The Front Page

The Government will this week announce its plans to roll back vaccine passes and mandates, continuing the ongoing relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions. This means that after two years, New Zealanders will have to get used to the idea of living with Covid. But what does this look like, how will our lives compare to what they were before, and are we prepared for this?  Today, NZ Herald senior wr...

Keeping up to date with the news just became a little easier. NZ Herald’s The Front Page is back - and it is your new, go-to short, sharp daily news podcast.  Join me, Damien Venuto, every weekday morning as he chats with journalists and newsmakers, going behind the headlines to break down what you need to know on the biggest stories of the day.  Listen to The Front Page at nzheral...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the possible move for Ports of Auckland, and how it could impact the whole country. Hosted by Frances Cook. New Zealand is a country that relies on its trade relationships in order to keep a good standard of living, and a lot of those imports and exports come through th...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the proposed changes to fix the homes we live in. Hosted by Frances Cook. Rental property law is a bone of contention currently, with proposed changes to how the system works. It could have a huge impact on people's lives, as there’s about 600,000 rental homes in New Ze...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's what we can all do to help those in mental distress. Hosted by Frances Cook. It’s no secret that New Zealand has a mental health problem, but many of us can feel paralysed if a friend tells us they’re having trouble. Especially if we're not entirely sure what they're go...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's why the SkyCity fire raged so far out of control, and what to expect next. Hosted by Frances Cook. More than 100,000 New Zealand student loan borrowers are living overseas, and some now say they feel trapped there, unable to even come home for funerals. Hundreds have ma...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's why the SkyCity fire raged so far out of control, and what to expect next. Hosted by Frances Cook. A shocking blaze at the $700m SkyCity convention centre has brought Auckland to a standstill, with 150 firefighters battling the fire at its peak. As the fire raged, smoke...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the escalating problems in housing, and how it impacts us all. Hosted by Frances Cook. A new investigation is sounding a warning that thousands more New Zealanders are in danger of homelessness, with demand for state housing far outstripping the rate at which it's being...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's miniscule numbers of people voting in local elections, and what needs to change. Hosted by Frances Cook. Local body elections are closing this weekend, but are already marred by plummeting voter turnout in many areas. At the last available count, 22.6 per cent of Auckla...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the changing nature of trade, and how it impacts New Zealand. Hosted by Frances Cook. The world trade environment has profoundly changed over the past few years, as world superpowers the United States and United Kingdom both retreat into protectionism. It's not just abo...

The protests in Hong Kong have now been going for more than 100 days, and it seems neither side is willing to give up. It started with plans to allow extraditions to mainland China, but has now grown into a wider movement questioning the entire relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland. Herald reporter Keith Ng has been on the ground in Hong Kong, and joined me on the Front Page to talk abou...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the Covering Climate Now campaign, and the groundswell of urgency. Hosted by Frances Cook. Climate change is an issue that's being treated with increasing urgency, as voters take up the cause, and politicians take notice. Data from the Pew Research Centre shows that int...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the troubling details of foreign political donations. Hosted by Frances Cook. Serious questions are being raised about political donations and whether they're leaving us open to foreign interference. A Herald investigation has found former trade minister Todd McClay hel...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's where to draw the line when holding politicians to account. Hosted by Frances Cook. Australian radio host Alan Jones practically caused a trans-Tasman diplomatic incident after saying on air that our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern needed a sock shoved "down her throat",...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the worrying financials of Fonterra, and what it means for our farmers. Hosted by Frances Cook. Fonterra's numbers aren't looking good, with the dairy giant saying it expects a full-year loss of $675 million. It's the second annual loss in a row, and comes when Federate...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the increasing numbers of highly wealthy people, and the problem of how to tax them. Hosted by Frances Cook. The number of super-rich in New Zealand has increased by 75 per cent in the past five years. That means 350 people here are worth more than $50 million. But with...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's how a lack of money is causing serious health problems. Hosted by Frances Cook. Major problems are bubbling up in our health system, and the root cause always seems to come back to a lack of resources and money. We've seen it within the last week, where a series of Hera...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the disturbing stories coming out about Oranga Tamariki. Hosted by Frances Cook. Four inquiries are under way into Oranga Tamariki, the organisation that is supposed to keep vulnerable children safe from harm. There was video of a highly distressing baby uplift, and sin...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the government changes aimed at getting you into a greener car. Hosted by Frances Cook. This podcast was first available a week earlier, to Herald Premium subscribers. The Government is making green cars cheaper, and the big polluters more expensive. It's only for newly...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the plastic bag ban, and what really needs to happen to protect our environment. Hosted by Frances Cook. Single use plastic bags are now banned, as the Government tries to crack down on pointless waste in our lives. It's surely one of the smaller changes we'll need to m...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's how ANZ got into trouble, and how worried we should be about it. Hosted by Frances Cook. ANZ is in hot water lately, with its CEO departing under a cloud. There are questions over how much he enjoyed perks he wasn't entitled to, like filing expenses for wine storage and...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the mood for change in transport, and whether it will actually happen. Hosted by Frances Cook. Emotions run hot over traffic in this country, and it's no wonder when you see how frustrating our transport systems can be. Well the debate is now wide open again, as the Gov...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's whether we can trust polls any more. Hosted by Frances Cook. People love to rag on political polls, and for the latest lot, they might actually have a point. Newshub and 1 News released polls on the same night that showed drastically different results. One where Labour...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's what you need to know about changes in our housing market around the country. Hosted by Frances Cook. If you've paid the slightest attention to the news over the past few years, you will have noticed house prices shooting up - causing happiness for those who already own...

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the rising fear we're not doing enough to save our planet. Hosted by Frances Cook. Eco-anxiety is on the rise, with a growing sense that we're not doing enough to look after our environment and fight the looming threat of climate change. People are dealing with it in di...