- Hello, Kiwis. I'm Paddy Gower and I have got issues. On this show we investigate issues big and small that are important to all of us. Tonight ` we'll meet the people who wish their children got cancer in a different part of New Zealand and people who moved to Australia to save their own lives. And investigator Karen O'Leary takes the case of a man who is fed up with people parking in mobility car parks when they don't need them. Captions by Julie Taylor and Stacey Spary. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Tonight my issue is with cancer, and I want to start tonight by showing you a photo from back in the day. That handsome young man that you can see there is actually me and that's my mum, Joan Gower. I reckon it is a great picture of a loving and caring Kiwi mum and her son. Sadly, my mum died of cancer not long after that photo was taken. I still think about her all the time, mainly when I hear about other people who have cancer, which is all the time. I always have the same reaction ` cancer sucks. And for some reason, New Zealand sucks at dealing with cancer. Kiwi families with cancer seem to have to put up with a lot of crap that they shouldn't have to. There is a big list, but postcode cancer is right up there. Our level of cancer care should not be based on where we live and there is no reason our cancer outcomes should be so much worse than Australia's. Like I said, cancer sucks, but as a country we do need to make sure it sucks less. This is an issue for all of us. Tonight I'm joined by Newshub national correspondent Amanda Gillies and we've got Newshub's Australia correspondent Emma Cropper and of course our community investigator extraordinaire, Karen O'Leary. And our news deskers Eli Matthewson and Courtney Dawson. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Sorry, Paddy. Just catching up on our latest cover story. Congratulations on the engagement, you two. You look stunning. (LAUGHTER) - It's a very platonic piggyback. (LAUGHTER) All right, Amanda, you've been investigating cancer with me, and, you know, it's really shaken you, hasn't it? - Yeah, you're right. Cancer does suck, Paddy. And to be honest, after this investigation, my confidence, my faith in our health system, well, it's been shaken. And it's really, really sad. I mean, you make the assumption that if you're sick in this country, you go to your doctor, you get looked after, you get your treatment immediately. But sadly, this is not always the case. And quite simply, it's not right. - Yeah. And something that's really not right is postcode cancer. It's something I care a lot about. I know when my mum was suffering from cancer, we had to take her 460km in a round trip down to Palmerston North from New Plymouth because that's where the treatment was. And there is something out there that is meant to help Kiwis called the National Travel Assistance Scheme where you can claim back some of that money, but it's woefully out of date with the rising cost of living and petrol costs. And I've been with two Kiwi dads who say that it has to change. Tae Robertson was finishing his school exams last year when he became really unwell. - TAE: I would just start coughing, basically until I puked and then passed out. Just couldn't breathe at all. Not the most fun experience. Had an X-ray of my chest. Doctors said, 'Go to Whangarei now. You've got cancer.' Yeah. - They found a pretty massive tumour. - It crushed my left lung, shoved my heart over, collapsed my trachea a bit, so it meant I couldn't eat food at all. No visible signs cos it was just right in my ribs and nowhere else. - Tae lives in Dargaville ` that's over an hour away from Whangarei Hospital. and an even longer drive every time he has treatment at Starship in Auckland. - Three hours there. Three hours back. - How much easier would this have been without all of that travel? - Way easier. Mm. - No, I guess it's just not something... any child should be going through. It's far too big. But Tae's handled it really, really well. He's been... been great. (CHOKES UP) - It scares you, doesn't it, mate? - Very much so. - And what are these trips like when you've got a sick kid in the car? He's having really heavy treatment. What are they actually like? - Oh, that can be quite torturous. And normally it's in the middle of the night because he's developed a fever or something's gone wrong. And so, you know, you're rushing over there hoping he's gonna get there before he throws up or before it gets worse. - And then you get this sort of stuff on top of it. - This is, um... Yeah. This is something which you shouldn't have to be dealing with, to be honest. It's` It's... so far down on the list of, um... of your priorities with what you're going through as a parent. - This is the National Travel Assistance Scheme for people who have to travel for treatment. They can claim mileage at $0.28 a kilometre and accommodation at $100 a night. It hasn't been updated since 2009 and does not come close to covering costs. - So, that's 45 trips in total. 10,000K. And I think our expenditure on fuel is around the $4,000 mark. - And how much have you got back? - $900, to date. - So, you've... it costs you $4,000 of gas and you got $900 back. - $900 back. Yeah. - Holy heck. And you have to stay in Auckland as well. - We do, because Tae is a child still, he was still under 18 at the time. So Ronald McDonald House at Starship for all his treatment. - And if it wasn't for Ronald McDonald House, what would you have done? - I don't know what we would have done, to be honest. Probably have to mortgage the house. - The form, you know, it's... Pretty outdated. - (CHUCKLES DRYLY) So you've gotta take it up to the reception and ask them to date it and say whether it's, you know, a return trip, or you're arriving or going back. And they've gotta stamp it. And if you don't get it done, you don't get paid for it. And believe it or not, you still have to send this by post. - Really? - Yep. So of the two letters I've posted in the last year, both of them