Midday Report

Who came up with the phrase: The Team of Five Million to encourage New Zealand to stick with its Covid response? Or arranged the media strategy that saw Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern do the 1pm briefings during the lockdowns? His name is Andrew Campbell and he has just released his book about his time with the former Prime Minister called In The Room. He was Ardern's media man for most of her time...

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

News from the rural farming sector.

News from the business sector.

The latest in a series of interviews about what politicians are offering on AI policy this election campaign. Today, Chole Swarbrick. She spoke to Guyon Espiner following the announcement of The Green Party's AI policy.

The gloves are off in the fiscal fight this election campaign. National has released its fiscal plan, ACT released its own fiscal plan at the weekend, and the Greens and Labour also with significant announcements on the hustings as well. RNZ Political Editor Jo Moir spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Why New Zealand's youth unemployment is surging; Health and Disability Commissioner still faces complaint backlog; Wrapping the week in politics with Paddy Gower.

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

Patrick Gower joins Guyon Espiner to discuss the week in politics.

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

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

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.