Midday Report

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.

RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Guyon Espiner about RNZ's latest political poll.

Simeon Brown discusses National's new policy to cut international aid spending, and divert that money to health treatment. He spoke to Guyon Espiner.

National campaigning on building new roads Labour on the cost of filling up the car and repairing it. Arena Williams tells us about Labour's plan for a right to repair law requiring car makers to give local mechanics the manuals software and tools to fix modern cars at cheaper prices. And it's cyber security awareness week ... The Cyber Security agency are asking us to be vigilant:But how prepared...

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

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

In an interview with Midday Report, one of the country's chief cyber officials has admitted the agency has no independent way of detecting an AI agent inside a hospital system, saying it would depend on the AI company or the victim owning up. Catriona Robinson of the National Cyber Security Centre spoke to Guyon Espiner.

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

The latest news from RNZ's business team.