#BHN Big Hairy News

National have walked back the levy on gentailers to pay for their backup LNG terminal but will continue to move along the development. Opposition have criticised it is too close to the election for a big costly project to move forward. The 2026 budget has some hidden unknown costs that future govts will have to pay for, essentially borrowing from future budgets, which is frowned upon. Rakesh Naido...

Labour revealed their MP list rankings for the 2026 election, with huge shifts up and down the rankings with many high profile sitting MPs moving position. Nicola Willis on Breakfast this morning was asked about the rise in number of children in housing deprivation, and what he govt plans to do about it. Her office also responds to Chloe Swarbrick accusing the govt of missing millions in their bud...

Four MPs that visited Taiwan recently in an unofficial capacity have been banned from entering China for one year citing a betrayal of the One-China Policy. Qiulae Wong, leader of Opporunity Party, addresses criticisms of her party but also lays out some non-negotiables for the party should they enter coalition talks. Trevor Noah and Hasan Piker discuss politics and the state of America, echoing m...

Act MP Laura McClure joined Green MP Ricardo Menendes March on the NZ Herald this morning and accidently said the quiet part out loud confirming the only "minority" that ACT is ever focused on is Māori, which we've always known, but fascinating to hear the list MP publicly state it. Chris Penk joined Keiran McAnulty on Breakfast this morning where Penk spent a lot of time explain wha...

Mike Smith joins us LIVE at 9pm to talk about two big stories tonight, the first is the Waitangi Tribunal being told of plans to weaken and remove treaty clauses in a range of laws are racist and an attempt to erode Māori rights. Secondly on what we're calling #milkygate, Labour questions whether disappearing climate briefing note deliberate cover-up. Senior Cabinet minister Louise Upston insi...

A document relating to the Smith v Fonterra legal case was sent from a Fonterra staff member to the private email address of a former staffer in the Prime Minister's Office. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at the time there was no record of the document on file. Nicola Willis was on Q&A in the weekend defending her third budget talking the cost of child poverty and how she believes c...

Dame Lynda Topp blasted the govt on stage at the AMAs, calling out Paul Goldsmith directly for the lack of arts funding in the budget released on Thursday. Under 30s have been forgotten with little in the budget to meet their needs, tertiary students flood the steps of parliament to protest removing their 3rd year free, and the number of secondary school students being found with drugs and alcohol...

The main part of tonight will be focusing on the budget as we start the show speaking with Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Labour's response to Nicola Willis' third budget, At about 9.30 Ricardo Menendez March joins us to share the Greens response. We'll also have a look at the latest in #Milkygate and how a judge has rejected billionaire Jim Grenon’s bid to stop media reporting on his...

There has been a complaint laid with Ombudsman about 'apparent withholding' of information by PM's office after it was revealed earlier this week that the biggest company in NZ, and Z Energy, lobbied the Prime Minister to get laws changed to favour them needing to defend themselves again Climate Change litigation, a law that was then put in place, but there is no record of the meeting...

A comprehensive breakdown of political donations and fast track requests and consents has been released show a concerning amount of crossover which brings into question a donation's role in politics. Charter school results are in, showing Kura Kaupapa charter schools having higher attendance rates for Māori over their state school counterparts. Meanwhile, $750m for disability funding for schoo...

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has appeared on Q&A over the weekend talking immigration, social cohesion, ACT's polling numbers and more. We'll take a look tonight and see how Mr Seymour did facing off against Jack TameChristopher Luxon was on Newstalk ZB this morning comparing NZ again to Finland, Singapore and Ireland which talking about the loss of jobs by public servants and r...

We had a chat with George "Mr Whippy" Hampton, Labour's Candidate for Christchurch Central, earlier in the week to learn more about the man that will be campaigning for Duncan Webb's seat this election. ++++++++++++++++++++Like us on Facebook.com/BigHairyNetwork Follow us on Twitter.com/@bighairynetworkFollowing us on TikTok.com/@bighairynetworkSupport us on Patreon www.patreon.c...

