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Speaker 1: Barry Sober, Senior political Correspondence with US Barry, Hello, good afternoon, Heather.

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Speaker 1: What did you make of the Joe Biden US this morning?

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Speaker 2: Well, pretty extraordinary, wasn't it.

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Speaker 3: It.

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Speaker 2: I think was long overdue and probably left too late.

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Speaker 2: I mean, Kamila Harris has now got a hell of

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Speaker 2: a job to campaign between now and November to even

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Speaker 2: bring the Democrats within couey of Donald Trump. I think

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Speaker 2: what New Zealand's got to think about though, and it's

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Speaker 2: not our choice, of course, but a Trump presidency won't

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Speaker 2: be that good for New Zealand because Trump is not

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Speaker 2: a free trader. You'll remember the PPTA now it's the

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Speaker 2: Comprehensive Progressive because.

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Speaker 3: Of Justin Trudeau.

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Speaker 2: That meeting that they had in Vietnam just after Jacinda

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Speaker 2: durn became Prime Minister, it was Trump, it was said

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Speaker 2: to be Trump. There was a intervention on Justin Trudeau

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Speaker 2: to back out at the last minute, which is what

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Speaker 2: he did. And Trump has talked about a ten percent

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Speaker 2: tariff on all imports. So you know, I think if

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Speaker 2: the certainly the Democrats won't be able to pull it off,

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Speaker 2: but it doesn't look that good for us, in particular,

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Speaker 2: if we want to be selfish about this.

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Speaker 1: I suppose, and we do want to be selfish about

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Speaker 1: it as well, don't we.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: The fact that they have replaced this is the government

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Speaker 1: have replaced the Health New Zealand Board with a commissioner,

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Speaker 1: is a pretty strong indication that they are deeply unhappy

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Speaker 1: about what's happening at Health New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: Oh this is massive when you think about it. I

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Speaker 2: mean they had sixteen board members, so fifteen of them

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Speaker 2: have been chucked out and the South African born Lester Levy,

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Speaker 2: a professor no less, he's now the new Commissioner of

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Speaker 2: Health New Zealand and that's a big job and good

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Speaker 2: luck to him.

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Speaker 3: He's got to achieve, according.

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Speaker 2: To the government, to turn around in savings of around

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Speaker 2: over the next year of one point four billion dollars,

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Speaker 2: which is the projected deficit this year.

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Speaker 3: The point that the government's been making.

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Speaker 2: And of course Chris Luckson's been at the podium and

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Speaker 2: the beehive along with Shane Retty, the Health Minister.

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Speaker 3: He said that the twenty health boards.

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Speaker 2: Basically the DHBs, were smashed into one. Bureaucracy was left

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Speaker 2: behind and now they've got to get rid of a

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Speaker 2: lot of that bureaucracy. Now they're talking about two and

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Speaker 2: a half thousand to three thousand back office jobs that

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Speaker 2: may go as a result of this. So this is

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Speaker 2: a big deal for Health New Zealand. And whether they

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Speaker 2: can achieve what the government expects them to achieve or

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Speaker 2: him that's less levy within twelve months is very debatable.

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Speaker 3: What it'll give the government though, hither is.

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Speaker 2: Much more say over of the health system because they'll

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Speaker 2: be dealing directly with the Commissioner rather than allowing the

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Speaker 2: board to do their own thing. And they would say

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Speaker 2: that this bureaucracy has built up, there's been no monitoring

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Speaker 2: in the Health Ministry and it's got to be put right.

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Speaker 1: But so basically the coalition government is having to do

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Speaker 1: the very thing that Andrew Little tried to do right.

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Speaker 1: So he brought all the DHBs together to get rid

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Speaker 1: of bureaucracy, and it didn't work, and now they're having

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Speaker 1: to do it all over again.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, it didn't work, and the government, this government appointed

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Speaker 2: a Crown Advisor back in December, and no doubt this

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Speaker 2: is as part of that that they decided that the

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Speaker 2: commissioner was the way to go. So look, look it

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Speaker 2: is a significant change in the health system in New Zealand.

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Speaker 3: Let's hope it works.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, how long is this Mardi MP who's at

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Speaker 1: the center of these questions about what was going on

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Speaker 1: in the Thoma Kimikodo electorate. How long is she on

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Speaker 1: leaf for?

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Speaker 3: Well, she's on leaf for six weeks. She says she's off.

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Speaker 2: To recover from a kidney disease, and of course during

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Speaker 2: that time there's inquiries going on into the thomackemcolder's seat

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Speaker 2: that she won by forty two votes from Penny Henarre

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Speaker 2: from the Labor Party. She was in charge of the

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Speaker 2: electorate that's at the center of the allegations that they

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Speaker 2: used data from the census, for example, to benefit the

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Speaker 2: Maldi party in herself and of course the party has

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Speaker 2: called the allegations baseless. But nevertheless, she won't be in parliament,

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Speaker 2: won't be around as these investigations go on. And ironically,

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Speaker 2: had the person that came third in that electric Dahli

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Speaker 2: in Tana, Well, we'll know tomorrow whether she's going to

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Speaker 2: be declared and independent because parliament resumes tomorrow and looks

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Speaker 2: as though she's sticking around.

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Speaker 1: How good tomorrow is going to be a great day, Barry,

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much, really appreciated. Barry Soper, Senior Political

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Speaker 1: Courss Sponment. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen

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