Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

There's been a big uptick in sponsorship deals across women's sports. A major international report has revealed a 20 percent increase year-on-year in 2022, with the arrival of blue chip global sponsors further fuelling growth. It comes, of course, as we're hosting the Rugby World Cup Women's event. Rebecca Sowden, former New Zealand Football Fern and founder of women's sport sponsorship consultanc...

Claims the entire justice system has failed the five women sexually violated by Jayden Meyer. The Crown's appeal of the teen rapist's nine-month home detention sentence, has been dismissed. Meyer was convicted of raping four 15-year-old girls and sexually violating a fifth when he was 16. He's now 18. The judge says the sentence was "manifestly inadequate" but to sentence Mayer to prison now would...

Questions for the Government over the lack of progress on light rail. It's spending $16 million on scope to cost the next phase of light rail in Auckland, a $14.6 billion project. More than two-thirds of the almost $66 million already spent on the project has gone to consultants - with none yet spent on construction. National Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown told Kate Hawkesby it's become a cir...

Guarva Sharma’s stuck it right up the Government by jumping ship before they could invoke the Waka Jumping Bill to push him off it. He was already sacked by caucus in August, but yesterday fired a new salvo – he quit as a party MP entirely. He says because he found out that the party was going to invoke the Waka Jumping Bill six months before the election, thus avoiding a by-election, but he claim...

British Prime Minister Liz Truss has an even harder job on her hands winning back the public,  as well as her party. A YouGov poll released shortly after her tax cut plan U-turn, found that 55 percent of Conservative voters think she should resign. A further poll on who should replace her, found that 32 percent want her predecessor Boris Johnson, while 23 percent back Rishi Sunak. UK correspondent...

Latest figures show the housing market continues to decline, with decade-low sales numbers and dropping house values. CoreLogic's latest Market and Economic Update shows the total value of residential real estate has fallen from a peak of $1.73 trillion early this year to $1.62 trillion at the end of September. Property values fell 6.3 percent over six months, with the average home price now under...

Senior doctors at Middlemore say working conditions are so unsafe, a trainee teaching programme should be scrapped. A letter signed by 60 doctors is asking for the hospital's training accreditation to be revoked. It also follows a damning review which found its ED was dysfunctional and overcrowded. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Kate Hawkesby they'...

It probably comes as no surprise to any of us who watched on from the confines of our homes as the Ministry of Health bungled its way through Covid, that they’ve just discovered a ’coding error’.  It means the number of hospitalisations they recorded was not, in fact, accurate.  Turns out when they said just over 14,000 people were hospitalised with Covid, they meant almost 19,500.  Whoops.  A ‘co...

A large development including more than 700 new homes near Queenstown will be fast tracked for consenting. The Te Putahi project at Lake Hayes has been approved under the Government's Covid-19 recovery act, one of three projects to be allowed to skip some of the usual RMA hoops you have to jump through. 748 houses will be built along with a park-and-ride public transport area and potentially a sch...

Cost of living pressures are expected to ease, but will remain at a much higher level than usual. Statistics New Zealand’s poised to unveil the latest inflation figures later this morning.  The highly anticipated Consumer Price Index is tipped to drop from the recent record high of 7.3 percent, to closer to 6.5.  That’s according to ASB, whose Senior Economist Mark Smith says New Zealand’s probabl...

More than 30 Rotorua bars and restaurants have closed their doors today to protest a lack of Government support. Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty spokesperson, Reg Hennessy, says many are turning away  business because they can't get the staff they need. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says working holiday visas are a big source of hospitality and seasonal workers. She says we've had tens of thousan...

The new U.K. Treasury chief on Sunday insisted Prime Minister Liz Truss retains control of her government despite having to roll back her signature economic policies weeks into her premiership. Jeremy Hunt was drafted in to lead the Treasury after Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng amid rising pressure following the turbulent market reaction to the new administration’s “mini-budget.” “The prime minister’...

