Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Imagine being Ian Foster right now. Worse than being the most hated politician, is being an under fire AB’s coach surely. We seem to be more aggressively passionate about rugby in this country than anything else. Not even the way the country is run, apparently compares to how the AB’s perform, in our eyes. So why are we so harsh? Why are we so invested in how a sports team performs? Is it because...

Your weekly grocery shop isn't likely to get cheaper any time soon. New analysis from Infometrics and Foodstuffs shows the prices supplies charge supermarkets has increased nearly eight-percent in the past year. The increases are being passed on to consumers. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby the increase follows minimal rises over previous years. He says throughout 201...

The All Blacks play their first test in South Africa since 2018 this weekend. It means a wake up time of 3am Sunday morning, you could just roll over in bed and flick the radio on, there will be live commentary on ZB. The stakes are very high; Ian Foster is facing big pressure to make up for the series loss against Ireland. South Africa sports correspondent Sias du Plessis joined Tim Dower. LISTEN...

Another wave of supply chain disruptions is predicted this coming summer, just as exports are due to peak. Massey University’s mid-year risk outlook highlights a bunch of factors converging. Ant Boyles chairs the New Zealand Council of Cargo Owners and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regulatory changes may be needed to bring more competition to the building supplies sector. A Commerce Commission draft report into the building product sector has found competition in the market isn't working as well as it should be. The watchdog has found it's too difficult to get innovative products to market, and established players are blocking land use by their competitors. Building Industry...

Sighs of relief in some quarters after the Commerce Commission report on building supplies came out. ComCom says competition isn't working as well as it could in the sector and a lot of people in the industry said…er...tell us something we didn't know. ComCom also raised the issue of rebates; big volume buyers get a better discount, but is there anything too surprising about that? If you were a bi...

With the price of food the way it is, lest we forget we are in a ‘cost of living crisis’, I have become hyper-alert at the supermarket these days in terms of what I’m paying. And it seems I’m not the only one. Headlines these days say shoppers are fed up and looking to go elsewhere than a supermarket. It used to be, back in the good old days, that the supermarket was the best deal for food. You’d...

Some coastal communities are now facing the very real prospect of having to desert their homes due to climate change. The Government has released its first national strategy for adaptation. It includes plans for the likely retreat of entire communities or towns affected by sea level rise. GNS Science Environment and Climate Research Lead Richard Levy told Kate Hawkesby some people will simply have...

The Council of Trade Unions says more needs to be done to protect low income workers. The latest wage figures show inflation has increased, but the union says pay isn't being matched. Meanwhile, despite forecasts, unemployment has slightly risen. Union economist Craig Renney joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan could have ramifications for the whole world, for a long time to come. The US House Speaker has wrapped up her visit to Taipei, where she expressed solidarity with the Taiwanese government. China has condemned the trip, calling it a violation of China's sovereignty under the guise of democracy. SAIS China Global Research Centre director Andrew Mertha tol...

Families who were split up by the borders being closed, may now be inflating a surge visa numbers. Immigration stats show a 73 percent increase in visitors on pre-Covid figures. Most are either students or tourists. But, Into NZ Immigration Advisor Katy Armstrong told Kate Hawkesby many will be family members who've recently been able to apply to come into the country. She says they had to wait ti...

I’m pleased midwives are asking for justification of the ongoing Covid vaccine mandate, surely we need to let it go by now. Surely it’s not even relevant anymore, in a world where we are learning to live with Covid, where we are gaining herd immunity anyway, and where the evolution of the virus is such that keeping up with never ending variants and relevant vaccines is going to become impossible t...

There has been overseas news with the US killing the leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It comes ten years following the killing of the group's founder Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri helped coordinate the 9/11 attacks and was known as bin Laden’s right hand man. But now questions are being raised about whether the Taliban gave sanctuary to the al Qaeda leader. Jason Campbell is the former country d...

I mentioned yesterday, with the return of cruise ships to our now fully open border, who’d be game enough to get on a cruise? The horror of those ships stuck like floating prisons when in the early days of Covid people got stuck on them unable to move. I thought that might put people off for life.  But, apparently not. I was inundated with messages from people already back out cruising, not only t...

A nursing union says it would have liked to have been consulted in new Government efforts to plug gaps in the health system. The raft of efforts includes payments to entice former nurses back to work, and doubling the number of nurse practitioners being trained. Registration fees for incoming foreign nurses will also be covered, along with the induction period for overseas doctors. Nurses' Organis...

EV owners in Wellington are getting frustrated. Despite a big push for us to ditch our petrol guzzlers for the electric life, we don't have enough chargers in the city. This is leading to some businesses hogging the chargers, with residents complaining of fleet vehicles parking at the chargers for hours at a time. Liz Yeaman is managing director of Retyna, a consultancy focusing on EVs joined Kate...

The Taxpayers' Union is crying foul on Kainga Ora's plans to hire more staff. A leaked briefing obtained by Newstalk ZB reveals the housing agency wants to take on nearly 500 more full-time staff, in the coming year. It's now gone back on that figure, saying the number will be 465, and that almost half are needed to fill existing vacancies. Taxpayers Union Executive Director Jordan Williams told K...

A Kiwi HR company says wellbeing sessions at work or 4-day weeks are never going to be the work/life fix employees are currently demanding. Greaterthan has worked with Callaghan Innovation, Edmund Hillary Fellowship, AJ Hackett International, and other New Zealand organisations to address the changing attitudes of workers since the pandemic. Partner Lucia Die Gil says it’s the dog-eat-dog nature o...

Newstalk ZB sports reader Andrew Alderson joined Kate Hawkesby for a wrap of Team NZ's Day 3 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We seem to have a culture of excuses thriving in this country at the moment that is top down. When apologists are at the helm it’s I guess where we end up. I noticed over the weekend it’s now crept into our policing.  We're now making excuses for repeat raiders of retail stores, the same way we made excuses for ram raiders. (Who, to refresh your memory, apparently only needed a bit of a talking to...

Overseas-based Kiwis are "confused" and "embarrassed" at being told they would receive the Government's cost-of-living payment tomorrow and critics say including those living out of New Zealand in the scheme is "disrespectful" to hard-working taxpayers. Kiwis as far afield as the Netherlands, Sydney, London and Dubai have expressed their concern to National's Nicola Willis, who said many of them f...

Prince Charles has landed himself in hot water over a series of dodgy financial dealings. The Sunday Times reports he's accepted nearly $2.5 million from the family of Osama bin Laden. The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund took the cash from two of Osama Bin Laden's half-brothers in 2013 - two years after the al-Qaeda leader was killed. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby it comes on th...

The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games are about to get underway. The opening ceremony began at 7am New Zealand time. Newstalk ZB sports reporter Kate Wells is in Birmingham and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A regional visitor levy is back on the cards to cover the costs of tourism on small communities as borders fully re-open on Sunday. The proposal was a common theme in new destination management plans written by regional tourism organisations following the Covid-19 lockdowns. Many say they need more financial support to manage the effects of tourism. Regional Tourism New Zealand chair David Perks j...

This year is on track to be one of our deadliest on record. Latest figures show 320 people died on our roads last year, down more than 11 percent on the road toll in 2018. But the AA says this year's road toll is on track to reach 350 to 360. Road Safety Spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told Kate Hawkesby usually when fuel prices jump, road deaths decrease due to less people driving, but that isn't happ...