Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Less than two weeks to Christmas and the summer holidays can't come soon enough. New Zealand is tired, exhausted even, of Covid and frustrated at the huge ongoing sacrifices. We are sick of doom, gloom and fear, so much so John Campbell fronted a show about this last night. I only saw the beginning because it was past bedtime, but it featured front line workers talking about some of the things the...

Cabinet is meeting today to review Aotearoa's traffic light settings. Auckland, Northland and lower vaccinated areas in the central and east coast of the North Island are at the red level. The rest of the North Island and South Island is at Orange. Otago University's Lesley Gray told Tim Dower while Auckland has a high vaccination rate, there's already change coming with the region's borders openi...

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has won the F1 world championship in the most insane circumstances, being handed a miracle finish to claim his maiden title. But Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes has lodged a protest after the final-lap drama in which Verstappen overtook Hamilton following a controversial safety car ruling. Verstappen was on pole but beaten off the start by championship rival Lewis Hamilton as t...

Over 100 people are feared dead after a series of tornadoes ripped through several states in the Midwest and South and violently transformed homes and businesses into piles of rubble late Friday into Saturday. In Kentucky alone, the death toll is at least 80 people and is going to exceed 100, Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN on Sunday morning -- making it the deadliest tornado event in the state's histo...

Smoking.  I'd have been about 14 or 15 when I first started smoking, even back then we knew it wasn't good for us and maybe that's part of why we did it.  It was about breaking the rules, being a bit of a rebel.  In hindsight, it was the dumbest thing I ever did.  It's become an extremely expensive bad habit too and the year on year increases in excise duty have obviously helped more of us become...

The National Party's on the fence about the Beijing Winter Olympics, because it isn't privy to the same information as the Government.  Canada has joined the United States and Australia in imposing a diplomatic boycott of the event, citing China’s human rights record.  In this country, Sports Minister Grant Robertson says we're not sending ministers or diplomats because of Covid-19 but Trade Minis...

Kiwi film lovers and fans of Middle-Earth will know today is an important anniversary.  It's been 20 years since the first Lord of the Rings movie premiered.  The Fellowship of the Ring started a global film franchise, but helped put New Zealand on the map in the film industry.  As well as this, Hobbiton has become an international tourist attraction.  Hobbiton movie set deputy CEO Shayne Forrest...

Talking about travel insurance this morning got me thinking about going overseas again, and it's been a while.  It's crept up on us, but from the middle of next month we can start to look at Australia again.  Then, if it all goes to plan, we're into a staged opening of the borders, fully vaccinated people from overseas will be allowed in.  2022 is going to look very different to 2021.  But are you...

Business New Zealand is officially walking away from the Government's fair pay agreements.   The business lobby group sees them as unfair and unlawful, and believes they'll do more harm than good for workers.  Small Business Voice chief operating officer, Max Whitehead, told Tim Dower the agreements mean employers would be forced to engage with unions and workers would have to pay union fees.  “So...

There may now be more of a rat race for employers, than workers.  Seek job listings are up 35 percent year-on-year, with applications down 36 percent over the past two years.  Vacancies in retail have skyrocketed by 65 percent, healthcare 56 percent and 54 percent in manufacturing, transport and logistics.   Seek New Zealand Manager Rob Clark told Tim Dower for employers it's becoming a game of wh...

Covid-19 has irreparably changed travel.  Government website SafeTravel says visiting every country except the Cook Islands will be risky and advises to avoid them.   Dunedin-based Vincent George Travel believes leisure travel will be a while off yet, while repatriation flights dominate.    Travel agent Rosann Connolly George told Tim Dower while there are Covid-19 provisions available in travel i...

Some interesting stuff has come out of Police Commissioner's session with the Justice Select Committee.  Andrew Coster said we need to be careful about fixating on the gangs.  When it comes to drugs and especially the big importers, he says discreet operators with global connections are the real problem.  Coster says "90 per cent of people charged with importing, manufacturing, or dealing methamph...

