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Chair of ACC and Pharmac, Steve Maharey is facing criticism for penning articles critical of National. These comments draw comparison to former Te Whatu Ora board chair Rob Campbell, who was sacked after attacking the opposition on LinkedIn. Minister-in-charge Ayesha Verall has rejected Maharey's offer of resignation. Barry Soper, ZB's senior political correspondent says that the same rules around...

Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea is awaiting disciplinary action for controversial throat-slitting gesture. Ardie Savea was brought before the Citing Commissioner yesterday to determine the consequences for his role in Friday's on-field scuffle against a Melbourne Rebels player. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says Ardie Savea will likely receive a brief suspension, with the Citing Commissioner se...

The Australian Reserve Bank has increased the OCR by a further 25 basis points to 3.6 percent. This has been the 10th rate rise in a row, putting the OCR at its' highest point in 11 years in an attempt to curb inflation. HSBC Chief Economist Paul Bloxham is not surprised by this rate hike, saying economists predicted this was coming. Paul Bloxham says the RBA might consider pausing their rate hike...

Farmers are concerned the latest relief fund boost won't be enough to cover all the cyclone damage. The Government announced yesterday that another $26 million dollar support package to help farmers and growers devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle would be given out. The Country's Jamie Mackay says there's no easy way out of this, as the final stats around the Cyclone Gabrielle damage are still unknown...

There's been some growing opposition to the proposed RMA reform. The Government is seeking to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Natural and Built Environments Bill (NABE) and debates about the bill have cropped up following Cyclone Gabrielle. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says that this Government has pushed a lot of controversial reforms through, and the RMA propo...

Wellington brewery Parrotdog is looking to expand into Auckland. The brewery is seeking up $4 million in capital raise to fund this brand expansion, and have already received $1.2 million towards this goal. Parrotdog Brewery managing director Paul Watson says he's happy with how the raise is progressing and looks forward to a strong finish. Paul Watson is confident that there's demand for craft be...

Pharmac has announced they will be funding two new lung cancer treatments from April 1st. Keytruda and Tecentrig are commonly used to treat people with locally advanced and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who fit the criteria. The Cancer Society approves this funding decision, as lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in New Zealand. Cancer Society CEO Lucy Elwood says 700 patient...

It looks as though the ACC and Pharmac Chair will keep his job after criticising the National Party. Steve Maharey is in a similar position to that of dismissed public servant Rob Campbell, however the Prime Minister says Campbell went further and the pair aren't in the same category. Former politician and political commentator Peter Dunne says if you're serving the Government, you need to be impa...

I think the Nats are onto something by targeting the Government’s consultancy spend over the last year. It is huge, $1.2 billion dollars on record. The year before, it was closer to $900m, so it went up by a third in one year.  That should've set off alarm bells for anyone in The Beehive, but they just pushed on with it. Such is their attitude, I suspect, to using money. A lot of this is just a co...

Australia's cash rate has been hiked for the tenth time in a row to its highest point in 11 years. The Reserve Bank of Australia has increased it by 0.25 percent to 3.6 percent in an attempt to reduce inflation. Correspondent Murray Olds says this will affect people across the board. "More pain for people who are renting, because of course people who are renting have to pay the rent to someone who...

A sign of the times in Auckland as tens of thousands of eager fans flock to see Harry Styles. The star's performing at Mount Smart Stadium tonight, with queues starting to form outside the stadium from 4:00am this morning. One concert-goer, Emily Calbert says she was in line from 6:30am. "They said that the doors would open around 8, and that was our original plan, but then we did actually speak t...

Three security guards were left injured by streakers at the Warriors game on Friday night. It's sparked calls for stricter punishments toward pitch-invaders. Two guards suffered hand injuries while one was hospitalised with a concussion after tussling with streakers at the game in Wellington. Sky Stadium CEO Shane Harmon says $5,000 fines should be in place for all sporting events. "Those fines ar...

