Politics Central

Firearms specialist Nicole McKee has become an Act Party candidate and secured No 3 spot in the party list announced today by leader David Seymour. The party has a new deputy leader, Brooke Van Velden, who replaces Beth Houlbrooke, and will take the No 2 spot behind Seymour. McKee is a first-time candidate. Van Velden stood for Act in Auckland Central last election. Act's No 3 list candidate Nicol...

From tomorrow, Victorians were set to enjoy some of the benefits of eased coronavirus restrictions that many other Australians have been revelling in for weeks. Cafes, restaurants and pubs were set to increase capacity from 20 people to 50, for instance. But that won’t be happening. In fact, from midnight tonight, Victorians will have some COVID-19 restrictions reimposed – and they will be enforce...

Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump showed up in an indoor arena Saturday night for a rally that some fear could help fuel nascent spikes of coronavirus cases in some places, concerns that were amplified after six staffers helping to set up the event tested positive for the virus. State and city health department officials were already bracing for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases f...

A leading epidemiologist says we could stay at Level 1 indefinitely if we prevent outbreaks of Covid-19 on our shores. New Zealand has two new cases today, taking the total number of confirmed and probable cases to 1,511. Both are recent arrivals from overseas who were detected within managed isolation facilities. It comes after a week where two British women tested positive for Covid-19 after bei...

A National-led Government would not increase taxes or cut benefits, its leader Todd Muller has promised. In fact, the new opposition leader today revealed that if he is Prime Minister, National would spend more money on the "welfare safety net". He also said the previous National Government did not move fast or boldly enough on issues such as climate change and addressing New Zealand's social defi...

Martin Luther King's son says there is a clear racial problem within the US police. It follows weeks of unrest after the killing of African-American man George Floyd by a police officer, and more recently the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by police in Atlanta. It's sparked protests both in the US and around the world, with demonstrators calling for an end to racism. The protests have made...

Shane Jones has been announced as New Zealand First's candidate for Northland. Jones is set to go up against National MP Matt King who currently holds the seat, a battle that is tipped to decide this year's election. Political commentator Shane Te Pou gives Jones a fair go. "I think there might not be a dead deal on the table, but Willow-Jean Prime is likely to be the Labour candidate, might just...

Evan Roberts is a kiwi living in Minnesota and gives The Weekend Collective an insight into what life is like as riots erupt across America. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NZ Herald Business Editor at large Liam Dann discusses who is going to be able to bounce back quicker from the economic impact of covid-19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick welcomes the number of people who have travelled into the city over the holiday weekend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye likely face a difficult challenge when it comes to the September election.  The two have rolled Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett for the National Party leadership and deputy role respectively, after two polls showed National and Bridges' popularity had dropped.  However, there are rumours that Muller won narrowly - with some sources claiming there was just one vote separa...

Beijing's plan to introduce a hugely controversial national security law in Hong Kong has sparked widespread fears over its potential impact on the city's much-cherished freedoms. Residents of the semi-autonomous city only need to look across the border at mainland China to get a glimpse of how "national security" -- broadly and vaguely defined -- can be used as a convenient pretext for the politi...

National will be hoping that Todd Muller has the same "pixie dust" effect of Jacinda Ardern.  Muller on Friday ousted Bridges for the party's top job today in a Caucus vote on the back of two polls putting the party well behind Labour. After his win, Muller said he isn't interested in opposing just for the sake of it, as people are all tired of that kind of politics, and he's about ideas that get...

A Chinese political specialist says there's nothing to panic about when it comes to New Zealand and China's relationship. Last week, Winston Peters spoke out in support of Taiwan's membership of the World Health Organisation, sparking a rebuke from China. Professor Anne Marie Brady told The Weekend Collective the Government should be defending the decisions they have made - including closing the b...

The Tourism Minister is defending his tourism support package. A $400 million support package was announced in the budget last week, to help the industry transition to domestic tourism. Some businesses say it's not enough, with Hobbiton Chief Executive Russell Alexander calling the package a joke. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis told The Weekend Collective they're criticizing it before engaging with...

The Tourism Minister is defending his tourism support package. A $400 million support package was announced in the budget last week, to help the industry transition to domestic tourism. Some businesses say it's not enough, with Hobbiton Chief Executive Russell Alexander calling the package a joke. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis told The Weekend Collective they're criticizing it before engaging with...

The National Party is pushing for religious gatherings to get the green light at alert level two. At level two, religious gatherings are limited to 10 people. National MP and pastor Alfred Ngaro told The Weekend Collective there was no rational explanation from the Government to why churches couldn't have more than 10 people. "If there was one flat rule for all, then no one would be arguing." He s...

With much of the American economy in self-imposed shutdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, April's colossal surge in unemployment delivered a historic blow to workers. The US economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday — by far the most sudden and largest decline since the government began tracking the data in 1939. Those losses follow steep cutbacks i...

The Government is under fire, for its handling of the release of hundreds of official Covid 19 documents. The documents were proactively released late on Friday afternoon. A leaked email, obtained by Newstalk ZB, shows ministers were told not to do media interviews on the contents of the documents. Political reporter Jason Walls told The Weekend Collective the approach doesn't fit the Government's...

National says the economy has to be a factor, in any decision on when to move New Zealand out of Alert Level Two. Cabinet will decide tomorrow whether New Zealand will transition to Alert Level Two later in the week. New Zealand has recorded another two more cases of Covid 19 since yesterday, and two more people remain in hospital. National finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith told The Weekend Collect...

Popular tourism towns are disappointed in the potential rules for Alert Level 2. The Government announced last week that safely reconnecting families and communities was a "social and economic necessity" but re-iterated people should still avoid non-essential travel during level 2. Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult told The Weekend Collective getting domestic travel back up and running is a priorit...

Six months from Election Day, President Donald Trump's prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democrat Joe Biden. Trump's standing has slumped as the nation's focus on him has intensified during the coronavirus outbreak, re...

People will still be able to appeal against infrastructure projects but they'll have less time to do so. The Government's making changes to the Resource Management Act to speed up the consent process. The changes, which are likely to be passed in June, means roading, walking, cycling, rail, and housing projects can be approved faster. A panel - headed by an Environment Court judge - will approve c...

National Party leader Simon Bridges is still defending his controversial Facebook post. Bridges was forced to defend himself after facing a flurry of online fury over the post about the Government's decision to extend the level 4 lockdown. The Facebook post has attracted more than 16,000 reactions – many of them negative - and the Opposition leader has been facing speculation from some in the medi...

Rumours are intensifying about Kim Jong-un's condition as a Chinese team including health care experts is dispatched into North Korea to treat him, Reuters reports. The trip by Chinese doctors and officials to Pyongyang comes after reports the North Korean leader was in a critical condition after cardiovascular surgery. A delegation including the medical staff and led by a senior member of the Chi...