Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

The Education Review Office is recommending NCEA Level 1 be reformed.   Its review found it's not a fair or reliable measure of knowledge and skills, and around a quarter of schools don't plan on offering it next year.   Last year, students were almost twice as likely to achieve an excellence on an internal assessment than an external.   Auckland's Rangitoto College Principal Patric...

Don't get me wrong, a new police station in central Auckland is good news, as were recent stats showing crime in the city is way down, but where are all the wackos and the nut jobs going to go next?  That's my question.  You know the ones I'm talking about – they strut around holding their pants up with one hand, a menacing look in their eye, shouting and ranting and raving and lunging a...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 26th of November, The Education Review Office says NCEA Level 1 is not a fair or reliable measure, and more schools are opting out of Level 1. Rangitoto College Principal Patrick Gale explains the reasons why they’re offering an alternative certificate.  GPs are warning patients in need of hospital care they sometimes aren't...

Deadly Storm Bert is continuing to lash parts of the UK. Snow's fallen across Scotland and parts of northern and central England -- and heavy rain's hit southern England and Wales. UK correspondent Kay Oliver told Ryan Bridge three people have been killed. “We’ve got 70 flood warnings across south Wales.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max Verstappen has hit the jackpot in Las Vegas with his fourth consecutive Formula 1 Driver’s Championship, but Liam Lawson left Sin City empty-handed after finishing 16th. The All Blacks beat Italy 29-11 in their final match of the year, but it was TJ Perenara’s haka that stole the headlines. And the Black Foils are off to a tremendous start in SailGP, winning the opening series in Dubai. N...

Remember the excitement, the pride at being first, the proclamations of cleaning up our world and making it better for tomorrow. I'm talking about the single plastic use bag ban of 2018. Remember that? A few salient points to note this morning, six years on from when it was announced. There's a report out this morning on plastics. The use of plastic is expected to triple globally by 2060 most of i...

Vaping rates are dropping across younger school students, but it's on the rise among senior students. The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation survey finds 12 percent of high school students reported vaping in the seven days before the survey was taken - compared to 26 percent in 2021. However, 26 percent of Year 13 students are weekly vapers - doubling over the last three years. Chief Executive...

Gangs are taking advantage of relaxed regional airport security screenings. Stuff reports they're travelling between New Zealand's smaller centres to traffic drugs around the country, where there's little risk of having their bags scanned. Current security settings mean flights with fewer than 90 passengers are unlikely to go through security screening. Airports Association Chief Executive, Billie...

Morning! Early Edition podcast blurb and editorial from the show this morning below. On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday the 25th of November. Gangs are using regional airports will leaner security screening to traffic drugs around the country, so do we need to change our security settings? NZ Airports Association Chief Executive Billie Moore joins the show. Youth va...

New Zealand is bracing for a high stakes poker game, preparing for Donald Trump’s tariffs to be introduced.  The US Business Summit is taking place in Auckland, and Trump is set to be a significant talking point.  NZ Inc Managing Director Fran O’Sullivan told Ryan Bridge that there’s likely to be an element of negotiation when it comes to the implementation of tariffs.  She says tha...

Councils are putting a range of ideas on the table to raise revenue, as they push back against the idea of a cap on rates rises.  Rates shot up by an average of 15% this year.  Local Government New Zealand is proposing a range of options from civil defence levies to accommodation levies.  Hauraki District Mayor Toby Adams told Ryan Bridge some of the options, like congestion chargin...

Almost 70% of cops want to be armed, and I say who the hell are we to get in their way?  The new Commissioner has come in, and he's been more gung ho on this idea of regular arming of our police force than any of his predecessors.  The fact is they're on the front line, aren't they?  Last year, there was a 9% increase in tactical operations interactions – that means basically the ba...

