Captions by James Brown. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. - Tonight ` public playgrounds and the tamariki desperate to use them. - Sometimes I see my friends going down the slide and stuff, and I have to just watch them. - How can we do better for our disabled children? - And riding the mortgage interest rate wave ` how to stay afloat. If you're one of the many whose mortgage is coming off soon, here's some things you might want to consider. - Plus, they don't make 'em like they used to. I am hunting rare treasure. - My 16th birthday present. - Shona, this is magnificent! www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Tena koutou katoa. Welcome to the show. Playgrounds ` they're fun, they're free, and there's one in most neighbourhoods. - They sure are. They're a key part of childhood and something many of us take for granted. - But at last count, about one in 10 Kiwi children have some form of disability. And for many of them, playground fun is out of reach. Here's Gill with the next instalment in our Limitless campaign. (GENTLE MUSIC) - On your marks! Get set! Go! - Kids of all abilities have a right to have a go. And here in Hawke's Bay, they've adapted the Tough Kids challenge so they can. - Good job! - Less running, no loud music, obstacles to go under rather than over. - Cos everyone should be able to be included. We want every tamariki within the Hawke's Bay region to be able to come to this event. - Still, it's a work in progress. - We weren't able to include those wheelchair users. - But next year that's the plan. - Maybe we can have an obstacle on the outside of the bouncy castle, get some ramps, you know, maybe beach balls rolled in front, and they can dodge the beach balls. Oh! (LAUGHS) - This is what it's all about! Reactions like this... - It was the best. I had so much fun. - Awesome! - ...show that annual events are great. - Oh! - Next year I want to do it again. I want more bouncy castles! - But what about experiences day-to-day? - Everything is harder. Some places do, but a lot of places don't provide access for these children. - Like playgrounds. I don't know about you, but I used to take my kids all the time, because it was the easiest entertainment. Unless it's not. We hear from three whanau who want councils to step up and give kids with disabilities a better deal. This is Neil. He's a 12-year-old who knows what he likes. - I love football! - And what about playgrounds? - I don't like them. - He's keen to show us why, at his local one in Lynfield, Auckland. - What now? - So, yeah, I can't go any further, because the bark is simply unaccessible, so I can't bring my chair down. - Neil has muscular dystrophy, so he can get out of his chair for small stints, but he really feels for those that can't. - Yeah, they can't experience playgrounds. - And the fun is limited for Neil too. - Just nice chilling. - Because of his condition, his muscles get broken down. And because of that, his muscles doesn't have strength like other kids. - Over there is, like, the climbing frame. And as you can tell, it's a big no-no. That's the seesaw, which is a definite no-no. Those are the swings, and it's super hard to hop on. - But a slide he can do ` once he's managed the steps down to it. - I get extremely scared. - Hard to get up to it, too. - As you can see, they're really hard to get my feet up. - Can I please have some help? - Yep. - It's an effort, all right. - Even if he can do it once, we'll be very happy. And he has to push himself really hard to even do it once. - Ramps, back supports for swings, hand holds. - There's nothing to grab on to very easily. - They'd all help get more smiles like this. - It just makes it hard sometimes. - Councils are making changes. Many of them state that when there's a new playground or one that's getting upgraded, they make them more accessible, which means kids of all sorts of abilities can get to them, and more inclusive, which means that kids have all sorts of abilities should be able to play on them. But a recent makeover at Mission Bay was disappointing for Amy and Dan and their daughter Indie. - Oh, surely it'll be inclusive, because it's a whole new project. And I know that Auckland Council have quite impressive documents regarding inclusion and accessibility. - It was the talk of the town. - Rather than simply renewing the play features, Orakei Local Board advocated and budgeted for a full upgrade. - The smooth surface is accessible. And it lists its inclusive features as stepping stones, a basket swing and steps to the slide. But none work for Indie's condition of cerebral palsy. I say that's great, but you forgot about children in wheelchairs. And we're always getting forgotten. - So this 11-year-old who likes to have fun with her mates is limited. - We come with your friends. What do you do? - Watch them. - And how does that make you feel? - Sad. - Sad. - Sad. - Arguably, playgrounds are more important for children with disabilities than for able children, because their options and opportunities in the day to be physically active are a lot harder to find. - The family is frustrated that, with their busy life with two kids, they missed the public consultation. But they still reached out to council and the local board before equipment was in place. - They