Tonight on Close Up ` Bring back free school milk was the call. Has it turned a little sour? Do you still have it? ALL: No. I like Milos and fizzy. Children don't drink milk. The king of league, Wally Lewis, on plans to ban the shoulder charge. And the school project built on the love of Megan. Just seeing her smile, and that's what motivated me to do it to the best of my ability. Due to the live nature of Close Up, captions for some items may be incomplete. ONE News captions by June Yeow and Conor Whitten. Close Up captions by Desney Shaw and Hugo Snell. It seems like such a good idea. With all the talk of kids not eating enough or not eating well, here's a plan to give them something healthy and nutritious every day at school. Free school milk is making a comeback. It can't go wrong. Or can it? In a moment we'll talk to Fonterra, who want to expand their Northland pilot to the rest of the country. But first Gill Higgins with the kids' response. Kids love milk, or at least these six do. It's break time at Kaiwaka Primary, and the milk drinkers are now an exclusive club. When we started the programme, most of the schoolchildren started, and that was 75 children. Now there are about five to 10. It's not as though they don't know it's good for them. Every class had lessons in the benefits of milk. It has calcium. Calcium makes your bones strong. It makes your hair grow. I don't want my hair to grow, I want my hair to grow. I want mine to be Justin Bieber again. But now the milk's dried up, and the excuses flow freely. Do you still have it? ALL: No. We think it's too powdery. If it was a smaller drink, more might drink it. It takes long time for children to drink that container through a small straw. The milk is, like, right next to Room One and we're, like, way up high in Room Five. Are you seriously saying that you can't go from Room Five down to Room One to get it? Yep. You're the fittest kid in the school. Second. Years ago, when I was first teaching, I gave out milk to children when it was Milk in Schools. It was warm milk, it was horrible milk, and it worked, because it was the norm. It's what children drank ` that or water. And now? And now they've got choices. Which brings us to the main problem. My favourite drink is Fanta. Probably Coke or lemonade. I like Milos and fizzy. Children don't drink milk. But head up north to Hikurangi Primary, and they do. I like it because it's different to the ordinary milk that we have at home. Bubbly. (GIGGLES) I like it because it's cold. Tastes nice. Wake up, have a look. You know, milk is there. When it's free, kids will drink it. 150 started on milk, which is the whole school, and there's 110 now. And you've found its really working well here. The benefits to our kids have just been so much. Our pilfering from lunches is almost non-existent nowadays. Kids don't seem to be sitting in class hungry. How many milk would you like today? We'll have 18 today, please, bub. Thank you. The orders roll in, keeping the milk monitors busy every day. They have to deal with the empties too, which has its ups... Flattening them with your big shoes. ...and its downs. Smelling rotten milk. If it's down behind the bookshelf, it'll let you know its presence real quick, especially on hot days. But there's not a lot to get rid of. Most of the classes do drink all the milk. Everything's been addressed, even down to the folding of the little cartons. The whole idea, the whole concept ` brilliant. So which school is the norm? I've been talking with other principals at meetings, and there are a lot schools like ours that dropped right back. We rang 30 primary schools in the trial. 21 said they had only a minor drop off ` no more than 20%. But nine said numbers had plummeted. At one ` from 150 down to 30. Another ` from 360 down to 50. So why the difference? It could be timing. In Kaiwaka, milk is only drunk at break time. They only get 20 minutes. We tried it at lunchtime, and they weren't eating their food at the same time, cos it's too much to have with their food, and I'm afraid I can't do it during school time. Can you please go get some milk to hand out to everyone? In Hikurangi, it's flexible ` how teachers see fit. Some teachers allow them to drink it during classtime. Others set it aside and have it either at the beginning of the break or at the end of the break. It's entirely up to them. Clearly, it can work, but can it work for all schoolkids? At Kaiwaka they think they have the answer. What would you say to Fonterra to try and get more kids to drink this? Be more entertaining for the kids. They should put a bit of food colouring in it. Maybe a little more flavour. What about if it was flavoured milk? I'd drink it all the time. Some parts of America do have free chocolate milk. So what do the principals think of the flavour as it is? Have they even tried it? No. (CHUCKLES) I'm not a milk drinker. Have you tried it? Yes. (LAUGHS) Um,... it does taste like long-life milk because it is long-life milk. Whether you like that taste, I don't know. Would it go down better with kids if it was flavoured in some way? Well, probably. Yep, chocolate. Of course it would, but the idea is for kids to want it flavoured or plain, and at Hikurangi they do. It won't really make a difference. It's just the same