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Act is joining National in demanding Michael Wood be fired from Cabinet. Wood remains on stand-down as Transport Minister, after it was revealed he was asked to sell his Auckland Airport shares twelve times, rather than the six times previously reported. It's also emerged he declined an application from the North Shore Aerodrome while he held those airport shares. ACT leader David Seymour says Woo...

The golf world was shocked by the unexpected merger between two rival ventures. Saudi Arabia backed- LIV Golf will join forces with the PGA Tour, creating a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour. NZ Open Tournament Director Michael Glading described this news as a complete 'about-face' for PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. "I guess sadly, as is happening in al...

The scales have just tipped for Michael Wood, haven’t they? He cannot come back from this , his time as Transport Minister has got to be over . We've just learned in the last two hours   that the Cabinet Office didn’t ask Michael Wood half a dozen times whether he’d sold his shares yet. It was a dozen times. That’s right, 12 times. 19 November 2020 , 9 December 2020 , 14 December 2020, 24 March 20...

Prince Harry unexpectedly skipped the first day of his phone hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers. His lawyer later said the royal was celebrating his daughter Lilibet's second birthday. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the judge had ordered Harry to appear, as all witnesses needed to be available to provide evidence. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This evening on The Huddle, former Labour Press Secretary Kaine Thompson and David Farrar, Kiwiblog contributor and Curia pollster, joined in on a discussion about the following news of the day- and more!  Minister Michael Wood is facing backlash over his failure to disclose his Auckland Airport shares. Chris Hipkins has stood him down as Transport Minister, while he sorts out issues around the co...

Synlait Milk's shares surged by 16 percent after renewing their license to produce infant formula for the world's most populous nation. Investors regained confidence in the brand after they successfully secured the right to produce A2 Milk's infant formula for the Chinese market. HighGround Dairy global dairy consultant Stuart Davison says this unexpected jump was a result of the market not pricin...

Despite the looming threat of Clean Car penalties, Ford Rangers still lead the market. According to new data released by the Motor Industry Association, at least 983 Rangers were registered locally in May, beating out the Toyota RAV4 and the Hilux. The Country's Jamie Mackay says everyone is charging in to buy utes before July 1, when Clean Car levies drive prices up. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.c...

Former Canterbury player and coach Rob Penney is set to take over as coach of the Crusaders by 2024. The 59-year-old is 'excited and honoured' to immerse himself within his new team as incumbent Scott Robertson departs to lead the All Blacks. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says Rob Penney has plenty of experience and understands the culture of Crusaders rugby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/li...

A sweeping review into the country's electoral system recommends a shake-up of MMP is needed to create a fairer and more accessible democracy. This draft report has recommended the 5 percent threshold to get into Parliament be lowered to 3.5 percent, the voting age to be lowered to 16 and a public referendum on a longer Parliamentary term. The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji thinks the thresh...

Teachers and parents are concerned about the impact Andrew Tate may have on a generation of young men. The controversial influencer has described himself as 'the king of toxic masculinity', and education officials are worried about his content radicalising students. Educator and activist Richie Hardcore shares their concerns, claiming that young listeners have been taken in by his explicitly sexis...

Apple has unveiled one of its most ambitious new hardware products in years. It has released the mixed reality headset, officially named Vision Pro, at its Worldwide Developers Conference. The headset looks like a hi-tech ski mask and is powered by a battery pack worn on the body. It's controlled by tracking users' hands, voice and eyes. BusinessDesk's Peter Griffin says it's meant to create a bet...

If there was one King’s Birthday honour I that was really pleased to see handed out this past weekend, it was the one given to Nicky Hager. I realise Nicky is a controversial figure, because Nicky- quite deliberately it would seem- inserts himself and his reporting into election campaigns  Which means he often becomes the villain to the group of voters supporting the target of his investigation. W...