have been for this. - It's almost like they don't want people to claim the money. - I would say that's very much the case. - You know, what would you say to the Ministry of Health? What would you say to them if you could? - Oh, look. You've just gotta bring it into the century. You've just gotta get with the program. You shouldn't have to be stressing about, 'Can I get enough petrol to go to Auckland to do the treatment?' You know, that just should be the very last thing you should be thinking about. It should be` I've gotta go. And you should be able to just go and do it. Postcode cancer sucks. It really does. - CHILD: Ooh, I found the eye. - Uh, I feel... I feel like it's a kick in the gut sometimes. - Daddy, Daddy! - It's not fair on people who have to go through that process, let alone... try and fill out the forms and wait a month for reimbursement and get so little from it. - Richard Blair's four-year-old daughter, Addison, has leukaemia. - Can I push that one in? - They live in Waiuku on the outskirts of Auckland, about 70km away from Starship Hospital. Close enough that they don't qualify for accommodation. And how long does it take to get in there? - On a clean run we're about an hour ten with no traffic. And then anywhere up to three hours. - Wow. - And we would have to travel up three days a week. After potential` some days, four doses of chemotherapy. And so she's vomiting up all the way home. I'm having to hand over sick buckets and a little four-year-old girl holding her own sick bucket and just` just trying to keep her comfortable for the journey home. - That must have been hell. - It... It was a form of hell. Yes. (CHUCKLES) (PENSIVE MUSIC) You're travelling and you're tired. The last thing you're thinking of is filling out a form when you're having to carry your daughter out of the hospital each day because she's too sick to walk. - How much do you get a kilometre? - We get` we get $0.28 a kilometre, which for me works out to be $17.50 per trip in. - And how far does that get you? - It gets me about a third of the way. (PENSIVE MUSIC) It's not sustainable for families. They're going through the worst journey of their life. You could never imagine it. It can break you. (APPLAUSE) - Yeah. I think everybody agrees that that sucks for them. Now, Ronald McDonald House which was mentioned there, they got the stay there. That and some of the Cancer Society places actually use the NTA. They get it paid directly, the 100 bucks a night. But they're saying with all these rising costs that they can hardly keep up and keep putting that accommodation out. - Well, you look at it, Paddy. You got $0.28 a kilometre. That is a joke. When the IRD calculates, say, mileage costs for businesses, they are allowed to claim $0.95 a kilometre. So $0.95 versus $0.28, businesses versus cancer patients ` it's just wrong. - Yeah. And about 40,000 people claim the NTA every year. So it's a big problem for Kiwis. - Absolutely. My dad, who passed away a couple of months ago, he was having to travel from Otaki or Carterton to Palmerston North with my mum and that's the last thing she should have been doing, filling out those forms. And luckily for them they were in a position where they could pay for travel. But imagine if you can't. - Yeah. And Karen, moving on to your issue tonight, you know what` you've been out doing the mahi. What is it this week? - Well, Paddy, before we start, I've gotta ask you a very serious question OK. Are you ready? - Yes. - OK, good. - I think. - OK. OK. Have you ever` tell me the truth ` parked in a mobility car park? - No-oo... You don't` you've got no proof. (LAUGHER) - So, you're saying yes? - I` you've got no proof. - I'm asking if you've ever done it. - Have you got a warrant? - Have you done it? - Can I just say that is a classic 'no means yes', and for me, Karen, it's a firm no. I will do anything else. - Anything else? - Legal or illegal. But I will not park in a mobility park. - Well, I'll talk to you after the show about some of those other things. But, look ` I met up with Michael and Nicki down in Lower Hutt and they say that this sort of thing happens way more than you think. So basically, I went to talk to them and, you know, look. Boom. Can someone just please play the tape? Thank you. Please. - Heya. It's me, Karen. How's it going? - Good! Come on in. - Sorry... I've left my questions in the car. I'll be back in two secs. (LIGHT-HEARTED MUSIC) PANTS: Got them. Sorry about that. - That's all right. - No worries. - Michael and Nicki, thank you so much for inviting me into your home. You've been in touch with an issue that you've got. What is your issue? - Mobility parking and the... Illegal use of it. - And the abuse. - And the fact that people, I guess, think mobility parks are a joke. - How does it make you feel if you, say, turn up to supermarket, turn up to the library, and someone's in the mobility park and you know they don't have a permit. - Furious. Absolutely furious. You know, before we get furious, we check. We make sure that` - Always check for a permit. - # Bad boys, bad boys. # Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? # - Something that people don't realise about those parks is they're actually wider and they're actually, like, longer` - Yep. - ... in some instances. - We can't get Michael's wheelchair out of the car in a normal parking space if the other parks beside us are full. - I can hardly get myself out of a car in a normal parking space. - I know. (KEYS JANGLE) (LAUGHTER) - Why do you think people do it? - Like, you know, as a nation, we live in this world of, you know, 'She'll be right'. You know? You stub your toe; 'She'll be right'. - Yup. - 'I was only gonna be five minutes. She'll be right.' You know. But now that's affecting someone else's life. That's not just affecting your own. - And how often do you think it happens? - Every weekend we go out. - Yep. - Every weekend? - Mm-hm. - Yeah. And it's really hard because you want to confront people because you want to educate, but you're also