Midday Report

More than 10,000 public servants will down tools in a strike taking place over more than a dozen town centres today. The public servants are demanding pay rises that keep up with the cost of living. Public Service Association National Secretary Duane Leo spoke to Guyon Espiner.

On today's episode on the back of the latest political poll showing both National and Labour below 30%, the so-called major parties have rolled out new election policies this morning. RNZ's political editor Craig McCulloch joined me with the details. Tickets for the Warrior's game this Saturday went on sale at midday and sold out in minutes. One NZ Warriors chief executive Cameron George joined us...

Midday Sports News for 8 September 2026.

The latest news from the United States with Jagruti Dave in Washington DC.

News from the rural farming sector.

News from the business sector.

Tickets for the Warriors' NRL play-off match this weekend went on sale on Tuesday. Cameron George, chief executive of the NZ Warriors spoke to Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira.

Craig McCulloch spoke to Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira following National's policy announcement.

Cameron Bagrie discusses Green's KiwiMart announcement; Mortgage expert discusses National's new first homebuyer policy; Why are voters increasingly turning to the smaller parties?

An update on the latest news and results from RNZ's sports team.

For the first time, both National and Labour have dropped below 30 percent in a political poll. The latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll came out this morning, with Labour down 1.9 points to 25.9 percent, and National down two points to 29 percent. Robert MacCulloch, a professor of economics at the University of Auckland spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The latest news from Australia with correspondent Amanda Copp in Canberra.

An update on the latest news from RNZ's rural team.

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

National is promising to help more people buy their first home by expanding access to the government's low-deposit scheme. The First Home Loan scheme run by Kainga Ora would allow buyers to purchase their first home with a 5 percent deposit, rather than 20 percent which most banks require. David Cunningham runs Squirrel Mortgages and spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Cameron Bagrie, an independent economist with Bagrie Economics spoke to Guyon Espiner following the Green Party announcement it would open KiwiMart, a government-owned alternative to the Foodstuffs and Woolworths duopoly.

David Seymour discusses Maori and Pacific access to med school; SPCA issues new voluntary standard for chicken welfare; How the NZ music industry is handling the rise of AI content; Political chat with Guyon Espiner and Patrick Gower

An update on the latest news and results from RNZ's sports team.

Australia has just moved to ban AI generated music from its charts, and in the US legal action is in train as artists sue AI companies for ripping off their creative endeavours to train their bots. So how is New Zealand handling the challenge of AI in the music industry? Jo Oliver is the chief executive of Recorded Music New Zealand and spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Patrick Gower joins Guyon Espiner to discuss the political stories of the week.

An update on the latest news from RNZ's rural team.

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

The SPCA has issued a new voluntary standard for chicken welfare after questions from RNZ about fast-growing frankenchickens, as people have nicknamed them. Farah Hancock from the in depth team spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Known as MAPAS, the Maori and Pacific Access Scheme holds back 30 percent of places in medical school for Maori and Pacific students. ACT scored a review of the MAPAS scheme in the 2023 coalition with National. That has been done but it's not been released. David Seymour spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Latest from Pacific Islands Forum in Palau; Barbara Edmonds responds to OCR rise by Reserve Bank; Craig Stobo on his New Zealand First candidacy.