The Front Page

Parliament is officially over and now the gloves are coming off.   New Zealanders go to the polls on November 7, and between now and then we’re going to see the parties make their pitches, ramp up their attacks, and fight for every last vote.  The next 44 days will be filled with policy announcements, political debates, carefully choreographed photo ops, an endless stream...

Nicky Hager is back with a new book taking aim at one of the country’s most prominent lobby groups, the Taxpayers’ Union.  He alleges the organisation has played a key role in shifting New Zealand politics to the right, claiming they worked with the tobacco industry and focused on race-based campaigns.  The NZTU’s director Jordan Williams flatly denies the allegations a...

A damning report into the Reserve Bank’s actions during Covid, a backdown from Labour on landlord tax breaks, and a last look at the Government’s books before the election. That’s all ahead of the much-hyped release of a new book from Nicky Hager tonight. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenée Tibshraeny joins us to break it all down. Follow The Front Page on the iHear...

Supermarket owners are fighting back as they find themselves firmly in the sights of almost all political parties. To recap, National and NZ First want to break up the Foodstuffs co-operative, while the Greens want to kickstart a government-owned supermarket. Labour has announced plans to split Foodstuffs’ and Woolworths’ retail and wholesale arms, alongside measures to ban price gougi...

It’s do or die for the Warriors as they head into this weekend’s sudden death match against the Newcastle Knights with a spot in the preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers on the line.   Last weekend the Warriors seemed in control against the Dolphins before three late tries saw the visitors take the win, denying the Wahs a direct path through to the next round. &nbsp...

Should we put the brakes on AI?  Well, the bosses of some of the world's largest AI companies say we should.  Sam Altman and Elon Musk have both backed head of Anthropic Dario Amodei after he came out and said we need to slow the pace of AI development. He's warned that AI could become capable of "taking over the entire internet" within a year.  So if the people developing this tech...

National and Labour have both unveiled new plans to shake up the supermarket sector.     National wants to investigate splitting Foodstuffs into two competing nationwide groups, while Labour is promising to make price gouging illegal – not just for supermarkets, but a range of essential goods and services.   Both parties say they want to bring down the cost of living, but...

Infrastructure shapes our daily lives, but some might think that it's too often planned election by election.  Infrastructure New Zealand wants to put an end to stop-start funding and shifting priorities, launching "Let's Build NZ".  The campaign promises to put choices in front of voters and rate the parties against its eight priorities.  Today on The Front Page, Infrastructure NZ...

What we should do with KiwiSaver continues to be a hot topic this election season.   The latest party to throw their idea into the ring is Labour, which wants to lift the employer contribution rate to 6% by 2032.  They would also introduce compulsory employer contributions, even when employees have paused or reduced their own share and extend employer contributions to workers over 6...

It's finally here, one of the biggest infrastructure projects New Zealand has ever seen.  After years of construction, disruption, and delays, the City Rail Link is finally a reality, which promises to transform the way people move through the heart of the city.  So, what does this mean for Auckland? How will it change the city? And will it all be worth the wait?  Today, we're on lo...

It feels like we're constantly being told that our kids are really bad at math.  In 2023, we were informed kids recorded their worst ever results in something called the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams.  It was called "disastrous", "disappointing" -- but, we'd heard it all before.  In 2020 the 13-year-olds recorded their worst-eve...

New Zealand investment in women-only founding teams has more than tripled in a year, but a huge gender gap remains.  Gender Investment Gap University of Auckland Business School data shows these teams are still receiving less than six cents in every investment dollar, while male teams get 70 cents.  And while there's been more investment in women-led businesses, it starts falling away at...

About 10,000 public servants are set to strike following prolonged pay negotiations.  While the Public Services Association says members are walking off the job for fair pay and better service delivery, the move has been accused of being politically motivated.  Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith's pointed out pamphlets that read "change the government"... and Prime Minister Chri...

We’re seven weeks out from the general election, and nearly 190 thousand young people are missing from the roll. Only around 57% of 18-24 year olds have enrolled to vote, the lowest representation of any age group – and by a huge margin. Today on The Front Page we’re talking to Adriana Bird from On a Roll, a nonpartisan campaign which aims to help young people to enrol and vote....

New Zealanders spend billions of dollars every year on transport, through fuel taxes, road-user charges, rates and tolls.  But the Act Party says we're not getting enough for what we're spending.  New Zealand has spent an average of 5.8% of GDP on infrastructure each year over the past couple of decades, towards the highest of the OECD. Yet we rank towards the bottom for getting bang for...

For Aucklanders, sitting in traffic can feel like an unavoidable part of life.   But, what if you had to pay to do it?  Auckland Council is considering congestion charging, with three options on the table that could see drivers charged between $2 and $7.  Supporters say it could get traffic moving and raise money for improvements – but critics are asking whether we have e...

The diplomatic chess board is getting complicated in the Pacific.  At least five Pacific leaders have pulled out of the annual Pacific Island Forum in Palau this week.   Meanwhile, China's Pacific envoy says there will be consequences for Taiwan being allowed to send representatives to the forum.  It's while the US and New Zealand team up to co-fund a Cook Islands port upgrade...

New Zealand’s debt burden has nearly doubled in 10 years.  But, there are signs the country’s borrowing habits are becoming more sustainable.  New Zealand businesses have boosted their borrowings by more than $6 billion in the last year to $143b, which is a potential sign of rising confidence in the economy.  So, is debt really as bad as we think – or are the...

National is promising to crack down on people abroad who are failing to pay back their student loans.  If re-elected, the party would ease compulsory student loan repayments from 12 percent to 10 percent - and charge those living overseas an extra one percent in annual interest.  Arrest warrants could be sought for serious, ongoing defaults.  Leader Christopher Luxon has said 93% of...

Searches continue through the devastation in Nepal after a catastrophic flash flood.  More than 389 people have been killed and there are reportedly 1300 people missing, including at least 700 foreigners from two dozen countries.  Our officials understand at least five New Zealanders are believed to have been impacted.  Rescuers are battling severe conditions as...

Could we FINALLY be at an economic turning point?   Westpac economists have forecast the economy will return to growth in the current quarter.  They reckon there'll be 2.1% growth across 2026 – even picking up to 3% next year ... with exports and tourism doing the heavy lifting.  So, are we out of the woods - or is this just a brief respite before the next shock?  To...

The Government wants to force councils to keep rate hikes at a maximum 4% from 2029.  Councils would be expected to prepare for the change from next July.  Local Government Minister Simon Watts has said it'll ease cost-of-living pressures and get councils back to basics.  But, what will a lower income coming in mean for our core services? And how do we get councils to spend more wis...

The Government's pushing ahead with banning social media for under-16s.  It mirrors rules that took effect in Australia last year - requiring the likes of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to bring in stronger age verification.  If they don't, the social media giants could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.  But coalition partners Act and NZ First both agree to...

National is committing to no new taxes if re-elected – but the jury is still out over whether that means no tinkering to existing taxes. This means the party is scrapping both a bed tax and bank tax – something that's disappointed Mayors in tourism hotspots around the country. Meanwhile, Labour's banking on its capital gains tax to get us back to surplus by 2029/30. They released their...

Severe respiratory illness rates are now the highest they've been in the last decade, mostly because of the flu.  It comes as ambulance services struggle to meet demand, and Health NZ urges people to save emergency departments for emergencies.  RNZ reported this week that hospitals have even created dedicated flu wards and some elective surgery is being canc...