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Speaker 1: Associate Education mister David Seymour, he didn't show up. He

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Speaker 1: was no show for a meeting with Erika Standford, the

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Speaker 1: Education Minister today about the school lunch program. Now, apparently

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Speaker 1: this was just because they were at caucus and caucus

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Speaker 1: runs over, so there's no big deal. But what is

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Speaker 1: a big deal, apparently is the school lunch program itself

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Speaker 1: in the eyes of some David Seymour was the Associate

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Speaker 1: Education Ministries with me Hi David get O Ryan. So

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Speaker 1: what is this stormin a teh up about the meeting

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Speaker 1: or did you show up not show up on purpose?

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Speaker 2: No, Well, basically we had an agreement Tuesday Morning's a

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Speaker 2: difficult time because you have caucus and one thing about

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Speaker 2: being a Member of Parliament is caucus or sacrisanc. So

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Speaker 2: it goes on for as long as it needs to

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Speaker 2: for everyone to eat their views and discuss the business.

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Speaker 2: And I value it, especially because I had six years

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Speaker 2: where I was the only act MP and I just

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Speaker 2: wondered what it would be like to have a caucus.

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Speaker 2: So now I do we take it very seriously as

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Speaker 2: far as as far as the substantive issue. Happy to

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Speaker 2: talk about the lunch as.

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Speaker 1: Though, So there was no intention to skip the meeting.

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Speaker 1: It was just it was just caucus running over. Now.

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Speaker 2: I think people will be surprised how often plans change.

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Speaker 2: It's it's a wild world here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, fair enough, all right, okay, let's get

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Speaker 1: to the lunches. So the plastic and the cellophane in

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Speaker 1: the food, you know, the ones being late, those sort

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Speaker 1: of issues, not the quality issues, not the kids saying,

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Speaker 1: oh you know, I don't actually like butter chicken or whatever,

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Speaker 1: but those other issues, the contractual issues. Have you given

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Speaker 1: them a ra cup?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I have spoken to the school lunch collective about

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Speaker 2: that and they've reported back to me what it is

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Speaker 2: that's happened. Specifically, we've had somebody at one of the

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Speaker 2: regional kitchens received the frozen meals as is the plan,

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Speaker 2: they put it in the oven. They put too long

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Speaker 2: at the wrong temperature, and that was the first mistake.

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Speaker 2: The second mistake is after they'd burnt them, they did

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Speaker 2: not to the correct quality control and they still sent

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Speaker 2: them out. So that is being dealt with and that

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Speaker 2: will one active management.

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Speaker 1: That's the one off.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and one off. One hundred and thirty seven thousand

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Speaker 2: hot meals a day. You know, a couple of million

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Speaker 2: over the last month. So we've put these things happened totally.

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Speaker 1: Okay, all right, can I just get some numbers off you?

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Speaker 1: So in terms of the delays, have we ironed that out?

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Speaker 2: Now?

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Speaker 1: Like what are we what's our percentage on time delivery?

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Speaker 2: Now? Well, yesterday Monday, the third of March ninety nine

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Speaker 2: percent on time delivery. The worst we had a month

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Speaker 2: ago in one city it was eleven percent. Now we're

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Speaker 2: getting some days, we're getting one hundred. Some days we're

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Speaker 2: getting ninety nine or ninety eight, so basically always on time.

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Speaker 1: So timing issues sorted. What I mean, we will obviously

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Speaker 1: have these plastics in the thing that occasionally you will

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Speaker 1: have accidents happening. I'm sure that happened with the old

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Speaker 1: lunch system as well.

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Speaker 2: Look under the old lunch system, if I recall correctly,

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Speaker 2: there were seven different investigations by food Safety in New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, these things.

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Speaker 1: Happened, all right, So what is left? That's that issue?

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Speaker 1: It's the quality of the meals and the wastage that's

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Speaker 1: going on. Do you have the stats yet on wastage

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Speaker 1: and how it compares to the old system.

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Speaker 2: No, we don't have wasted statistics. I've asked to have

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Speaker 2: those and they say that they can be available by

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Speaker 2: the end of this week. Just bear in mind, I'm

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Speaker 2: more worried about them getting the system running than collecting statistics,

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Speaker 2: but I expect that we'll get those very soon. In

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Speaker 2: terms of you know, what is this statistics going to

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Speaker 2: say to us? I think that there will be some

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Speaker 2: issues with waste. There are some issues around quality, But

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Speaker 2: I say to people, look, you know, just airs we

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Speaker 2: solve the problem with on time delivery, we will also

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Speaker 2: save solve sorry, the issues around quality. And we're learning,

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Speaker 2: for example, which meals are more popular and which ones

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Speaker 2: are less popular. So that's all helpful.

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Speaker 1: What does the wastage tell you, though? Does the wastes

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Speaker 1: tell you that you need to make the meals nicer

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Speaker 1: and more palatable, or does it tell you that the

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Speaker 1: kids aren't starving and don't need them and you should

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Speaker 1: reevaluate your program?

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Speaker 2: Well? You know, I mean, look, I campaigned heavily against

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Speaker 2: this program. However, I'm part of a government we are

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Speaker 2: all committed to continuing it, and one of life's great ironies,

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Speaker 2: I'm the guy responsible. My job is now to make

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Speaker 2: it the most efficient use of government money possible. I'm

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Speaker 2: absolutely hell bent on the run that we're solving problems,

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Speaker 2: were overcoming them, and I think we will be delivering

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Speaker 2: something that everyone's going to be very pleased with as

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Speaker 2: we iron out problem after problem. That's all you can do,

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Speaker 2: all right.

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Speaker 1: David Seymour, the poster child for free school lunches, ironically

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Speaker 1: as he says for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

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