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Australia is taking a firm stance on vaping. 

The sale of vapes will be restricted to pharmacies from next week, as the Greens agree to pass a proposed ban. 

However, the Government has agreed to water down restrictions that would have required adults to obtain a prescription.  

Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Mike Hosking that this has sparked anger, as pharmacists say that they should be prescription only. 

She said that restrictions will still be in place regarding packaging and flavours, limiting the products to plain packaging and mint, menthol, and tobacco flavours. 

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Scott Robertson’s All Blacks squad has been announced, with Scott Barrett taking the captaincy. 

He’s taking over the duties from Sam Cane, with Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett sharing the vice-captaincy. 

Rugby Commentator Tony Johnson told Mike Hosking that he doubts there’ll be any drastic changes right off the bat. 

He said that if they’re going to change their playstyle, they’ll do it incrementally as time goes on, and they have plenty of time to do that. 

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The Cancer Society says yesterday was a momentous day but there's still a bit of uncertainty around Pharmac's funding boost.  

The Government's committed $604 million, taken in advance from next year's Budget.  

It will cover the funding for 54 new medicines, including 26 cancer treatments.  

Cancer Society chief executive Rachael Hart told Mike Hosking that it's been an incredibly stressful time so the news brings some relief, but the uncertainty doesn't end.  

She says cancer patients still don't know when the drugs will be funded, and when you're shelling out thousands of dollars a month, every month matters. 

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Auckland will soon have Police on the beat 24/7. 

Community Beat Teams will be based in major centres, with 63 officers in Auckland, 17 in Wellington and 10 in Christchurch. 

It's the Police and Government's newest plan to crackdown on crime rates. 

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking “We want to make sure that we have a safe city – not one that’s plagued with sleepers drug dealers and disorderly behaviour.” 

Mitchell said “They’ve already increased foot patrols in the city – but now they’re increasing the number of dedicated police officers that will be out there and highly visible doing their work.” 

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King Charles will likely skip New Zealand during his upcoming tour to the South Pacific. 

According to The Mirror, he and Queen Camilla are set to visit Australia and Samoa - but have dropped New Zealand. 

The visit was never officially announced - just rumoured to be on the agenda. 

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Mike Hosking “His Majesty is said to be like a caged tiger - desperate to do more, while undergoing chemotherapy and having the cancer diagnosis.” 

Grey said “It’s been decided he’d be better off doing a ten-day trip.” 

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I think we got enough out of Nicola Willis on the programme Friday to know that today, cabinet’s gonna sign off this money for Pharmac to solve the cancer problem.  

The big outworking of this is - I hope they've learned their lesson.  

This government has a couple of problems. The biggest one is the mess they inherited. We are going to spend at least the next year deep in it.  

Two years of economic misery is a lot to ask of an electorate, and it's a lot to expect of a government to rectify.  

Even on a good day - with plenty of intent and hard work - voters get grumpy with whoever’s in charge, whether it was their fault or not.  

So given that, problem #2: self-inflicted wounds. The cancer promise was mad. It was mad because governments don't pick drugs.  

That's what Pharmac is for. If you don't like Pharmac, fine, change it. But don't keep the same system while trying gerrymandering.  

They also put out a list of thirteen drugs, some of which aren't even fit for purpose anymore.  

And then, Problem #3: failure to deliver, I mean OMG – did they learn nothing from Labour?  

And then last week, scrutiny week, Shane Reti says they'll deliver the 13. Nicola Willis says they will deliver some. David Seymour says he can't make a comment because Pharmac is independent.  

Three people, three messages. Mixed messaging - is that problem #4?  

So this week, an answer. And seemingly, an elegant one - more money.  

The money gets spent on stuff that's needed. Not automatically the 13. It's spent by Pharmac. And it might well mean some spending on other drugs as well.  

So, sorted. But big lesson: it never had to be this way.  

And if all they're doing this week is handing out money, why didn't they do it in the budget when they had the chance?  

Delivery and confidence, that's what we want from governments.  

If this is a one off, they'll get away with it. If it's a habit. They're toast. 

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