Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Toni Street has a brand new podcast called We Need To Talk. I was a guest on the first episode of the season, and this is the conversation Toni and I had about recovering from Covid, Dogs and Nutrition. I hope you enjoy it! If you like what you hear, follow We Need To Talk With Toni Street here . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know we can start voting for our mayors and local councillors in about a month's time? Are you going to? Apathy is the problem with local body elections. Always has been. We don’t know who anyone is, we can’t be bothered, we don’t care. But actually, we do care about our communities don't we? Don’t we care about what's happening to our local shops and our streets at the moment? I know parti...

Doom and gloom is on the economic horizon. Higher interest rates, lower spending and low population growth are all pointing towards a higher chance of recession for the first two quarters of the year. Westpac Senior Economist Satish Ranchhod says while he thinks there won't be a recession, our growth will be soft. He told Kate Hawkesby he's expecting a pretty weak end to the year in retail spendin...

Dairy owners fear someone will die as ram raids surge. There's been a 400 percent increase in the crime in the last five years, with the Police Minister revealing it's happened 129 times since May. Chris Hipkins has also confirmed almost all of these people are under 18 years old, with the median age being 15. Dairy and Business Owners Group Chair Sunny Kaushal told Kate Hawkesby we need a solutio...

Today is Daffodil Day. And for the first time in two years, the famous Daffodil Day street collections will be making a comeback. And with more Kiwis getting cancer this year than ever before, there's an increased need for support. Cancer Society NZ National chief executive Lucy Elwood joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of a couple of revealing surveys, I’m pleased to see businesses agitating for change a bit more. I’m talking about the traffic light system. Two surveys recently showed how much we’re fed up with all this. TV1 had a survey showing 65 percent of us want all Covid restrictions dropped, not surprising at all. Then a survey the Government did showed them the reality of what’s going on – fe...

More calls have come for reduced taxes to help ease supermarket prices. The Government will force Foodstuffs and Countdown to sell groceries to competitors at regulated prices, if they don't supply them on the wholesale market fairly. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford says the real problem is how expensive it is for new businesses to enter the market. He told Kate Hawkesby the best way to red...

Disturbing figures from the Abuse in Care Inquiry. A report has found one in three children in state care end up in prison later in life. For Māori   , 42 percent serve custodial sentences as adults. Voyce Whakarongo Mai advocates for children in care. Spokesperson Tupua Urlich told Kate Hawkesby he's not surprised by the figures. He says if you take a young person and fill their childhood with tr...

A Far North health provider has made the "very difficult decision" to close its after-hours services temporarily due to ongoing staff shortages. There will be no doctor available on-site at Rawene Hospital after hours from 5pm to 8am Monday to Sunday, starting next week. Hauora Hokianga announced the planned closure with "great reluctance" on Tuesday morning in a Facebook post by chief executive M...

Andrew Windsor has reportedly gone to his mother Queen Elizabeth II and asked for a new role within the royal family. This comes as he retired from official duties in 2019 over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. But now he's apparently informed the Queen that he can't spend the rest of his days sitting around and riding horses. But is there any pathway for him to come back? Royal commentator Richard Fi...

I think what the protesters did yesterday was remind most of us that we’re not interested in going backwards, as a country. And it felt like that’s what yesterday’s protest was doing. Going backwards. Banal pleas like locking up the PM, ‘when I say Cindy, you say jail time’ was one of the chants. And while I’m as sick of the Prime Minister as you are, this ain’t it. This is not how you effect chan...

Trevor Mallard could go down as one of New Zealand's most contentious Speakers. He's moving on from the post to become Ambassador to Ireland, to be replaced by current deputy Adrian Rurawhe. Newstalk ZB's Deputy political editor Jason Walls told Kate Hawkesby Mallard's tenure has not been without controversy, including making a false rape allegation several years ago. He says a phrase thrown aroun...