will say inclusion and accessibility is really important and that's been considered in the project, but then there's nothing that a wheelchair user can use at the playground. So I asked them, Well, where do we go? - The answer was Okahu Bay. - But we can't get to the playground. - Here at Mission Bay, they can use disability parking, but there isn't any at Okahu Bay. Indie would have to exit directly on to a busy road. Then once there, another basket swing Indie's too big for. - And it has a ramp, and that's it. - Indie knows what she'd love. She tried it at Takapuna playground, over the Harbour Bridge. - The merry-go-round. - Yeah. What about that ` installing a merry-go-round? - Yeah! - A wheelchair one. - Yeah, that's a great idea. - Amy would love to see three things kids like Indie can use at a playground in each area. - And to review that playground holistically for access as well. - And then you can come here with your friends. - Yeah, that would be great. - We got in touch with every council in the country to find out how many accessible and inclusive playgrounds they have. But their criteria really vary. I mean, does an inclusive water fountain count? And then there are places like Devonport. Great that they've got a basket swing, which is inclusive, but underneath it's bark, which for wheelchairs isn't accessible. So what's needed is something called universal design, from the start, at the planning stage, to take into account everyone's needs. A playground in Warkworth made a good go of this. So Corrine and her boys, Ethan and Ollie, who both have muscular dystrophy, got pretty excited. - They do want to use the playground like everyone else. - They can rock... - Ollie, do you wanna have a go? - ...and roll. - Dizzy? Wanna stop? - But it's tricky to swing, with the basket so high. - OK, put your leg in. You can see that me getting him in, it's not easy any more. - Simple things like this being lower would make a huge difference. - Dad can still do it, though. - And what about this slide? At first, Ethan's eyes lit up. - I don't weigh lots, so I'll go zooming. - He thought these stairs and handrail looked like his ticket to ride. - And when I get up here, the floor's all rope. But the wooden floor's over there. - If it was all wood, at least he could get to the small slide. - Sometimes I see my friends going down the slide and stuff, and I have to just watch them. - It's simple things like bringing things lower to the ground, making it all level access. It's really quite simple things at the design phase that can make a huge difference. - Do you feel sometimes you'd like to just get stuck in and do the design yourself? - Yeah. I would love to be involved. It just needs someone in the community that lives this stuff every day that says, make these few minor changes, and it's accessible for all. - Auckland Council told us it welcomes community input and already has a disability advisory panel, though it's unclear if the panel includes any parents of disabled kids. For Neil, it says it will look into shallower steps or a handrail and says a nearby playground will be fully renewed. For Ethan and Ollie and Mum, good news that the swing will be lowered, and one with back support may be installed. Sadly, no change to the slide. Still, again, nearby playgrounds are getting redeveloped. For Indie, no change at Mission Bay, but Okahu will get a makeover, hopefully with accessible parking. But it may come too late for Indie, though this is about future whanau too, so they don't want lip service, they want real service. - And the only way to do that is to consult with whanau with disabilities, because we know. - And it can happen. A little playground in Kapiti Coast is leading the way. - Are you happy with your park? Yeah. Good boy. So, he tapped green for yes. We approached the council and said, 'Hey, you've got an excellent opportunity where you can make this park fully accessible. 'We've got some fantastic ideas. What do you think?' - Council didn't just listen, they made Nicola ` and importantly Kash ` part of the team. - We were spoken to through the entire process. - It's universal design at work. - Making a space accessible and inclusive just increases their playability. It increases the amount of people who can use the space. It's been super popular. - With everyone. Of course, money's a factor. - Our budget was small (CHUCKLES) and certainly really tight, in comparison to what other people have to spend on their playgrounds. - But it's about getting creative, tweaking budgets and being committed. - On the Kapiti Coast, we're going to have underlying principles of accessibility and sustainability as we go through revamping all of our playgrounds, so that's maybe a challenge that we can put out to the rest of country. - There's really no excuse not to do it. - Because childhood is fleeting and precious, and in Aotearoa every child has a right to play. - It does make a difference to people's lives. I just think, yeah, where possible, make it a priority. - That is so true. Look, great job, Kapiti Coast Council. And they want other councils to know they are more than happy to share what they have learnt. - E haere ake nei, coming up ` I track down some shining examples of appliances made to last. - I'm fairly certain it's a 1949. - I mean, this is not doing much for demand for hair dryers, is it? - Plus, how home owners are feeling about mortgage rate hikes. - Somewhere in between quite worried and really worried. - And how to maintain your financial fitness. - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai, welcome back. The Official Cash Rate has increased ` get this ` 12 times since late 2021. And so too, of course, have mortgage interest rates. - Don't say it out loud. It makes it worse. Which means homeowners are forking out more and more of their hard-earned cash. - That's right. So how can you weather the storm? And is there any relief in sight? I went on a hike of my own to find out. