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Ministers from several major parties are expected to go head to head at tonight's Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek. Damien O’Connor (Labour), Eugenie Sage (Green Party), Todd McClay (National), Andrew Hoggard (Act), and Mark Patterson (New Zealand First) will discuss the issues impacting the region's rural community. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains what can be expected. LISTEN ABOVE See om...

Economists are braced for a small bounce-back ahead of next week's GDP numbers. The last set of GDP figures released in June 2023 put New Zealand in a recession. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann says China's downturn could still drag New Zealand down further into recession. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi farmers may be expected to do more than their fair share to meet methane reduction targets. A new scientific report from the Universities of Oxford and Cranfield has raised questions about the ambition of New Zealand’s methane reduction targets- and the responsibility falling on farmers. Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says farmers have been told they're responsible for half of New...

A Restore Passenger Rail protestor is standing by the group's decision to spray-paint a luxury Wellington car dealership. Three protestors threw paint at the Gazley Motor Group building on Cambridge Terrace and glued themselves to the footpath. The trio were subsequently arrested and charges are being considered. Spokesperson James Cockle claims the luxury cars sold by the dealership are a symbol...

An Australian multimillionaire property developer is being slammed for his views on unemployment. Tim Gurner has told the Financial Review Property Summit a sharp rise in unemployment is the only way to lift productivity. He says there needs to be pain in the economy to remind employees they work for the employer, not the other way around. Sydney University Business School associate professor Chri...

Wellington City Council may need to slash tens of millions of dollars off its budget. City Councillor Diane Calvert says they've had a behind closed doors meeting on the state of the council's finances. She sought legal advice to reveal the financial details and says capital expenditure needs to be cut by tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, in the coming years. She says these financial p...

Three economists have teamed up to scrutinise part of National's tax plan. The party's proposed ending the ban on foreign buyers - for homes worth more than $2 million- and taxing them 15 percent. It expects foreigners will buy 1700 houses valued on average at around $2.9 million. But economist Michael Reddell says it'll be more like 700 in that price range. "That $2 million threshold really does...

Winston Peters won't close the door on sitting with ACT leader David Seymour around the Cabinet table. Depending where the chips fall at next month's election - both parties could be in the Beehive as part of a National-led government. But Peters and Seymour don't see eye to eye, with the latter categorically ruling out working with New Zealand First. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper...

The Australian High Court has revealed every single one of their current judges is a member of Qantas' exclusive Chairman's Lounge. Described as the 'most exclusive' club in the country, the invitation-only club offers their hand-picked members extra perks on demand. This comes as Qantas is facing legal action for sacking 1700 staff members during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Australian co...

Shaun Johnson has sat out Thursday's Warriors training due to his calf injury- but coach Andrew Webster is still holding out hope.  Webster insists the halfback's likely to play in Saturday's do-or-die NRL finals clash with the Knights at Mt Smart. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains what this could mean for the events of Saturday's match. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

The country's three biggest education unions have joined forces to put education funding on the political agenda this election campaign. A new BERL report has found public spending per student in 2019 was nearly 25 percent lower than the OECD average. Tertiary Education Union National President Julie Douglas says more investment would allow better decisions about the sort of system we want. "I thi...

The UK GDP figures are in- and the economy shrunk more than expected in July. The 0.5 percent contraction was worse than economists had predicted, and sparked concerns of recession. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says industrial action from healthcare workers and teachers and terrible weather are being blamed for the downturn. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A weighed in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Yesterday's PREFU was eye-opening, and it raised the questions: Should National revise their plan for tax cuts? Can we actually afford them? US News' Best Countries list has concluded New Zealand has amazi...

The economic outlook and Government books were in better shape than predicted, but Treasury has issued a warning following PREFU. According to one expert, Treasury claimed Government spending had exceeded the signalled Budget allowance in recent times- creating a grim outlook for the future. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen warned further decisions around additional spending will have to...

Returns on low-risk managed funds, including Kiwisaver's Conservative and Moderate funds have been underperforming in recent years. Kiwisaver's Conservative fund has delivered users 0.8 per annum over the last 5 years, as the financial climate gets more turbulent. Milford Asset Management's Mark Riggall explains the dip in returns for investors. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Higher-than-expected net migration is promised to prop up economic growth and fuel the property market- but Treasury has other ideas. Treasury doesn't believe the influx of new people will improve the nation's productivity- rather, it believes the demand generated will outweigh the boost to the labour market and keep inflation high. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explores po...

Julian Savea says he's nowhere close to retirement. The barnstorming outside back is on the move from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika for next year's Super Rugby campaign. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did I have a debate on my hands when I got home last night about the country’s debt levels.  The husband gave me a huge telling off for saying yesterday that the Government had taken on too much debt.   So I feel like I need to clear this up : I don’t mind the level of debt New Zealand has . We've heard this a thousand times, but it’s worth saying again- we have very little debt in contrast to oth...

Another slide for Labour in tonight's One News-Verian poll, with the National Party up two points to 39 percent, and Labour down one to 28. The Greens and ACT are both down, on 10 percent. Winston Peters' New Zealand First is back in the game, up one to poll 5 percent. The Battle of the Chrises is neck and neck with both on 23 percent as preferred Prime Minister- Hipkins is up 2 percent, and Luxon...

Labour says the pandemic showed a need for more local healthcare worker training. The party's announced it'll train another 335 doctors every year from 2027- and increase medical school places from next year. Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says they've already increased the workforce by 2,000 people. "So I think the National Party's attack line - that this should've happened earlier - is negat...

Experts are hoping to get to the bottom of mysterious banging noises coming from below an Auckland home. For months, noises have reverberated from beneath the Forrest Hill house, on the North Shore - with council officials yet to figure out its origins. Neighbour Lizzie Oakes hopes a new development may help solve the puzzle. "I think an engineer has made contact with the homeowner, they seem to t...

Former Qantas staff will be chasing compensation, after Australia's High Court has upheld a decision against the airline. It's agreed the airline illegally sacked more than 1700 workers during Covid. It breached the Fair Work Act by outsourcing baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff. The Australian Transport Workers' Union's Nick McIntosh says the next step is going back to the federal court....

ACT thinks more people should be in jail. The party's law and order policy would invest $1 billion into 500 more prison beds, and toughen sentences for offending against vulnerable workers. Leader David Seymour says the Government has tried letting criminals out of prison. He says a Ministry of Justice survey shows the result. "Victimisations are up by about 30 percent in 5 years, but the human pr...

Labour's pledging to lift medical school places by 95 a year from 2025, in New Zealand's largest boost ever. Chris Hipkins says if re-elected, they'll lift training 62 percent over the coming decade. Labour's extra places amount to 874 doctors trained each year by 2027- beating out National's promised 759 by 2030. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this scheme is the latest strateg...

Division among Republicans, over a push to impeach democratic President Joe Biden. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's asking for a formal investigation, calling the President's dealings corruption. He alleges Biden used his power to facilitate his son's business deals - and benefited. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Kevin McCarthy's under pressure from fellow Republicans to push this inves...