping up, delivering 500 extra cops and who’ll attend mental health callouts if not the police. Plus, in the week the Royal Commission released its mammoth report on abuse in care, a survivor tells us that sorry - on its own - won’t be enough. WARNING: For 24/7 support and advice around mental health, call or text 1737.

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Tova offers her thoughts on the outcome of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in care.

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Wow. They say a week is a long time in politics. In the United States, the last two have seen the political landscape change perhaps forever. Bullets, conventions and nominations on the Republican side; presidential gaffes, Covid and calls for a new leader in the Democrat corner. Rolling Stone magazine political reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez joins the pod from Washington D.C. to dissect an incredible fortnight.

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The first US presidential debate of 2024 was at once historic, agonising, painful and deeply troubling. Have your toes unfurled? Your stomach un-knotted? Your wince de-winced? Joe Biden and Donald Trump putting the fear of god into the free world in what was a truly tough watch with, unfortunately, such incredibly high stakes. To discuss what on earth happened, the fallout and what it all says about the US political system, our special guest on the Tova podcast is Brian Tyler Cohen, avowed liberal, political commentator and host of one of the top political podcasts in the United States, No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. 

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2024 has been tough for the Greens. Multiple MPs - Golriz Ghahraman, Darleen Tana, Julie Anne Genter - have been making headlines for the wrong reasons and there have been heartbreaking challenges, including the death of Fa'anānā Efeso Collins and Marama Davidson’s breast cancer diagnosis. On her birthdfay, co-leader Chloe Swarbrick makes time for an extended interview. She talks handling the pressure, where she wants to take the party - and the latest on those major controversies.

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The battle lines are being (re)drawn in the world of geopolitics: wars in Europe and the Middle East, tension over Taiwan, Putin visiting North Korea. So, more than three decades after the Cold War ended, what are the chances of a nuclear war? How could it start, play out - and how would New Zealand be affected? And, with Aussie politicians procuring nuclear-powered subs and proposing nuclear power stations, are we ready for a conversation about our identity-defining nuclear-free stance?

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No one knows exactly how much fraud costs New Zealand each year, but it runs into the billions. Yet significantly fewer people are being convicted than two decades ago. Why? And is the system - an alphabet soup of agencies with a range of responsibilities - fit for purpose? In a specially extended investigation, victims share stories of devastating loss, a leading investigator explains why he thinks too few people are getting justice, and the Minister charged with scam-busting acknowledges the need for better coordination - and promises a plan.

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