milk. Still nice. We should just be thankful for we even got it. Milk's a food in itself. Why go and wreck it with chocolate? In the Auckland studio with me now is Peter McClure, the managing director of Fonterra. do they not like your milk? we're finding that 90% of schools are still very enthusiastic And whilst there has been a bit of drop-off, a good 60% of students are taking an everyday. it's almost a tale of two schools. What do you put that down to? it would appear that is around the structure of the schools. How they structure distribution. they have to put it in the fridges. There are a bit of logistics involved. and there has to be distribution. you did this is a trial. This Fonterra committed to pushing out nationwide? Fonterra is committed to health of our children. We have not made that final call yet. There is a lot of learning to come from the pilot. To go to the next is a big investment. I can't imagine will be that much longer. We have run it for the full four terms now. why are you doing it? it is healthy for the kids. we want to see New Zealand as the dairy capital of the world. at home, people are not drinking as much milk as they used to. doesn't cost you a bit? it does, and it's a significant commitment that we are prepared to make. Are you a bit annoyed that the schools aren't embracing it as wholeheartedly as they should be? we can't force people to drink it, and it shows the work we have ahead of us. The University of Auckland has just done some research up North and already amongst the kids who've been drinking it, we have seen a 20% increase in the amount of milk they have been drinking out of school. Just ahead ` why Megan's chariot really fired up this student. I just wanted to make it the best that I could. And we're live to Aussie league legend Wally Lewis. What does he think of the shoulder charge ban? Big men and big hits are what rugby league is all about, but that's about to change. The NRL, on medical advice, has banned shoulder charges. Is it a victory for common sense or a king hit on the game's entertainment value? In a moment, I'll talk to legend Wally Lewis about that. But players now aren't happy, including our own 'Look, Mum, no hands' star Sonny Bill Williams. Their Twitter feeds are running hot, proving they can use their hands when they want to. MOP'S 'ANTE UP REMIX' RHYTHMIC RAP MUSIC CONTINUES Joining me now is sports scientist Patria Hume. She's on the medical advisory board for NZ rugby league. And from Brisbane, we're joined by a legend of the game ` former Kangaroo captain Wally Lewis. the shoulder charge is banned in this country. it is since 1995. When we looked at the ACC injury claims, we could see entries were high. When they introduced the ban, we had a decrease in the number of claims by over half. is there a difference at the professional level? the professionals are better at tackling and surprising shoulder charges are still going on. It's a poorer technique. You want to hit and stick and hold them down. Wally, a lot of noise both sides of the Tasman on this. Where do you stand? I'm very much in support of the shoulder charge. It's a part of the game the crowd loves. A number of the NRL players have supported bringing it back. They believe it's a wonderful defensive style. It's no fun being hit with it, but if they had the opportunity to produce it, they will do it. does that mean we're putting the spectacle ahead of player safety? that is the argument at the moment. We have had a bloke going around making sure that he got some facts and figures. 0.05% of all the tackles made in the season were regarded to have been shoulder charge and less than 6.5% of that minor figure have come up with injuries. I can see the concern over injuries. Brain injuries could be a threat to the future. But I think the people that are outside the game that are making the decisions. We love the advice. It takes a role in the game, and I believe it's the path of the players if the number of shoulder charges and minimal in the game and add so much to the spectacle Are we becoming too PC? one of the studies by Dr Doug King and who is a rugby league fanatic, his data showed that from the Australian teams out of all the tackles he did an analysis of it was clearly a factor in terms of 100% of the concussions occurred during tackles. top players in the NRL are saying they do not want a band and if they are saying that, can they put pressures on the administrators to turn around? I do not think it will work. the men in the board room all control the decision-making. Health and safety has to be the priority in the game. I would understand this if there were 10 or 20% of the players putting their hands up to get rid of the shoulder charge. I haven't heard a single player want to get rid of it. The common complaint from most players has been the people who are making these decisions are outside the game. you believe there are some elements of the game that need to be addressed, like the gang tackles. that was when I blew up about last night. if you're getting rid of the shoulder charge, what about the game tackle? They're just one tackle away from a full knee reconstruction. they could break an arm or dislocate an elbow I absolutely agree on terms of these gang tackles. If you have four