The only people who could cause Sandra Goudie to lose her job would be her constituents.  The Thames-Coromandel Mayor doesn't want Pfizer's Covid-19 jab and has recently spoken to an Australian anti-vaccination group.   A no-confidence motion in Goudie was considered yesterday, but decided against, given it would be meaningless.  Local Government New Zealand President, Stuart Crosby, told Tim Dowe...

A war of words between Northland's best-known politicians, over the checkpoints being kept in place over summer.  Police have confirmed they'll work with local iwi to keep checkpoints in place on State Highway 1 at Uretiti near Waipu,  and on State Highway 12 near Maungaturoto.  Commissioner Andrew Coster says 74 staff will work at the checkpoints each day, equating to about 300 officers over a we...

The America's Cup may not return to Auckland, but a new sailing event could replace it.  Under a new deal, Auckland and Lyttleton will host alternate events in the Sail GP sailing competition for four years from 2023.  Christchurch was due to host a one-off Sail GP event next month, but organisers had to cancel it after failing to secure 160 MIQ spots.  Sailing expert Chris Steele told Tim Dower b...

I think we're overdue a bit of honesty and openness on what's going on with the Auckland border.  A bit of transparency.  At the moment, we still have a hard border and if you've been through it, you'll have seen it's obviously a police operation.  The actual checking as you go into and out of the contaminated zone could be done by a civilian with a little wand, I've also encountered uniformed sol...

A fresh war of words has erupted over the fate of former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is reportedly being urged to run for federal politics despite the cloud hanging over her from an anti-corruption investigation.  New South Wales’ Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has yet to deliver the findings of its inquiry into whether Ms Berejiklian breached the public’s tru...

The Government's being told to consider making KiwiSaver compulsory.  Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark is looking at more changes to the nearly 15-year-old system.  Financial Services Council chief executive Richard Klipin told Tim Dower people can opt out of the scheme, but it could be made mandatory.  He says most people are paying three percent but should be given a target of about 10 perc...

A big boost for New Zealand's reputation in the video gaming industry.  Developers Rocketwerkz new game 'Icarus: The First Cohort' is the top seller on a global platform called 'Steam'  In Layman's terms, it's like being number one the Billboard chart.  Duane Mutu is director of Let’s Play Live, an e-Sports and gaming company and he joined Tim Dower.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

National says continuing to have Police officers on Auckland's northern border is a waste of resources.  It's understood about 300 cops from around the country will be used to monitor border checkpoints after Auckland's border lifts on Wednesday next week.  The Police Association says it's disappointing news.  National Police Spokesman Mark Mitchell told Tim Dower it's a waste of valuable policing...

I want to give Chris Luxon a solid 8 for his first week as National Party leader.  Much better than I'd expected to be honest, and to be further honest I wasn't even sure the caucus would actually pick him.  And so far, MPs are making a decent fist of showing a united front.  Maybe they've finally cottoned on to the fact that they can't afford another leadership crisis before the election.  It's a...

Auckland businesses are still missing out on a chunk of revenue - they're open, but stuck on the red.  The traffic light system has seen bars, cafes and restaurants open across the city for the first time in months.  People are required to use their vaccine passes for these places.  Hospitality New Zealand Auckland President Jamie Freeman told Tim Dower bars have to wrap things up around 11pm rath...

A new OneRoof report this morning paints a gloomy picture on housing affordability.  People believe it will get even worse over the next two years, with most of them blaming property investors and overseas buyers.  Infometrics' principal economist Brad Olsen joined Tim Dower.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another historic day for Ajaz Patel was not enough to prevent India from edging closer to a crushing second-test victory in Mumbai.  Patel picked up four more wickets to go with the perfect 10 he took in the first innings as India declared on 276-7 midway through the third day.  That gave the hosts a commanding 539-run lead and, in the half hour before tea, Tom Latham was dismissed by Ravichandran...

The new traffic light system puts more responsibilities on businesses to enforce vaccine mandates and rules around proof of vaccine passes.  Employsure Employment Relations Specialist Maddie McKenzie told Kate Hawkesby the feedback is mixed.   "Employers are concerned they're losing some of their best employees because of the vaccine mandates." She said, even where vaccine mandates stand for certa...