scared of the abuse that you'll get hit back with. I've been sworn at. I've been spat at. - I've been physically threatened. - This is making me furious now. Michael and Nicki; I'm on the job. I'm gonna do what I can do to help resolve this issue. Deal? - Deal. - Deal? - Deal. - Michael and Nikki aren't alone. Disabled people across the country rely on these parks being available. - I've been driving about 55 years. Being able to drive has just changed my life, basically. - It's just a focal point of participating in society, being able to be in the community. - Sometimes they just say, 'Oh, I'm only here for a few minutes.' That can mean the difference between someone being able to be where they need to be or not going to something. - Interesting, isn't it, how people think if they're sitting in their car but still taking up the car park, then that's kind of better than if they've got out of their car. They're still in the car park. - And I can't exactly stop in the middle of the road, get out of my car... not very quickly, and then walk up to them, leave my car in the middle of the road and say, 'You know, were you just thinking of staying for a few minutes?' - Probably the worst offenders I've are found... are courier drivers. Don't tell anybody off, though. - Well, you've just told everyone on the TV. So everyone knows now. But... - Right. But, look, hey` look. If they're gonna do the crime, they're gonna do the time on the TV. This is a real problem. So I'm gonna get in the driver's seat to find an appropriate solution to park it in. That makes sense. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Yeah. But, look ` as you can see from that` I mean, this is really affecting people, you know? It can be the difference between them going out and doing the things that they probably spent a whole heap of time planning cos it's a bit of a mission. And then having to go into there, see someone in the park, and go back home and try again the next day. It's a big` a big, big pain in the bum. - Yeah. And it's a pain in the bum that you need to fix. - Yup. - All right, coming up ` Amanda meets the Queenstown man who says he wouldn't be alive today if he'd left his treatment to our public health system. And Karen backs herself in then finds out how many people will actually admit to parking in a mobility park. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Nau mai hoki mai. Welcome back, Kiwis. - Now, it's time to check in with the news and I've got just the desk for it. My news desk ` Eli and Courtney. What's going on, team? - So much, Paddy! Here's this week's New Zealand Has Issues. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - It's been a big week for the Greens as they ramped up their election campaign by re-electing their leaders and looking to the future. - Imagine... Imagine... what we could do with a few more Green ministers. - And imagine... what we could do... with a few... less... commas. (LAUGHTER) - And you would have to use your imagination because based on the current polls, that is definitely not going to happen. So, James Shaw ` get to manifesting, babes. - Yeah. And while James was imagining, Marama Davidson went on TV to show off their new ideas. - The Greens have released their 2023 manifest. So, laying out a vision for climate friendly Aotearoa. Here it is, right here. - The manifesto ` I've got a slightly better copy than yours. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHTER) - 'I've got a slightly better copy than yours' was also said at the signing of Treaty of Waitangi. (LAUGHTER) ` To sports now and the All Blacks kicked the Argentinian team's butt in the first game of the rugby championship on Sunday. But that wasn't all they kicked. - Captain Sam Cane was caught on camera kicking a pitch invader who ran onto the ground after the match. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIM) - Ooh, geez. - Terrible stuff. Sam Cane was reprimanded by the All Blacks media team for showing a bit of personality. - There's no place for violence on the rugby field. It should be off the rugby field. Wait a second. No. It should be on the field, but only in certain bits. (STAMMERS) And not that type of violence. I don't know. It's a minefield. - Yeah. I don't know either. So let's move on to our rural news desk. New Zealand's Young Farmer of the Year was crowned this week and 28-year-old Emma Poole became... - ... The first woman to win in the competition's 55 year history. - We've finally knocked the grass ceiling off this roof. - What? A woman farmer? What does she farm ` flowers? It just doesn't make sense! - Oh, Courtney. Get with the times. To keep some balance, though, Gary Truman from Timaru has been named Miss New Zealand. (LAUGHTER) - You know what? It's incredible for a woman to win Young Farmer of the Year only 30 years after a pig won Sheepdog of the Year. - Oh. That's progress. Back to you, Babe. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Thank you, my little piglets. Thank you so much. Now, Amanda, cancer sucks, but you've met one Queenstown guy for who it seems to really, really suck. - Yeah. The simple question, Paddy, is can you afford to get cancer in this country, especially in the regions, and that is a firm no. Hamish and his beautiful family in Queenstown, they were failed by the public system. You won't believe how he found out he was probably gonna die of cancer. (PENSIVE MUSIC) - I had three doctors telling me that, you know, this was as good as it was gonna get and we needed to prepare for the worst. And 'Where does he want to die', basically. 