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Budget 2023 is due to be released tomorrow afternoon, and experts have expressed their hopes about the outcome. Investors will be looking to see how this Budget impacts New Zealand's debt to GDP ratio, especially following the last three years. Milford Asset Management's Mark Riggall says New Zealand is in a more favourable position compared to Australia, the US and the UK, and investors won't wan...

ANZ are the latest major bank to release their revised prediction for the OCR. The bank forecasts that the RBNZ will raise the OCR by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent next week and again in July, peaking at 5.75 percent.  NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibrshraeny says ANZ economists know the economic picture is currently as 'clear as mud' because of all the variables. "They're really f...

It's officially Budget 2023 Eve, and experts are speculating about what to expect. Budget 2023 will be announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson tomorrow, and Robertson has spent the last few days explaining this will be a no-frills budget focused on recovery. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper predicts there will be extra surprises in this year's Budget. "I've talked around the Bee...

US President Joe Biden has cancelled his planned trip to Papua New Guinea. It comes as debt ceiling negotiations continue in Washington - with congressional leaders due to speak to Biden. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says the US is two weeks away from potentially defaulting on debt payments, and Biden hopes to meet Republicans halfway to fix this issue. Dan Mitchinson says Joe Biden will still...

The NRL have dropped referee Todd Smith and bunker official Gerard Sutton after a series of controversial calls in Melbourne's round-11 defeat of Brisbane. Todd Smith will not referee any games in round 12 this week, but will be stand-by referee for Cronulla's Saturday match against Newcastle in Coffs Harbour. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains how this doesn't make One NZ's Jason Paris ri...

The Government will be making moves to monitor key building supply prices to improve competition and transparency. Last December, the Commerce Commission made some recommendations to improve competition in the building supply sector, and the Government agreed to 8 out of the 9 suggestions. These include supporting alternative products and lifting offsite manufacturing at least 10 percent year on y...

Australian carrier Jetstar will require passengers to check-in earlier after a major shake-up was announced. The airline has announced that from May 23, bag drop times will close 10 minutes earlier and gates will close 20 minutes before departure.  Aviation commentator Peter Clark says this will only improve punctuality if the whole airport infrastructure is working. "I see Auckland being a major...

Christchurch's mayor has expressed frustration upon hearing chlorine will be forced into the city's water supply. Government water regulator Taumata Arowai has advised it's declining the council’s first chlorine exemption applications. The remaining 20 percent of the Christchurch and Banks Peninsula water supply is now required to be chlorinated, which will take a number of weeks. Mayor Phil Mauge...

Retailers in Sandringham are on the alert after more violence near their suburb last night. A 15-year-old girl was seriously injured in a road rage attack, after offenders in a grey Mazda Axela hatchback shot three times into the minivan she was in. Police say it started because the hatchback was "hard braking" in front of the van on the motorway. Sandringham Village general manager Mark Scherer s...

Relief as Auckland mayor Wayne Brown says he'll reduce the severity of proposed cuts to council services. Funding for the Citizens Advice Bureau, arts and culture programmes and local boards were facing the axe to fill a $375 million budget hole. North Shore Councillor Richard Hills says councillors still need to vote on the change, and find a way to fund the gap. He says Brown has heard from the...

Yesterday's tragic fire in Wellington has sparked investigations into deficiencies in building codes. Police are now investigating the fire at Wellington's Loafers Lodge, which killed at least six, as arson. Wellington City Councillor Ray Chung says he plans to push for a stronger building code, but it's mainly the Government's responsibility to amend the Building Act. "There's been a lot of comme...

Here's a prediction for you: I think there's a big surprise in the Budget tomorrow.  We just got the Budget’s title today, and the hint is right there in black and white . Support for today, Building for tomorrow .  We know what building for tomorrow is , Grant and Chippy have been hinting at that for a month. That's just a big spend up on crucial infrastructure and rebuilding after the cyclone. B...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have pushed forward a 'fighter jet coalition’ following Zelenskyy's visit. Sunak has promised Britain will train Ukrainian pilots to use Western fighter jets, but hasn't delivered a timeline for providing Ukraine with the fighter jets Zelenskyy requested. UK correspondent Enda Brady says Zelenskyy has been touring Europe to...

