Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

You know the saying… never wake a sleeping dragon? Well it appears that we have - and the sleeping inflation dragon is well and truly awake. Later this week; we’ll get to see the latest update on the country’s financial data – and it’s expected to show inflation in 2021 ran at its highest level in over 30 years. The Consumers Price Index is expected to rise by 1.3 percent for the December quarter,...

Prices are expected to rise for consumers as Omicron spreads. The latest Consumer Price Index is due out on Thursday morning. ANZ economist, Finn Robinson, told Roman Travers he thinks inflation will be between 5.5 and 6.5 percent for the year to December. He says Omicron will hit us in the pocket because a huge chunk of the workforce will probably have to isolate, like overseas. LISTEN ABOVE See...

The travel bubble between the Cook Islands and New Zealand will remain open despite our Omicron outbreak. The Cook Islands held an emergency cabinet meeting last night. There is a new restriction though - no unvaccinated people will be allowed entry from Thursday. Robert Skews, the managing director of the Turama Pacific Travel Group told Roman Travers the news is a huge relief. “70 percent of our...

We're being urged to think of others - as we prepare our pantries and medicine cabinets for the months ahead. Supermarkets report pressure on products like toilet paper, following the confirmation the Omicron outbreak on Sunday. Food, groceries and medicines could also become harder to come by, as case numbers rise. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson told Roman Travers while consumers are stoc...

And so here we are; waking up in the glow of red lights across the whole country. What does this mean for most of us? Well affectively nothing really has changed apart from the inability to gather in mobs of more than 100 which will serve good purpose in trying to prevent the stupidity of the Brian Tamaki followers across the country’s main centres and their messianistic treatment of a nobody and...

Australian Open quarter-finalist Denis Shapovalov is embracing being part of Canada’s tennis uprising as his strong – but complicated – start to the year continues. Shapovalov scored one of the best wins of his career on Sunday, ousting third-seeded German Alex Zverev in straight sets in a result with major Australian Open title ramifications. The 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist’s 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 d...

It could be a crucial week for Boris Johnson in his battle to stay in power. The British Prime Minister has been under pressure for weeks over alleged summer garden parties and Christmas gatherings held in Downing Street when the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns. A report into the allegations, set to be released this week, could be the final straw for Johnson's increasingly...

Chris Luxon says greater access to quicker Covid-19 tests and medicines that can treat the virus will be key to keeping goods flowing around the country. Supply chain issues are thought to be inevitable because around 350,000 workers may be isolating at one time. But the National Party leader says the Government needs to bring in more drugs that are effective against Covid-19. He told Roman Traver...

The move to Red has sparked a string of event cancellations. Both the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin and New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland have been cancelled. Auckland's Splore Festival, Christchurch's Great Kiwi Beer Festival and Sculpture on the Peninsula, Dunedin's Craft Beer and Food Festival, and parts of Wellington's Lunar New Year Festival have also been called off. Viv Beck, chie...

Had a nice chat with three of the police manning the roadblock at Uretiti this morning.  One was up from Nelson, another from Wellington and one was from Whangarei.  Standing in the rain in the middle of the night, but still cheery and positive, even though it's a job no-one really wanted.  It was nice to meet you guys, as I said to them, they're keeping the peace and that's part of the job.  If p...

A new lick of paint is needed for town centres around the country.  Dunedin architect Ian Butcher has criticised its city centre as tiresome, dull and uninteresting.  Dulux colour specialist Davina Harper told Tim Dower most towns want to play it safe when they choose their colours.  “Colour can be a little bit polarising, but I think they’re missing a real opportunity to add some personality and...

An immunologist is calling on the Government to bring forward the Covid booster shot timeframe.   Ministers are set to meet today to discuss this exact issue, as New Zealand records its first case of the Omicron variant in MIQ in Christchurch.  A third shot is currently only available to those who last had their second shot, at least six months ago.   Malaghan Institute Director Dr Graham Le Gros,...

