Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

The shooting in Auckland's CBD may have prolonged psychological impacts on Kiwis. Clinical Psychologist Dougal Sutherland told Kate Hawkesby people could feel heightened anxiety from this for up to six weeks. “The public nature of it, it’s such a big impact on people. Watching it on TV, certainly a similar thing happened after the Twin Towers.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

A new Westpac report has revealed our tourism is doing well - but could do better. The latest Westpac Economic Tourism bulletin shows while the sector has seen some recovery, businesses will need to adapt to the changing market. Industry Economist Paul Clark told Kate Hawkesby the industry is going to find it increasingly challenging to make a profit. He says while the trajectory of international...

Inflation has finally fallen to six percent but how are we looking in the domestic front? Businesses are continuing to struggle with less demand and less spending. But with China's market back open the pressure may start lifting. Business NZ CEO Kirk Hope joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the topic. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For everyone in Auckland who bemoans our Mayor, and actually I’m not sure there are many of them left anymore or maybe they’ve just gone quiet, it could be worse. We could have Wellington’s Mayor. Now Tory Whanau has had her fair share of headlines and bad press since her arrival. There was the infamous “don’t you know who I am” alleged drunken incident at a Wellington restaurant, as well as leavi...

Yet another announcement from Labour in a bid to put a stop to crime. The party has announced 12 and 13 year old ram raiders will be charged in youth court, while adult offenders could face up to ten years in prison. Act Party Leader David Seymour joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the policy. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of our greatest footballers believes New Zealand has dropped the ball when it comes to supporting the FIFA Women's World Cup. Thousands are set to flock to tonight's opening match at Auckland's Eden Park, where our team will verse Norway. Political leaders including Chris Hipkins, Carmel Sepuloni, and Grant Robertson will all be in attendance. Maia Jackman told Kate Hawkesby it's a different f...

No one is more beside themselves about the Puhoi Motorway schemozzle than me. Well, to be fair there are probably people more upset than me, but I’m pretty upset. I mean, finally, finally after so long, such an interminable wait, finally we got our glorious smooth new road North. The gateway to the winterless North, bypassing all the windy roads and single lane hills and crappy old tar seal. A new...

Most economists are tipping the Consumer Price Index will fall below six percent. It would be for the first time since December 2021. ANZ Economist Henry Russell joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's thought Countdown's $400 million rebrand is a waste of time, money and poor timing as many Kiwis struggle to pay for their groceries. The supermarket chain will revert back to Woolworths early next year, 12 years after changing to Countdown. Sign changes start next month, along with store upgrades. Massey University Marketing expert, Bodo Lang, told Kate Hawkesby there's a danger the Australi...

The Police Association's questioning how much difference the Government's latest crackdown on youth crime will make. New measures have been announced — including coercing young people to commit crime an aggravating factor in sentencing. Posting criminal behaviour online will also be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing. President Chris Cahill told Kate Hawkesby that it's great that there...

Taking your electric vehicle on holiday may be about to get easier. ChargeNet, Z Energy, and Openloop have come together to launch a charging roaming trial, which would allow drivers to charge at any of the three networks. Currently New Zealand drivers need individual memberships with each charging provider. ChargeNet Chief Operating Officer Martin Miles says this move will help to attract more pe...

Investing platform, Sharesies, isn't a fan of National's new Kiwisaver policy. National's pledging to let under-30s dip into their fund for a tenancy bond. Money would transfer directly from their savings to Tenancy Services, returned at the end, or transferred to the next rental arrangement. Sharesies Co-Chief Executive, Leighton Roberts, told Kate Hawkesby that Kiwisaver's main goal is to save f...

So another poll out last night showing a right block government —just— and slipping support for Labour. What's interesting though, is it's the second poll in a row to show Christopher Luxon edging up in the preferred PM stakes... so, is he turning a corner in terms of likeability? Because he's seemingly been a hard sell. Though people are sick of the direction the country’s going in, they’ve been...

Extreme weather is causing problems in several parts of the world. Southern Europe is bracing for a second heatwave in a week, with record temperatures expected to be broken in places like Italy, Greece, and Spain. Europe Correspondent, Gavin Grey, says one of Spain's Canary islands has been hit hard. He says in La Palma, troops are evacuating more than four-thousand people and four and a half tho...

The country's infrastructure industry is describing National's $500-million road transport policy as a good start. The party has declared it will redirect funding from road safety initiatives to pothole repairs and road renewals, if it wins the election. Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby that the man power exists to make this promise a reality, but there ha...

A chance for businesses to reconnect with a changing China. The China Business Summit began in Auckland at 7am this morning. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will speak —covering topics like trade and investment— and insights from his recent trip to China and Nato Summit attendance. The Chinese Ambassador and the New Zealand China Council are also attending. Council Executive Director, Alistair Crozie...

Labour released its party slogan over the weekend and it says ' In it for you', which as some cynical person observed sounds like something you'd say on Tinder to secure a date. What it says to me, is that the two main parties slogans this election year very much reflect their parties approaches. One is a slogan which is ambiguous:  what's it even mean, 'in it for you'? Sounds kind, has the feel g...

I said earlier this week that my hero of the week was any CEO who walks the talk and works the floor and gets amongst the team. That was off the back of my parents having Greg Foran, Air NZ CEO, check them in at Auckland airport. He’s out there often apparently, doing various jobs inside various departments to learn more about the airline and be present, and it’s a good look – it’s appreciated. Bu...

Plastic pollution in Lake Rotorua is reportedly comparable to lakes in Europe and the US. Three places in New Zealand have been part of a global analysis of plastic pollution levels in freshwater lakes. Deniz Özkundakci is a University of Waikato Associate Professor and freshwater ecologist. He told Kate Hawkesby it's disappointing we're seeing high levels here. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/l...

News that business owners are struggling to make ends meet isn't surprising to some in the sector.  Research by accounting software company Xero shows almost half of small to medium business owners aren't paying themselves. Business mentor and Whanganui Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Helen Garner told Kate Hawkesby the statistics are dismaying. Garner says there are ups and downs in business,...

Capital gains and wealth taxes may not accomplish the goals advocates think they might. After investigating, Chris Hipkins has ruled out those changes while he's Prime Minister.  Deloitte tax partner Robyn Walker says wealth taxes don't bring in a huge amount of revenue, but create higher administration and compliance costs. She says there are unintended consequences which have been seen in overse...

There’s no evidence a BBC presenter who  allegedly paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos  committed a crime, London police says as the broadcaster’s wife publicly identified him for the first time as veteran news anchor Huw Edwards. Metropolitan police said it made its decision after speaking with the alleged victim and that person’s parents. The parents had complained to The Sun newspaper...

So more than a hundred million users have signed up for Meta's new Threads platform - making it the fastest growing online platform in history. Can you believe that? How do more than a hundred million people still have so much to say that they need to say it on a whole new platform? It was set up to rival Twitter; it's kind of a Twitter 2.0 but they’re trying to make it ‘kind’, they say. Clearly t...

The court system backlog continues. Families are waiting on average nearly 500 days for answers to Coronial cases - and over 170 for District Court case resolutions. Family Court decision wait times have tripled in five years, forcing people to wait over 1000 days for answers. King's Counsel barrister Marie Dyhrberg joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

We shouldn't see any surprises from the central bank on the Official Cash Rate today. Most economists are picking no change after Reserve Bank head Adrian Orr indicated they were done. It's expected to be confirmed around 2pm this afternoon. Christina Leung, Principal Economist at the New Zealand institute of Economic Research joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...