Phil Pennington
Wellington fire: aging fleet a challenge - FENZ
Fire and Emergency says it needs significant investment to improve its fleet and equipment, but has a $900 million hole. 33 trucks from across Wellington responded to the fire, but only one with a… Audio
Diary of a broken down fire truck
Investigations continue, including into the role played by Fire and Emergency in the rescue of five people off the roof. A truck with a 32-metre ladder was used, but a second long-ladder truck was not… Audio
Questions raised about response to blaze
In the wake of the Loafers Lodge fire, questions are being asked about the Fire Service's ability to fight fires in high rise buildings in the capital. On Monday night firefighters confronted… Audio
Development of AI fakes speeding up
Artificial Intelligence is developing at such speed it can now fake just about anyone from the digital breadcrumbs we leave behind us. New Zealand tech players have been discussing how much choice you… Audio
Truck handbrakes knowingly faulty - report
Authorities knew for years that some trucks had a handbrake so sensitive it could be dislodged simply by shutting the cab door - in fact, since just after a man was crushed to death in 2010.
But they… Audio
Breast cancer screening delays may have harmed 10 women
An official inquiry has found breast cancer screening delays of up to nine months in the Wellington region may have harmed 10 women.
[picture id="4MAS891_copyright_image_263032" crop="16x10"… Audio
Changes to Clean Car Discount will hike prices - car industry
How do you feel about the cheapest new car being $15,000 more expensive in three years time?. That is where the industry is warning prices could go as five out of the eight most popular hybrids lose… Audio
Wellington commuters say to "not even bother" with trains
Back now to our story about Wellington commuter disruption, with passengers facing big delays from this morning after the train network was forced to operate at reduced speeds. The trains are running… Audio
Retired senior US military landing high-paying government jobs, including spy agency
Retired senior US military officers have been landing high-paying government jobs in New Zealand, including with our spy agency.
In 2020, the Government Communications Security Bureau hired an ex-US… Audio
'Ghost' doctors leaving depleted specialist ranks short
More and more junior doctors 'ghosting' as they leave the country before completing specialist training.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists puts the loss rate at 40 per cent, it was just… Audio
NZ military faces increasing costs of NH90 choppers
New Zealand's military is facing higher costs, but has no plans to switch its beleaguered NH90 choppers.
Australia is ditching its 40 machine fleet following a forced landing in shallow waters off… Audio
Group addressing health staff shortages is lagging, doctors say
Doctors say a top level taskforce to address dire staffing levels is not delivering fast enough as winter pressures loom.
And they say Te Whatu Ora's Workforce Taskforce is keeping them at arms… Audio
Gisborne water pipe at risk of failure months before cyclone destroyed it
Gisborne district council knew its main water pipe was at 'unacceptable' risk of 'catastrophic' failure months before cyclone Gabrielle smashed it in 10 places. That plunged 39 thousand people into a… Audio
Tech giants increase influence over NZ cloud computing services
Two global tech giants have increased their influence over local cloud computing services after some successful lobbying.
Microsoft has joined Amazon in signing agreements with the government that… Audio
WorkSafe didn't investigate labour hire workers killed in crash, but it did look at industry
Worksafe, the workplace safety watchdog, never investigated the death of two temp workers despite carrying out research into the labour hire industry.
The two men, Jake Ginders and Floyd Harris, were… Audio
Infratil says it is in good position to help health system
A major infrastructure company says it is in a good position to help out the public health system and make a profit as well.
Infratil, which is best known for it's investment in airports has embarked… Audio
Health workforce shortages spark national shake up
Crippling doctor workforce shortages have forced some cancer services at Dunedin Hospital to be cut entirely as well as sparking a national shake-up.
Dunedin has in recent weeks stopped key services… Audio
Dental trailers still towed despite wheel issues
Heavy dental clinic trailers are still being towed between schools, even after an investigation found their wheel studs are likely to snap off after just 3000 kilometres
The wheels on two trailers… Audio
Muslim, Jewish communities want work done on national security
Four years after the mosque attacks, weaknesses in national security are taking much longer to patch than expected.
And that has some people worried a new super agency demanded by the Royal… Audio
Three percent of $500mil promised for mental health facilities spent
New figures show the government has spent just 3 percent of the half a billion dollars it promised four years ago for new mental health facilities.
Just $15 million has been allocated from the fund -… Audio