Politics Central

20 years on and many are looking back at the 9/11 attacks in the US. The terrorist strikes killed almost three thousand people, two of them New Zealanders. The attack caused former US President George W. Bush to launch a war on terror. Helen Clark was Prime Minister at the time and says that didn't improve the situation. She says many groups still operate today and New Zealand has recently felt th...

83 new cases of Covid-19 were announced today.  Of the new cases, 82 are in Auckland and one is in Wellington - a close contact of a previous case.  It brings the total number of cases in the outbreak to 496 in Auckland and 15 in Wellington.  Epidemiologist Michael Baker says he'd like to see each day us looking at how people caught the virus.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

ACT party leader David Seymour gives his thoughts on the vaccine roll out, the future of our Covid 19 elimination strategy, and the news that signing into locations has now become mandatory. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 more cases in the community today with cabinet to meet tomorrow to deliberate whether New Zealand's lockdown is extended. But epidemiologist at The University of Auckland Rod Jackson says there's cause for optimism. He says "it's really easy to stop an outbreak" and that we can knock this on the head in a couple of weeks if New Zealander's all follow the rules. But he also had a dire warning, s...

Epidemiologist and Professor at the University of Otago Michael Baker chatted with The Weekend Collective about why kids are getting sick with the Delta variant. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Weekend Collective chatted to National Māori Authority chairman Matthew Tukaki about what Troy Bowker exiting the Hurricanes means. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National Party leader Judith Collins promised unity to party faithful on Day 1 of their annual conference. But before Day 2 was over, board member David Carter had resigned after issuing a broadside against president Peter Goodfellow. Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Jason Walls gave Tim Roxborogh and Tim Beveridge a blow-by-blow.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out a vaccine pass, and warned us not to expect vaccination targets for reopening like we've seen from Australia. Tim Roxborogh and Tim Beveridge get epidemiogist Professor Michael Baker's thoughts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ashwin Naidu runs a travel bubble group on Facebook, and is being inundated with people asking him for advice on how to get a MIQ space.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Danielle McMullen, President of the Australia Medical Association New South Wales joins us to talk about Scott Morrison's four point plan for easing of social restrictions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia correspondent Murray Olds talks to Tim Roxborogh about the task force NSW police have set up to target anti-lockdown protestors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Government ministers have arrived in flood-stricken Westport to see the damage to the region firsthand. Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi, Agriculture Minister and West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor, joined by Buller District mayor Jamie Cleine, are currently carrying out a flyover of the area to assess the situation before evaluating the flood damage on the ground. Speaking a...

The National Party's leader has high hopes about her "demand the debate" campaign. National has launched an electronic billboard drive, with the first highlighting the controversial He Puapua report. Former Minister Peter Dunne told The Weekend Collective that there is fertile ground National can tap into over these problems, such as hate speech. However, National has to be cautious about how it h...

NSW has recorded 77 new community Covid-19 cases and one death due to the virus - and Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned the numbers are only going to get worse. Of the new locally acquired infections, 55 are linked to a known case or cluster – 39 are household contacts and 16 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 22 cases remains under investigation. At a press conference this a...

Judith Collins isn't phased about the Act party's increasing support. A recent UMR poll has put David Seymour ahead of the National leader, by two percent. Together the two parties have 35-percent of the vote, while Labour and the Greens have 55 percent. Collins told The Weekend Collective she isn't concerned about it. "We're just really working well and I just think we've been through a tough cou...

A Covid-19 expert says Australia's four-stage plan to beat the virus is really nothing new. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison laid out the country's plan which has a heavy focus on vaccines. Otago University Epidemiologist Micheal Baker says Morrison is still following what is still essentially an 'elimination' strategy. Baker told The Weekend Collective Morrison is complicating things. "It...

Opposition parties have come out strongly against the He Puapua report that makes recommendations for co-governance between the Crown and Māori. Bridges told TVNZ's Q+A the party was not walking back on the previous National-led government's decision to sign up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Undrip), on which the controversial report He Puapua was based, but...

The Government has laid out a four-year roadmap to deal with problem plastics. PVC meat trays and polystyrene takeaway packaging will be phased out late next year. Plastic tableware and plastic straws will be taken off the shelves by mid-2023 and all other polystyrene food and beverage packaging by mid-2025. Environment Minister David Parker says it gives the industry and businesses time to comply...

Australia's Covid battle has significantly worsened in the past 24 hours, as multiple states and territories respond to new cases and expanding contacts.  The Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland have joined New South Wales in implementing restrictions as health authorities battle surging Covid cases. Four new cases connected to an infected miner in the NT has sparked a snap 48-hou...

A prominent epidemiologist says Wellington has "probably dodged a bullet" with the capital's Covid-19 scare, but has nonetheless called the Government's decision to extend restrictions a wise move. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins this afternoon announced the Wellington region would stay at alert level 2 another two days – until midnight 11.59pm on Tuesday – as local test results continued...

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is determined to bring the party back to parliament. In a speech to party faithful in Aukland this afternoon, the former Deputy Prime Minister did not hold back, taking swipes at the Government, the Opposition and the media. In his first major speech since being booted out of Parliament. Peters made it clear his party is planning a come back. "We are a phoen...

Former United Future leader Peter Dunne says it's unlikely Winston Peters will return to Parliament.  In his first major speech since the election, the New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' told party faithful that he will be back.  However, Peters did not say whether he would stay on as party leader during his speech. Speaking to the Weekend Collective, Dunne says that time will tell whether t...

One of Auckland's biggest sex scandals is set to hit the small screen. The story of former Auckland Mayor Len Brown's affair with ex council adviser Bevan Chuang will be told in a made for TV movie. The movie is called Princess of Chaos and will receive $2.6 million from NZ on air. Chuang made headlines in 2013 when her two year affair with Brown was revealed days after his successful re-election...

The Government's scheme for discounts for electric cars comes with a couple of fishhooks: it only applies to newly imported cars, and if the funding runs out the rebates scheme will be paused and cars bought during the pause will not qualify for a rebate. The scheme is designed so rebates on electric cars are funded from fees paid by people buying petrol cars. It provides for rebates of $8625 for...

An online petition calling for a film on the Christchurch mosque attacks to be scrapped continues to gain momentum. The film "They Are Us" is only in planning at this stage, but already the petition's attracted more than 45,000 signatures. The movie is said to centre around Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her response to the crisis, with Australian actress Rose Byrne poised to play her.  Nationa...