The Panel with Penny Ashton and Andrew Austin (Part 1)
The Labour Party says it'll implement all the recommendations of a report into indecent assults at a Young Labour camp, but it won't release the full report - a decision which has angered one of the young victims. The government won't chip in to bring home Abby Hartley, who lies gravely ill in a Balinese hospital. But we spend big money rescuing lost climbers and trampers - so what's the difference? The ombudsman has stepped in to help a woman who bought a vacuum cleaner from a door-to-door salesman for nearly $4,000 - nearly four times the price of top-of-the-line vacuum cleaners at Noel Leeming. Questions persist around whether the former US army security analyst Chelsea Manning should be granted special dispensation to give speeches in New Zealand. Oranga Tamariki says all instances of harm to children will be logged faster now - the latest in a serious of moves to keep closer tabs on the welfare of children. The harm to children stats, however, remain high, and no new staff will be hired. Is this a smart move towards better efficiency, or a re-framing of the challenge? The New Zealand Herald is reporting the number of school stand-downs for fighting and assault have hit an 11-year high. According to Dane Dougan, the chief executive of Autism NZ, half of those stood down are on the autism spectrum - and Mr Dougan says noisy, multi-teacher classrooms could be partly to blame. There's been mixed reaction to the proposed cat ban in the Southland town of Omaui. Do we need to be more responsible with our predatory animals?
