Shirking our fair share - why hasn't New Zealand upped its game when it comes to welcoming refugees? New Zealand's been accused of failing to pull its weight when it comes to helping out the soaring number of displaced people around the world The number of displaced people around the world keeps going up and up - it's nearly doubled in the last decade. And yet New Zealand's contribution towards turning the dire numbers around is still minimal. We're not doing our bit, accordi...
Jul 02, 2024•24 min•Ep 1095•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when upgrades to key pieces of infrastructure are put on the back burner The problems with Defence Force plans and Interislander ferries show the risk of deferred maintenance and upgrades A Defence Force plane stranding a delegation, the Aratere run aground and a downed pylon causing widespread power outages across Northland are all part of a theme: key pieces of New Zealand infrastructure are constantly breaking down. Today's episode of The Detail takes a closer look at what l...
Jul 01, 2024•25 min•Ep 1094•Transcript available on Metacast Part 2: It's Newshub's final week on air, and reporter Adam Hollingworth looks back at its battle to beat TVNZ. Where it succeeded and where it failed. As Newshub enters its final week, reporter Adam Hollingworth looks back at its battle to beat TVNZ. Where it succeeded and where it failed. This is the second and final episode of The Detail's two-part podcast. Part one can be found here. In 2013 things were going well for 3 News. It was performing strongly in the Auckland market, often beat...
Jun 30, 2024•24 min•Ep 1093•Transcript available on Metacast Part 1: As Newshub enters its final week, reporter Adam Hollingworth talks to current and former staff about the news division's early days and key events in its 35-year history. As Newshub enters its final week, reporter Adam Hollingworth talks to current and former staff about the news division's early days and key events in its 35-year history McRoberts headed into war zones without insurance cover - simply accepting the CEO's word that his family would be looked after if he didn&#x...
Jun 28, 2024•21 min•Ep 1092•Transcript available on Metacast Why the most profitable sector of the entertainment industry will get handouts from the government. Gaming makes more money than any other entertainment category. So why is the sector getting government cash? New Zealand on Air recently announced the recipients of the Game Development Sector Rebate - 32 gaming studios will be able to claim back 20 percent of what they spend creating games. Some insiders say it could lead to Aotearoa's next "Middle Earth moment". Despite being the ...
Jun 26, 2024•23 min•Ep 1091•Transcript available on Metacast New Zealand shares travellers' private data with four other countries. Here's the story of how one reporter found out How a reporter uncovered the story behind a secretive network sharing travellers' data. Gill Bonnett always had a sense of an "invisible hand" operating above immigration policy. Her discovery of a Migration5 briefing document to the immigration minister several years ago confirmed it. As RNZ's immigration reporter, she has spent several years poring over immi...
Jun 25, 2024•24 min•Ep 1090•Transcript available on Metacast After years of development and funding rejections, Ka Whawhai Tonu hits cinemas this weekend The story behind the groundbreaking film about the New Zealand Wars, and its battle for funding. The groundbreaking film Ka Whawhai Tonu goes to cinemas this Matariki weekend, with high hopes of a box office success after eight years of development and several funding rejections. The pivotal 1864 battle of O-Rākau in the New Zealand Wars in Waikato is told through the eyes of two young teenagers caught u...
Jun 24, 2024•23 min•Ep 1089•Transcript available on Metacast What did we get out of Scrutiny Week? A look at what emerged from dozens of hours of questioning over the government's spending priorities It was a week where government ministers couldn't dodge the spotlight, but plenty of them still managed to duck questions over their budget decisions New Zealand politicians have survived the first ever Scrutiny Week, an innovation that clears the parliamentary decks and lets them eyeball each other over budget decisions. Today on The Detail we call in N...
Jun 23, 2024•25 min•Ep 1088•Transcript available on Metacast It's not perfect, but Spotify is still the dream platform to serve up your favourite (or soon to be favourite) tunes. Spotify's algorithm seems to have changed and listeners worldwide are complaining about being served up the same songs, from the same artist. How great is Spotify? One hundred million music tracks at your fingertips... no need to hunt for that CD or record... suggestions for new tunes you'd otherwise never listen to. More than one million New Zealanders have an account....
Jun 21, 2024•25 min•Ep 1087•Transcript available on Metacast Love won't really happen when you least expect it if you don't get out from behind your screen and meet people in real life Flirting101 is back on the agenda as those seeking love delete their online presence in favour of reigniting some rusty real life social skills Serafin Upton is a relationship therapist, but when it comes to real life dating, she has a perpetual fear of making the first move. "You couldn't pay me to ask somebody out. I would never ask somebody out ever. I'd b...
