Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Businesses being left frustrated about transport changes in Auckland's city centre is being put down to poor communication.   Auckland Transport has decided to remove all car parking on Karangahape Road and restrict the times on loading zones to allow room for a new bus service.   Businesses say they've been given very little notice.   Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told K...

Labour's caucus will this morning begin picking up the pieces of its election loss at a special caucus meeting in Wellington.   As well as the party's direction and the election of whips, MPs will participate in a leadership confidence vote.   Political Commentator Grant Duncan told Kate Hawkesby that while there are some great people on that team, there’s no obvious rising star to take Hipkins’ p...

Ninety percent of Queenstown hostels and backpackers are at capacity ahead of summer.   It comes as a third of hostels have shut down post pandemic, and many tourism operators are expecting a surge in visitors over the next few months.   Backpacker Youth Adventure Tourism Association Chairman Haydn Marriner told Kate Hawkesby that he's putting it down to a lack of available housing in Queenstown....

So, exams are now underway for NCEA for High Schoolers who‘ve had —to be frank— a pretty crappy couple of years post Covid at school.   Disruptions due to strikes, floods, weather... and that was all after they were just getting their feet back under the desks post lockdowns. So not a great few years for those trying to head to Uni in a couple of years time.   But I know that in my many cases, tea...

Cloudy conditions are forecast for today's 163rd running of the Melbourne Cup.   The TAB is expecting New Zealanders to put more than $12 million on the big five o'clock race.   Several horses have New Zealand connections, including Kiwi jockey James McDonald and Sydney-based Kiwi trainer Chris Waller.   Melbourne Cup correspondent Donna Demaio told Kate Hawkesby that there'll be an electric atmos...

New Zealand parents are becoming more relaxed about device use and safety.   A survey by NIB has found device use and screentime is still a concern for 73% of surveyed parents, but only 46% are limiting screentime.   That's down from 51% in 2021.   Parenting expert Anna Martin told Kate Hawkesby that the pandemic has had an impact.   She says research suggests that parents relaxed their attitude t...

The NZ Kiwis won the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday with an emphatic victory over Australia in Hamilton. While India continue to cement themselves as favourite for the Cricket World Cup. And the build up for the 2023 Melbourne Cup continues. ZB Sport's Andrew Alderson wrapped up the weekend's sports with Kate Hawkesby on Early Edition. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

No guarantees from National on when it will have a government in place.    New Zealand First leader Winston Peters isn't answering questions about negotiations and he and Act's David Seymour aren't talking.  National doesn't know whether deals will be done in time for incoming Prime Minister Chris Luxon to attend the Apec Leaders' Summit in San Francisco on Sunday.  Deputy Leader Nicola Willis tol...

Political pundits wouldn't be surprised if coalition talks go on for some time yet.   New Zealand First leader Winston Peters isn't answering questions about negotiations and he and Act's David Seymour aren't talking.   National doesn't know whether deals will be done in time for incoming Prime Minister Chris Luxon to attend the Apec Leaders' Summit in San Francisco on Sunday.   Newstalk ZB Politi...

Questions raised after an 18-hour long hostage situation at Germany's Hamburg Airport.   A 35-year-old man, with his four-year-old daughter, drove through airport security and onto the tarmac - before parking his car underneath an aeroplane.   The chaos, that suspended almost 290 flights involving more than 34-thousand passengers, was revealed to be over custody arrangements.   Europe Corresponden...

So, we now know Winston’s in the mix in a real and tangible way. He’s needed.   We can thank special votes for that.   So, I’m trying to look for positives, and trust me, it’s not easy - but I found one.   He at least has institutional knowledge of how parliament works, what being a politician means, and how the place functions.   That’s a benefit to Luxon because that’s more than he’s got.   Bein...

New research finds 46% of kiwi jobseekers still experience barriers when finding work.   The 2023 Randstad Employer Brand Research Survey found factors such as sexual orientation, disability, language, gender identity, and ethnicity to be a barrier when applying for and securing a job.   It found that 28% of male candidates believed these factors resulted in them missing out on the role, and 22% o...