'At home or in hospital?' - Had you not gone private and you'd waited for the public system, would you still be here? - No, I wouldn't be. It's very unlikely that I'd still be hanging around. - Hamish and Jana MacPherson were living the Kiwi dream, raising their young family in Queenstown. - Good life? - Yeah, it was a good life. Well, it is a good life. And that's what I'd kind of like to go back to. - The good life changed in March last year after Hamish noticed a lump on his neck. Jana insisted he get it checked out. - Got a needle put in there, sucked it out. That was unpleasant. Doctor called me back to say, 'You've got a melanoma.' - But it could be successfully removed and Hamish embraced life with new vigour. Then in January, he started to feel off. He was tired, lethargic. A scan and routine follow up revealed devastating results, but the way they were delivered was brutal. - There was no phone call. Nothing. They just sent me a letter. And so for the first time ever, I googled what it meant, because I knew this was quite heavy and quite important. And that's when they told me, basically, 'It's spread all through your organs.' That was a bit hard to take when you're at home with your daughter. Six-year-old daughter. - Cancer was now in his brain, lungs, stomach and liver, and it was inoperable. - The MacPherson's were devastated, but the public health system then delivered another blow. - They got me down to Dunedin for a five minute consult to say, 'It's spread everywhere and we can't really do anything for you.' 'You'll have to go to another department.' - But the next available appointment with his new specialist in the public system was eight weeks away. Hamish didn't have the luxury of time, so, without health insurance, he went private ` paying for an oncologist, the scans and his unfunded medication, himself. It was life saving, but very expensive. - The first payment was a phone call to my parents, which was pretty... hard. And they extended their overdraft or did whatever they needed to. They had to dig deep to make that happen. - The immunotherapy alone is 55K a pop and this medication, which Hamish dubs 'the magic pills', is $5500 a month. - I was in hospital for ten days. I was on the way out and then started taking these. Ten days later, I left. That is` that's a miracle-working type... potion. - Then another miracle ` the kindness of loved ones and even strangers. - Thank you so, so much for coming out tonight. You all look fabulous. (APPLAUSE AND CHEERS DROWN OUT VOICE) - On a cold winter's night, this community has gathered for a fundraiser to pay for Hamish's treatment. - (AUCTIONEER REELS OFF NUMBERS) (CHEERING) - The generosity and support has been overwhelming and humbling for the MacPhersons. - Probably what you both really wanted to say is thank you. (EXHALES SHAKILY) - Could you afford just you two on your own? Could you have afforded this? - No way. No. We said we couldn't straight away. A lot of the doctors and things that we talked to, they said, 'Most people don't just have $150,000 just sitting there waiting for a rainy day.' - But is it right that this family has to rely on raising money to stay alive? Is our public health system failing sick Kiwis? - I just think it's broken. It's devastated. It's a war zone. - EMOTIONALLY: We've seen people pass away and it just shouldn't be from monetary... Oh, sorry. Shouldn't be from monetary reasons. - I guess the ultimate question is, can you afford to have cancer in New Zealand? - I don't think many people can afford to have cancer in New Zealand. - What do you want to say to cancer? - Piss off. (CHUCKLES) That's pretty much` that's a wrap. (BOTH LAUGH) (APPLAUSE) - And they are a beautiful family. And I got to say, Paddy; everyone needs a Jana in their life. She's an amazing woman. She's the one asking the questions. She's the one demanding the answers. She's a force to be reckoned with. But look, there are two options. They raised 150k. Incredible. Well, you think, 'Wow, that's a lot of money,' but that only paid for three immunotherapy sessions. That is the reality. And those, who like Hamish go private, they can't claim that NTA that you've been speaking about for travel costs. He's gotta make a seven hour round trip from Queenstown to Dunedin to get his treatment and in his current situation, Paddy, look ` that's a really tough road. - Yeah. They're lucky to have the support from the community they have got and they've actually got the one and only Nadia Lim` - Love this. - ... wading in to support them and auctioning off a big package of all sorts of, sort of, carry on. That'll be on Trademe and if people want details, they can look at our socials. Now, Karen... - Mm. - How have you been getting on out there? - Well, I've been getting on as well as I always do, which is excellently. Yeah, no. Look, basically I just needed to start` I needed to work out how big this problem was. And I'm gonna start here with their amazing and very good looking studio audience. If you have never parked in a mobility park, just raise your hand and say no. OK? So, three, two, one... - AUDIENCE: No! - OK. A lot of people out there not telling the truth. OK. And so, I went out onto the streets of Wellington to find, well, basically another bunch of liars. Have you ever parked in a mobility car park? - I have not. - Not once? - Nope. - Half a time? - Nope. - I can categorically say I've never parked in one of these parks. - Would that category be the truth? - (LAUGHS) - If the camera wasn't there` so, say that` say, like, there was no, camera and you could tell me the truth... Have you ever parked on one? - No, I have not. - If there was no other parks. You know, I'm just trying to go in for five minutes... - Right. - I'd definitely park there. - OK. So that's a really good, honest answer. In fact, I think it's the first honest answer we've had. To figure out how to drive this problem down, I'm gonna pop myself into gear and reverse carefully into a chat with someone who knows all about it. IMITATES VEHICLE REVERSING: Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, be` Oh. - (LAUGHS) - Oh, sorry. Sorry. Was just doing like a car metaphor thing. Whose job is it to enforce mobility car parks? - Councils have the responsibility for enforcement, but that's only in public spaces. So, in the` - So, on the street. - On the street. On street parking, enforcement only happens during normal working hours. So in the evenings there's no