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National leader Chris Luxon today revealed National's plan to boost education if elected. Students would be required to spend an hour per day on reading, writing, and mathematics, with standardised tests twice a year for Years 3-8. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says that Hipkins criticising Luxon for turning education into a political football is 'rich', given Labour's first move...

An unlikely new addition to the Beef and Lamb New Zealand board is making waves in the red meat industry. Groundswell-backed farmer Geoffrey Young has recently been elected to the Beef and Lamb New Zealand board, having won the election by 8,777 weighted votes. Geoffrey Young beat out incumbent director and chair Andrew Morrison by 2,190 votes. Jamie Mackay says Geoffrey Young wants to rectify the...

Chief economist Paul Conway has issued a warning as the Reserve Bank works to curb inflation. Paul Conway says New Zealand is at risk of a deeper recession if businesses and workers try to counter the effects of inflation through higher wages and profit margins. NZ Herald business editor Liam Dann says if consumers keep spending, it'll get harder to keep inflation under control. LISTEN ABOVE See o...

Central banks across the world are cooling rate hikes down, but New Zealand isn't so lucky. The US Federal Bank says they're not predicting a recession, the Bank of Canada has stopped hiking rates and the Australian Reserve Bank says they're near the end of their rate hiking cycle. Meanwhile, New Zealand's OCR is still likely to grow and economists everywhere are still predicting a recession. Inde...

Teachers everywhere are reacting and responding to National's new education policy outline. National leader Chris Luxon said if elected, the party would require primary school students to spend an hour per day on reading, mathematics and writing, with standardised tests twice a year. Auckland Primary Principal's Association president Kyle Brewerton says there are some good points in the outline an...

Bad day in the Local Government New Zealand offices today, because Auckland Council just gave them the flick. This is what happens when you don’t read the room and try to force an unpopular policy like Three Waters on people. I'll explain to you what happened here; Local Government NZ is the body that is supposed to represent all the councils across the country and go in to bat for them. That's wh...

Visitors to Rotorua's Blue Lake will need to walk a little further to dispose of rubbish. Rotorua Lakes Council has removed all the rubbish bins around the lake with no consultation, saying that the rubbish was attracting wasps.  Last week the Council removed seven wasp nests from the area, and waste and climate change manager Craig Goodwin said it hoped people would take their rubbish with them i...

Auckland's Mayor has dubbed Local Government New Zealand "a waste of money". Wayne Brown used his casting vote on leaving Local Government NZ at a council meeting today. Brown says some councillors were treating the $640,000 membership like "coins down the back of the couch". "But if we don't start counting $650,000 coins regularly, we're going to end up with another $295 million dollar hole." LGN...

The Warehouse Group has confirmed it's axing 340 jobs at their Auckland Support Office after a significant earnings drop. The company has reported Net Profit After Tax for the six months to January is down 60.9 percent compared to the same period in the previous financial year. Devon Funds Management retail head, Greg Smith says people's spending has changed as the cost of living has tightened. "3...

The Education Minister's musing about working on New Zealand's education system with National. National has released a plan, requiring schools to do at least an hour a day of learning in reading, writing and maths. The party would also require twice yearly standardised tests in Years Three through Eight. Jan Tinetti disagrees with the approach, but says she'd like to work together on solutions. "I...

Signs the Government may have a lead foot with its plans to boost EV infrastructure. Its' Charging our Future program includes a target of having charging hubs every 150 to 200 kilometres on main highways. Charging company Jolt NZ Country Manager Chris Monaghan says it's more like a plan for where the infrastructure needs to be in 10 years. He says right now they need charging infrastructure in th...

Boris Johnson has submitted more evidence ahead of his televised grilling session. The former Prime Minister is expected to prove he didn't deliberately mislead Parliament over his appearance at a forbidden gathering during the Covid-19 lockdowns. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Boris Johnson has released and published a statement to a cross-party committee of his former MPs ahead of the hearing....

