James Parker: In the news today, illegal guns get recycled
Maren Brighouse: I think this is the barrel of the gun, it's a bit bent though.
James: And the New Zealand Book Awards, the story behind the best children's book.
[Kea Kids News music introduction]
Maren: Kia ora, this is Maren from Kea Kids News and we're here at the Trust Stadium
to find out more about the recent changes to New Zealand's gun laws.
Excuse me, excuse me sir, could you tell us what's going on today?
Luke Nola: Well today, we're handing our military-style guns back.
Maren: Could you tell me what kind of gun you have?
Luke: Ah this is a semi-automatic 223, and that's been deemed illegal.
Maren: So what's going to happen to them?
Luke: I don't know, I think they're going to crush them and decommission them so they
don't work
but after that I'm not too sure.
Rob Bourne: G'day, g'day
Maren: Hi
Rob: Kia ora, welcome, welcome, welcome to Orewa Police Station
Maren: There's been a recent gun law change in New Zealand, can you tell us more about
that?
Rob: Yeah, sure.
So recently New Zealand Government has changed the gun laws and it's the job of the police
to collect those banned firearms.
Maren: What sort of guns are being handed in?
Rob: So a lot of the firearms that are banned are semi-automatic and what that means is
you can pull the trigger as fast as you can and it'll keep shooting
and a lot of them can hold quite a lot of bullets, or shots
so you can keep shooting quite quickly with them
Maren: How are these guns made safe when they're handed in?
Rob: We make it so that you can't use it anymore.
It goes through this quite cool machine which bends the barrel, it bends the working parts
so that it just can't be used at all
Maren: What happens to the guns after they're bent?
Rob: We crush the firearms, so that they just become scrap metal.
Maren: Here I am outside of Hayes Metals who recycle all metal
I was still curious about what might happen to the thousands of guns that are being handed
in.
I'm here at Hayes Metals and Paul Coyte has agreed to show me what happens to a gun if
the steel in it was to be recycled.
So Paul, what happens to all the guns when they get handed in?
Where does all the metal go?
Paul Coyte: Well Maren, I happen to have my firearms licence and I've got a replica weapon
right here.
Would you like to see what happens to it?
Maren: Yes.
Paul: Well then, come on, come with me.
Maren: First, Paul let me operate the digger equipped with a special, giant gripping hand
that picks up steel and drops it into the crusher.
Paul: Never entrusted an 11-year-old with a half-million dollar machine, but we'll see
how she gets on.
Maren: The crusher squishes up the metal into little bits so that the steel will melt quicker.
It's all just been broken up into tiny pieces.
I think this is the barrel of the gun, it's a bit bent though.
I'm just gonna scrape up all these and put them into the bucket to go into the furnace.
This is where the furnace comes in.
I drop the little gun bits into the furnace.
That's extremely hot.
At 1200 degrees Celsius, it becomes a liquid.
Paul: So that looks like lava, doesn't it?
Maren: Holy ...
Then it was time to pour it out into cute little blocks like chocolates.
When these cool down, they are solid bars.
Excuse me sir, I was just wondering, did you want your gun back?
Luke: Oh, thanks a lot.
Maren: [Laughs] This is Maren signing off for Kea Kids News
[Theme song]
James: Kia ora, I'm James Parker and this is Kea Kids News, and I'm reporting from the
New Zealand Book Awards for children and young adults
[music]
I'm at the book signing with Lucy, now Lucy can you tell me what your favourite book is?
Lucy Worthington: I love all books, but really it would have to be The Hunger Games.
James: This is Ned Barraud, an author and illustrator of the amazing book New Zealand's
Backyard Beasts.
Ned Barraud: It's all about the things you would most commonly find in the garden.
All the slugs, the snails, the spiders, the beetles, the worms
James: You called it New Zealand's Backyard Beasts, but you've got a butterfly on the
cover, why is that?
Ned: Well I reckon they're a beast as well.
I mean, they may look pretty but they used to be caterpillars.
James: Yuck
Ned: Ohhh gross.
James: Have you seen any other books that are up for signing at the moment?
Lucy: Yes, I have, I really loved Whetu Toa and the Magician, that was probably my favourite.
James: Did you get that book signed?
Lucy: It's not mine, it's the schools, but yes, I did get it signed.
James: What other books did you like in the finalists today?
Lucy: I really liked The Bomb and I also liked Mini Whinny and the birthday.
James: So you guys wrote the amazing book The Bomb.
So Sacha you wrote it, and Josh you drew the amazing pictures and painted them?
Sacha Cotter: We sure did.
[laughs]
James: Hey Josh and Sacha can you please sign my book?
Josh: Yeah
Sacha: Of course
James: What made you want to write about The Bomb?
Sacha: Back when I was a kid, I wasn't a very good bomber but I did love jumping in the
pool a lot, so I thought it would be really cool to write a story about bombs
I had a nana and she was such an amazing lady, and she had really cool stories, like she
used to drive trucks and speed boats, and so I thought I'm gonna put a nan like that
into my story about bombs.
James: What is the perfect bomb anyway?
Josh: I think it is when you get the double pop so the bomb goes "boom boom"
James: What was the science behind the bombs and like the maths stuff?
Josh: The kid who loves bombs, he's measuring all the bombs and he's working out the exact
science to it, all of those maths equations are actuallly equations for splashes and explosions
James: Josh has done this cool little drawing that says "Kia ora James, shine like the stars"
and it has a picture of the nan like it does in the story.
You guys are the bomb.
Good luck.
Sacha and Josh: Thank you.
Ned: Let's do it, alright, here we go.
James: Do you have a victory dance if you do win?
Ned: Can't believe I'm doing this.
Alright.
James: The 2019 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year is about to be announced.
Presenter: The winner of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award is The Bomb.
[cheering]
James: I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew that I would win.
Congratulations to Sacha and Josh for winning tonight's competition.
Yeah.
Congralations on winning the Margaret Mahy Book Award, you did really good.
Josh: Cheers, thank you.
James: But what happened to your victory dances?
Josh: I was holding our baby, so I couldn't do it.
I could do it now if you'd like.
Sacha: Go Josh, go Josh, go Josh
James: Did this book bring you guys together?
Josh: Yes, so we were just friends when we started making this book, and then we were
more than that after we finished and now we have a little baby boy, Fin
Yeah, this books been pretty special for us.
James: Well done again and I love your book, thank you so much for making it.
Josh: Thanks James, it's been a pleasure meeting you.
James: I'm James Parker and this is Kea Kids News.
[Theme song plays]