enforcement. - It's like a free for all. - And also the same applies at the weekend, where there isn't enforcement. It's a little bit different in the private space. Enforcement in the private space is left to the discretion of the property owner. So they can choose to enforce or not enforce. - Is that like your supermarkets, your shopping, your malls? - Medical practices, hospitals... - Even hospitals? - Libraries, swimming pools... All of these places. - So, they're all considered the private ones? - Yeah. There's no legal requirement to enforce in those spaces. - Great job. Thank you. How much is the ticket? - The ticket is $150 in New Zealand at the moment. - Is that comparable elsewhere or is it different in other places? - In Australia, the fines in most states are around $600. - A lot more. - And in a couple of states, they also attract demerit points. ` Wow. - You know, we do hear of a lot of abuse. We have loads of pictures that come to us on a daily basis. - # I have a picture of you in my mind. # Never knew it could be so wrong. # - Yeah. All sorts of commercial vehicles, so` - It's every Tom, Dick and Harry. - Yeah. - And Harriet and... Thomasina and... I don't know the female version of Dick. - (LAUGHS) So, the public places aren't enforcing the car parks. They're worried about losing customers. So, I wonder if I can get the people who are actually abusing these car parks to change their ways. It's time to change some minds. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Yeah. So, like Raewyn pointed out, the council will enforce in business hours, which kind of presumes that disabled people don't go out at night time or on the weekends, which is absurd. But basically in those private places, nobody is going to enforce this. So what it comes down to yet again is that I'm gonna have to take matters into my own hands. - All right. Well, I can't wait to see Karen the enforcer. And coming up ` Emma Cropper meets the Kiwi mum whose best option for cancer treatment in New Zealand was to move to Australia. And Karen goes out on the stakeout, puts together a crack team and gets really comfy to solve the mobility park problem. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) I'm the other Louis Hamilton, from Rotorua. Skinny hired me to tell you about their low-cost broadband. Get Skinny Unlimited Broadband for just 45 bucks a month when on a $27 or above mobile plan, plus get 4 months free broadband. Get the Skinny! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Welcome back, Kiwis. Tonight, my issue is with our cancer system, and one of the awful realities is that a genuine option for many Kiwis to get proper health care is to move to Australia. In two minutes, we are going to meet a Kiwi who did just that. But first, is it really so much better there? And why is that? It's time to go behind the issue. Let's start with outcomes, survival. Aussie wins. This study shows that each year there are 1061 people in New Zealand killed by cancer who would have survived if they lived in Australia. 1061. And to our shame, the large majority ` 780 of those ` are women. Australia is beating us. Why? Well, Aussie canes us when it comes to funding drugs. They are faster. When there's a new medicine, it takes New Zealand almost a year longer than Aussie to give it the tick and fund it. A year. And they fund more drugs too. Look at this. Last decade, these countries registered a total of 441 brand-new and exciting drugs. Australia funded 120 of them. How many did we fund? 34. We are miles behind, and, of course, a lot of the drugs that we didn't fund are cancer drugs. Basically, if you need cancer drugs, you are better off across the ditch. Aussie also has a way better game plan. Pharmac's budget is pretty much fixed. For new medicine to be funded, they need to hope that the government increases its budget enough to fit it in or they just have to spend less on other drugs. That is not how diseases work. If more people are getting bowel cancer, that doesn't mean that less people are getting diabetes. Aussie is nimble, though. Its drug funding budget is flexible. If a medicine saves lives and money spent on hospital care, the budget will be increased to fund it. And in Aussie, they catch cancer earlier. Both countries fund cervical cancer screening from 25 years old, but breast cancer screening is available five years earlier in Australia. You can get it free there when you are 40. And bowel cancer screening ` this is crucial ` is available 10 years earlier over there at age 50. Honestly, how many lives is this costing us? We probably do not want to know the score on this one, to be honest. And finally, travel and accommodation reimbursement both countries are stingy as ` both leaving struggling people out of pocket. If we could change this one thing in New Zealand, we could nab one small win over Aussie, because at the moment this is creating medical refugees who flee New Zealand to get proper cancer treatment. Emma Cropper is Newshub's Australia correspondent, and, Emma, you've met one of these refugees. - Yeah, Paddy, I met Anna, and she was a really, really cool mum from Gisborne, and she had watched two of her really close family members pass away from melanoma. Her father had fought the disease, and that's why when she was diagnosed, Paddy, she knew she was going to have to fight the New Zealand health system if she wanted to survive. These coastal beaches are what attract so many Kiwis to this side of the Tasman. But we're heading about 90 minutes south of Sydney to meet one woman who moved her entire family closer to the beach to save her life. Hello. - Hello. How are you? - Nice to meet you. - Hello. - So how are the kids settling into school? - Yeah, really good. They have. They've settled in really well. - Were you worried about that? - Probably for Armani. You know, a new high school and making new friends is kind of tough when you're 14. - 'Ana's family left their home in New Zealand this year...' It's nice to live close to the beach. - Yeah. We're