Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

The extent of damage is still being assessed in the Hutt Valley, following yesterday's wild weather. Strong winds uplifted roofs and downed power lines in Lower Hutt, with two people taken to hospital. The Herald's Georgina Campbell was in the Hutt, and said it ripped through the community, and the damage is clearly significant. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington is in clean-up mode after yesterday's sharp bout of wild weather. Lower Hutt was hit with what's being described as a tornado, with glass shop-fronts smashed, and one resident's garage completely flattened. Hutt South MP Chris Bishop's electorate office also bore the brunt of the storm. He joined Nick Mills on Wellington Mornings the morning after the damage was inflicted. LISTEN ABOVE ...

Wellington mega landlord Matt Ryan joins Nick Mills for the final Hot Property slot of 2023. Together they reflect on how the market has performed throughout the year, commercial rates compared to residential, a 'phenomenal' house flip in Miramar, and what's expected from 2024. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wellington City Council by-election is heating up, with local businessman Karl Tiefenbacher now in the running. Tiefenbacher, who owns popular coffee shop, Kaffee Eis, announced this morning he will contest the vacant seat in the Pukehinau / Lambton ward. He unsuccessfully ran for the same ward last year, on a platform of scrapping the golden mile project, and focusing on infrastructure over "...

Wellington's mayor says she's now committed to a life of sobriety.   In July, she admitted to being tipsy and failing to pay her bill.   Weeks ago, the mayor admitted a problem with alcohol following another intoxicated night at a central city bar.   Tory Whanau told Nick Mills that she decided to get help because “it happened again”, but she hasn't had a drink since that night.   LISTEN ABOVE   S...

Weekend Sport host Jason Pine and All Sports Breakfast host Adam Cooper join Nick Mills for Friday Sport. Together they discuss how the start of the season has gone for the Phoenix men and women, and the Black Caps losing the first day of a two day test against Bangladesh.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett  and Wellington columnist Dave Armstrong join Nick Mills on Friday Faceoff. Together they discuss Wellington Water woes, the council voting against commercial rates being alleviated by ratepayers, protests challenging the Government's policies on the Treaty of Waitangi, and whether they talk to strangers on the street.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Labour's Ginny Andersen join Nick Mills for Politics Thursday. Together they debate the scrapping of Fair Pay Agreements, Mark Mitchell's open letter to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, the Te Pati Maori led protests across the country, the state of the Government's books, and smokefree law changes.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Every fortnight Mortgage Ability Director Marcus Hull joins Nick Mills for Money Talks. This week they discuss whether mortgage rates will come down in 2024, the biggest take away from this year financially, how to save around Christmas time, and how to ensure you stick to your New Year's resolution. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Councillor Ben McNulty and Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls join Nick Mills for Friday Faceoff. Together they debate Tory Whanau publicly admitting to a drinking problem, the Government's 100 day plan, Winston Peters' lashing out at the media and banning gang patches. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington, we have a problem. On Wednesday night I attended a Christmas function, and there was only one topic of conversation. Apparently there's a video floating around of Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau at a bar which doesn't make for good viewing. And now, she finds herself forced to defend drunken behaviour yet again. She's come out and said she is flawed, but deeply cares about the city. She's...

A Wellington Charity Hospital has been in pipeline for years and was set to be developed at 23 Adelaide Road.  The building consent had been granted and $150,000 worth of donations had been spent to get things rolling.  However it was revealed the land had suddenly been sold by the owners to Waka Kotahi, for potential Let's Get Wellington Moving work. In just seven months since the developers orig...

Every fortnight one of Wellington's biggest landlords Matt Ryan joins Nick Mills to talk all things property. This week he discusses how the market will and has changed under Christopher Luxon's Government, the biggest loss of any sale in the third quarter, and water meters being put on the back burner by the Wellington City Council. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Police Minister Mark Mitchell has announced he intends to ban gang patches in public places within the new Government's first 100 days.  He said if the legislation is passed and gangs choose to ignore it, he expects police to take action. Former gang member, Mike, rang up to share his thoughts with Nick Mills. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know the new Government wants to cut the public service down to the numbers we saw in 2017. That alone would mean 15,000 fewer public servants. Remember, National campaigned on a 6.5 percent reduction on spending across the public service. Apparently right now there's around 63,000 public servants, and about 28,000 of them live in Wellington. A drop to 2017 levels would reduce the national...

Compromise at the Beehive. A split deputy prime ministership, with the role shared between New Zealand First's Winston Peters, and ACT's David Seymour. Peters takes the job for the first one and a half years, Seymour the second. Peters will also once again take on Foreign Affairs. The 20-strong Cabinet's comprised of 14 ministers from National, three from ACT, and three from New Zealand First. The...

Compromise at the Beehive. A split deputy prime ministership, with the role shared between New Zealand First's Winston Peters, and ACT's David Seymour. Peters takes the job for the first one and a half years, Seymour the second. Peters will also once again take on Foreign Affairs. The 20-strong Cabinet's comprised of 14 ministers from National, three from ACT, and three from New Zealand First. The...

Hutt Valley Chamber CEO Patrick McKibbin and Wellington hospitality operator Greig Wilson join Nick Mills on the Business Panel. Together they debate whether Petone needs to be changed officially to Pito-one, coalition negotiations still dragging on, whether the New Building Standards need to be reviewed, proposed bus lanes for the Hutt Road, and liquor licenses being opposed on Courtenay Place. L...

Hutt Valley Chamber CEO Patrick McKibbin and Wellington hospitality operator Greig Wilson join Nick Mills on the Business Panel. Together they debate whether Petone needs to be changed officially to Pito-one, coalition negotiations still dragging on, whether the New Building Standards need to be reviewed, proposed bus lanes for the Hutt Road, and liquor licenses being opposed on Courtenay Place. L...

Three Wellington City Councillors are slamming proposed peak hour bus lanes on the Hutt Road. Consultation has opened for the plan which aims to make the region's public transport more reliable. It means there will be one less lane available to cars in each direction. Diane Calvert, Ray Chung and Rony Randle shared their thoughts on Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudi...

National's Nicola Willis and Labour's Ginny Andersen join Nick Mills for Politics Monday. Together they discuss the ongoing coalition negotiations between National, ACT and NZ First, fresh bullying allegations made against Ginny, the state of the Government's books, and pharmacists calling for prescriptions to remain free. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rodger Fox Big Band has been invited to represent New Zealand at the 2024 Jazz Educational Network Conference in New Orleans early next year. However he says his application to Creative New Zealand to fund the trip was declined. It comes as Creative New Zealand looks to completely overhaul its funding model from March next year to try and alleviate competition.  It's left Rodger and his band s...

Every week a member of the Newstalk ZB Parliament team joins Nick Mills for the Beehive Buzz. This week Senior Political Reporter Sophie Trigger discusses the how coalition talks are going between Luxon, Seymour and Peters, a recent poll, and final recount results. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every week New Zealand Herald Wellington Issues Reporter Georgina Campbell joins Nick Mills for A Capital Letter. This week she analyses Mayor Tory Whanau’s investigation into council leaks, Cook Strait ferries causing damage, and the sale of the council's airport shares being out for consultation. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of Wellington's biggest landlords Matt Ryan joins Nick Mills every fortnight for Hot Property. This week he discusses unprecedented rates increases expected in the capital and how they'll affect the market, whether neighbours need to be notified of demolition, and how supply will be affected by the foreign buyers ban potentially being lifted. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...