Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

A tick of approval for the National Party's small business plan.  It's released a 47-point plan to cut red tape for them around things like employment disputes and health and safety.  Small Business New Zealand Founder Phil Wicks says it creates a fairly cohesive plan.  He told Andrew Dickens while any help is appreciated what businesses really want is a growing economy.  Wicks...

I'm Andrew Dickens and I'm the fill in guy and I'm filling in for Ryan Bridge and I'm filling in all week and I'm doing three days next week and three days the week after and the reason for that is that Ryan is preparing to do telly stuff with Herald now. And last night he was doing the first of the big ones and it was a 90-minute thing called The Future of New Zealand.  Now it had politician...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Thursday 8th of October 2026, Labour is promising to shake up the banking sector if re-elected, Professor Claire Matthews head of the school of accountancy, economics and finance at Massey University shares her thoughts.  National’s got a 47-point plan to cut red tape for small businesses, Small Business NZ Founder & Director of B...

A political commentator believes a lot of weight still sits with the undecided voter.  Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins went head-to-head in the first main leaders debate last night.  The TVNZ clash saw the pair tussle over tax, education, health, the cost of living, and crime in front of a studio audience of undecided voters.  The audience gave Hipkins the win with 49% support t...

Pressure's on the next government to keep the momentum going on business confidence.  The NZIER's latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion shows 40% of firms expect the economy to improve in the coming months.  That's up from just 14% last quarter.  Business Canterbury Chief Executive Leeann Watson told Andrew Dickens businesses want policies that lift productivity, and more cert...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast 2026, political commentator Brigitte Morten tells Andrew who won the TVNZ leaders debate.  Business confidence is rebounding as we head towards the election, Business Canterbury CEO Leeann Watson explains why.  National’s promising to cut foreign aid to pay for new medicines, if it leads the next government, Chief Executive of Me...

Potential for a positive ripple effect - as National pledges to boost medicine funding. The party's announced it'll cut 10-percent of the foreign aid budget - using the savings to increase Pharmac's budget by 604-million dollars.  It would also introduce new cancer cell therapy and lower the bowel screening age to 50 by 2029.  Medicines NZ CEO Graeme Jarvis told Andrew Dickens medicine's...

National’s trade-off between foreign aid and Pharmac is a sign of just how far we’ve fallen. Firstly, our spend on medicines through Pharmac has always been woefully low. It pales beside Australia’s investment and that’s never made sense to me.  Medicines funded by Pharmac save money within the health system preventing ongoing costs through hospitalisation and ongoing care.  The way we’v...

There are concerns National's $800 million promise for a major Canterbury road will be able to deliver enough bang for its buck.  National is promising to start construction on the Belfast-to-Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass if re-elected, with the money allocated in Budget 2027.  Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Dom Kalasih told Andrew Dickens that's about $73 million...

Labour's vowing to make life easier for mechanics so more time can be spent training the next generation.   If elected, the party would force car makers to share information, tools and manuals, with local mechanics so they can do a job.  It would introduce a right of repair law —like Australia— and require the Commerce Commission to enforce the rules.   Consumer Affairs spokesperson...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Tuesday 6th of October 2026, National is pledging $800 million to fully fund the 11-kilometre Belfast to Pegasus motorway in Christchurch, Transporting NZ Chief Executive Officer Dom Kalasih tells Andrew why infrastructure comes at such a cost. Labour is promising to make it cheaper and easier to repair your car if elected, Labour Consumer...

An increasing number of Kiwis are using Cocaine.  A Drug Trends Survey shows respondents reporting cocaine use increased from 11 percent in 2018, to 31 percent this month. At the same time, the reported price of a gram of cocaine has declined by 32 percent. Glenn Dobson CEO of the Drug Detection Agency shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

So Labour finally released their fiscal plan in the weekend  It was much anticipated.  In fact commentator after commentator for weeks now have been demanding it  Now it’s being dissected. And mostly by the current coalition parties.  But here’s the thing.  Where’s National’s.  And why don't they have the same pressure. And how about ACT Yesterday I asked David Seyour...

The suspect accused of murdering Reform UK's Ann Widdecombe has been charged with preparing acts of terror, including against party leader Nigel Farage. 28-year-old Joshua Kerry was charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts, according to police.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Kerry is due to appear in court later this week. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Inflation across Europe jumped to 3.8 percent in September - a higher rate than economists were predicting. This increase was largely down to energy costs, and these are expected to make inflation rates go up further.  Business correspondent Vicky Pryce explained how these rates could increase, and how that's likely to impact households.  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener f...

ACT is confident its KiwiSaver plan would put more in people's kitty by retirement.  The party wants to scrap the Government contribution to KiwiSaver, and the tax paid on investment earnings made through the scheme. It says the tax relief created, would be more substantial than the up to $260 currently contributed by the Government.  Leader David Seymour says someone with a small balanc...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Monday the 5th of October 2026, the Act Party wants to scrap tax on Kiwisaver investment earnings, Act Party Leader David Seymour explains. Labour's laid out it's highly anticipated fiscal plan, Independent Economist Cameron Bagrie shares his thoughts.  Business Correspondent Vicky Pryce has the details on Inflation rising sharply in...

An economist says it will be tough to achieve the numbers set out in Labour's fiscal plan.  The party says all its election commitments are fully costed - with the country returning to surplus in 2028/29.  Labour would keep the Budget operating allowance tight at 2.4 billion dollars - and reinstate its pay equity scheme at a cost not yet determined.  Economist Cameron Bagrie tells A...

The cost of living is once again a key issue in the election  But what seems strange to me is that somehow New Zealanders believe it’s a problem that only  affects us. A cursory skim through international papers shows it’s an issue for every market on earth  Here much blame has been heaped on supermarkets  Our duopoly of massive supermarkets are viewed with suspicion with many,...

Election campaigning is well underway, with the first week complete.  So how are all the parties faring?   Political Commentator Brigitte Morten told Ryan Bridge so far, National seems to be on the front foot and Labour on the back.  She says they both started out strong with their campaign launches, but PREFU bolstered National's position, while attention on Labour's student loan p...

Strong support from tourism operators for more domestic-like trans-Tasman travel.  If re-elected, National will trial a fully digitised airport process for Australians travelling here or Kiwis heading across the ditch.  Eligible travellers could get through gates on facial recognition without the need for a passport.  Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism CEO Mat Woods told...

A commercial law expert's hesitant over whether Labour's proposed fee and subscription laws would actually do their job.  The Party's promising to protect consumers from hidden costs by requiring all mandatory fees be included in the upfront price.  It would also see subscriptions as easy to cancel as it is to sign up.  But Auckland University Professor Alex Sims told Ryan Bridge sh...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Friday the 2nd of October, week one of the campaign down, political commentator Brigitte Morten provides analysis.  Labour's campaigning on getting rid of "hidden fees", Auckland University Professor in Department of Commercial Law, Alex Sims explains how much control a government can have over businesses's.  National's promising pa...

Trump's getting desperate to fix gas prices ahead of the midterms and usually when he's trying to do something for America, there will be losers and that could well be the rest of us.   We spoke a few weeks ago about the fact he was looking into a ban on diesel exports. The industry didn't like it – they thought it wouldn't bring prices down. They lobbied the White House and said the idea cou...

A warning our Emergency Departments are in a state of crisis.  A report from the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine finds admissions rose 21% over the past decade, far exceeding the 13% population growth.  It says more money has to go into building capacity and numbers of doctors working in EDs.  Association of Salaried Medical Specialists' Sarah Dalton told Ryan Bridge the...