so lucky. - '...for a better lifestyle and a chance to beat cancer.' You moved over here to save your life. - Yeah, I didn't have any other option. I just had to do it for the kids and to live. - Three years ago, Ana was diagnosed with melanoma. The family were living in Perth at the time. - Yeah, I was sort of just shocked, really, I suppose. And they took that side of my neck and my nodes, my lymph nodes. And then they had said that that was clear. And then my follow up would just be six-monthly scans. - Ana and her family moved home to Gisborne. It was 2020. The country was dealing with COVID, and those scans weren't happening. - Got all of my paperwork sent to the hospital, and they discussed my case, and they just said not for scans or follow up, that I would just go back to the GP for skin checks. - Ana's family encouraged her to pay for private health care. - So I drove to Tauranga, three and a half hours, and paid the $400 to see that oncologist, and he thought that I should be having scans. And through those scans, we picked up that it had spread to both my lungs. - So just by chance, really ` chance and you fighting for it. - Yeah. - You picked up the cancer had come back. - Yeah. So I didn't feel unwell. I didn't feel sick. I didn't look sick. So I would never have known that I had the disease in both lungs if I hadn't been having those scans. - Did you feel let down by the health system back there at that point? - Yeah, I did. I felt really let down, and I felt like I really had to push. I had to push to go and see a private oncologist. I had to push to try and get scans. - From there, she was given one publicly funded option. - So, I was seen at the hospital, and they told me that there was one drug that I would be put on ` Keytruda, that's the funded drug in New Zealand, and you get four doses, have a scan, and if it hadn't worked, then that was it, really. - With only one option in New Zealand, she decided to see what was available overseas. After a few calls, she found a treatment clinic in Sydney and moved back to Australia the following week. So, how often would you come up to Sydney for this treatment? - Every three weeks. - Her lifeline has come from the Melanoma Institute of Australia. They didn't offer a miracle cure but a clinical trial. - One hour treatment. Feeling good. - Anna is alone the entire time. COVID restrictions mean no support person can come in with her. Hello. How are you going? - Good. - But she takes our call while getting medicine she couldn't get in New Zealand. What's it like sitting there being hooked up to that treatment you're getting? - Yeah, it's a little bit of a reality check whenever I'm here. Just... Yeah. Kinda sit here and thinking, what am I doing? But, yeah, that's OK. I've kind of got used to it. - It's working, is it? - Yeah. Yeah, it is working. So there's no more tumours in my lungs, which is amazing. Yeah. - Are you ever wondering what it would have been like had you not come over to Australia, had you had to stay in New Zealand? - Yeah. Yeah, that does cross my mind. I kind of wonder what... what my story would have been like for sure. (APPLAUSE) - Cropper, that was really insightful. Now, tell me ` is Ana planning on coming back to NZ any time soon? - No, Paddy. She plans to keep her family here in Australia. What is really interesting is she invited me along to some of her cancer appointments, and the doctors we were meeting was shocked to hear how few clinical trials there were in New Zealand. And that was really important to Ana to highlight that in her story ` how important they are. She has friends with cancer back in New Zealand who she talks to, and they're being offered palliative care, Paddy, as opposed to this life-saving treatment. But as you saw in that story, she is doing amazing. Her cancer is going away. She says she has a lot of faith in the health system here. If that treatment was to stop working, she knows there are many other options she could use, and that, she said, she didn't have in New Zealand. - We were actually introduced to Ana through another very good Gisborne woman who has terminal cancer. She's Teresa. She's actually spent a large chunk of this year fighting the government for her medication. It is so wrong. Thankfully, she's just won, which is wonderful, but it's been so tiring and so stressful for her and her family. Now, you compare that to Ana, who's getting everything she wants and needs in Australia. Paddy, this just doesn't seem right, and it doesn't seem fair. - Yeah, it doesn't seem right at all, and never argue with a Gizzy girl. Now coming up ` Karen is on the street for a stakeout, bravely confronting drivers who pack in mobility car packs. And I ask a health boss if they are gonna do something about the postcode lottery, starting with travel costs for sick Kiwis. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Nau mai, hoki mai. Let's have a quick look at the rest of the world's issues. Courtney and Eli, tell me that the world has got issues too. (APPLAUSE) - It certainly does. And we are starting off in France, where the government has banned the sale and possession of fireworks ahead of this weekend's Bastille Day celebrations due to the anti-government protests occurring around the country. Tough news for protesters who planned on writing 'eff the police' with a sparkler. I'd love to go to a French riot. They have those really fancy police, and they're like, (FRENCH ACCENT) 'A pepper spray, sir?' (LAUGHTER) 'And for zee lady?' - Courtney's been practicing that accent all day. (LAUGHTER) Britney Spears has got issues ` new ones ` after she got in a scrap with a security guard in Las Vegas. Britney was trying to get a photo with young NBA star Victor Wembanyama and claimed a member of a security detail slapped her in the face. But then security video appeared to show that she might have hit herself in the face. She claims she's innocent, but I've heard she's not that innocent. Security guard's actions have been described as toxic, crazy, and