Ukraine is claiming Russia's launched a missile with greater range into one of its cities.   It's claiming an intercontinental ballistic missile has been used, but CNN reports two western officials have said it was another type of ballistic missile.   Europe correspondent Vincent McAviney told Ryan Bridge the US is disputing the claim and Russia's saying nothing. He says it comes with es...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday 22nd of November, the US Business Summit is on in Auckland today, and Donald Trump's second term as US president will be a big talking point with possible tariffs on the way. Fran O'Sullivan joins the show ahead of the summit.  How do we fund local government and reduce its reliance on ratepayers? Hauraki District Mayor Toby A...

JD Vance is facing a tricky task on Capitol Hill.  The vice president-elect has arrived at the Capitol to shore up support for Trump’s controversial cabinet picks.  He’ll spend the week organising meetings between Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth and key Republican senators involved in their confirmation process.  US Correspondent Mitch McCann told Ryan Bridge that Gaetz is with Vance to...

Police hope an increased focus on gang activity will pay dividends.   The gang patch ban has been in force since midnight.   Police Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham says in the lead up to the ban, there was an increase in reports of gang members wearing their patches prominently in public.  He says they get reports on criminal behaviour all the time, so this increase was that comb...

There's little doubt there's unnecessary spend at the Transport Agency.  The Transport Minister's called NZTA's costs eye-watering and excessive, after revealing a near $800 million spend over the past three years.  That went to road cones, traffic management, state highway maintenance, and capital works.  Temporary Traffic Management Chair Dave Tilton told Ryan Bridge he believes i...

Households and businesses are set to face higher electricity bills.  The Commerce Commission estimates the average household's monthly electricity bill will rise by around $10 from April.  The Commission's allowing Transpower and local lines companies to raise prices as they aim to upgrade and maintain the grid.  Major Electricity Users' Group Chair John Harbord told Ryan Bridge the...

Everyone hates gangs. Unless you're in them, you hate them because they intimidate, they cause misery, they beat their wives, they do all sorts of awful things.  But I just worry that the gang patch ban in and of itself is not really going to solve the underlying causes, is it?  And what I worry about is the waste that could go into this.  The waste of time, police energy and resour...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Thursday 21st of November, gang patches are now banned in public. Are police ready to enforce the new law? Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham joins the show.  NZTA has spent Almost $800 million on temporary traffic management in the past 3 years, and that doesn't include local council spending. Dave Tilton from the Temporary Traffic...

Democracy is a delicate and fragile thing, and yesterday's protest was a good example of it working.  People oppose something, they protest peacefully, respectfully, they present a petition, they go home.  The bill, by the way, that they don't like, well, it's not becoming law.  You don't have to look far this morning for examples of things going tits up in a big way, and quickly.&n...

Freight carriers agree upcoming State Highway 1 repairs are necessary.  The Desert Road in the Central North Island is shutting to traffic between Tūrangi and Waiouru from January 6 until the end of February.  NZTA says the detour will add half an hour and an extra 50km to people’s journey.  National Road Carriers Policy & Advocacy manager, James Smith, says the entire netw...

Many European countries are accusing Russia of sabotage after the cutting of two communication cables under the Baltic Sea.   One of the cables links Finland and Germany, while the other connects Sweden to Lithuania.   It comes as Ukraine's fired its first set of US-made long range missiles into Russia.   While Russia shot down five of them, the shrapnel from a sixth caused a fire a...

There are calls for Parliament's Speaker to dish out harsher punishments for things like Te Pati Māori's haka in the House.   Speaker Gerry Brownlee's confirmed he's received complaints.   David Seymour and Shane Jones have both asked him to consider changes.   Former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith told Ryan Bridge that in recent years, in consultation with the Speaker, iwi present at T...

Ukraine has fired its first set of US-supplied long range missile at a target inside Russian territory, just a day after the US granted permission for their use.   Russia's defence ministry says five missiles were shot down and another was damaged, with its fragments causing a fire at a military facility in the Bryansk region.  Russia security expert Dmitry Gorenburg says he's not expect...