Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

There's thing happening with parents, responsibility and the state. Kids are wither misbehaving or not learning, parents are putting their hands up, and the state is having to regulate, what kids can and can't do. I was watching the news last night and a researcher was telling the story of an early childhood teacher. Teacher said parents had turned up with their toddler to class, handed over an Ip...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Monday 21st of September 2026, Labour Commerce and Consumer Affairs Spokesperson Arena Williams tells Ryan about Labour's policy to split the retail and wholesale arms of Woolworths and Foodstuffs. National's promising to ban screens at early childhood centres and tighten limits for years 1 to 3 at Primary school, Advocates for Early Learning...

The GDP has grown as expected – rising 0.2% in the June quarter.  Construction was the biggest boost, up 2.7%, driven by more residential building projects.  It's the largest increase in construction activity since the June 2023 quarter.   Master Builders CEO Ankit Sharma told Ryan Bridge they've been seeing steady signs of improvements in both business and consumer confidence, so i...

A Canterbury principal likes the idea of taking politics out of curriculum decisions, but says it’ll be interesting to see whether that happens in practice.   If elected, Labour's promising a pause the Government's school curriculum overhaul, including delaying the replacement of NCEA by a year.  It also wants to establish an Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment.  Darfi...

The Firefighters' Union says it's been warning the Government for years about problems at Fire and Emergency.  Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden has lost confidence in the agency's CEO Kerry Gregory, accusing him of withholding information about a serious incident for a year.  The agency has also been referred to the Serious Fraud Office.  Professional Firefighters' Union...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Friday the 18th of September 2026, construction was the biggest boost to GDP, Master Builders CEO Ankit Sharma explains where the boom has come from.  Labour’s hitting the brakes on the NCEA curriculum overhaul, Darfield High School Principal tells Ryan about what teachers and parents are looking for.  Internal Affairs Minister Broo...

What a week.   AI's going to kill us all – unless Putin gets there first. More drones and flare-ups from him, allegedly, in the skies above Europe.   Trump's pushing Carney into the arms of another lover in Ursula von der Leyen. It was all hugs and kisses in Strasbourg.   The Aussies are making big moves to cut immigration. Central bankers are hiking off the back of war and oil. &nb...

Blowback from a business advocate on National's plan to break up Foodstuffs.   If elected, and if the Commerce Commission agrees, the party would separate Pak'nSave from New World and Four Square to create more competition.  But Foodstuffs warns there'd be significant implications and would affect more than 500 locally owned and operated stores.  Business NZ Director of Advocacy Cat...

The economy is expected to keep improving as the year goes on.   Stats NZ is releasing GDP data for April-to-June later this morning.  Economists are expecting economic growth will come in between 0.1% and 0.3% for the quarter and between 2.2% and 2.4% for the year.  Independent Economist Cameron Bagrie told Ryan Bridge we could soon get back to the growth we were seeing last year.&...

Two classic American food brands are landing in New Zealand, with Auntie Anne’s pretzels and Carvel soft serve opening in Auckland this month.  Auntie Anne’s sells pretzels, lemonades, dips, and “pretzel dogs”, with more than 1,200 stores across 600 international locations.  Carvel claims to have invented soft-serve ice cream.  NZ Cinnabon franchise owner Kathan Parikh told Ryan Bri...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Thursday 17th of September 2026, the Business community not happy with National’s plan to bust up Foodstuffs, Business NZ Advocacy Director Catherine Beard explains.  Auntie Anne’s and Carvel Ice Cream are opening their first NZ stores in Auckland this month, Kathan Parikh NZ Cinnabon franchise owner, tells Ryan why he's bringing the new...

Nicola's supermarket smash-up is not serious.   She's playing a very risky political game and she knows it.   Cost of living is the only game in town this election – win on the cost-of-living battle and you win the war.   Nicola thinks by looking tough on supermarkets she'll earn the respect of the 'squeezed middle'.   But, as I've said many times before, even if you wipe out a...

