Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

Finance Minister Nicola Willis joins Nick Mills in the studio for her monthly catch up. The latest poll from the Taxpayer Union and Curia has National at 28.4% - the lowest for the party since it formed Government in 2023. Nick questions Luxon's leadership and asks Willis - is there any hope for Luxon as Prime Minister. These numbers mean the left block could form a government, and is Nationals lo...

Nick Mills wraps the week with former Minister and political commentator Peter Dunne and political commentator and barrister Brigitte Morten. The latest taxpayer union poll shows National at the lowest point since 2020 - 28%. After a failed coup last year, is this the right time for Bishop to take over as National leader? Our guests face off over what caused this and what will happen with the role...

For this week's Friday Sport Kick-off, Nick is joined by Newstalk ZB’s sports gurus Adam Cooper and Jason Pine. Dave Rennie has been appointed as the new All Blacks head coach. The crew talk through the selection process, and his top competitor Jamie Joseph. Is this the right choice? Last weekend the Hurricanes lost 35-30 to Fijian Drua – what went wrong and how do the team need to prepare for the...

Former Principal of Taita College Karen Morgan joins Nick on the show to discuss the benefits of public school.  Karen has experience working in multiple public schools, she tells Nick about the benefits of sending your children to public school, and what makes the education work for the child. Is it the fact it's private/public, the teachers or something else? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com...

The new Wellington Central Library named Te Matapihi is opening on Saturday March 14th after $217 million of refurbishments and strengthening.  Nick Mills toured around the building and chatted to project lead Gisella Carr along with other staff in the brand new library. Was it everything he expected? And is it what Wellington needs to reignite life in the city? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

Unrest in the Middle East continues.  I watched that stand-up from the Prime Minister and I’ve got to be honest with you — I walked away feeling uneasy.  Not because I expect a New Zealand Prime Minister to be a Middle East historian.   We’re a small country. Our politics is usually about rates, roads, schools, the price of butter. I get that.  But when the world tips into cris...

For Music Time this week Nick and James talk up the capitals friendliest and best music festival - Hutt Sounds, ponder why some gigs don't come here and run through all the must see events coming this month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little says the City Council is not looking at compensation for businesses on the wastewater plagued-southern coast. Popular beaches like Lyall Bay and Island Bay closed after the Moa Point treatment plant catastrophically failed last month. Local shops in the area have been pleading for help, reporting large scale losses in revenue and trade as people stay away from the ar...

This week for Friday Faceoff Nick is joined in the studio by former Wellington mayor Justin Lester and playwright and columnist Dave Armstrong.  They faceoff on the biggest issues of the week, starting with the $40million net loss for Air New Zealand. David Seymour says the government should sell their shares. Our panel talk about what needs to change, and what the government should do. Then...

Nick is joined in the studio by All Sports Breakfast host Adam Cooper and Weekend Sport host Jason Pine to talk all things sport to end the week.  Chris Greenacre has been appointed interim manager of the Phoenix after Giancarlo Italiano called it quits after the 5-0 loss last week to Auckland FC.  Can he save the day? We get the lowdown from our sports gurus, they give their analysis of...

Things get fiery this week on Politics Thursday with Labour MP Ginny Andersen and National MP for Otaki Tim Costley. They join Nick on the show to talk about the biggest issues in politics this week - including the rough sleeping move on orders announced by the government. Can our police force cope with this with their resources and where are these people being moved to?  Following Mayor Andr...

Starting tonight 6pm at Fringe Bar, Silver Tongues perform as part of the Wellington Fringe Festival. The group comprising of comedians all over the age of 50 take the stage over 4 nights with their stand up routines "showing that the silver haired are also silver tongued".  Nick is joined in the studio by performers Neil Thorton, Ganesh Cherian and Darrell Phillips to talk all thing Fringe,...

Phoenix striker and Nepalese football star Sabitra   Bhandari, also known as Samba, has raised over $57,000 NZD for a surgery. After tearing her ACL, Samba wants $135,000 NZD treatment in Qatar, where she went to previously.  The Phoenix insurance policy has offered 25,000 surgery and rehab in NZ, and the Nepalese governing body is contributing $6,000 NZD.  Nick speaks with co-found...

