Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast Newstalk ZB

The Associate Education Minister says a revamped school lunches programme is better bang for buck. 

Every student who received a free school lunch under the previous Government will still be fed, but the programme will save $107 million a year. 

David Seymour told Kerre Woodham that instead of having multiple providers, schools will order lunches from an online portal. 

He says they'll look less like couscous and quinoa, and more like sandwiches and fruit.  

He says previously a quarter of a million lunches were being ordered each day, at a cost of $8.60, and the Government's going to get a much better deal than that. 

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Lifeline is calling for a lifeline as they celebrate their 60th anniversary. 

The Mental Healthline is struggling to keep up with demand, taking around 7,000 calls and 20,000 texts a month.  

On average, 17 people at high risk of self harm or suicide call Lifeline every day. 

Presbyterian Support Northern is the charity behind Lifeline, CEO Dr Bonnie Robinson telling Kerre Woodham that while the Police are often called to do mental health checks, they don’t want them doing that. 

She said that Lifeline would love to take on more of the demand but they’re unable to as they simply don’t have the staff. 

Robinson said that even if organisations were to consolidate, the capacity issue wouldn't go away, as demand currently outstrips the resources the sector has as a whole. 

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You will remember there was some alarm in some quarters when the New Zealand Police Service announced they'd be looking to step back from attending calls from people in psychological distress.  

Over the past decade police say the number of mental health events officers attend has increased by more than 150% to 77,043 in the past year. The vast majority of these were low to moderate risk and safety and didn't require a police presence, they were simply there as empathetic, compassionate, highly skilled babysitters. So, the police are saying that it could be a better use of our time, but because they say there is nobody else to attend to these people who are suffering horribly, then they do it. They're the last man standing, last man and woman standing, they are the ones that have to step into the breach.  

So, these are people, when they dial 111 or their families dial 111, who have varied reasons for experiencing distress. Not all of them have a diagnosable mental illness. One consistent thing, though, is that services can be fragmented, confusing, unresponsive, and hard to access when these people need help. So, they can't get the help they need, they or their families dial 111 as a last resort.  

So they go through to 111, where under the existing arrangements the police are looking to change, the only practical assistance a dispatcher can usually provide is sending a police officer to check on the distressed person and that's when the police officer talks them down, not necessarily off a literal ledge, but a metaphorical one, takes them to hospital, then sits with them while they wait for the hospital to see them. Generally, it's a jolly long wait because they're not acute. They're fine now that they've got somebody there, somebody cares about them, somebody who knows what to say and do, and there the police officer sits for 7, 8, 9 hours.  

But why do these 77,043 people call 111 when in psychological distress when there are so many organisations getting funding from the taxpayer, getting funding from kind souls to provide the sorts of services that deal specifically with these sorts of people and that sort of pain. You know, low to moderate risk and safety, not necessarily a diagnosable mental illness, but somebody who's just exhausted from having to put one foot in front of the other, who has reached the end of their rope. They don't know what to do anymore. They just want to stop. Make everything stop, I can't cope anymore.  

If there were no charities, organisations and services available you could understand the calls to the police. But there are so many that say they deal specifically with that sort of distress. We have the national helpline 1737. Did you know it existed? There's a website, there's an app, there's a phone. 1737. We have Youth line free text 234, we have Samaritans, we have Suicide Crisis Helpline, we have depression helpline free text 4202. We have Outline, we have The Lowdown, especially for children. We have What's Up with 24/7 trained councillors, come on, how many do we need? How many can we continue to justify funding when for all the pretty advertising billboards, all the high profile people fronting the different services, all the different niche specific councillors you have them for gay men and women, gay kids, you have them for young people 5 to 18, you have them for young adults, you have them for adult adults. We've got all of these. There's probably more than I've missed. But we have all of these helplines and yet it's 111 and the police that people of all ages turn to in distress.  

More than a billion dollars in funding for mental health services from the previous administration, with specially trained nurses at GP practices being one of the jewels in this particular funding crown. We've got funding drives every month for a different mental health service and everyone rings 111 and calls the police. What is the point of these services if they're not being used to their

We thought we'd start with the announcement on law and order and Corrections, given that this was one of the big drivers for National and ACT, and indeed New Zealand First’s election campaigns, and one in which the coalition government was elected upon.  

Still, when you've got a big announcement to make on law and order, one of the foundations of your government's policies, it does pay to get it right. I mean numbers. I know, but pesky journalists will drill you on them. It was unfortunate for Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell that he muddied the waters, as the PM and put it, around numbers when they made the announcement yesterday as that became the focus, not the actual announcement of what the government was promising to deliver. Still, we all make mistakes. I'm sure the announcement, whatever the numbers, will be appreciated by many New Zealanders.  

It's a $1.9 billion investment that will bring hundreds more new beds to Waikeria Prison, deliver 685 new frontline staff at Corrections, including 470 Corrections officers who will be recruited and trained to respond to growing prison numbers. And $78 million, and this is one I was really pleased to see, $78 million to extend rehabilitation programs for the 45% of prisoners who are on remand. At the moment if you're on remand, you don't have access to rehabilitation programs. With this announcement, you will.  

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did the number crunching this morning. How many beds are there going to be in Waikeria? Well, I'll tell you, he said, there are 455 beds there currently. There are 600 beds that will be added next year. There's a further 810 beds and that means you'll end up with Waikeria with capacity for more than 1800 beds in total. That sounds like a hell of a lot. A super prison, if you will.  