his career is now at a crossroads. (LAUGHTER) - OK. No more Britney lyrics, Eli. That's enough. - You're right. This is a circus. Oops, I did it again. (LAUGHTER) Not to be outdone, of course ` Christina Aguilera got herself kicked in the face by a lifeguard. (LAUGHTER) - And over to Sweden, and climate activist Greta Thunberg is facing six months in prison for disobeying the police. The 20-year-old was arrested for stopping oil tankers from entering and exit a port in Malmon. She would be sent to jail in Stockholm, where she is expected she will come to love her captors in time. (LAUGHTER) - Finally, let's go to Australia, where a new study out of the University of Queensland has found that heterosexual people with similar facial features tend to find each other attractive. The study confirms the tendency to peer with a 'doppel-banger' ` that's the real term they use ` suggesting it comes from a desire to repeat the first relationship we were exposed to as children, our mum and dad. Honestly, straight people, that's disgusting. And I wish you would stop shoving your perversions in our face. Look at this. They look like brother and sister. It makes me sick. Shame on you, Paddy. - I'm speechless. I'm speechless. - It's OK. Look, I'll pick it up from here. Thanks, Eli and Courtney, I think, kind of. Yeah, no, look, it's time for me to solve this issue. And what I needed to do was catch someone in the act, catch them red-handed. So yet again, I've had to go undercover, this time as a busker on the streets of Wellington. It's time to catch someone in the act. # You gotta poo # in the wharepaku. # You gotta poo # in the wharepaku. # You gotta poo # in the wharepaku. # That's the best place for poo. # Now, don't do a poo on your mum... Think I've got one. Hang on. Do you know this is a mobility park? He's saying this to me. I'm not quite sure what that means. I think it's just` That's a mobility... # That would be really bad. # So it seems a lot of people are just dropping off in the mobility park. I mean, is that actually OK? I'd say no. # Taxi's packed in the mobility pack. # Gonna ask if that's OK. # Do you think it's okay to stop in a mobility pack just to get out of your cab? - Oh my (BLEEP)ing God. I didn't even know that. - So you're outraged? You're outraged. - Well, we shouldn't. - OK. It's not your fault; you didn't do it. You have a great day at work. - OK. - So, we know that some people park in mobility car parks when they're not allowed to. But I want to know why. - There you are. Grab a pew. - Thanks. 'So I've gone to a real life clinical psychologist, Dr Dougal Sutherland.' - That's better. - Am I not supposed to be the one that... - Usually, but I like to mix things up. - Why do people do it when they know they shouldn't? - People see it as common ` 'Lots of people do it; I'll do it. I won't really get caught. 'I'll only be five or 10 minutes. It'll be right. Nobody will catch me.' It's not seen as a big crime. There's no real 'victim' here. There's nobody that I'm inconveniencing, certainly at the time, so it's that sort of moral justification that resolves that slight sense of dissonance that you might find inside you. Just like, 'Ooh, I know it's wrong, but I'm doing it anyway. 'How can I rationalise that?' - We know it's happening. How do you think we could stop people from doing it? - Actually, if we try to have a campaign that says this is actually relatively uncommon; most people don't do this. You don't want to over blow this. But anything that will create a small sense of embarrassment or guilt. - Would just public shaming work? - Uh, putting people in stocks, throwing tomatoes at them is probably over the top. - What if potentially we had a group of people that were differently abled that use these car parks patrolling the parks and then kind of stalking them out a little bit. - Sort of like a mobility vigilante squad. - Yeah, like that. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - But you want to keep a lid on that so that it didn't turn into pitchforks and tar. - No, no, no, no. They'd be` They're quite friendly. - They're nice people. - Yeah. - Well, that'd be all right, then. - Yeah. So what if you know someone in your family, in your friend circle that does this? What's the best way to talk to them about it? - Telling somebody what to do usually doesn't work. 'You shouldn't do that.' 'Well, I'm going to do it.' - Now I'm definitely gonna do it. - Yeah, that's right. How about, like just a card that you put on the windscreen that just says, 'You've just made someone's life harder'? - Yeah. The more that they can get the sense of they are actually affecting somebody; it's not just a nameless, faceless... - Crime - ...crime. - So it's almost bringing the humanity to it. - Bringing the humanity is a great way of putting it. Yep, yep. - I can't actually tell if that's a result or not. - Well, I can tell you if it's a result. The answer is, yes, it is a result. I mean, obviously, basically what we've seen there is no one is enforcing this, so I'm basically gonna create my own army of enforcers, and I've made it these amazing cards. You can go on to the Facebook page, print out a page, put them in your car, and next time you see someone without a permit parking in those parks, pop one of the windscreen. It's a really personalised human` you know, human message, and it's really gonna change. So we're shifting public perception, and what a great result that is, in my opinion. If you've got an issue, I wanna know about it, so please email issues@paddygower.co.nz, and I will come to you and help you solve the issue with cards like this. - All right. Thank you, Karen, for solving that issue and by getting everyone else to solve it for you. (LAUGHTER) It's my turn now, because it's time for No Issues. (APPLAUSE) There's a big push out there right now for bilingual naming in this country, and there's been a big push back too. Road signs and council buildings, government departments have been some of the big ones in the