Nick chats with political commentator Peter Dunne about Labour's State of the Nation speech. What is this year looking like for Labour? Are they playing it safe?  Dunne analyses the address to Labour supporters and what this means for their policy announcements coming up. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health NZ has handed out 7000 vapes and over 6500 refills for free in two months. This is part of an intitaive to help smokers quit - and includes a $500k contract to NZ vape company Alt. Newstalk ZB political reporter Ethan Griffiths tells Nick what the decision was behind this initiative, what opposers are saying and how this plan compares worldwide. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listen...

For our business panel this week Nick is joined in studio by Steve Walters and Mark Quinn Walters is the general manager of Kilbirnie, Lyall Bay and Rongotai Business association and helped establish the iconic Wellington Seven. Quinn is a respected commercial property figure with strong insight into retail, development and business trends across the region. They discuss how the Moa Point slu...

Last weekend, the Phoenix were slammed against Auckland FC, losing 5-0 with an own goal. An hour later manager Giancarlo Italiano resigned.  Nick is joined by former All White David Chote to give his insight into the failure of the Phoenix. They chat about heir predictions for a replacement, as well as theorise if Italiano was pushed to resign. Is there enough room for two clubs in NZ? Chote...

The government has announced they will give more power to police to "move on" rough sleepers for 24 hours to people as young as 14.  Nick speaks to Karl Tiefenbacher who is a Wellington City Councillor and business owner on his perspective from both these lenses.  Tiefenbacher shares what the council have been doing to help this issue, and what needs to still be done. And does he agree w...

Nick Mills wraps the week with former MP and Attorney General Chris Finlayson and director of NZ Infrastructure Commission and ex councillor Tim Brown. Moa point continues to be an issue. Is it a long time coming? Brown and Finlayson face off on funding, spending and leadership of the plant and Wellington Water. Then they get into the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. What does this unpreceden...

Nick is joined by ZB UK correspondent Gavin Grey to get the latest update on the arrest of former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.  The arrest was made on suspicion allegations the former Prince shared sensitive information with late sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.    Grey shares the mood in the UK right now, and how this will impact the future of the royals and their reputation.&nb...

For this week's Friday Sport Kick-off, Nick is joined by Newstalk ZB’s sports gurus Adam Cooper and Jason Pine. It’s a big weekend for sport in the capital this weekend. The Hurricanes have their first game tonight at Sky Stadium against Moana Pasifika and then the Saturday night the Phoenix are playing Auckland FC at Sky Stadium. The crew discuss how our teams are looking, their predictions and i...

Politics Thursday is back with Labour list MP Ayesha Verrall and National MP for Otaki Tim Costley. They join Nick in the studio to tackle the political issues this week. First up — is the second Mt Victoria tunnel up in the air? Or will congestion charges mean we don't need it? We also confront some tough social issues. The new review from the Independent Children's Monitor shows more should be d...

To celebrate the Fringe Festival currently taking over the capital, Nick was joined by show creator Arlo MacMillan and 'Geoffrey Beaver'. Beaver is the host of his own show, Geoffrey Beaver Podcast Live! at Fringe as a failed journalist/talkback host/legend trying to make his big comeback.  Macmillan also discusses his show  The Lizards Lie Within: A Lizardmen Movie Play Musical.&nb...

This week on Music Time Nick and James listen to a stunning new album by a New Zealand musical legend , get excited with the return to our shores of 80s rockers Tranvision Vamp and reveal a not so secret gig by hometown heroes Fat Freddys Drop.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick was joined in the studio by Hurricanes CEO Tony Philp and co-owner Malcolm Gillies to discuss the season ahead.  They share their plan ahead to bring back life to the game and initiatives to bring the community back to the team, and the team back into the community. Do we stand a chance at the Super Rugby championship?  Plus, they take calls from you on improvements to the fan exper...