Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Auckland has scraped into the Top 10 in a new ranking of the world's most liveable cities. It comes in at 10 - tied with Osaka, in Japan. 173 cities were compared by the economist intelligence unit on factors like stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Viv Beck is the CEO of Heart of the City and joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

There is optimism the country's first digital gun registry will put criminals under the pump. The online registry goes live tomorrow, aiming to track nearly 240,000 licensed gun owners. It relies upon people registering within five years. Police Association president Chris Cahill told Tim Dower it'll be a key tool to reducing crime, as it would track those selling guns to criminals. LISTEN ABOVE  ...

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point for the Labour Party and Chris Hipkins. I mean the state of it. It really is from the sublime to the ridiculous. Who's left? Who around that Cabinet table is capable enough to seriously manage all the portfolios of the other ministers who are dropping like flies? It’s a shambles. But is it all a shambles of their own making? Have they played a bit...

The political headaches continue to pile up for Labour, four months out from the election. Chris Hipkins is expressing his disappointment in Michael Wood - who's resigning as a minister after more revelations about his failure to declare shareholdings. The Prime Minister is also promising to take another look at the rules around ministers' investments. Victoria University political analyst Bryce E...

A victim advocate believes there will be more disclosures during a review of Oranga Tamariki. The department has revealed two staff members have been stood down as they're investigated for alleged sexual misconduct with young people in the past year. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush will conduct a review. Victims' advocate Ruth Money told Kate Hawkesby there could've been a vetting issue. She...

Only about half of kiwifruit growers expect to break even this year, amid a particularly bad harvest. Production this year is down about 35 million trays on 2022, mostly due to storms. Kiwifruit Growers CEO Colin Bond told Kate Hawkesby there are ways to mitigate the risk like frost protection and artificial shelters. He says the quality of this year's harvest is higher than last year. LISTEN ABOV...

I was at my physio yesterday, she’s South African. She moved here to an allegedly ‘safe’ country with her children, they live on Auckland’s North Shore, they’ve eaten at the Albany restaurants where the axe attack took place. She said it could have been them, her, or her children. She asked me what’s happened to this country and why it’s so violent now. It’s hard to answer that question without fe...

Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean are racing against time to find a  missing submersible  before the oxygen supply runs out for five people who were on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic. Despite an international rescue effort, US Coast Guard officials said the search covering 26,000 square kilometres had turned up no signs of the lost sub known as the Titan, but they...

Uncertainty is plaguing Ruapehu. A bid to liquidate Ruapehu Alpine Lifts is being heard in the High Court in Auckland this morning, dubbed a 'worst case scenario' by some. The Government and local council's preferred option, to allow two companies to take over skifield ownership, did not make it over the line in meetings yesterday. Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton told Kate Hawkesby everyone is waiting...

A strong message has come that New Zealand's cash-strapped councils cannot make money out of thin air. The Future for Local Government Review has made more than a dozen suggestions. They include lowering the council voting age to 16, introducing transferable votes, and an annual transfer of around a billion dollars a year from central to local government. Local Government New Zealand agrees with t...

Is it just me, or is this Government going out of its way to lose the upcoming election? I mean, I’ve had the vibe for a while they’ve given up. Chris Hipkins sounds more and more over it and uninterested in what’s going on in the country he’s supposed to be running. Grant Robertson has sounded despondent for a while – I’m sure he quietly quit months ago, many of the Ministers behave in a way that...

A change to the Government's flagship budget policy on childcare is raising more questions than answers for the sector. It's backtracking on conditions involving the 20 hours free Early Childhood Education, after providers complained about the pay-by-the hour system. Montessori Aotearoa Chief Executive Cathy Wilson says the sector is pleased they're having their concerns responded to. But she told...