There's a view changes to the fast-track system shouldn't be made carelessly.   The amendments to the system working their way through Parliament will mean councils can claw back greater costs from developers.   Independent urban planner and strategic development expert Bruce Weir says there probably is some room for developers to pay more.   But he told Ryan Bridge the Government s...

It's being suggested New Zealand is still suffering from a minimum wage freeze 30 years ago, and ACT's pledge would do long term damage.   The party wants to set up a training wage for under-20s in their first year, allowing them only 60% of the minimum wage – that's $14.37 an hour.  ACT also wants to freeze the minimum wage for three years.  E tū National Secretary Rachel Mack...

Tax cuts are back on the campaign agenda.   Nicola Willis dropped a wee hint to the BusinessNZ election conference yesterday.  Bracket creep is hurting workers – as wages increase and you creep into a higher tax bracket, you pay more marginal tax. That's not fair.   So, something might be done about it.   I say "might" because there are caveats and they're big ones.   Nati...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast 2026, Children's Commissioner Jane Searle shares her thoughts on the damning report into the missing Phillips children.  ACT’s small business policy is ruffling a few feathers, especially among the unions E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh tells Ryan why the policy is problematic for workers. A quick change has been made to laws t...

The Children Commissioner's demanding action, with a multitude of failures in the search for the Marokopa children brought to light.  A four-year manhunt for notorious fugitive Tom Phillips ended a year ago when he was shot dead by Police.  An inquiry finds our public agencies overlooked concerns, delayed action and missed opportunities to find the children earlier and prevent their disa...

Net migration is back on the rise as the brain drain eases.  Stats NZ data shows the number of people moving here in the year to July outnumbered those leaving by 20,300.  Annually, that net migration has risen almost 55%, with arrivals up 5% and departures down 4%.  Immigration Expert Simon Laurent told Andrew Dickens that much as it has in the past, the security and safety of New...

Surging global oil prices and bond yields could keep inflation higher than expected and force the Reserve Bank to raise the OCR faster than expected.  Some economists now expect the Official Cash Rate to reach 4% before the end of the year.  The Government says the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update —due out in two weeks— will try to reflect changes in borrowing costs.  Infomet...

July's record tourism numbers are being seen as a reflection of investment finally paying off.    Stats NZ data shows 256,600 overseas tourists arrived during the month, overtaking pre-Covid numbers from July 2019 by 0.4%.  Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell told Andrew Dickens the effort from local councils, regional tourism operators, and the Government is bearing fruit.   She says...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Tuesday the 15th of September 2026, international visitor numbers are finally back above pre-Covid levels, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell tells Andrew how the government's tourism push has helped.  Migrant arrivals for the year were up 5%, immigration expert Simon Laurent shares his thoughts.  Our debt situation might be catching up...

The past week has seen immigration policies come to the fore.  New Zealand First is signalling a tougher immigration stance, longer waits for residency and citizenship, a referendum to cap new residency approvals at 20,000 a year, and a 30-year population plan tying migrant intake to infrastructure capacity.   Labour is also tightening its settings, extending residency qualification to f...

A Russian drone has hit a train near the Ukraine-Poland border, moments after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other top European security officials had been present. No one died in the attack, and all passengers were safely evacuated. Johnson had been passing along the same line on a different train, returning from a conference in Kyiv. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says there's plenty of...

The UK's GDP grew by 0.4 percent in July, surprising economists after no growth was predicted. The economic growth was driven by several key sectors, and boosted by more businesses investing in AI and data centres. Business correspondent Vicky Pryce says the World Cup also helped contribute to the growth, with more people spending money in pubs and restaurants over the July period. LISTEN ABOVE Se...

The City Rail Link finally launched over the weekend and it's set to bring extra foot traffic to Auckland CBD, but concerns have been raised over the potential risks. National's promising a dedicated Auckland Transport police team if elected, pledging an extra $7 million per year through Budget 2027 to recruit the extra officers. Auckland Councillor Alf Filipaina says this is the right move, and h...