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) Aotearoa is well known for its hikes, some of the best in the world. But the hikes we've been experiencing recently ` interest rate hikes ` for most of us at least, are anything but pretty. - More pain is on the way for those with mortgages. - It's time to tighten your belts once again. - Expect more hikes. - In just 20 months, in its efforts to get inflation down, the Reserve Bank has increased the Official Cash Rate a mammoth 12 times, from 0.25% in October 2021 to 5.5% last month. It has been a run of interest rate hikes like we have never experienced before. And of course those rates flow through to what we're paying for our mortgages. - It's just really hit everyone a bit like a freight train. And there hasn't been much cushion, there hasn't been much time to absorb, there hasn't been much time to prepare. So the fact that people are finding this hard, that's not surprising. - And out on the streets, people are finding it hard. - Yes, quite worried. - Somewhere in between quite worried and really worried. - We've locked in our mortgage for the next couple of years. So if you asked me six months ago, I would have been over here. - A big part of ours was on floating, and we've sort of felt the impact every month that it's gone on. - Everyone has a story. Here's another. You could fix a $500,000 loan on a 30-year term for three years in 2020 at 2.88%. That would have meant weekly repayments of $479. Same amount, same loan term today, at a pretty good deal of 6.29%, and those weekly repayments will be $713. That means finding an extra $234 a week. - I think the one small comfort for people is if they are finding this hard, it's not because you're an idiot. It's not because you're really bad with your money. It's because things are genuinely hard right now. - If you're one of the many whose mortgage is coming off soon, here's some things you might want to consider. Figure out how much more you're likely to be paying. What does that look like? Now's the time to be trimming discretionary spending, reviewing the likes of utilities and subscriptions. - This is said with the caveat that nobody's crystal ball works perfectly, but we're getting a lot of signs that the worst of this pain might be the next six months to a year. So what you want to do is find some way to survive, as long as you can get through that short term. So if you need to pick up extra hours at work, if you need to cut back on some things that you really don't want to cut back on, if you need to go to the bank and say, 'We need to negotiate pushing out the term on our mortgage,' all of these are options for you. - And according to mortgage broker Jess Pronk, keep your credit as tidy as possible. - You don't want to be showing any cracks in your credit history. So taking on additional Afterpays and Laybuys is a really bad idea right now. Making or letting your account go overdrawn unintentionally because payments have gone out, letting payments dishonour, you can't have those cracks start to appear. Those are the things that the banks have got really sophisticated software on that can see that sort of thing. So you don't want any cracks to show just yet. - Looking at extending your loan term or going interest-only could be a short-term solution. - It's not necessarily the best idea from a debt reduction point of view, but if it gives you the financial freedom to be allowed to keep your house and maintain your mortgage for this current point in time, increasing your loan repayments when the rates start to fall can bring you back into the right cycle or the right time frame again for your loan term. - Jess says if your situation is dire ` we're talking serious financial hardship ` then you need to talk to your bank ASAP. - It's very common to want to bury your head in the sand when you're in that situation, but the banks have got specialised teams. You wanna get in touch with the banks as soon as you can. - The good news is there could be light at the end of the tunnel, with the Reserve Bank saying at last month's OCR hike that it didn't see any more on the horizon. Once things are cooling down ` and we're already seeing that happening ` then they can bring those interest rates back down. So we're seeing all the signs that this is working. We're seeing all the signs that it's happening. But it is that six months to a year for it to bed in, which is unfortunate and not fun. - So a glimmer of hope, which is great. - Yeah. Maybe. E haere ake nei, coming up ` things that have stood the test of time. - Look at that. That's an iron. I think they