The forestry industry is sick of being made into the villain on reducing emissions. The Government is proposing to amend the Emissions Trading Scheme and incentivise innovation over offsetting through planting. One option is taking forestry out of the scheme altogether and creating two separate markets. Forest Owners' Association president Grant Dodson says it's a bad idea and he joined Kate Hawke...

Chris Hipkins is set to discuss some of the world's most contentious topics with one of the world's most powerful men. The Prime Minister has secured a meeting with President Xi Jinping during his week-long trade visit to the country next week. It comes as the US and China restarted high-levels talks overnight with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledging to s...

UK police are looking at fresh video of a rule-breaking event during lockdown at Tory Party headquarters. Footage shows Conservative staffers drinking and dancing in December 2020 during lockdown. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson quit Parliament altogether last week. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby that Johnson's still causing current PM Rishi Sunak headaches. LISTEN ABOVE See om...

A leading doctor says inequities in the health system need to be addressed. Ethnicity is now a factor in a new medical wait list Te Whatu Ora has rolled out in Auckland, alongside clinical priority, time already waiting, location, and deprivation level. General Practice New Zealand Chair Dr Bryan Betty told Kate Hawkesby that there are dreadful health outcomes for Māori and Pasifika. He says it's...

New research is highlighting the resilience of New Zealand's housing market. OneRoof and its data partner Valocity analysed residential home sales between 2018 and the start of this year. They've found sellers in 48 suburbs around the country have never made a loss in the last five years. OneRoof Editor Owen Vaughan says despite a recent slowdown in the market, sellers have been doing well overall...

So as we look down the barrel of another week of potential strikes, I am heartened by the students calling for it to end, and the prospect that it just might with some independent arbitration. Not before time. As frustrated as we are with the striking teachers, I don’t blame them, it’s the government who’s dragged the chain here in not resolving it and allowing kids to be pawns in all this. So far...

So as we end the week three things have stood out to me as a bit of a let-down this week. One; the gangs and their cosy relationship with Police. Two; the media. Three; the teachers. I'll start with the Mob and the coppers. 'Working together collaboratively' as one of the Police put it, is not something that endears us to the force. This is not a collab, it's law enforcement and thugs. They're sup...

Is South Africa going to react to no change confirmed to the Rugby Championship Schedule? Sanzaar had to awkwardly clear up claims from its Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan on a potential change. Moving the schedule would give South African players a break from a gruelling calendar year. The chair's comments were made on Newstalk ZB's Rugby Direct podcast , hosted by ZB rugby commentator Elli...

It looks like Boris Johnson's political career may finally be over. A new privileges committee report has found the former Prime Minister misled parliament when questioned about Downing Street lockdown parties. It found he sewed distrust in parliament and undermined democracy - some of the highest offences for an elected politician. UK correspondent Vincent McAviney told Kate Hawkesby Johnson coul...

Organised crime groups keep finding ways to smuggle meth into the country. Police and customs officials intercepted a shipment of maple syrup from Canada at the New Zealand border in January. It was concealing 713 kilograms of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $250 million dollars. Drug Detection Agency Chief Executive Glenn Dobson told Kate Hawkesby hiding meth in liquids is noth...

I'm not sure when the 6pm news decided to be a promo channel for gangs, or why they wanted to spend so much time eulogising a gang leader, but I thought the way that Mongrel Mob tangi was covered last night was disgraceful. We've lost the plot in this country - and we wonder why we have gang problems. The coverage looked like a recruitment drive or a PR video for the gangs. We got so ill served as...

All eyes are on the latest GDP number expected this morning. Economists are split on whether it will be another quarter of negative growth- after Q1 slipped back 0.6 percent. Another negative would technically put New Zealand into a recession. ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley joined Early Edition. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is increasing med school intakes by 50 students next year the first increase in almost a decade. It'll be split across Auckland and Otago universities, with the total first year intake increasing to 589 places. But Resident Doctors' Association National Secretary, Deborah Powell told Kate Hawkesby it's not enough. She says there's need for at least another 200, but another 50 is bet...