The Front Page

New Zealand is a nation of car lovers – but it’s a costly fascination, not only for motorheads but for the Government.   Roads require maintenance and repair. Roads sometimes need to be replaced or rerouted. And that requires the Government to cough up the cash.  So what happens when we run out of funding – not only for new motorways, but for the basic repairs to stop the cracks from showing?  Tod...

Trevor Mallard has departed his role as Speaker after almost five years of controversy. For his nearly four decades of service to the Labour Party, he has been rewarded with a diplomatic posting in Ireland. But not everyone is convinced that he’s the right person to represent New Zealand on the global stage. Assault allegations earlier in his career combined with some of his antics as Speaker have...

The New Zealand Government has been pouring money into attracting large movie makers to Aotearoa.   One of the big benefactors was the new Lord of the Rings TV show hitting Amazon Prime next week.    The promise is that these incentives will create jobs, boost the economy and offer fresh marketing opportunities.   But as other sectors cry out for that funding, are we getting a good return on our i...

Over the last week Nelson has been devastated by floods. Homes have been rendered unlivable, roads have been damaged, landslides have led to evacuations and the rural community has been submerged in some areas.   This isn’t the first time Nelson’s been hit like this, and it’s likely that it won’t be the last time we see devastation of this magnitude.    So how prepared are we for the ongoing impac...

More than a thousand protesters are set to converge at parliament today.  Fueled by frustration and anger, they falsely accuse the Government, public officials and journalists of crimes against humanity. But while some are taking their anger to Parliament’s doorstep, there are now reports that people influenced by disinformation are contesting seats in local elections as part of their effort to ma...

What would you do if you won Lotto?  It's a question we’ve all asked ourselves. It’s the ultimate get-rich-quick fantasy that the majority of the country can only fantasize over.  However, ending up with $19 million in your bank account overnight isn’t quite the dream it’s made out to be.   So what’s the right way to handle a sudden fortune like that?  Today, NZ Herald senior writer David Fisher j...

This week, after intense speculation across New Zealand and the global rugby community, the New Zealand Rugby board announced that Ian Foster will remain as the All Blacks coach through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. In this episode of Newstalk ZB and iHeartRadio's Rugby Direct podcast, hosts Elliott Smith and Liam Napier discuss the decision and what it means for the All Blacks' future.  You can fo...

The number of people reporting that they are victims of crime has shot up to record levels. Worryingly, we are also seeing a growing trend of offences committed by younger members of society. We rarely see a week pass without a ram raid incident.   This has led some politicians to call for harsher penalties for those committing these crimes - even if it does ring of hypocrisy.  But do harsher pena...

New Zealand’s Reserve Bank is desperate to bring inflation under control. Official Cash Rate lifts over the last 12 months have been the most aggressive the country has ever seen. And that continued this week with the Reserve Bank pushing rates up further. The role of the Reserve Bank in firstly creating inflation and now trying to stop it has become a major political talking point.  Some critics...

At the start of this century, New Zealand was considered one of the most literate countries in the world.  However, multiple reports in recent years have shown that is no longer the case. Our literacy rates are falling, and it’s a problem that affects not only children, but is being felt across all society.   The Government has announced plans to try and rectify the issues – but will it be enough...

A week is a long time in politics – and what a week it has been for our major parties.  National’s post-conference buzz was quickly dampened after it was revealed the party’s newest MP, Sam Uffindell, had been asked to leave an elite private school as a teenager due to bullying.  The news took the heat off of Labour’s poor poll results – until one of the party’s own MPs, Gaurav Sharma, blasted top...

The story of Uber is one of convenience. It’s about how a simple piece of tech has been at the forefront of the way people call a ride or have food delivered.  This level of convenience is worth a lot of money, with a new report by Uber estimating the company has delivered a gross impact $930 million to New Zealand economy as a whole, including $88 million in additional value for restaurants. That...

