Holiday Breakfast

The Electoral Commission hopes its efforts to get voters ready for election day will help lift turnout this year. The deadline to enrol ticked over at midnight, with just over 92-percent of eligible voters enrolled as of Saturday. Advance voting has now opened, with people able to look up polling stations by suburb. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne told Andrew Dickens they've worked hard to...

After weeks of leave, Fire and Emergency CEO Kerry Gregory resigned on Friday, saying it'd become untenable for him to stay in the job. It follows Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden accusing him of withholding significant information from her for over a year.  Board Chair Raveen Jaduram told Andrew Dickens they're bringing in several new initiatives. He says it includes having more c...

The gang saga could expose political hypocrisy to voters, with photos coming out of multiple parties meeting with gang members. Labour's Kerrin Leoni resigned after footage emerged of her campaigning at a Mongrel Mob event, while Green and Te Pati Maori politicians have also had contact. Photos have since surfaced of National MPs, including Chris Luxon, posing with gang members Political Commentat...

A new energy rating system could help thousands more New Zealand businesses cut their bills. The NABERS rating system measures how efficiently a building uses energy, allowing owners and tenants to compare performance with similar properties, and track improvements. The assessment was only available for offices, but has now expanded to shops, warehouses and cold stores. NZ Green Building Council C...

The Police Minister is dismissing Retail NZ's scepticism on the new move-on orders. Police can now issue 24-hour orders to move on beggars, rough sleepers or people acting disorderly from a public place.  Retail NZ raised concerns it could just result in relocating the problem behaviour from one retailer to another. Mark Mitchell told Andrew Dickens the industry group is quick to criticize, b...

Early voting for the United States midterms has begun, with the election set for nine days from now. With voting underway, campaigning has heated up; the Democratic Party has brought ex-President Barack Obama out on the trail, where he has lashed out at current President Donald Trump. US Correspondent Richard Arnold says the polls show Trump at his lowest level of support and voter engagement up,...

Oil has reached $117 a barrel for Brent crude, some of the highest prices seen this year lowering the chance of any relief before Christmas. The price hikes come as the United States signals it may ramp up military activity in the Middle East after the midterms. The lack of fallback in prices may keep the pressure on the reserve bank as the inflation rate looks more likely to stay in the 4% range....

NZ band Corrella is made up of eight-members, formed in 2017 at the Devonport Navy base. Since their debut Corrella has had a number of charting hits including Blue Eyed Māori. Lead singer Pipi Campbell told Andrew Dickens that their music spans genres, "I wouldn't like to put us into one box, but we do reggae, we do some country, we do a bit of pop." Their newest single 'NOT I’ is coming out...

The All Blacks are scheduled to play against Italy on Saturday in Wellington for a Round 2 Nations Championship test match. Dave Rennie has announced a raft of changes for the run on team including two new rookies.  Newstalk ZB's lead rugby commentator Elliott Smith told Andrew Dickens, "he's probably retained the skeleton, I guess you'd say, of the team that won this week against France in C...

National has confirmed they're in talks with Labour as ACT and New Zealand First refuse to back a social media ban for under-16s  National is saying protecting children should be above politics. Psychology PHD student and advisor to B416 Claire Reid says she is in support of the ban as 'a first step'.  "I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist, but what I'm really clear about is that the ha...

The New Zealand Government is formally exploring the idea of joining the Ocean of Peace Alliance signed by Fiji and Australia on July 6 The treaty commits each country to come to the other's aid in the event of an armed attack in the Pacific. Retired Major General and Senior Fellow of the New Zealand Initiative, John G. Howard, told Andrew Dickens "with the rising complexity that we see in the geo...

It is a historic day for New Zealand's international relations as one of the world's most powerful leaders, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is set to touch down in Auckland, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 40 years. Modi's visit comes off the back of the landmark FTA deal. Trade Minister Todd McClay joined Andrew Dickens to discuss the visit.  "You know, the wider busines...