Tonight on The Huddle, ZB host Tim Beveridge and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day: Posie Parker has gotten clearance to come to New Zealand, what kind of protests will come from this? Was it the right decision to let her bring her divisive rallies to our nation?  Chris Luxon says National plans to go back to education...

Former President Donald Trump has braced himself for a predicted indictment today. Over the weekend, Donald Trump proclaimed on his social media platform that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday (Wednesday NZT). So far, no charges have been filed. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson says there is a chance an indictment could be handed down tomorrow, but what happens next is pure speculation. Dan Mit...

The US Federal Reserve will hold their first meeting after two high-profile banking failures. The collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will introduce a 50 point rate hike to curb inflation. Infometrics Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan says the Federal Reserve has a difficult choice to make between putting extra strain on the banks an...

NZX-listed retail businesses have been reporting their latest financial results.  Financial markets are focused on these results to track consumer spending trends to predict how close the nation is to the predicted recession. Milford Asset Management equities analyst Jeremy Hutton says there are some early cracks starting to form in consumer spending. Jeremy Hutton says that Briscoes and The Wareh...

Households may need to tighten their belts further to adjust to the cost of living. ASB's latest economic research confirms debt servicing, food prices, and transport costs will raise weekly household outgoings by an extra $150. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says mortgage increases are the primary factor in these predicted rising living costs. Jenee Tibshraeny says the aver...

The Ministry of Social Development is the first in the world to launch an approach to family harm prevention. The $6.4 million "Love Better" campaign is aimed to help young people through break ups and develop positive life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. Associate Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan says the campaign was wanted by the 1200 young people they surveyed. She says it's about youth, f...

The National Party is planning for a big shake up in schools. It wants to prioritise the teaching of reading, writing, maths and science , saying those are the essential subjects to set children for life. Leader Chris Luxon says our standards on the world stage have fallen after we were previously in the top 10 globally. He says the current situation can't continue. "Last year for the first time w...

Christchurch surgeons are urgently trying to find a solution to the uptick in cancelled surgeries. Several senior surgeons met with Christchurch health officials today to discuss the increase in cancelled operations and ever-growing wait lists. Surgeons are claiming 50 percent of planned cancer surgeries have been cut. Colorectal surgeon Chris Wakeman was among the concerned experts at this meetin...

A red flag's been raised over a lack of tug boats fit for work in Cook Strait. Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor, and Greater Wellington Regional Chair Daran Ponter, have written to Transport Minister Michael Wood raising concerns. In January, Interislander's Kaitaki drifted toward Wellington's South Coast after losing power with more than 800 people on board. Ponter says it's likely the port's tugs...

The rainbow community is preparing to face off with anti-transgender activist Posie Parker. Immigration New Zealand is not withdrawing Parker's visa-waiver status, despite her rallies in Melbourne attracting neo-Nazis. Now, protesters are organising demonstrations against her events in Auckland and Wellington this weekend. Auckland Pride executive director Max Tweedie says they'll follow a success...

Kiwi long-distance runner Zane Robertson has been suspended from the sport for 8 years for EPA use. The former Olympian and 5000m Glasgow Commonwealth Games bronze medallist tested positive for the prohibited substance and was caught tampering with the investigation. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says this 8-year ban will also include his coaching role within the industry.  LISTEN ABOVE See om...

Immigration NZ has given anti-trans activist Posie Parker clearance to enter the country. The agency has ruled there's no reason to believe Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker will threaten public order or interest. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Immigration Minister Michael Wood had condemned Posie Parker's behaviour as 'inflammatory' and 'vile'. Barry Soper s...

Long distance runner Zane Robertson has been issued an 8-year ban for doping. Zane Robertson tested positive for a prohibited substance, EPO, and was found to have tampered with the doping control process. Drug Free Sport Chief Executive Nick Paterson says they'd been monitoring their overseas athletes during the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing intelligence led to them testing Robertson. "We didn't...