This month marks 25 years since Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris.   The shadow of her still hangs over the British monarchy, which today finds itself embroiled in its more contentious period since the bitter divorce of Diana and Prince Charles.   Now, a new documentary to mark the anniversary of her death reframes Diana’s time in the spotlight, using existing footage from the...

The All Blacks have lost five of their last six games.  Their latest loss against old rival South Africa leaves coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane hanging by a thread.   But it’s not all bad news in New Zealand sport. The woes of our rugby players come amid New Zealand’s biggest ever haul at the Commonwealth Games. So is it perhaps time to reward our rising stars in other sports with more fundi...

New Zealand’s welfare system has become a hot-button political issue.    Politicians on all sides of the aisle have expressed their opinions on how much support the Government should give those out of work.    While National has warned the free ride for young jobseekers is over, Labour has warned that more sanctions won’t guide beneficiaries into work.  So where does the truth lie? And what does a...

It has been nearly six months since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Yet for the millions of Ukrainians affected by the conflict, these past few months have felt like a lifetime.   Recently, NZ Herald investigative reporter Nicholas Jones spent a week in Ukraine , in the cities of Kyiv and Irpin.    There, he spoke to one Kiwi woman who gave everything up to bring her skills to Ukraine, as...

In 2022, wildfires have scorched more than 600,000 hectares of Europe. This ranks as the second-highest total for any year, and comes amid a heatwave that has killed more than 2000 people in Spain and Portugal alone. Climate scientists have warned that these wild weather events are only going to become more regular, and Aotearoa will not be spared. So are we ready for the impact of long, dry summe...

Ukraine. Climate change. The Economy. Local and national politics. Rising violence. And, of course, Covid-19. The Front Page has covered a lot of topics since launching in March.   But with the constant churn of the daily news cycle, so many of these stories can come and go without the opportunity to reflect on their impact, and analyse how things unfolded. For this, our 100th episode of The Front...

The political fight for Auckland mayor is balanced on a knife edge and things are starting to get dirty.    Polls separate four candidates by only a few percentage points – and mud-slinging has ensued. So do attack-based political stunts even work? And should we be worried about low participation levels when so much is at stake?   Today, strategic marketer and Ben Goodale joins Damien for a discus...

Over the next three months, more than two million New Zealanders are set to receive a $350 payment from the Government.     That money is intended to help alleviate the cost of living crisis, and comes with no strings attached. Most people don’t have to do anything to get it.   It could have been a surefire political win, but now Labour has had to explain why New Zealanders and migrants who have l...

Imagine waking up one morning and realising the door to almost every public service was shut to you. No matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t get in.    That’s the experience for many New Zealanders who have been left behind as the world has moved online.  So how many are being digitally excluded, and how damaging is this in a society so singularly focused on moving everything online?   T...

There’s a growing trend of anti-social behaviour across Aotearoa that’s affecting people of all walks of life. Recently, we’ve seen shocking headlines of random bouts of violence and racism, including an attack on a police officer and a racially motivated assault at a supermarket.   Damien asks organisational psychologist and chair of the Institute of Organisational Psychology John Eatwell about w...

A new threat has got New Zealand’s agricultural community on edge.  Foot and mouth disease, which devastated farming communities in England 21 years ago, has been detected in Indonesia, and has already sparked a biosecurity response to try and prevent it taking hold here.  That’s because if the disease takes hold here, it could cost us one hundred thousand jobs and wipe 16 billion dollars from our...

The isolated religious community of Gloriavale has gripped the nation for years.   The church’s ongoing attempts to project an image of wholesome Christianity have been tarnished many times - from revelations about the founder Neville Cooper, who dubbed himself Hopeful Christian, to more recent stories due to stories of workplace exploitation, and physical and sexual abuse of minors. A new documen...

Monkeypox cases are surging around the world.    The World Health Organisation has now declared the spread a global emergency and countries are scrambling with how to contain the virus.  So what are the warning signs, what should we be doing to stop the spread, and what does this mean for gay, bisexual and queer men, who are currently the most at risk.  Today, University of Auckland associate prof...