The Front Page

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the second wave of meth swamping New Zealand communities. Hosted by Frances Cook. New Zealand has been fighting meth for 20 years, and yet it's now more available than ever. A new documentary from the NZ Herald talks to drug users, drug dealers, police and rehabilitation specialists, to get to the bottom of what is going wrong. The result is a gripping insight into the lives of those struggling with addiction, and the frustration of those fighting a losing battle against the second wave of meth.For this week's Front Page podcast, I talked to investigative journalist Kirsty Johnston and visual journalist Mike Scott, about how they gained the trust of vulnerable people, and what it was like to work intensively on such a difficult topic for six months. To watch the documentary, click here https://www.nzherald.co.nz/indepth/national/new-zealands-meth-crisis-documentary/If you have questions about Herald investigations, or want to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCookSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the shocking rise of amputations caused by diabetes. Hosted by Frances Cook.In New Zealand, a first-world country, people are losing limbs when they don't need to. They are suffering from diabetes, and a medical system overwhelmed with patients isn't able to keep up.Crucial preventive care is missed, leading to infection, amputation, and sometimes death. Investigative journalist Nick Jones has found that, in the past four years, New Zealand has had more lower-limb amputee cases from diabetes than were performed on returned soldiers from World War I. The cases have increased 40 per cent over the past 10 years, and are now approaching 1000 per year. On this week's Front Page podcast, host Frances Cook talks to Nick about how he uncovered this story, the balance between sensitivity and the raw truth, and what needs to happen next. To read more from Nick's series, you can see the story of our hidden amputation shame here https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12222478, or read the personal trauma of Pam Abraham's amputation here https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12222501 If you like to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCookSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They say a change is as good as a holiday...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A sweeping audit has revealed our environment is under attack from virtually every direction – with climate change now also adding to the pressure.The Government's Environment Aotearoa 2019 report gives a largely bleak stocktake of our natural heritage.Problems range from polluted waterways in farming areas and our myriad under-threat species, to our dismally high per-capita emissions and the emerging hand of climate change.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There will be no capital gains tax.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Cabinet could not reach a consensus.She says she still believes such a tax would have made a difference, but a Government that reflects the majority of New Zealanders has not been able to find support for this proposal.Ardern says the Labour Party has campaigned on this for three elections, but it's now off the table.She has pledged that under her leadership, Labour will no longer campaign for or implement a CGT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The growing number of New Zealanders who do not own their homes are in for a tough retirement.That's according to a study out of the University of Otago that argues for a revamp of NZ Super to better protect Kiwis who will still be paying a mortgage when they stop working. Data from the Commission for Financial Capability says that while today 70 per cent of people over 65 are mortgage-free, another 13 per cent are homeowners with some mortgage.But for those nearing retirement, the 55-64 year olds, only one third of them have paid off the mortgage. Another nearly one third of this generation don't own a home at all.And in the plight of a New Zealand nurse kidnapped by Isis, disagreement has broken out between our Government and the Red Cross.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New Zealand nurse has been held captive by Islamic state for almost six years - but until now, it was kept secret. Louisa Akavi's identity was kept under wraps until today because of fears it would put her life in danger.The 62-year-old nurse was named in the New York Times today with confirmation from the International Committee of the Red Cross.It effectively ends a five and a half year agreement by media around the world to not name her, or her nationality, because of concerns held by the New Zealand Government that she would be killed by her captors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Real Estate Institute data out today revealed a whopping 12.9% drop in sales volumes in the last month. It's significant not only because of the figure, but because at this time of year, sales volumes are normally very strong. In fact, typically the number of sales usually sit well over the 7000 mark - but 6938 sales was the lowest number of properties sold for the month of March since 2011. The median number of days to sell a property increased by two days from 34 to 36 last month compared to March last year.In Auckland, it took five days longer to sell last month.REINZ is putting these figures down to banks, the Government and the prospect of a capital gains tax causing uncertainty. Chief executive Bindi Norwell says mortgage interest rates have never been cheaper, but the legislative changes on the horizon, and the difficulty accessing finance are now starting to impact the housing market, in terms of sales volumes. Also today, a report confirms Chorus failed to prevent migrant worker exploitation by subcontractors, and the gruelling journey that lies ahead for one of the youngest survivors of the Al Noor mosque shooting. Hosted by Juliette SivertsenTwitter: @j_sivertsenSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sports stars and politicians are united in their condemnation of homophobia today, after Israel Folau once again used social media to attack the gay community. Tasmania has just become the first Australian jurisdiction to make gender an option on birth certificates.After the announcement, the Wallabies star took to Twitter to tell people to repent, and "turn away" from their evil ways.The tweet has been widely shared and commented on, with most people having a negative view of his comments.And new gun laws are coming into force, even though some of the details haven't been worked out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most New Zealand fashion retailers are doing a good job of looking after the people who make their clothes, but some brands have work to do.Department store Farmers was among those who got a poor ranking in this year's Ethical Fashion report by relief and development groups Tearfund and Baptist World Aid Australia.Farmers is one of 10 New Zealand retailers to receive an F or D ranking for supply chain transparency, worker rights and policies to prevent child and forced labour. Others include Baby City, Trelise Cooper, World and Merric.One hundred and thirty companies were graded by Tearfund on their ethical supply and manufacturing practices.Also today, an Austrian oil giant has unveiled one of the most ambitious oil and gas drilling programmes proposed in New Zealand, and the Government reveals details of its new gun buyback scheme.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.