Jun 20, 2024•24 min•Ep 1086•Transcript available on Metacast Debt owed to government agencies by the country's poorest residents adds up to more than three billion dollars, and there's no easy solution Some of the financial help being handed out to struggling Kiwis is actually keeping them poor. Figures from Ministry of Social Development show that total debt has climbed by more than $1 billion since 2018 The debt owed by hundreds of thousands of people to government agencies has soared in recent years, but a plan to tackle it has been put on hold. Figure...
Jun 19, 2024•25 min•Ep 1085•Transcript available on Metacast The drive through one section of Northland is notable for the kilometres of concrete sleepers stacked up by the rail lines, but no work is going on and there are no trains Northland rail has been struck by New Zealand's 'do nothing' approach to infrastructure. A plan to rebuild a railway line north of Whangārei has been put on hold again - years after it was deemed uneconomical in the first place. The on-again, off-again plans have raised questions over whether the government'...
Jun 18, 2024•24 min•Ep 1084•Transcript available on Metacast A leader who continues to shoot himself in the foot, a country with more problems than answers; and an election without any fire or brimstone Britain's election campaign is as miserable as its weather. A Survation poll published by the UK's Sunday Times predicted the Conservatives could end up with just 72 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, the lowest in their nearly 200 year history, while Labour would romp in with 456 seats. The UK's ruling Conservative Party could be sta...
Jun 17, 2024•24 min•Ep 1083•Transcript available on Metacast Will the oil and gas ban reversal bring much-needed international investment , or just stymy efforts to combat climate change? Oil and gas exploration is coming back. Will it save the sector, destroy the environment - or make no difference at all? The government's planned reversal of the oil and gas exploration ban has been unsurprisingly divisive, being applauded by some and harshly criticised by others. But Newsroom's Marc Daalder says in reality, it may make no tangible difference. ...
Jun 16, 2024•22 min•Ep 1082•Transcript available on Metacast Budget 2024 will bump funding for universities, but students will likely be the ones footing the bill A rent strike at Auckland University is over, but for students struggling financially, things are set to get worse. Striking Auckland University students called off their protest against high rent costs last week, but if a proposal from Budget 2024 goes ahead, the cost of education in New Zealand will only get worse. In a press release titled "Rewarding hard work in tertiary education and t...
Jun 14, 2024•24 min•Ep 1081•Transcript available on Metacast It's been nearly two years since New Zealand shook off its Covid isolation, but the populace is far from content New Zealand is going through the sort of post-crisis upheaval that generates huge societal changes It's just over a year since the WHO (World Health Organisation) called an official end to the Covid-19 emergency, and nearly two years since our own borders fully reopened. But it feels like we're still suffering from a covid hangover. People still seem to be in a bad mood, kid...
Jun 13, 2024•24 min•Ep 1080•Transcript available on Metacast Three sets of allegations, three inquiries: The Detail talks to the journalist who broke the Te Pāti Māori data breach stories What happens when the line between helping your people and helping yourself to their private information, blurs Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced an independent inquiry into allegations that Te Pāti Māori misused private data. It is the third inquiry involving Te Pāti Māori and allegations of data misuse. "At the heart of this story are a...
Jun 12, 2024•24 min•Ep 1079•Transcript available on Metacast A separate parliament could boost Māori representation. What exactly would that look like? Te Pāti Māori wants a Māori parliament. It's not a new idea On Budget Day -- also a day of nationwide protest by Māori -- Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer announced calls for a Māori parliament. But experts say this idea is nothing new. Margaret Mutu, a professor of Māori studies at Auckland University, has long investigated the best way for Māori to have proper repres...
Jun 11, 2024•24 min•Ep 1078•Transcript available on Metacast Alex Paulsen's move to the Premier league headlines a terrific purple patch for the sport The 21 year old Wellington Phoenix goalie heading to the UK's Premier League is by no means the only rising football star from New Zealand The biggest news in New Zealand football so far this year is Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen signing with English Premier League club Bournemouth. But he's just the crest of a wave of news about our players exceeding on the world stage. Nearly a year...
Jun 10, 2024•24 min•Ep 1077•Transcript available on Metacast Generative AI is currently the worst you will ever use - and that's good news, says one expert. Start honing your critical thinking skills unless you want to swallow some pretty random information from generative Artificial Intelligence Is AI one big step towards a more productive life, or one giant leap into the realm of misinformation? This incredible development is being forced on the tech world, with plenty of potholes on the way. Cats on the moon, anyone? Establishing a daily rock-eating ha...