Barbara Edmonds joined us to talk about the latest government's announced a major shake-up of social housing beginning in this year's Budget - which will boost weekly support for 110,000 families by almost $15 but leave another 80,000 families worse off by $30 a week.

Kaitiaki Hauora has released a new analysis by Dr Jackie Cumming and Dr Bill Rosenberg looking at the funding level likely required to maintain New Zealand’s public health system under current pressures. Tonight we are joined LIVE with co-author Dr Bill Rosenberg and spokesperson Dr David Galler

NZPSA National Secretary Duane Leo on the government announcing the cutting of 10,000 public sector jobs

We had a chat with George "Mr Whippy" Hampton, Labour's Candidate for Christchurch Central, earlier in the week to learn more about the man that will be campaigning for Duncan Webb's seat this election. Another social democrat has won a democratic primary in the States. This shows a growing appetite for progressive candidates and representatives in the democratic party. St John h...

Barbara Edmonds joins us LIVE at 9pm to talk about the latest government's announced a major shake-up of social housing beginning in this year's Budget - which will boost weekly support for 110,000 families by almost $15 but leave another 80,000 families worse off by $30 a week. Tangi Utikere and Chris Bishop were on TVNZ Breakfast this morning talking about the public sector cuts. There w...

Kaitiaki Hauora has released a new analysis by Dr Jackie Cumming and Dr Bill Rosenberg looking at the funding level likely required to maintain New Zealand’s public health system under current pressures. Tonight we are joined LIVE with co-author Dr Bill Rosenberg and spokesperson Dr David GallerGreen Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick and Act leader David Seymour discuss the cuts to public serviceThe...

The Government’s new goal of cutting public service staff costs, by telling departments to replace staff with AI, is expected to save $2.4 billion over the next four years, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. PSA National Secretary Duane Leo joins us to talk about what this means. We'll also highlight several stories around the new Government policy including saying they'll use AI but not...

Winston Peters announced in the weekend that NZ First would buy back the BNZ and merge it with Kiwibank, the PM called it "fanciful" and economists are saying it's "headline-grabbing" rather than a serious policyErica Stanford was on Q&A in the weekend answering questions about education, ti Tiriti, immigration and the Indian FTA. We'll review some of the conversati...

We speak with Tory Whanau about the Mana Wāhine inquiry in which the Waitangi Tribunal is hearing more than 200 claims the Crown has failed in it's obligation to protect wāhine Māori in public and leadership roles from abuse, misogyny, and racism. The govt will amend references to the Treaty of Waitangi in 19 pieces of legislation to ensure the principles are 'clear and consistent', wh...

Gary's Economics with Chloe Swarbrick talking about how house prices going up is the same as wages going down and figuring out the economists were wrong suggesting that people will start spending when interest rates went to zeroNciola Willis was challenged by Ryan Bridge to cut all the unimportant departments like 'pacific peoples' and 'women' and in response Willis wanted to m...

Christopher Luxon says National will consider changes to KiwiSaver policy ahead of the election while making his lines clear on immigration fearful that ACT will take more votes away from them, he has told businesses he would be choosing "social stability" over their bottom lines...which is code for 'tough on immigration'.Winston Peters was fiery on Breakfast this morning with hi...

The government announced on Tuesday it would amend climate laws to prevent companies from being sued over damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The change will prevent findings of liability in torts - a type of civil case where one person or entity claims another has caused them harm. Chris Hipkins was on Breakfast and NZ Herald this morning talking the cancellation of fees free, how NZ shoul...

Winston Peters again has gazumped the government by releasing early the cancellation of the fees free. Labour spokesperson for Tertiary Education Shannan Halbert joins us tonight to discuss what this change means for young New Zealanders. Christopher Luxon was live in Newstalk ZB this morning talking about National's proposed changes to the retirement age. While with Hosking, Luxon also talked...