Not-for-profit organisations running on the smell of an oily rag are taking aim at the Government over a lack of financial support. Plunket is being forced to sell its assets and cut services due to inadequate funding. Outgoing chief executive Amanda Malu has written a scathing op-ed saying not-for-profit services are being deliberately under-funded by successive governments. Grant Thornton Non-Fo...

The amalgamation of Wellington, Porirua and Lower Hutt is being put back on the table. A pre-election Wellington Chamber of Commerce report, released exclusively to our newsroom, reveals business leaders would like the three cities to merge. A previous merger proposal was axed by Wellington in 2015. But Porirua Mayor Anita Baker, a supporter of amalgamation, told Kate Hawkesby it should be revisit...

Keeping Kiwibank New Zealand publicly owned has been dubbed a political move. The Government has announced its intent to purchase 100 percent of Kiwibank for $2.1 billion. Massey University banking expert David Tripe told Kate Hawkesby the purchase is a risk. He says many of the state owned banks around the world have been financial failures. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Winston Peters says some of the claims of Gaurav Sharma are alarming. Sharma says MPs are trained in methods to avoid information being obtained through Official Information Act requests. Jacinda Ardern says the caucus will decide whether to expel him this morning and says the party doesn't intend on triggering the waka jumping law to force him out of Parliament altogether. New Zealand First Leade...

A couple of weeks ago I told you guys the story of the relief teacher censured and embroiled in court action, over removing an ear bud from a Year 10 student’s ear because he refused to remove it himself, and the teacher had asked him to stop listening to music and pay attention. The student had been verbally abusive and refused to oblige and this relief teacher had had a gutsful. I pointed out th...

The Government may have missed an opportunity to address the nurse shortage. Working holiday visas have been extended in a bid to lure 12,000 more workers into the country. Some sectors, including aged care, meat processing and construction, will also be able to pay workers below the new median wage requirements. However, Aged Care Association Chief Executive Simon Wallace told Kate Hawkesby nurse...

The Act party isn't interested in any move to make matauranga Māori   and te reo mandatory for teachers. The Teaching Council has told a Royal Commission of Inquiry it believes that will eventually be the case. Act leader David Seymour says it will put people off the profession. He told Kate Hawkesby teachers already have enough on their plate, without having to worry about improving their te reo....

Whether you believe Guarav Sharma or not probably depends on whether you support Labour and all that it stands for, or not. Diehard Labour fans who are still defending the Covid response and lockdowns, the people who probably proudly still own Ashley Bloomfield tea towels, will tell you it’s all a storm in a tea cup. They will have signed up for a lifelong subscription to the PM’s spin and they’ll...

Communities near Nelson have been evacuated for a second night, as the heavy rain continues. Nelson's mayor says it will take years to recover. But there are others who don't see much point in trying, saying it would be better to just give up on some flood prone places. Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University is the former EQC chair in Natural Hazards Planning. He joined Kate Hawkesby. LIS...

The Electricity Authority has put a temporary block on bulk low-price power deals. It means power companies won't be to do cheap deals to supply more than 150 megawatts of power, without approval. The EA says it's a win for consumers. Consumer Advocacy Council chair Deborah Hart joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, Dr Sharma.  The longer it drags on the uglier it gets, and there's even a whiff of the Jami-Lee Ross about the whole thing now. I saw Dr Sharma on the TV news last night and he comes across as quite convincing, even straight-up. But then he is a politician albeit a very junior one and he's had experience of pitching himself, and doing his best to come across as an honest broker. So, how serio...

Ian Foster will continue as head coach of the All Blacks until the end of the 2023 Rugby World cup. Foster has been given unanimous backing from both the board and CEO Mark Robinson, along with promoting new coach Joe Schmidt into a new attacking role. Interestingly, that was Foster's role under Sir Steve Hansen's reign. Questions have been asked as to whether it was the right call and will Scott...

Waka Kotahi will today decide whether to have a dedicated cycle lane across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It had originally decided to have a lane for just special events, but a cycling lobby group threatened legal action. National Party Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown says Minister Michael Wood should have been firmer in denying the lane. Brown told Kate Hawkesby it would be a total waste of t...