Is it just me or does it feel like Groundhog Day at the moment?  As soon as I saw Winston and his ‘usual suspects’ lineup of a few hardcore supporters at the NZ First party conference, it felt like being in a time warp. How are we back here again? How are we back to him sniggering at reporters and giggling as he disparages anyone who dares downplay him? I’m pretty sure last election, or even the o...

A third quarter comeback has helped the Silver Ferns to a 2-0 lead in netball's Constellation Cup, beating Australia 52-48 in Tauranga. The victory leaves the Ferns needing just one win from the two games in Australia to retain the prestigious trophy. The Peta Toeava and Grace Nweke combination proved difficult for Australia once again, with the visitors' circle defenders struggling to break their...

Justice officials are standing by a policy incentivising duty lawyers to achieve early guilty pleas. Lawyers are paid extra for getting their client to enter a plea for all charges and for getting a guilty plea and sentencing on the same day. The Ministry of Justice says the payment takes into account the extra work involved with progressing a client's case and lawyers must still ensure defendants...

The retail sector is still feeling angry and unsupported by police and the Government. Back in August, Chris Hipkins told police to move faster on allocating money from a $6 million crime prevention fund for shops to install bollards and other security measures. But only seven businesses have so far received funding. Dairy and Business Owners Group Chairman Sunny Kaushal told Kate Hawkesby it's qu...

I have a hero of the week this week. In the wash up from the local body elections, and although very excited about the country's newest and youngest Mayor 23-year-old Ben Bell of Gore, which is quite an achievement - my bouquet goes to Rotorua's new Mayor Tania Tapsell.  Absolute go-getter, smart, considered, hardworking and really passionate about her city. She’s the sort of Mayor you feel happy...

The Government is splashing the cash on infrastructure in an attempt to get 11,000 new homes built across the country. It's dipping into its billion dollar infrastructure acceleration fund with $192 million going to critical works like pipes, roads and waste water connections. Lower Hutt is getting the lion's share, with $98 million going to its River Link and Valley Floor projects Lower Hutt Mayo...

77 children a day are being hospitalised for preventable diseases due to poor sleeping environments. These are the figures from the charity Variety which says nearly 28,000 children every year are sleeping on couches, floors or are sharing mouldy mattresses. The charity says bad sleeping environments mean children are more likely to contract preventable illnesses like rheumatic fever or bronchioli...

Predictions the country needs to go through two-years of stunted growth, to try to re-balance the economy. Infometrics' latest forecast shows inflation may cause problems through until the end of 2024. It's picking economic growth will slip below two percent in the second half of next year. Infometrics Principal Economist, Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby interest rates are expected to go even higher...

Well it’s been a tough week hasn't it? I mean many of us are still in the post-Covid malaise anyway but bad news makes it worse doesn't it?   We've had principals this week saying they’re worried about families who’ve just vanished due to truancy. So you’ve got large swathes of kids just not showing up for school for a variety of reasons, some of them so random, like they just don't trust the scho...

The naming of an Auckland suburb among the world's coolest suburbs has come as a bit of a surprise. Kingsland has been ranked the 43rd coolest suburb in an annual list by UK media company Time Out, praising its focused on all things local. Time Out's judges praised Kingsland's eclectic food scene, historic buildings and boutique shops that replace "flashy franchises". Albert Eden Local Board membe...

New clinical guidelines have been launched for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. It coincides with Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, which is today. Breast Cancer Foundation NZ chief executive Ah-Leen Rayner says around 400 Kiwis are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer every year. She says their research shows Kiwi women are dying from it twice as fast as those in comparable countri...

High hopes new immigration settings will have much-needed talent flocking to our shores. The Government's reopened sections for skilled migrant and parent visas, key residence categories effectively shut off during the pandemic. Malcolm Pacific Immigration Chief Executive, David Cooper told Kate Hawkesby the Government has approved close to 60,000 job checks so far. He says eventually, around 50-6...

I’m pleased to see the 21 year old woman in Wellington who got shafted by Uber is finally calling the ride share out for the crap service it is.  We’ve told our kids to cancel their Uber accounts. It’s just not tenable or safe anymore to catch them, because they never turn up.  The most common thing they do is cancel on you. This woman in Wellington was trying to get home after a night out and was...