I come to the programme this morning with a feeling of hope after seeing something yesterday that I haven't seen in well over a year.  Backpackers.  A group of four of them, in their 20s, walking the Te Araroa trail together.  All three thousand kilometres of it.  Te Araroa should be on every young New Zealander's bucket list, it stretches all the way from Cape Reinga to Bluff.  And bit by bit, as...

Today's GDP figures are likely to be better than expected.  They're due out mid-morning.  ANZ economist Finn Robinson told Tim Dower the ANZ bank thinks the economy has contracted by four and half percent.  He says that's considerably better than the seven percent the bank had initially pencilled in.  “What we have with that is the preliminary data that is released about how construction and retai...

Farmers are evenly split on their expectations for the coming year.  Dairy is the most optimistic sector, while dry stock farmers and horticulturalists are more pessimistic.   Rabobank NZ's CEO Todd Charteris joined Tim Dower.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A health expert says rural hospitals have been left off Andrew Little's Christmas list.   The Government is giving hospitals more than half a billion dollars for upgrades and to help them support more Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.   The Rural GP Network says the provinces have been left out, with some rural hospitals not getting any funding at all.   Rural Health Clinical Director Dr Jeremy...

Today's GDP figures are likely to be better than expected.  They're due out mid-morning.  ANZ economist Finn Robinson told Tim Dower the ANZ bank thinks the economy has contracted by four and half percent.  He says that's considerably better than the seven percent the bank had initially pencilled in.  “What we have with that is the preliminary data that is released about how construction and retai...

Three Waters is back on the agenda today.  23 local councils are going to Parliament to make their opposition clear.  That's around a third of the local bodies affected by Three Waters, but it doesn't mean the other 44 are all on board.  And they're right to be suspicious of it.  Three Waters will take away all those council-owned drinking water systems and the storm water and the wastewater...and...

Auckland Airport has gone from zero to hero.  It's expecting to see a 4000 percent increase in domestic travellers today.  Operations general manager Anna Cassels-Brown told Tim Dower 600 people departed yesterday but there are 10-thousand leaving today.  “But also, it may surprise you that we have not much shy of 10,000 people arriving into the domestic terminal as well, so it goes both ways.”  ...

Travellers are being advised to b  patient if they want to leave Auckland.  The border is down, with people needing a vaccine pass or a recent negative Covid-19 test to leave the city.   The AA is asking people to slow down and take snacks and drink for the trip.   Safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told Tim Dower motorists should expect delays.  “Think that it’s going to take longer than it normal...

There's a concerning drop off in the number of students taking algebra at high school.  Victoria University of Wellington research shows the number of Year 11 students enrolled in level 1 algebra, dropped from 64 percent in 2013 to 45 percent in 2019.  Nanogirl Dr. Michelle Dickinson told Tim Dower some students don't understand how important these subjects are to their future careers.  “Universit...

Dear Auckland,  I just wanted to say how glad I am that you're being allowed out again from tonight.  I've kept in contact as best I can with people close to me down there, but sometimes you haven't wanted to talk and I completely understand it.  Who wants to do Facetime of WhatsApp from their couch day after day...especially with someone in another part of the country where life's a lot more like...

People in the wine industry now have a chance to learn some tricks of the trade.  New Zealand Winegrowers has launched its 2021 mentoring programme to help members increase their confidence, focus on their self-development and reach their goals.    The organisation's leadership and communities manager Nicky Grandorge told Tim Dower the wine industry in this country is an extremely collaborative on...

There's concern Auckland has to wait longer at the red light.  Tamaki Makaurau will move to orange under the Covid-19 Protection Framework at midnight on December 30.   So will every other region in red, except Northland.   Heart of the City CEO, Viv Beck, told Tim Dower going into orange at New Year's Eve will make a difference.  “It certainly will give more confidence to visitors, so that’s a po...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that Britain faces a “tidal wave” of infections from the omicron coronavirus variant, and he has announced a huge increase in booster vaccinations to strengthen defenses against it. Johnson said in a televised statement that everyone age 18 and older will be offered a third shot of vaccine by the end of this month. The previous target was the end of January...