The Health Minister denies the Government is going soft on vaping. From August, all stores can no longer sell disposable vapes and all devices must have removable batteries. New retailers can't set up within 300 metres of schools and marae. Flavours with childlike names appealing to the young - such as candy floss - will be dumped. Ayesha Verrall says they didn't consult on making vapes prescripti...

National are criticising Minister Michael Wood over his failure to declare his Auckland Airport shares. The Prime Minister has stood him down as Transport Minister while he sorts out issues around the conflict of interest. In the House, it was revealed Wood met airport executives on at least eight occasions. National's Auckland spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says Michael Wood is in an 'untenable' pos...

Transport Minister Michael Wood is facing widespread criticism over failing to declare his shares in Auckland Airport. Prime Minitser Chris Hipkins has stood Michael Wood down effective immediately, while any conflict of interest over his Auckland Airport shares is resolved.  ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Michael Wood has taken decisions that could amount to a conflict of in...

Australian homeowners will be feeling the pinch as the RBA lifts the OCR by a further 25 basis points. The Reserve Bank's decision to hike the OCR puts the cash rate at 4.1 percent, the highest it's been in 11 years. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says over 47 percent of homeowners have asked their banks to decrease or defer payments, and this increase will be another blow to them. "How...

Schools across the country have scrapped NCEA Level One- but one Auckland school is bringing it back. Auckland's Whangaparāoa College is reintroducing the full program next year for Year 10 and 11 students. Principal Steve McCracken says community and stakeholder voices indicate the time is right to bring back these academic standards, after discontinuing them in 2020. "After a consultation in our...

Police will be trialling electric vehicles as motorway patrol units as part of a 1.7 million dollar operation. Police Fleet Manager Brian Yanko told Jack Tame that the fleet is currently responsible for 51% of the Police’s carbon footprint, so they are under a lot of pressure to start mitigating that as fast as they can. The five vehicles will be deployed for testing in five different areas around...

Consumer NZ is calling for the Commerce Commission to investigate New Zealand businesses under claims of greenwashing. They used Air New Zealand as an example, saying that most of their compostable cups wind up in landfill. GoodSense Managing Director Kath Dewar told Jack Tame that although businesses mean well, they tend to be loose in what they say. She says companies need to be more frank with...

A jury will be asked to decide if the woman accused of murdering her three children in their Timaru home was insane at the time. Lauren Dickason allegedly killed 6-year-old Liané and 2-year-old twins Maya and Karla in September 2021. She appeared in the High Court at Christchurch today, where it was confirmed she'll mount a defence of insanity and infanticide at her trial, which begins next month....

Congress has approved the debt ceiling deal, the motion passing through with 63:36 votes. This has been done almost a hundred times previously. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Jack Tame that politically, this is like shooting yourself in the foot. He said that coming into the election season this will become fuel for politicians on both sides of the divide to use against each other. LISTEN AB...

Shock continues to reverberate around the Northland town of Kaikohe after a woman died in an apparent home invasion. Police have launched a homicide investigation after they were called to reports of an intruder at the property around 11.30 last night. Our newsroom understands a dialysis patient was seriously injured in the ensuing struggle and died at the scene. Far North Mayor Moko Tepania told...

It’s interesting how much the prescription fee contraceptive debate has really ticked off the National party. Several of the party’s most prominent female MPs have come out firing over the last couple of days, accusing Labour of having overstepped the line for what is and isn’t appropriate in an election campaign. I think Megan Woods’ social media post comparing New Zealand under National to The H...

This evening on The Huddle, Director of Government Relations for BRG Georgina Stylianou and ZB’s Wellington host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Wayne Brown put forward his final proposal for Auckland’s Budget in an invite only press conference earlier today. In a comment to Stuff, the Mayor’s press secretary said they invited those they felt “...

Despite the commentary over the last year that New Zealand has become an unwelcoming or undesirable place for migrants, figures show otherwise. Annualising the immigration rates from the last four to five months reveals a net population gain of over 100-thousand. NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Jack Tame that it’s unknown whether this current rate of immigration will last, but in the shor...