Midday Report

A growing number of New Zealanders are making complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner. The Health and Disability Commissioner says it's finally getting on top of a huge backlog of complaints, but more than 1,300 are still waiting to be assessed, and its funding has been cut again. Health and Disability Commissioner, Morag McDowell spoke to Guyon Espiner.

New Zealand's youth unemployment rate has climbed to levels last seen around the Global Financial Crisis, and economic recovery alone may not solve the problem. The unemployment and underutilisation rates are being driven by a perfect storm of a sluggish economy, business uncertainty, AI and unhelpful policy responses, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, which has just rel...

National wants to cut benefits for people who have been on welfare for two out of the last three years in a move they say will rip half a billion out of the welfare system Louise Upston joined Guyon Espiner. The falling Kiwi dollar is pushing up the cost of living. David Seymour joined us on his claim that currency crunch is partly the world reacting to what he calls a dumpster fire of election ca...

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

It emerged as an election campaign question after Jack Tame put the question to Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins in the TVNZ leaders' debate on Tuesday night. Green MP Tamatha Paul also fired up saying it was immoral to be a billionaire. Paul spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The latest news from the United States with Nine News reporter Lauren Tomasi in Washington DC.

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

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

ACT leader David Seymour says the weak Kiwi dollar is the world giving New Zealand a message about what he says is a "dumpster fire of a policy debate in the election campaign. The Act leader said the Kiwi dollar - sitting at about 56 cents against the US and about 80 against Australian, presented an "immediate problem for the cost of living." David Seymour spoke to Guyon Espiner.

National has announced a plan to rip nearly half a billion dollars out of the welfare system. Starting from April 2028 it would reduce the Jobseeker benefit for those who had been on it for two of the previous three years. Beneficiaries without children would have their benefit cut by $48 a week. For those with children the cut would be $24 a week. National is also promising to introduce random dr...

David Tamihere will not face a retrial over the 1989 murders of two Swedish backpackers. Our reporter Finn Blackwell was at court. RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch had the latest from the campaign trail. And we continued our series on how our politicians view AI with NZ First spokesman David Wilson.

Midday Sports News for 7 October 2026.

This year, Artificial intelligence is shaping up as a key election issue, and on Midday Report we've been hearing from political parties on how they use AI and how they think it should be regulated. New Zealand First tech spokesperson David Wilson spoke to Guyon Espiner.

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

News from the rural farming sector.

News from the business sector.

National has announced a 47-point Small Business Plan it says will make it easier for SMEs to do business. And, Labour has rolled out the latest in its series of consumer based policies - this time it's banking. RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Guyon Espiner.

A huge vegetation fire on the southern shores of Lake Wakatipu has grown overnight, and is likely to increase further due to weather conditions. RNZ reporter Katie Todd is at the scene and spoke to Guyon Espiner.

David Tamihere appeared in the Auckland High Court this morning, where Crown prosecutors said they would not retry him for the murders of Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen. Reporter Finn Blackwell spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Simeon Brown on shifting aid funding to health treatment; Craig McCulloch discusses RNZ's latest political poll; World Vision responds to Nationals' foreign aid announcement.

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

The National Party wants to redirect foreign aid money into funding for new medicines, if it leads the next government. World Vision is a charity organisation that works in the Pacific, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Its Head of Advocacy and Justice, Rebekah Armstrong spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The latest news from the United States with Nine News reporter Lauren Tomasi in Washington DC.

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

The latest news from RNZ's business team.