Podcast: the detail
every weekday, The detail gives meaning to the big news stories.
This week we looked at councils shying away from the government’s medium-density housing regulations, and spoke to journalist Guyon Espiner about his investigation into Lotto. We’ve covered the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, which is what the closing of the Laura Fergusson Trust rehabilitation center tells us about the state of disability care, and profiled three different local elections that you may not have seen much about in the media .
Whakarongo mai for any episodes you may have missed.
The councils that are pushing back the rules for housing density
Who would have thought that the buzz about housing density would turn into a juicy soap opera?
Christchurch City Council last week voted against the government directive to introduce new housing intensification standards that would make it easier to build three units of up to three floors in one location. Councilors were told beforehand that if they failed, a commissioner could be appointed to do it instead.
Sharon Brettkellly walks and talks with urban planner Matthew Prasad in the Auckland suburbs about the good, the bad and the ugly of medium-density housing, and hears of NZ Herald senior political reporter Thomas Coughlan on the background to what was an unusual two-party agreement.
Behind the Story: Luck, Loss and Lotto
Lotto proudly declares that all of its profits are redistributed in the community in the form of lotteries, which support the creative arts, charities, churches, sports clubs and community organizations of all shapes and sizes.
It looks great at first glance, and it makes sense: if you accept that gambling will happen in a free society – and the evidence suggests it will – how about regulating and ensuring it that the money that is lost goes to a good cause? ?
But if RNZ journalist Guyon Espiner finds in his five-part investigationLotto’s world is full of contradictions and ethical gray areas. He speaks with Emile Donovan.
Putting women’s rugby on the world stage
newsroom‘s Dressing room editor Suzanne McFadden talks to Sharon Brettkelly about the state of women’s rugby and the big dreams for the 2021 World Cup delayed due to Covidfrom October 8.
“There’s a lot to it. It’s about everyone working together, the media doing a good job of informing people who want to go to the games, who bring their kids, who see new role models in female rugby players, that New Zealand Rugby responds and makes rugby a better sport for young women to play. I think we all need to feel responsible for this,” she says.
Laura Fergusson’s closure leaves a difficult-to-fill hole
The Laura Fergusson Trust has closed its Auckland branch back in 2020referring to its precarious financial position after years of deficits.
The decision came as a shock to disabled people – and their families – who took advantage of and relied on the services offered there.
Emile Donovan talks to journalist Pete McKenzie about his investigation into the closure, and to former resident and disability lawyer Sophie Malthus.
Local elections: three races you need to know
The Auckland and Wellington mayoral competitions have been taken apart and discussed extensively in the media, but smaller centers also give off sparks.
Emile Donovan and Sharon Brettkelly sit down together to watch three fascinating local body races that you may not have seen in the media: Invercargillwhere longstanding mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt may face his swan song; Rotorua, with an open field of powerful candidates fighting to confront the city’s emergency housing crisis; and Dunedinwhere a long list of discontent seeks to evict incumbent Mayor Aaron Hawkins, including a sitting councilor who took the council all the way to the Supreme Court more than a $12 parking ticket.
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