Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Let's talk about judges for a minute.  So, the Law Society today has come out in defence of judges and in the face of all the criticism that they've been copping lately. The Law Society has asked that we please stop criticising the judges. It's in an opinion piece written by Fraser Barton, who is the president of the Law Society. He says the way that we're talking about the judiciary and their dec...

Residents of a 16-floor apartment building in central Auckland, have been ordered to evacuate. Auckland Council issued City Gardens Apartments a dangerous building notice, citing fire safety concerns. City Garden must carry out repairs to meet standards - and if work's still incomplete people will have to move out on Monday. One resident says the building's always had issues - and during one fire...

Labour's accusing the Government of demonising beneficiaries - while people are being laid off. Figures out today show 20-thousand more people are drawing JobSeeker benefits than a year ago. Minister Louise Upston says that underscores the need for her policies - which include cutting JobSeekers by 50-thousand, by 2030. Carmel Sepuloni says Government cuts mean thousands of public service workers...

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the system police use for stalking allegations isn't up to standard.  This is after the murder of a 21-year-old in Auckland who had reported to police eight weeks before her death that her killer was harassing her. The woman's file was inactive for six weeks after she made the report, then it was forwarded to another police station. It was no...

Sydney police are continuing to identify people involved in a riot after Monday's church stabbing. The 16-year-old suspect remains in hospital under police guard for the alleged terrorist attack. A 19-year-old has been placed under house arrest over his alleged role in the riot. New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb says they're arresting people as they're identified. She says they believ...

The Privacy Commissioner wants to review the Privacy Act and introduce a right to be forgotten. He's concerned social media is posing a major risk for children's privacy and parents need help navigating it. A survey by his office raised concerns around young people not having the capacity to make fully informed decisions about their digital footprint and its implications later down the line. Micha...

Police hope to go to arbitration over pay next month. More than 75 percent of members have voted NO to the latest pay offer, which included a new overtime rate, a pay increase and a cash payment. They say it doesn't remedy the decline in salaries. Police Minister Mark Mitchell says it's disappointing - and will draw out an already lengthy process. Police Association President Chris Cahill told Hea...

Inflation is proving to be a hard dragon to slay.   Annual inflation has dropped to 4%, sitting above the Reserve Bank forecast of 3.8%.   Non-tradable inflation —on final goods and services that don't face foreign competition— remains very high at 5.8%, well above the Bank's forecast of 5.3%.   Kiwibank Chief Economist, Jarrod Kerr, told Heather du-Plessis Allan that inflation is now being driven...

Guess what: the smaller ruby ball for women is already controversial.   I was telling you about this last week because World Rugby is spitballing the idea of giving the female rugby players a ball that's about 3% smaller and lighter than the standard ball.   Because their hands are smaller than male hands, and it would make kicking and passing easier for them.   Because let's be honest, kicking a...

The Children's Minister says no frontline roles are being axed in widespread public service cuts.   Oranga Tamariki is proposing a total loss of 447 jobs, and the Education Ministry says more than 500 jobs will go.   It's in response of the Government's demand for 6.5% savings.   Karen Chhour told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they've been adamant no frontline jobs would go in the OT restructure....

Shane Jones seems to be in trouble with the Māori Law Society.   They’ve written to Christopher Luxon about his comments surrounding the Waitangi Tribunal and their review into Oranga Tamariki.   He effectively said the Tribunal has no business in running operations like some sort of star chamber, delivering summons for ministers to rock up and be cross-examined.   ZB’s Senior Political Correspond...

A judge has warned former US President Donald Trump over commenting on jurors on the second day of his criminal trial.   Trump's accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.   Seven jury members have been selected after doing a rigorous survey.   US correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan the repeated w...

The Warriors have made quite the acquisition with the signing of James Fisher-Harris.   Fisher-Harris is in line to replace departing prop Addin Fonua-Blake, the club securing his services on a four-year contract.   Elliot Smith told Heather du Plessis-Allan that this is a huge signing, Golden Boot player of the year and Kiwis Captain, they couldn’t get much bigger.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio...

Is it time to introduce a begging ban?   Locals in Rotorua and Christchurch are debating the necessity of one, Rotorua Councillor Don Patterson calling for a bylaw after reports of tourists being accosted.   Despite the Rotorua Lakes Council saying that begging is down, business owners are still struggling to stop it from happening near them.   Reg Hennessey, Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty President...

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who held office for a record 49 days, has recently released her new book. The former UK leader has hit out at civil servants, the Bank of England, several political colleagues - and the fleas in Downing Street. UK correspondent Enda Brady says it's clear Truss has no regrets. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Josie Pagani from Child Fund and Ben Thomas from Capital joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!  Minister Shane Jones plans to scrap 'red tape' to make coal mining easier. The Greens have already voiced their disapproval- what do we think?  Warner Brothers Discovery signed a deal with Stuff to produce and provide a daily 6pm bulletin, hope...

Tomorrow's CPI data release is expected to reveal how close the Reserve Bank is to pushing down inflation. During last week's OCR update, the Bank was confident restrictions would get CPI back to the target one-to-three percent this year. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham predicts that inflation would have slowed down this quarter. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Country celebrated 30 years last week, and the celebrations have recently wrapped up. Host Jamie Mackay looked back on the full three decades of rural broadcasting today. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BusinessDesk's Pattrick Smellie is off on a European sabbatical- and he's hopeful an interest rate cut could come before his return. He outlined his predictions for the coming months here today. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Resource Minister Shane Jones is dismissing what he calls green 'catastrophising' over coal mining. As part of upcoming RMA amendments, Jones will remove the extra controls on consents that he says only apply to coal. He says the industry's treated differently to other types of mineral extraction, and red tape is hurting the sector. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacks these new c...

Union workers at Fletcher subsidiary EasySteel have blamed the company's recent mismanagement for a looming restructure. Fletcher has cited market conditions for this restructure, and jobs are on the chopping block. First Union spokesperson Justin Wallace says 50 to 60 jobs could be scrapped. "The interesting part is- this is not only being targeted at union members, it's also being targeted at ma...

Air New Zealand has signed its largest deal yet for sustainable aviation fuel. The airline purchased 9 million litres of fuel from provider Neste, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions up to 80 percent compared to fossil jet fuel. Chief Sustainability Officer Kiri Hannifin supports mandating other airlines follow suit to decarbonise. "All of aviation is required to decarbonise, so we all ha...

The Government is being accused of throwing coal on the climate crisis fire. A new Resource Management Amendment Bill to be introduced next month will ease consenting for coal mines. Labour brought in the controls to end consents for existing thermal coal mines after 2030. Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says New Zealand has been phasing out coal over the last few years. "The last time Shane Jone...

The Telecommunications Commissioner says he's disappointed about alleged breaches of the 111 Contact code by telco One New Zealand. The code is designed to protect consumers without copper landline connections. One New Zealand has been accused of failing to provide customers with a way to call 111 in a power cut. Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson says the company would have been aware of its obligat...

There's more details on the finances of Stuff's new agreement with Warner Brothers Discovery. The Newshub owner signed a deal with Stuff yesterday to produce and provide a daily bulletin on TV Three from July 6, following Newshub's closure. Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher says they'll bring over some Newshub employees, but fewer than the 40 or 50 proposed by staff. Herald Editor-at-large Shayne Currie sa...