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Newstalk ZB's Tim Beveridge joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The Ministry of Education planned to hire 82 attendance officers as part of their Centralised Attendance Service. The deadline is under two months away, yet they've only hired 7 truancy officers. Do you think this goal i...

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand are expected to make a decision about the OCR on May 24th.  This announcement will take place six days after the 2023 Budget is delivered by Finance Minister Grant Robertson. HSBC Chief Economist Paul Bloxham predicts the Government will play it safe in this year's Budget, because they have a difficult line to tread between repairing cyclone damage and reducing infl...

Concerns the Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti horticulture industries won't fully recover from the damage inflicted by Cyclone Gabrielle. HortNZ President Barry O’Neil says the affected growers urgently need more Government direction and support to recover to pre-cyclone levels of growth within the next decade. The Country's Jamie Mackay says Cyclone Gabrielle left a lot of damage and it would be hard f...

The Government will release their response to the Commerce Commission's market study into building products tomorrow. In late 2022, the Commerce Commission claimed rebates paid by major suppliers to merchants made it difficult for newer products to grow in the building sector. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie isn't sure what to expect from this response, but predicts it will be a smal...

The Rugby League World Cup may return to our shores again significantly sooner than predicted. France have withdrawn from hosting the 2025 tournament and relinquished the staging rights after failing to meet meet financial guarantees demanded by the French Government. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says New Zealand wouldn't be able to host the RLWC without facing similar financial pitfalls, mea...

The results from the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll show Chris Luxon's popularity is dropping. The poll revealed 55.6 percent of voters think Hipkins is performing well, while 35.5 percent of voters felt the same way about Luxon. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Chris Luxon is polling lower than Judith Collins before the 2020 election. "He knows that he's got a lot of work t...

Westpac economists are now forecasting the OCR will peak as high as 6 percent. The OCR is currently at 5.25 percent and most economists are predicting the Reserve Bank will hike it by 25 basis points next week. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold says the recent surging inbound migration figures are the biggest factor impacting their changing view. "If you translate it through to aggregate popul...

As part of the Government's $74 million truancy package, 82 attendance officer roles were created to get school attendance back on track. Under two months from the proposed deadline, the Ministry of Education has filled 7 positions on their new centralised Attendance Service. The Ministry of Education's Sean Teddy isn't concerned with these numbers and still believes all 82 officers will be hired...

The Rugby League World Cup could be making a faster-than-expected return to the Southern Hemisphere. France have withdrawn from hosting the 2025 World Cup tournament, as the organisers said they couldn’t meet financial guarantees for the risk of loss demanded by the French Government.  New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters says they're definitely interested in hosting the tournament...

Gore mayor Ben Bell survived the clash of the ages at Gore District Council. Councillors this afternoon backed down on a motion of no confidence against the 24-year-old mayor, to the approval of a packed public gallery. Clutha mayor Bryan Cadogan was present at the showdown meeting, and said the verdict left a lot of questions unanswered. "I've had a bit of time to ruminate on it, and while I'm th...

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says there's conflicting information on whether an alarm sounded, warning about the fire. "We won't know for sure until the police get in, which will hopefully be by tomorrow. We're still waiting for it to be made safe to enter the building." Whanau says the City Mission has raised $12,000 so far, on top of $50,000 the Council has given the Mayoral Relief Fund. LISTEN...

A prosecutor in Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial sent several furious messages to Lehrmann's barrister. The exchange, in which prosecutor Skye Jerome accused barrister Steven Whybrow of leaking sensitive police documents to the media, appeared in documents released by a Board of Inquiry. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Whybrow asked Jerome if the some question was aksed of police, because som...