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National's crying foul over the Reserve Bank's assessment into its own monetary policy practices. The central bank's released a report card on its monetary policy decisions over the last five years. According to ANZ economists, the Reserve Bank's given itself a pass mark- but with some 'room for improvement'. National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says the report falls short of what New Zea...

The Government  has recently announced that they will implement open banking, a system of sharing customer data used overseas. Open banking means that banks will be required to share data with competitors so customers can access better deals or compare packages. Banks will also be able to share the customer information with financial advisors and other third party services, if the customer request...

The Reserve Bank has recently published a report about the last five financial years, in order to review the decisions they've made. They've acknowledged these last five years have presented a unique challenge due to the pandemic, and said their Covid-19 response was both consistent with the data they had and avoided any worst case financial scenarios. The Reserve Bank has also acknowledged in the...

Customer data from Australian health insurance company Medibank has been uploaded to the dark web after hackers managed to steal it. This information belongs to 9.7 million present and former customers, and includes sensitive information such as birth dates, addresses, and Government ID numbers. In addition, the hackers have also posted information relating to medical procedures primarily linked t...

The Black Ferns have confirmed their match-day 23 lineup for this weekend's Rugby World Cup final against England. The lineup is roughly the same as the one from the previous semifinal, with only one notable injury-induced change. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, who sustained a thumb injury partway through the semifinal match against France, will be replaced by Charmaine McMenamin. D'Arcy Waldegrave explains...

Republicans in the US aren't breaking out the champagne yet. Audiences hoping TV anchors will tell them who'll control the Senate are still waiting - but the Republicans seem likely to have won the House of Representatives. The Senate could come down to a December run-off election, in Georgia. Matt Terrill is a former campaign manager for Republican Marco Rubio. He says some of the Senate races ar...

Over in the UK, Rishi Sunak's Cabinet Office minister Gavin Williamson has abruptly resigned from Parliament following allegations of unethical behaviour. The allegations involve Gavin Williamson having many unpleasant interactions with fellow staff members, the most recent of which involved him allegedly telling a senior civil servant to "slit your throat". UK correspondent Gavin Grey explained t...

Tech company Pushpay is currently under offer, and new data from today suggests that the company will miss some long term targets. As such, people have raised concerns about the company's price, as they feel it doesn't match the current stock price on offer. Milford Asset Management Portfolio Manager Sam Trethewey explained why Pushpay is undergoing a downswing and why investors are concerned.  LI...

According to new data, retail cart spending on non-essential items has gone up again this year. Stats NZ says that electronic card spending climbed an extra $88 million, across categories like appliances, furniture, liquor, and apparel. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen explained that this data is surprising, because it indicates that higher interest rates haven't hit yet. Brad Olsen sugg...

A $50 million Maari oil deal that has been in the works since 2019 has recently been axed due to regulatory uncertainty. Jadestone Energy was set to take a 69 percent stake in this deal, but initiated the axing of this deal in a statement they posted.  Andrew Jeffries, the managing director of New Zealand Oil and Gas explained the regulatory uncertainty established by the Government, and how disap...

The High Court has recently ordered that the plans to burn and destroy some Department of Conservation-operated huts in the Te Urewera region be shut down. The Tūhoe settlement entity had planned on demolishing 48 huts, which inspired protests from hikers, hunters, and recreationists, as well as some Tūhoe members. Pete Shaw, a conservationist, says that destroying the huts was an insane decision,...

Today on The Huddle: Mike Munro, former Labour Party Chief of Staff and Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR discussed the following topics- and more! How accurate were Allan Dick's controversial comments about the Northland region? Was it fair of him to compare it to third world countries? The Government has announced that they plan to give more power to the Commerce Commission when it comes to r...

Travel journalist Allan Dick has recently come under fire for his comments about the Northland region. He travelled around Northland in his motor home and compared some of what he witnessed to third world countries, with the heartbreaking conditions and squalor being described in his writing. Allan Dick says that New Zealand's far north region was set in two halves, and stood by his comments that...

Lesley Murdoch, former international cricketer  and hockey player, has just been elected President of New Zealand Cricket. She will be the second woman in the history of the organisation to fill the role, following the previous President Debbie Hockley. Lesley Murdoch says she's excited to take up the position, but it won't interfere with her slot on ZB Canterbury's All Sport Breakfast. There's a...

The Government's rolling out a package to maintain supply stock resilience by telling importers and wholesalers they must keep minimum fuel stocks onshore. A regulatory backstop will also let the Commerce Commission set fair prices, if needed. But Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says it's not about intervening just because the price is too high. A new lever for setting fuel prices isn't...

The Republicans look poised to claim the US House of Representatives - but votes on the Senate are still too close to call. Results are flooding in as polls close for the nation's midterm elections, which decide who controls the two Chambers of Congress. A Republican-ruled Congress could leave Democrat President Joe Biden hamstrung and unable to pass laws. TVNZ US correspondent Anna-Burns Francis...

The Government has leased commercial office space in Central Auckland for the Three Waters transition team at a $2 million per year cost. This lease is set to last until July 1st, 2024, with the potential to be renewed further in the coming years. This decision has been viewed as controversial. Political editor Barry Soper feels that this arrangement is Labour 'putting the cart before the horse' p...

The US midterm elections are currently underway, and Joe Biden looks likely to become a broken wing President. The Democrats appear to be losing in plenty of key states, and Southern states in particular are favouring Trump-endorsed candidates. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson says the Republicans are strong in the Senate, House and Governor races. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Sepp Blatter, the former President of FIFA, has recently said that picking Qatar as a location for the upcoming 2022 World Cup was a 'mistake'. Sepp Blatter went on to say that Qatar wouldn't work for hosting the World Cup, as the region was 'too small' for football and the FIFA World Cup. D'Arcy Waldegrave, host of Sportstalk, addressed these statements and pointed out that the size of Qatar wasn...

NZ Initiative Executive Director Oliver Hartwich recently wrote an opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald describing the current education system as a 'disaster'. The piece called for better educational training and more defined career structure for teachers in order to improve our nation's educational rankings in reading and mathematics. Oliver Hartwich went on to explain that this current educa...

Of course, the Prime Minster took a swipe at banks yesterday saying their profits are not ‘justifiable’.  Banks are easy targets. It’s good politics. But will she actually put her money where her mouth is and do anything to rein in banks?  No of course not. And actually nor should she.  What are banks actually doing wrong?  Far as I can see, they’re only doing what any good business would do. Whic...

Over in the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron are reaching a new deal to address the challenge posed by an uptick in migrant boat crossings. The deal will involve British border force officers in the French control centres in Northern France seeing the intelligence come through in real time in order to stop people being pushed out on boats in the first place. UK c...

Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell has recently announced that she plans on reversing the previous plan to sell 10 reserve sites off for housing development. The Rotorua council will meet to discuss this further on Thursday, where the proposal will be discussed further. In the leadup to this meeting, Tania Tapsell explained that the aforementioned decision wasn't made with the people of Rotorua in mind a...

The Country's Jamie Mackay recently got into it with Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor about the best use for farmland. Jamie Mackay argued (and still agrees) that the best sheep and beef farming regions in New Zealand shouldn't be converted into land for pine trees.  Jamie Mackay further explained that New Zealand is the dominant force in low emission and high intensity meat production, so...

Today on The Huddle: Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Jordan Williams, Taxpayer Union Executive Director joined us to talk about the following topics- and more! Jacinda Ardern is criticising high profits yet not willing to do anything about it- Sam Stubbs wants a inquiry into bank profiteering, would he ever get one? Adrian Orr gets reappointed for another 5 years, was this a...