Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

The Australian Government is seeking an end to the imprisonment of Julian Assange in the UK. The Australian citizen and WikiLeaks founder has been incarcerated while the US seeks to extradite him on charges relating to the publishing of classified information about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Anthony Albanese hasn't been able to find a "diplomatic solution" to the Assange case while in London f...

It's believed continuity and stability will be a core-focus for King Charles as he guides the Royal Family into a new era. Royal Commentator, Richard Fitzwilliams told Roman Travers that the King knows his biggest challenge will be connecting with the younger generations. He says it's been a tough time for the monarchy, with Prince Andrew in disgrace and Prince Harry and Meghan's exit, the split a...

There's some hope that supplier costs to supermarkets will soon show signs of easing. The Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index shows a 10% increase in what suppliers charged supermarkets for goods in April. We've seen increases of 10% or more for the past six months. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says this reflects suppliers themselves are facing very high in...

What an astonishing weekend it’s been, right?   There aren’t many of us that are old enough to remember in great detail the coronation of our previous monarch, Queen Elizabeth the second.   Now we all have Saturday night etched into our memory banks with all that pomp and pageantry, being beamed into lounges across the world with the coronation of King Charles the third and Queen Camilla.  General...

What a cool day we’ve had today. We met David Walliams from ‘Little Britain’ and ‘Come Fly With Me’ – two comedy shows that could never be made these days without being cancelled immediately – in fact I don’t even know if there are clips still up on YouTube– probably been gassed by now. But they were hilarious shows. He’s also been the judge on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ so he’s a big name here. But W...

The countdown is on to the historic King's coronation this weekend. King Charles has been heir to the throne for 70 years and excitement's building for the big royal celebration on Saturday.  Max Foster is a CNN host and royal correspondent in London, and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are now in the final countdown to the coronation. One of those representing New Zealand at Westminster Abbey is former Olympic and World Championship winning rower Rebecca Scown. She now heads up Youth Experience in Sport over in Britain. Rebecca Scown joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The iconic Rodd and Gunn is making its presence felt in London. The lifestyle brand opened in mayfair towards the end of 2019 - and is now expanding into europe. That came after massively successful launches into Australia and the United States. Kate Hawkesby caught up with Rodd and Gunn's UK Regional Manager Eleanor O'Dea. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well today has noticeably ramped up another notch in coronation preparations. More roads closed, more barricades up, more Cops around, and way, way more people. The Palace garden party was on today, so attendees were out in their finery and even the weather played ball with a beautiful and rare blue sky day. Many, who at the start of this week were a bit ho hum, seem now to be getting excited. I w...

Just one concussion can cause someone to go on and commit a violent crime. New AUT research shows even a mild traumatic brain injury significantly increases the risk of criminal behaviour over the following decade. It also exacerbates mental health difficulties, drug abuse and managing emotional reactions to events. Researcher Gail Pacheco told Kate Hawkesby a concussion can result in more crimina...

You'll probably know the Kiwi company, Karma Drinks. They're an ethical drinks company which launched in New Zealand back in 2012. They are a massive success story in Britain, which now accounts for about half their business. And out of its 25 staff - seven are based in the UK. UK Marketing and Sales Director at Karma Jessamy Besson-Jones joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/lis...

Chris Hipkins has confirmed he still hasn't heard from Meka Whaitiri. Whaitiri has resigned from minister and from the Labour Party, and plans to jump ship to Te Pāti Māori at the next election. Speaking to Kate Hawkesby from England, the Prime Minister says he's still completely in the dark about why she's suddenly decided to leave. “She clearly hasn’t spoken to anyone about it. She certainly had...

So just as we have rolling strikes beginning this week in New Zealand, the UK has strikes going on too. Nurses and teachers. Today here more than 22,000 schools were disrupted with a mass walkout of Union members. And if you think our strikes are bad, this is the fifth time this year teachers in England have walked off the job demanding better pay and conditions. And it’s raised the question here...

We are four days out now from the coronation of King Charles III. You certainly can't miss it in London, the build up is in full force, but how do the public feel about the upcoming coronation? LBC talk radio host Iain Dale joined Kate Hawkesby out of the UK. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A last push as area school teachers prepare for strike action. Union NZEI has agreed to join the Post Primary Teachers Association in rolling strikes from next Tuesday to Thursday. It's also opted to ban covering relief teacher work. NZEI President Mark Potter told Kate Hawkesby this action is necessary, as they haven't had an offer from the ministry since last year. He says rolling strikes might...

A Rotorua dentist says kids are suffering by waiting so long to be seen. Te Whatu Ora figures show the average wait time for children 15 or under, who need surgery across the city is just over four months, with some waiting up to nine months. Ranolf Dental Surgery owner Leroy Chan told Kate Hawkesby that's an unnecessary length of time. He says it's affecting their health, their families and the w...

I asked AI a question the other day and it didn’t know the answer. I thought Chat GPT knew everything? It came back and said – I don’t know, but would you like me to find out for you? I mean, what do you think? That’s why I asked. Anyway I Googled it, and immediately got the answer. My question was ‘why don’t London cabbies work in the rain’ – I got the answer not only from Google but also from th...

Time to meet a Kiwi making noise in the royal world. Sophie Gaulter is only the second woman to be included in the famed London Scottish Regiment band. This is the esteemed band known for performing at royal events and participated in the procession for the Queen's death. Sophie joined only a few months ago and Sophie Ggualter joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Heading into a busy winter season, the dairy sector is still lacking thousands of workers. The shortage is being partly blamed on the median migrant wage with the $29.66 cent hourly wage requirement being called unreasonable as local workers earn less for the same job. Federated Farmers Dairy chair and Immigration spokesperson, Richard McIntyre, joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio....

The death of MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo has sent shockwaves through the food world. Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Kate Hawkesby the 46-year-old's loss is being felt across the world. “Tributes from Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, even Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes says he feels like he has lost a brother.” It's still unclear if the upcoming season of MasterChef Australia...

The Government was warned in 2018 it would run out of money to fund the Clean Car Discount scheme. Due to its success, it is having to lower the threshold for higher emitting vehicles, increase the fees on those vehicles and change rebates for zero emissions imports. Vehicle Import Association Chief Executive David Vinsen told Kate Hawkesby this is an artificial process to accelerate the uptake of...

National's nursing and midwife policy might need to pivot if it wants to complete what it aims to achieve. In a bid to grow the workforce, the party's promising to pay nurses and midwives 22 and a half thousand dollars back on their student loans. But, they'll have to agree to work here for five years. College of Nurses Executive Director Kate Weston says the policy targets graduates, rather than...

For the first time, the public will be asked to say a pledge of allegiance to the King at the Coronation. King Charles' coronation will be held Saturday night, our time. The Archbishop of Canterbury will ask people in the UK and other Realms and Territories to pay homage to the King. UK Correspondent Gavin Grey says that it's one of several changes to the ancient ceremony. He says female clergy wi...

Excitement is ramping up ahead of King Charles' Coronation. It will be held this Saturday night, New Zealand time. Royal correspondent Robert Hardman says told Kate Hawkesby that Friday is when all the world leaders will start to arrive. He says there's a special event at Buckingham Palace on Friday, and the New Zealand Governor-General and key representatives of all the realms will be there. LIST...

Had a great chat with a London cabbie yesterday. I love how knowledgeable they are about everything, and they’re super chatty and friendly. It’s a Bank holiday here tomorrow —Monday here our time— then of course they get another Bank holiday the following Monday for the Coronation, so they’re drowning in long weekends here at the moment. I asked him if that meant everything would be shut, no he sa...