Warnings consultants might be slipping bias into Government. The core public service spent $1.2 billion dollars on contractors and consultants for the 2021 to 2022 financial year. A political analyst says big consultancy firms are advising Government, but also have commercial clients. Victoria University's Bryce Edwards says we can't trust they're playing with a straight bat. "In the health sector...

Questions arise over Wellington City Council's plans for water services. Wellington City Council has declined Wellington Water's $10 million dollar funding request, dishing out $2.3 million dollars instead. Wellington Council believes Wellington Water won't be able to spend $10 million dollars because they won't have the resources for it. Nicola Young, a Wellington City councillor says Wellington...

Thousands of people are protesting in Greece after last week's deadly rail disaster. People are blaming the rail company, the current Government and several successive Governments for the 57 deaths caused by the incident. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says that people have been driven to anger over perceived Government incompetence, and ineptitude and corruption played a role in the disaster.  LISTE...

Today on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Kaine Thompson, former Labour Press Secretary joined in on a discussion about the following topics:  Should Christchurch become a super city? Is Auckland a better city because of it? Michael Wood launched a new emissions-focused transport scheme to boost buses and cycleways- and walked it back to focus on an emergency-style policy in a matte...

Ardie Savea is set to face disciplinary action from the Sanzaar Foul Play Review Committee. The Hurricanes captain was cited after making a throat-slitting gesture to Melbourne Rebels halfback Ryan Louwrens after an altercation last Friday. Weekend Sport host Jason Pine says Ardie Savea will face some sort of sanction for his actions, but he believes the citation is 'ridiculous'. LISTEN ABOVE See...

There's a growing desire to tighten up access to vaping and find a better middle ground. In Australia, nicotine vapes have been classified as prescription medicines since October 2021. Royal NZ College of GP's medical director Bryan Betty says he wants them only available here through pharmacies, or through Quitline. Bryan Betty says an unintended consequence of vapes being readily available is mo...

Both Hipkins and Luxon have had eventful weeks in their political careers. Chris Hipkins delivered his State of the Nation address and proposed the FamilyBoost childcare tax scheme, which would give families a 25 percent rebate on their early childhood education expenses. NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says Luxon's proposed FamilyBoost childcare tax scheme was a smart drive into Labour'...

Transport Minister Michael Wood infamously released details about an emissions-focused transport plan. Hours later, Wood walked back on the scheme to focus on a new "emergency style" government policy following Cyclone Gabrielle. Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the Government definitely won't be increasing fuel taxes now that the scheme is scrapped. "In the future, some future Government wil...

Georgina Beyer - the world's first openly transgender MP - is being remembered as a "force to be reckoned with". The 65-year-old died this afternoon in hospice care in Wellington. She was elected as Mayor of Carterton in 1995 and entered Parliament for Wairarapa as a Labour MP in 1999. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Beyer had a great sense of humour. "Her friends who were wit...

Qantas workers at Melbourne Airport are planning to strike for 24 hours this week. Staff are threatening to not re-fuel planes as they advocate for better pay and working conditions. International correspondent Oliver Peterson says this could cause chaos. "This could obviously cause massive issues, particularly for Qantas being the biggest tenant of the airport. But you imagine the flow-on effect...

There's opposition to making Christchurch a super city. Moves to overhaul New Zealand’s local body system has prompted a submission from the City Council calling for a new structure for the city. City councillors unanimously agreed to the submission, although two disagreed with the bid to become a super city, known in legislation as a unitary authority. Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton says it sounds li...

Auckland Transport is assuring cyclists a traffic light in the middle of a cycle lane on Tamaki Drive is only temporary. Deputy mayor Desley Simpson has expressed anger at the signals in the $14 million dollar cycle lane. But Infrastructure Project Delivery Group Manager David Nelson says the cycle lane will close soon to give workers space to widen nearby Ngapipi Bridge. But he's conceded communi...

The Education Ministry's considering changes to new literacy and numeracy tests like fewer questions, simpler language and letting students use spell-check. Documents obtained by RNZ show the Education Ministry and Qualifications Authority have been at odds about the tests' high failure rates. In a pilot last year, there was a 34 percent pass rate in writing, 56 percent in maths, and 64 percent in...