were made a lot better. - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai. Welcome back. Now, think back to your childhood and you'll likely remember the appliances your family owned ` the vacuum cleaner, the jug, the telly. I remember our first VCR. - And that's because those items were in the family for years. They were built to last. So it got me thinking, why don't they make 'em like they used to? Well, I went looking for answers. Didn't really have to go that far. It's time to go see old people's stuff. Sorry ` people's old stuff. Hold on. And just around the corner... Ah, this is the one. ...Margaret is getting the board. - Drop it down. 1979 it was bought. - Look at that. - Barry knows what goes with it. - That's an iron. - The iron was here before Margaret. - Barry came with the iron? - Yes, he did. - In an age where you gave practical gifts as wedding presents... - Getting married in the registry office. - ...here it is 43 years ago, at Barry and his late wife's wedding. - Cake mixer? Gone. Electric blanket? Probably burnt out. - Not the iron, though. - I think they were made a lot better. - Down the road, Amanda Henry's cake mixer is really old. - I'm fairly certain it's a 1949. - In 1949, when the country was recovering from World War 2... - Definitely says Kenwood. - ...Amanda's parents were being gifted this cake mixer. - Well, it's just been around me all my life. - But why has it lasted so long? - People spent money that they struggled to afford, and they hoped to have something decent from that. And I think that was what the producers worked towards. - So in the old days, weren't things built to last? Yes, things were built to last. And one of the reasons for that was that there was a scarcity of resources. - That's Victoria University's Hannah Blumhardt. - So if there's a scarcity of resources, you have a real incentive to make products last a really long time. - You'll hear more from her shortly. Headwind. In the meantime, more pedalling. Shona, this is magnificent! Ice cream, pork chops. You could fit a whole village in here. People could live in here. - Or the grandchildren. - (LAUGHS) Shona Bracegirdle is proud of her 59-year-old freezer. - The light here used to go. And that was the light that you could see in the passage at night if you had to go to the bathroom. - Shona has a term for why it's lasted lifetimes, when today's things don't. - I think it's planned obsolescence. You buy something and you chuck it away. - Planned obsolescence ` it's actually a thing. In France, it's illegal. - Apple is apologising after admitting it was slowing down older phones. - The French fined Apple the equivalent of NZ$50 million for using software updates to slow down its older phones. - We've got a lot of people talking about this one. - Apple claims they did this to protect battery life. - (NOKIA RINGTONE PLAYS) - I've got a 2009 Nokia. - Hannah Blumhardt says planned obsolescence is ingrained in our society. There's an incentive currently in our economy for companies to want to build short-life products, because then they can sell more products just by designing critical components of the product to break after a short period of time. - Howard Reid is not an academic, but he's seen a lot of planned obsolescence in the 43 years he's been repairing things. - It's built to a price. It's cheap. - Take his tower of amplifiers, for instance. - Most of those are repairable. - But it will take too long, cost too much, so the customer leaves them here and buys a new one. Howard says we could learn a lot from his 30-year-old vacuum cleaner. - They were made properly. The bearings are big. They're metal. The motor's big. - He wants us to see its power cord. - The cord can be replaced. - He says most aren't like this. - They're not made to be repaired. A lot of them are glued together. - Ooh! What is this? Jill's hair dryer was my final stop. - My 16th birthday present. - Something else happened that day. - It's also the day of my first date with my husband. - Oh, yes. That was our first date. - He's still lasting too. - Jill, fresh from freshening up, has cracked the code. - I honestly think that things are made so that they're only gonna last a while. I mean, this is not doing much for demand for hair dryers, is it? - Maybe our future is in our past. If we all use just one hair dryer, one iron... - I think it'll outlive me. - ...one chest freezer... - Would you like me to make you a meatloaf? - ...and one cake mixer in our lifetime,... - Long may it last. - ...our land ` and landfill ` may thank us. Oh! My mum has got all of those things, and they're all gonna outlast her ` hi, Mum ` and I'm gonna be stuck with all of them. - That's fantastic. As long as they're working, right? - Yeah, I guess so. That is it from us, but if you only caught part of the show, you can catch all of it on the Fair Go page on TVNZ+ whenever you want. - Because guess what ` we are here to help, so please get in touch. - We're on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. You can go to our webpage, tvnz.co.nz, email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz or write to us ` PO Box 3819, Auckland 1140. - Thank you for watching. Is it movie night at your house? Can we get the VCR out? - Until next week,... - BOTH: pomarie.