news. And Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark doesn't want his council chamber being called 'Te Hinaki' because that translates as 'the eel pot' and makes councillors sound like they're slippery. Actually, the translation is a metaphor. The eel pot is a place for nourishment of everyone. Honestly, what is going to come next, though? TV shows? He Take A Paddy Gower. I've seen this sort of carry on before as well. Haven't we learned our lesson from the past? There was a massive stink in 1986 when the government decided that Mt Egmont could also be called Mt Taranaki. There was a national debate, and opponents said the change would produce massive waves of racial strife around New Zealand for a long time to come. So let's take a look at what did happen. Here's a photo of Mt Egmont from 1985. Here's a photo from 1986 when it was Mt Egmont and Taranaki. And here's a photo from earlier today when it was called Taranaki Maunga. Nothing has changed. It's still there. We've got so many other things to worry about. Te reo or bilingual names isn't one of them. They don't hurt anybody. If you don't like them, don't use them. And if you don't like Te Hinaki, call it the Invercargill City Council chambers. Otherwise be proud of the te reo names like I'm proud of Taranaki Maunga, the most beautiful mountain on earth. So when it comes to bilingual names, kahore aku takunga mo tena ` I've got no issues with that. (APPLAUSE) Coming up ` New Zealanders with cancer need good news. Anything would help. I go to Wellington to try to get some. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Right, at the start of the show, we met two Kiwi dads, Justin and Rich, and their kids who have cancer. The system that's supposed to help them with travel and accommodation cost is just adding to their stress. Can we change it? I went to Wellington to have Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora on about it. I'm here to talk about Justin and Rich. Both of these dads that I've spoken to with their kids who are travelling, they just want to change the NTA for other dads and other families so that they don't get broken while they're dealing with cancer. - It's great that they're speaking to you, and that gives us an opportunity to really hear those stories and understand, so we appreciate they've taken the time to do that. - Yeah, so the National Travel Assistance Fund, the NTA, is it out of date and does it need to be fixed? - I really want to acknowledge that the system we've got at the moment is a legacy system. It's inadequate. Our opportunity that we've got is to make it better. So, yes, it has to change. - The mileage rate ` will it go up from 28c? - In short, I imagine it will, as we look at all of our options. - $100 a night for accommodation ` that doesn't seem to be enough. Will that go up as well? - In many circumstances, central Auckland ` likely to go up. Different people travel to different places, and we need to make sure that what we're paying reflects what it's going to cos. And how are we doing that ` are we actually paying directly rather than paying the individual through a reimbursement model? There's all sorts of things that we can look at ` things like petrol vouchers. And some of those things will take out all of the time lags for people around getting money back. - The other issue that that's been raised is that the forms are really hard to fill out, and you've gotta post them, and, you know, it's 2023. - Yeah. So we are looking at whether we can make that something that people can access from home and start to post things electronically. - What's the timeline? When will people be able to`? - So over the next several months, we're doing the work that's needed to be done so that we can look at rolling out a new program in 2024. - So as soon as next year people could have better support from the NTA? - That's what we would like to do, and it's really important to people. Sorting out the postcode lottery, making sure that no matter who you are and where you live, you can get the treatment that you need. - Well, that's a straight announcement, and that's the first that New Zealand has heard of it. And it'll benefit, you know, tens of thousands of Kiwis, not just in cancer, because, actually, it applies to everyone who has to travel for health care. - This is brilliant, and it's massive, Paddy. And we've also heard today from Te Whatu Ora's cancer control agency. They say they are aware that cancer care can be difficult to navigate for many people, but they are working on ways to improve access and to reduce wait times for Kiwis. - I look forward to seeing that improvement in action. But I wanna say to you, Paddy, I'm gonna give you a massive pat on the back. I think you've got a really good result today, so full credit to you, mate. - Wow. That's the first time you've ever said that. - I know. I know. - That's awesome. - It feels a bit weird. - That means thank you to Karen O'Leary for being our community investigator tonight. Thank you to our correspondents club, Emma Cropper and Amanda Gillies, and to our news deskers Eli Matthewson and Courtney Dawson. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) So tonight, my issue was with cancer care in this country. And for me, it goes like this ` we all want a New Zealand where cancer sucks less. We saw Kiwis opening up tonight about the toll that cancer is taking on them ` fundraising just to live, shifting countries just to survive. And tonight, something pretty special happened. Te Whatu Ora listened. The National Travel Assistance Scheme will be changed, and heaps of Kiwis out there facing postcode cancer will benefit with their travel costs. So thank you so much to those two dads, Justin and Rich. It's just one little thing, but until we can fund more medicines faster, cut waitlists and screen earlier, this change will make cancer suck less, and that is absolutely awesome. I'm Patrick Gower. Those were my issues, and I'm gonna miss youse. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023