Floyd du Plessis, the corrections union spokesperson said, there is no problem with super prisons, no problem with having a large number of prisoners in one place. To me, intuitively, instinctively, there seems to be something very wrong with housing so many people in one spot. I'd rather a more bespoke boutique approach to trying to rehabilitate people and punish them, you know, which is, after all, what they're there for. It's a deprivation of their liberties. It's supposed to be a punishment, I get that, but I'm really glad to see that there is money in there for rehab. He said there is no problem with the super prisons, but all I can see in my mind's eye are those huge American prisons, which just look like places where souls go to die, really.  

But what you're seeing, says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, is a big focus on law and order. They've got tougher laws on gangs. They've got serious young offenders and military academies coming for them. They've put the three strikes back in. He says we're recruiting an extra 500 police officers, little bit hard to do until the pay dispute is settled. And now we've got this big package of $1.9 billion for Corrections, he says. We're also going to work really hard on social investment and rehab for prisoners as well. Again, that is something I think we really, really need to see the prevention as well as the “cure”. And I'd say cure with inverted commas because I don't think going to prison cures many people.  

So, I'd love to hear your take on this. Is locking people up, more of them, going to make a difference long term? Probably not but locking them up short term surely will. While you're locking people up so they cannot just be put back out onto the streets and continue to commit crime, which is what we saw over the last few years. We work on social investment, the programs that work with young offenders, we keep. We invest even more money in if we have to. We work with the families where these law breakers are coming from. For some people, going to prison is enough to scare them straight. For those who haven't really got their hearts into being a crim, for those who have the foun

A new policy guide for New Zealand schools, titled ‘Students and Social Transition: A Gender Identity Policy Guide’, has been emailed to schools across the country today. 

It was created by Ethos, a charity that supports people with questions about freedom of conscience and belief. 

Ethos had been contacted by a number of parents and schools with questions about the best way to help children experiencing gender identity questions. 

The guide advocates for schools to follow a ‘watchful waiting’ policy which is now best practice in countries like Sweden, Finland, and England. 

Ethos CEO Alex Penk told Kerre Woodham that it’s important to have a holistic approach like this, that can provide support to a child that is in their best interests and fits within the school’s legal responsibilities. 

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Last week, I think it must have been Wednesday or Thursday, I was harrumphing and muttering away like Waldorf and Statler from The Muppets. I was doing a little bit of that while I was reading about the latest sewage spill into a waterway in Wellington Harbour. I'm like, how in this day and age, can this still be? This is an outrage - and Helen tries to tune it out until she hears her name, and I said Helen, let's see if we can get Simeon Brown on... this is unacceptable. Sure. OK, fine.  

Not Three Waters under Nanaia Mahuta, she sold it badly and things wrong with, but if not Three Waters, then what? Get him on the line to explain himself ...back to Statler and Waldorf! Helen's yes, all right, knowing that once our host was on one, it's probably better to try and sort it out a few minutes later!  

She was back saying sorry Local Government Minister Simeon Brown can't talk, but he did say expect some news next week. And what do you know? Here's the news. I can see why he was busy over the weekend.  

Simeon Brown, Christopher Luxon and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced a new water deal that will see government, council and Watercare work together to improve infrastructure and water delivery in the region. And it is hoped that this will be a template for other deals around the country. Obviously, they might have to be tweaked a bit when you're looking at the smaller regions with a smaller base with lower value water assets, but nonetheless it's been done. Deal done. Simeon Brown says Local Water Done Well is putting the responsibility for delivering the three waters that we require into the hands of the councils rather than overlaying its management and delivery with layers of bureaucracy and middle managers, will be the way to go. But councils won't be left entirely to their own devices. 

“It is ultimately local councils putting forward their solutions for a financially sustainable approach. Rather than government coming and saying have four entities or ten entities or whatever number of entities, which are co- governed and spend $1.2 billion on it - we're actually going to let local communities put forward their solutions. 

What's going to stop a water entity doing what many councils around the country have done and borrow, go nuts and find themselves up against a wall?   

Well, we are going to put in place economic regulation and so that will mean that they will be regulated in similar ways to how electricity distribution companies are regulated. They'll have to outline their price path, they outline their capital expenditure, outline their asset management plans, that's about sensible economic regulations to assure that consumers are not blocked off and then their assets aren't being gold plated, And as part of that, we're putting a crown monitor in place, straight away, for Watercare, to make sure that there is better oversight over their investment plans and make sure that Auckland is getting value for money.” 

That was Simeon Brown talking to Mike Hosking this morning. So, at least it's movement. We can't be paralyzed, sitting on our hands trying to work out the best possible way, while allowing raw sewage to be pumped into all of our waterways. And it's happening right around the country.  

Wellington is particularly bad in terms of its drinking water, in terms of its sewage, in terms of the age of its pipes, in terms of they put out one fire and another one erupts somewhere else. There are some councils who have done a brilliant job and have invested ratepayer money sensibly and have got their water assets well and truly up-to-date and future proofed. Others haven't even started.  

But, at least when you have a deal that's been announced, a deal that looks workable, it will see water rates rise by 7.2 percent rather than the 25.8 percent forecast. And that was what Watercare was warning, we're going to have to put it at that rate. We're now under this one going to be able to borrow more