Special votes, as I'm sure you know, are usually good for the left and National has said it expects to lose one or two seats from the election night count.   If it was two, and even if the overhang goes, the maths is undeniable. It's a 120 seat Parliament, but that one-seat majority for the Nats and ACT is gone.   And we all know what that means.   I think Winston's petulant display in Wellington...

The Australian woman who cooked and served a lunch that killed three will appear in court today.   Erin Patterson faces three murder charges and five attempted murder charges.   Her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson as well as Gail's sister Heather all died from suspected toxic mushroom poisoning in July, and Gail's husband Ian was hospitalised.   Three other charges relate to incidents in 202...

The future shape of our next government all comes out today.   While the preliminary votes for the election were all counted up, the results of the around 570 thousand left over special votes will be released at two this afternoon.   It will likely decide whether National and ACT will need New Zealand First to get into power.   Political Editor Jason Walls told Tim Dower that the majority of speci...

A nutritionist would love to see confectionary moved away from the checkouts.   Countdown's aiming to make healthier choices easier for customers, and combat checkout 'pester power'.   The supermarket chain —soon to be Woolworths— has committed to 80% of foods at checkouts carrying a Health Star Rating of 3.5 or more.   It's also moving "kids confectionary" elsewhere.   Nutritionist Nikki Hart tol...

The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt has opened for the first time since Israel's siege began more than three weeks ago.   Palestinian officials say 335 foreign passport holders and 76 injured Gazans have been able to leave so far.   It's thought 88 injured Palestinians and around 500 foreign nationals will be allowed out in the first phase.   US Correspondent, Mitch McCann, told Kate Hawkesby th...

So tomorrow we finally —after such a ridiculously long wait— get the final vote count. Specials will be done, duplicates checked, ballots finalized, we will know where we’re at, and more importantly, what form the new government might take. The fact we’ve had three weeks in limbo is completely ludicrous and at least the incoming PM has acknowledged that and claims he’ll do something about changing...

It’s being predicted that the household budgets for mortgage holders will be squeezed further in 2024.   Those on extremely low interest rates in 2019 are turning over to new rates now.   A Reserve Bank report says the average household will spend about 18% of their income on interest payments alone by mid-next year.   ANZ economist, Henry Russell, told Kate Hawkesby that it's not unexpected, and...

More calls for Oranga Tamariki to be shaken up following new details about a toddler that was killed in Lower Hutt.   A homicide investigation has been launched into the death of almost two-year-old Ruthless-Empire Wall. Newstalk ZB understands his uncle contacted Oranga Tamariki wanting the child to be uplifted. It comes after it was recently revealed 57 children have died since the agency was es...

A health commentator has given his thoughts on how the next Government should tackle problems in our hospitals.   Te Whatu Ora metrics show the national rate of preventable hospital admissions for 0–4-year-olds has increased by 35% in the last year.   It also shows the number of patients waiting more than four months to see a specialist has increased by 46% over the same period.   Ian Powell told...

Well, three days on from our loss at the Rugby World Cup and we’re still not over it... clearly.   It’s still front-page news, the dissertations and opinions continue, disputes over how it was reffed, anger over the TMO and officiating of the game continue. But let’s face the hard facts: the best team won on the day.   Painful as it is, relitigating red cards versus yellow ones as we might, hating...

Changes have already been made to adventure tourism safety as the Whakaari White Island trial ends. The island's owner, Whakaari Management Limited, has been found guilty on one health and safety charge brought by WorkSafe.   It failed to ensure adequate risk assessments ahead of the 2019 tragedy that killed 22 people. Former Tourism Industry Aotearoa CEO Chris Roberts told Kate Hawkesby that ther...

It's widely anticipated that New Zealand's unemployment figures will rise today.   Stats NZ numbers for the three months to September will be released later this morning.   Infometrics Principal Economist, Brad Olsen, told Kate Hawkesby that he predicts it will lift from 3.6 to 3.9%.   He says realistically, the market is still tight, with anything below 4% unusual for New Zealand.   LISTEN ABOVE...

Airbnb could be damaging the value of some neighbourhood homes.   Researchers using Auckland census data have identified links between more Airbnbs in communities and higher crime-rates.   It highlights how Airbnb's replace long-term owner occupiers with short term occupants, which can erode the anti-crime capability of the community.   That leads to lower house prices.   Auckland University Assoc...