One of Newstalk ZB's most familiar voices has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours, two decades after first being sounded out. Barry Soper's been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to journalism, recognising 43 years in the parliamentary press gallery. He says he considered the honour 20 years ago while serving as political editor, on the advice of senior col...

More people are wanting to give up vaping, for a variety of reasons.  Almost 16,000 people reached out to Quitline last year, with a quarter enrolled in the Quit Vaping programme.  Māori make up 23 percent of those seeking support. Auckland University Public Health Professor Chris Bullen says vaping is less harmful than smoking, but also has negative impacts. He explained people are cons...

Suzie Bates intends to distance herself from the White Ferns once she retires from the international game following the upcoming women's T20 Cricket World Cup in England. Bates has been awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to cricket and basketball, following a two-decade career where she also played for the Tall Ferns at the 2008 Olympics. The 38-year-old Bates h...

Caution's being urged as automated decision-making moves a step closer to use in welfare services. A bill aimed at improving efficiencies passed its third reading under urgency in Parliament on Friday.  Social Development Minister Louise Upston says it will modernise the system and reduce unnecessary manual processing, but won't use generative AI. Gorilla Technology's Paul Spain says it will...

Some of the key architects of our education system are being recognised in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours. Elizabeth Rata has been made a Dame for her services to education, including her work on the senior English curriculum over a career spanning five decades. She's among three education leaders to receive the top honour, alongside Susan Hassall and Professor Emeritus James Chapman. Rata says...

A former Defence Minister says our geographical separation should negate the need to up our defence spending. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's accused New Zealand of freeloading off the US military by spending 2 percent of GDP on defence.  He's revealed expectations that US allies spend 3.5 percent of GDP, at a global security summit in Singapore.  But Wayne Mapp says the Pacific isn't...

A star-studded musical celebration is in the works for the United States' 250th birthday, but more big acts have been backing away. Trump's administration had publicised multiple headliners for a 'Freedom 250' concert series between 25 June and 10 July, but Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, Young MC and the Commodores all confirmed they were pulling out. This leaves Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, and F...

New polling data shows One Nation is gaining more of a political foothold in Australia. The latest The Australian Financial Review/Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll says that support for One Nation has jumped four percentage points to 31, while Labor's vote is on 28 percent. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says leader Pauline Hanson is proving popular among prospective voters, with many di...

Oil prices fell significantly throughout last week as discussions regarding an Iran deal continued to take place. Prices are down around 8 percent for the week with Brent crude around $91 a barrel. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold says rumours regarding an imminent Hormuz opening agreement caused prices to drop on Friday, but things aren't fully stable. "Mediators had sent a proposal to Trump...

A group of four women and nine children have secured flights to Australia from Damascus over the weekend, re-sparking conversations about ISIS brides returning to their home countries.  Additionally, associates of a recently disbanded neo-Nazi group were removed from an ANZAC ceremony for booing and heckling the speaker. Despite the group officially disbanding in January due to hate speech la...

In an effort to make newborn hearing checks a more comfortable process for babies and parents Christchurch Hospital has developed an innovation to replace cool gels.  "Exhausted mothers after breastfeeding all night would be anxious that we'd wake the baby up when we were screening in the maternity units," Christchurch Hospital's Newborn Hearing Screening Programme co-ordinator Angela Deken t...

Australian comedian Elouise Eftos fights against the culture of self-deprecation with her tongue-in-cheek self-dubbed title of Australia's first attractive comedian. Eftos spoke to Dickens about the discomfort people display when someone is outwardly confident and secure.  "Why is being a confident woman that knows she's funny and attractive and smart, why is that so confronting to people?",...

Todd McClay will sign the free trade deal with India in Delhi today following uncertainty as New Zealand First pulled support and Labour held out until the last minute. Earlier this month some of New Zealand’s top exporters and business associations signed an open letter calling on all political parties to back the agreement.  India New Zealand Business Council deputy chair Tony Martin told A...