Politics Central

Kiwis will be able to vote at next year's general election while doing their weekly food shop. Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced that ballot boxes will be in more venues at the 2020 election - including supermarkets and shopping malls. "New Zealanders deserve to have their votes counted. Nearly half of voters are now exercising their right to vote prior to election day," Little said. "T...

President Donald Trump says he abruptly called off the military strikes on Iran Thursday because the likely deaths of 150 Iranians would have been out of proportion to the shootdown of an unmanned American surveillance drone. He is also indicating he still hopes for talks with Iranian leaders rather than any escalation of military conflict. Trump says he is "in no hurry," adding that increasingly...

One thousand doctors have signed a letter saying they "want no part in assisted suicide". They have urged politicians and policy-makers to let them focus on saving lives and care for the dying, rather than taking lives, which they deemed unethical - whether legal or not. The letter comes as Parliament is due to start the second reading debate on Act MP David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill on We...

Anne-Marie Sharon Brady is a New Zealand politics researcher and full professor at the University of Canterbury who specialises in Chinese politics. Listen to the audio above as she speaks to The Weekend Collective. HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong was bracing Sunday for another massive protest over an unpopular extradition bill that has highlighted the territory's apprehension about relations with main...

Listen to the audio above as David Seymour, leader of the ACT Party, joins the Weekend Collective. Freedom is the buzz word at the ACT Party's relaunch in Auckland today. It's announced a freedom to earn, and a freedom of education policy, to go alongside its freedom of speech pledge. ACT Party leader David Seymour says they plan to bring in a universal tax rate which would be 17.5 percent. He say...

Listen to the audio above as Tracey Martin speaks to The Weekend Collective The Minister for Children Tracey Martin has announced an inquiry by Oranga Tamariki will take place into the process around the attempted uplift Hawke's Bay Hospital last month. Martin met with Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana, Minister of Crown/Māori Relations Kelvin Davis and Minister of Māori Development Nanaia...

There has been "universal condemnation" at the actions undertaken by the Australia federal police against two media organisations. The head of Australia's public broadcaster ABC said she has "grave concern" about a recent police raid on the corporation's headquarters in connection with a 2017 story based on leaked documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for p...

A new report reveals an overwhelming sense of desperation and frustration with our justice system. Key themes include the over-representation of Maori, the silo approach of government departments and a jargonistic court system. The report was produced by the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. Chair Chester Borrows, who has worked in the justice sector for over 40 years, says he's not surpr...

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Some principals are warning of a new wave of inequality after the Government announced plans to scrap school donations for some schools - but not all. The 2019 Budget included more than $75 million a year to pay $150 per child to schools in deciles 1 to 7 if they agreed not to ask families for donations. Albany Senior High School principal Claire Amos joins The Weekend Collective to discuss the is...

This Tuesday will mark 30 years since the bloody event, which saw Chinese authorities brutally shut down long running student protests, killing thousands of people in and around the central square in Beijing. Stephen Hoadley is Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland. He joined The Weekend Collective to discuss the 30 year anniversary to one of Chi...

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Listen to the audio above as NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann speaks to The Weekend Collective ahead of next Thursday's Budget announcement by Finance Minister Grant Robertson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political commentator Ben Thomas joins The Weekend Collective to look back on the busy week of New Zealand politics. From Trevor Mallard's announcement that a man who has committed what he calls "rape" three times in the parliamentary workplace is still working at Parliament, to next week's planned teachers strike taking place following yet another climate change protest, the political issues maki...

Listen to the audio above as Newstalk ZB British Correspondent Enda Brady speaks to The Weekend Collective on the latest news regarding Theresa May announcing her resignation as British Prime Minister and what this means for Brexit. Theresa May became prime minister in 2016 with one overriding goal: to lead Britain out of the European Union. Three years on, the U.K. is still in the EU, and May's t...

The head of Women's Refuge says addressing the nation's violence issues won't come cheap. The Government's sinking $320 million into tying to break the cycle of family and sexual violence. The cash, which will be allocated in the upcoming Wellbeing Budget, will also be used for better support services for survivors. It'll be spread across a range of initiatives and services. It will be used for a...

Did Scott Morrison miraculously defy the polls, or were the polls just wrong?    His Liberal coalition will be returned to government, a win which flies in the face of surveys giving Labor the edge heading into the election. Sky News chief political reporter Kieran Gilbert told the Weekend Collective he agrees there needs to be a reset in the way pollsters gather data. He says there also needs to...

One commentator says it is "disappointing" that neither Donald Trump or Marck Zuckerberg will attended this week's social media meeting in Paris.  The summit, known as the Christchurch Call, was convened by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the March 15 terror attack.  Neither Facebook's CEO or COO Mark Zuckerberg or Sheryl Sandberg will attend, desp...

The Government will spend $200 million on housing more than 1000 long-term homeless people in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has described today's pre-Budget announcement as the single largest Government investment in tackling chronic homelessness. "We are committed to tackling homelessness. That's why we have made it an investment priority for the second year in a row by boosting supp...

The NZEI President says that education is a crisis, and a significant change is needed to change the industry.  Primary and secondary teachers have rejected the latest deal from the Government and will hold a combined strike on May 29th, on the eve of the Government's 'Wellbeing Budget'.  It will be the largest-ever industrial action by New Zealand teachers, covering almost 50,000 members across t...

Will a wedding help secure Jacinda Ardern a second term? The Prime Minister confirmed her engagement to long-term partner Clarke Gayford on Friday, after she was spotted wearing an engagement ring. The two have become engaged over the Easter holidays, her office said.   TVNZ's political editor Jessica Mutch-McKay told the Weekend Collective that, when the news was released, she felt a bit sorry fo...

North Korean state media on Sunday showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed "great sati...

A Kiwi study says sugary drinks are more dangerous than high-sugar foods, and are each year causing an estimated 184,000 early deaths across the globe. The study found that sugary drinks carried a greater risk of causing harmful "metabolic changes" that lead to illnesses, such as obesity and diabetes. Typical sports or energy drinks contained 27g of sugar - or about 7 teaspoons per cup of liquid -...

Sri Lanka's president is banning two groups allegedly linked to the Easter bombings under emergency powers that came into effect on Tuesday. The office of President Maithripala Sirisena said in a statement Saturday evening that National Thawheed Jammath, or NTJ, and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem, or JMI, would be banned by presidential decree. Presidential spokesman Dharmasri Ekanayake says the move...

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis is backing a decision to spend more than a million dollars on slushy machines for prison staff. Corrections bought 193 slushy machines to cool down staff during the hot summer months. Opposition leader Simon Bridges has slammed the spending as irresponsible and wasteful. But Davis says Corrections was right to consider the health and well-being of officers wearing...