Jun 09, 2024•23 min•Ep 1076•Transcript available on Metacast What motivates a journalist to spend years fighting for justice for someone they don't even know? The award winning Boy in the Water podcast came from one father's anguish over his son's death. It's the sort of approach these journalists get every day Investigative journalist Melanie Reid is approached most days by someone asking for help on a case of bad justice because they can't afford a lawyer. "There's a whole lot of people who come to us who don't go to l...
Jun 07, 2024•25 min•Ep 1075•Transcript available on Metacast Married at First Sight NZ- the reality show that indulges your worst instincts as a person Watch it for all the wrong reasons - there's a new season of Married at First Sight NZ that will take you away from the complexities of life Obvious product placement that's laughably bad, kiwi scenery blended with the tropical beaches of Vanuatu, and women in bikinis - because naturally, everyone's first date involves water. Married at First Sight NZ isn't going to wow the entertainmen...
Jun 06, 2024•25 min•Ep 1074•Transcript available on Metacast Is Auckland city a crime-ridden nightmare, or is it a perception caused by more apartment-dwellers congregating on the streets? Offices and shops in Auckland are closing because they fear for their staff, but crime figures are decreasing from last year's peak. Police minister Mark Mitchell held a meeting on Tuesday night, where frustrated Auckland residents and business owners expressed their concerns about CBD crime. The head of Auckland's central business association says she's ...
Jun 05, 2024•23 min•Ep 1073•Transcript available on Metacast The push for independence is still alive in the Pacific but it's getting messy Far away powers have strategic and economic reasons for hanging on to their colonies in the South Pacific When the sun rose over the islands of Samoa on 1 January 1962, it brought with it the dawn of a new era: independence. Samoa officially celebrates its independence on 1 June every year and this week Samoans all over the world proudly hoisted its flag to commemorate its 62nd anniversary. Today on The Detail, we loo...
Jun 04, 2024•23 min•Ep 1072•Transcript available on Metacast Injuries and a death on a recent Singapore Airlines flight have highlighted issues with severe turbulence Buckle your seat belts - those bumpy rides are becoming more frequent, thanks to climate change Driving at 500 kilometres an hour along a severely bumpy road - that's what it's like to steer a plane that's going through the worst turbulence - and that's exactly what pilots are trying to avoid. "It does create a bit of nervousness amongst the minds of passengers,"...
Jun 03, 2024•23 min•Ep 1071•Transcript available on Metacast Finally New Zealand is leaving the Snell and Walker era behind, with a new generation of record-breaking athletes on the scene New Zealand could be looking at its best Olympics athletics team line up yet for Paris, after some startling success for kiwis on the world stage this year It won't be hard to spot a black singlet on the Olympic athletics track in Paris. Rather than being corralled into the throwing corner, our champions are running and jumping over a wealth of disciplines. For athl...
May 31, 2024•25 min•Ep 1070•Transcript available on Metacast Dramatic pictures of diseased beehives going up in flames have spotlit issues with the apiculture industry Beekeepers are crumbling under the weight of diseased hives, depressed honey prices and a lack of industry investment in marketing and research Beekeepers and apiculture experts are pressing for the return of a marketing and research levy to help the languishing industry. The recently released 2023 New Zealand Colony Loss Survey, by Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, has found beekeepers hav...
May 30, 2024•23 min•Ep 1069•Transcript available on Metacast Will a shake-up in leadership at The Warehouse give the company what it needs to survive? In today's complicated retail environment, The Warehouse needs more than its history as an iconic Kiwi brand News of another New Zealand retail giant in trouble comes at a time when the industry is facing what one expert calls its most dynamic phase in decades. Smith & Caughey's yesterday announced a proposal to close after 144 years of trading. The closure would result in close to 250 job los...
May 29, 2024•24 min•Ep 1068•Transcript available on Metacast Is Kāinga Ora, the government's social housing arm, a total mess or a 'stonking financial success'? The government's social housing arm is under scrutiny for its levels of debt. But is it really as bad as it sounds? The government was concerned that Kāinga Ora under the Labour government had been not disciplined and had generated too much debt. A financial commentator says Kāinga Ora could be seen as a "stonking financial success". That analysis is a far cry from the headlines ove...
May 28, 2024•22 min•Ep 1067•Transcript available on Metacast New Zealand has three live seabed mining issues right now, and what they have in common is a startling lack of information on how damaging their activities will be We need the ocean's riches to make concrete, fertilise pastures and create batteries for solar panels and EVs. But how do we dig them up without wrecking the environment? It won't be a surprise that two of the companies on Chris Bishop's Fast Track email list were in the business of mining the seabed. A third seabed min...
May 27, 2024•24 min•Ep 1066•Transcript available on Metacast 
