25 Oct 2018

The Panel with Rebekah White and Damian Chistie (Part 1)

From The Panel, 4:03 pm on 25 October 2018

Suspected bombs have been intercepted on the way to Former US President Obama, former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and other high profile Democrats. Officials are calling it an act of terrorism. It comes just weeks before the mid-term elections. The panelists give their view of what the could be the strategy behind this situation. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has called for an urgent review on the safety issues of the newly introduced electric scooters. There are hundreds of the Lime e-scooters in Auckland and Christchurch and more due to arrive from other companies. Mr Goff is worried about the scooters which can go up to 30 kilometres and hour and can be ridden on footpaths without helmets. The panelists discuss the concerns. The Prime Minister ruled out any other regional fuel taxes while she is in office but there are questions about why councils were preparing applications for them, why Auckland was favoured and how councils will now pay for transport infrastructure. Brad Olsen, economist at Infometrics, answers some of them. Minsiter of Justice Andrew Little says bullying, harrassment and abuse of power are the biggest problems facing New Zealand wokplaces. The Minister has spoken at the Culture Shift conference in Wellington and comes after a number of incidents have been reported in professions across the country this year. We ask the panelists whether they see this culture changing. There was a lot of listener reaction yetserday to the story about the mental health nurse fearful that the man who assaulted her is being returned to where she lives, in a less secure unit. Wendy Hamer was beaten, stabbed and scaled with boiling water. Her attacked was found not quilty by reason of insanity. A listener asked why New Zealand can't adopt the same laws as other countries, where they have verdicst like 'guilty but insane'. ?? weighs in.