tacklers, the risk of injury is 11 times greater than one tackler. are they going to get this then turned over? it's extremely unlikely. thank you to you both. Coming up ` the special reason this engineering student got on his bike. Just seeing her smile, and that's what motivated me to keep going and to do it to the best of my ability. And I just wanted to make it the best that I could. It's a time of year when students are having to show their worth through exams. Martin Hill (18) has showed his worth through heart, getting involved in a project to help the disabled daughter of one of his teachers. Michael Holland has more. You just take the drop box down. This is Megan's chariot. I think it's stylish. I really love it. For Megan it had to be pink. She is just such a bright and vibrant person. So, bright and vibrant it is ` the secondary school engineering assignment that's become much more than that. And I just wanted to make it the best that I could. Hundreds of hours. Yeah, it would be hundreds of hours. I got these spring-loaded pins. So, they pull out and then they click in place. Because of the props, it's quite stable, and so you can see it won't move around when you are loading it. Take the drop locks down on either side ` pretty standard in most trailers. And you can drop the ramp. To get the space between the wheel and the mudguard, I just used a swimming pool noodle that kids go swimming with. So I cut that and put it over the tyre and` to give it that space and then used a Lycra-type cloth that is really stretchy and stretched it over the frame. Then I put the fibreglass over the top. You've thought it through, young man? Yes, I definitely have. When you get stuck in with such an amazing project, you just get fully immersed with it. It's just so exciting you don't want to think about anything else. So, then we just bring Megan's wheelchair and that goes easy up the ramp. And then you can lock it in place. And then the ramp goes up. Locked and loaded, the ideal platform for disabled Megan Clark (13) to ride with her cycling enthusiast dad Jonathan, who just so happens to be Martin Hill's house teacher at Botany Downs Secondary College. We think it's fantastic. Martin has done an awesome job for a very special little girl. All through this process you've got this image of Megan in your mind? Just seeing her smile ` that's what motivated me to keep going and to do it to the best of my ability. But, and this is where things get tough, last month, just two weeks before Megan's chariot was completed... ...Megan passed away suddenly. I was really devastated. And I couldn't believe it. It wasn't something any of us were expecting or predicting. And so it really was a huge, huge shock for us.. She was our little angel from the day she was born, and, you know, a very Mona Lisa smile, a very laid-back, very happy little girl. She didn't get to ride in it, and I would really have loved her to. The closest Megan got ` sitting in the frame of the chariot as Martin and her dad worked on measurements. We had to get the weight distribution right, and so we got her in the wheelchair with some scales to figure out where to put the wheels. And she was pretty excited? Yeah, she was pretty excited about it. We could have gone shopping together, popped up the road to go and get a loaf of bread, gone with her, that sort of thing. Hats off to martin for finishing it the way he has. There's no way that baby wasn't going to get finished? I just kept going hard every day just trying to finish it to the best that I could. Which brings us to this poignant moment with Megan's sister Angela (6), able-bodied, but more than happy to sit in for her big sis. Now you're the one going for a ride? Yeah. Not because you need to, but because it's fun? Yeah. So when you are behind Dad, is he making lots of noise like he's unfit, puffing hard? Ah,... yeah. ALL LAUGH And while Angela's anxious that Megan's chariot stays in the family, I really, really, really want to keep it. Mum and Dad are equally determined that it improve the life of another youngster facing similar challenges to their Megan. I don't think we will have any problem finding a family who will love it. If Mum and Dad can find a little girl or little boy in a wheelchair who needs this, that's OK? Yeah. Too much love has gone into it just to put it in the garage? Yeah, way too much love. In fact, this young engineer-in-the-making is wondering how he could build more. What you are really saying is you are looking for a backer to take this to the next level. Yeah, exactly. If anyone out there is willing to help me get a patent, that would be amazing. I would absolutely love that. How was that? Awesome. If you think you can help, get in touch It could be the cheapest way to ship your overseas items, but it's creating an expensive headache for our retailers. Many young customers trying but not buying. Obviously, any business that goes outside NZ impacts on NZ retailers and impacts on NZ job opportunities. Enter NZ Post, launching a new online service. Parcels are growing, and that's part of why we're doing this. You are putting the screws on NZ retailers. It's consumer choice, right. That's tomorrow night, and that's NZ Close Up. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012