Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Friday 25th of July 2025, The Government's scrapped same day enrolments for general elections, Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb shares his concerns.  Should MPs have to use the public health system? Former Health NZ chair Rob Campbell shares his thoughts. Single bottles of beer are being sold with the alcohol contents of up to 16%, Grant Hewison from communities against alcohol harm tells Andrew Dickens about the dangers of having such high contents in small cans.  Plus, a Department of Justice official will meet with Ghislaine Maxwell to find out any new information about Jeffrey Epstein case, US Correspondent Mitch McCann has the latest.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fears changes to the way we vote will impact our democracy.  Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is planning to stop election-day enrolment, ban prisoner voting, and ban free food and entertainment offered near booths. Goldsmith says the changes will stop the vote count hold ups once poll booths close.  But Labour's justice spokesperson, Duncan Webb told Andrew Dickens says there's many reasons people forget to change enrolment details.  Webb says every single vote counts and they'd rather have a system where everyone gets a crack. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s no secret that the construction industry is in trouble.  There’s a number of factors. Firstly the boom in construction right after the pandemic years as money became cheaper and cheaper, so more and more projects were undertaken. We had a residential construction boom in 2022, with approximately 51,000 consents issued, driven by surging house prices and historically low interest rates.  But the good times weren’t to last.   A new government cut many projects, including the construction of 2500 state houses - cutting builders' lunches. Meanwhile the supply of cheap money dried up as the Reserve Bank attacked the recession by raising interest rates.  We ended out with too many builders for fewer projects.  As major infrastructure projects went on hiatus, waiting for a government wanting to spend on them, highly trained construction workers went looking for work - most often in Australia.  Construction went into a tailspin and there are claims we’ve lost 17,000 workers.  But in every cloud there is a silver lining.  Construction firms are now offering large discounts to avoid collapse - some offering discounts of up to 50% to keep their workers busy.  These are in the firms that are left. 687 firms have been liquidated this past year - it’s a threefold increase in just 3 years.  The firms that are left should be hailed as heroes.  Prepared to work through the bad times rather than cutting and running.  And if you’re thinking about a commercial or residential build, can I suggest that there is no better time than now. You’ll never get a better deal going forward.  And maybe. Just maybe we might be able to work our way out of a construction bust that was all our own making. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rotorua's mayor says the story's the same across the country regarding people sleeping on the street.  The Government's June Homelessness Insights report shows rough sleeping's sharply increased, doubling by some measures over 24 months.   Mayor Tania Tapsell is relieved the Government is looking at finding a solution at a national level.  She told Ryan Bridge a lot of transient people are starting to go to other regions when they can't find a place to stay.  Tapsell says she spoke to other mayors at a recent conference in Christchurch, who say homeless people are coming from all over the place.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More and more Kiwis are taking a hike, with 60% of visitors to our Great Walks made up of New Zealanders last summer.   The Department of Conservation's latest visitor insights report shows 60 thousand people walked one of the trails.   International visitor numbers last summer were back to 93% of pre-Covid levels, with more than 50% heading to a national park during their stay.  Federated Mountain Clubs President Megan Dimozantos told Ryan Bridge this isn't a surprise.  She says we live in such a beautiful country, so why not get out in it?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hopes the scrapping of guidelines around transgender participation in community sport will pave the way for smaller organisations to follow.  A Government directive from National and New Zealand First has led to Sport New Zealand dumping the principles put in place in 2022 It comes as New Zealand First leader Winston Peters threatens funding cuts for sporting codes of this nature.  Save Women's Sport's Ro Edge told Ryan Bridge many will have been waiting for this decision.  She says most international sporting federations have moved in this direction, which allows national federations to follow suit.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nobody wants to see streets dotted with tents like San Francisco or downtown LA. This much-hyped government report to Tama Potaka gives a few insights, but doesn't really nail the problem.  There are more people living rough, but we can't say for sure how many more, and even if we could, we can't say how statistically significant the change might be.  Because we had census data, we know it got way worse under Labour - up 37% from 2018-2023.  The councils are reporting —what economists might call— high frequency data that things are getting worse - the rising number of phone calls and reports of concern they're getting from the public.  The real question —which is the basis of what the Opposition's upset about— is if the Government's crackdown on emergency housing caused a wave of homeless refugees camped out on the streets? Here's some interesting numbers: the number of households living in emergency motels is down by 75%, around 85% of them went to some form of housing.  So that's great. They managed to smash through the list and get most people housed.  And here's where Labour's claim gets a bit unbelievable: there's only been a 4% increase in declines for emergency applications.  An increase in homeless doesn't necessarily mean the emergency accommodation changes were a disaster.  In fact, the numbers would, at least on the face of it, appear to show it's been wildly successful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast 2025 Thursday 24th of July, the Government’s told Sport NZ to scrap its transgender guidelines, Save Women's Sport Australasia NZ Spokeswoman Ro Edge, tells Ryan she's happy with the news.  The Government's released a report on homelessness, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell shares her thoughts. DOC summer booking have brought $13 million, President of federated mountain clubs, Megan Dimozantos tells Ryan why we've seen such a surge in domestic travellers.  Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest reaction to Ozzy Osbourne's death and the situation in Gaza.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's expected the Sky TV and TV3 deal will be mutually beneficial.   Sky TV's bought the channel for a dollar from Warner Brothers Discovery.   Spinoff founder and media commentator Duncan Grieve says Sky will have more options to roll out its content on TV3's free to air platforms.   He told Ryan Bridge it will be a relief for TV3, as they’ve had a reluctant owner for a while now.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Green Party says the Government needs to follow up its words on Gaza with action.   A group of nations, including New Zealand, have signed on to a declaration calling for a ceasefire and condemning Israeli attacks on Palestinians seeking aid.   Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says we should sanction Israel to the same degree as Russia.   She told Ryan Bridge words are not enough.   Swarbrick says there's large scale starvation and Palestinians can't eat words.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday 23rd of July 2025 opposition parties are saying we need to take a harsher stance against israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza gets worse, Green's co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick tells Ryan what we can do as a nation. A new report from MPI and Beef and Lamb NZ estimates non-tariff trade barriers are costing us over $1 billion every year, Beef and Lamb NZ chair, Kate Acland explains what needs to be done.  Sky TV is buying TV three for one dollar from Warner Brothers Discovery, Spinoff founder and media commentator Duncan Grieve shares his thoughts.  Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on a number of French cities imposing night-time curfews on young people following a spate of violence linked to drug trafficking.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A push to minimise barriers on our red meat export industry.  The Meat Industry Association and Beef and Lamb New Zealand have revealed non-tariff trade barriers are costing the industry an estimated $1.5 billion every year. Beef + Lamb Chair Kate Ackland told Ryan Bridge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working on 194 different non-tariff barriers the sector's facing. She says the red meat industry is worth $10.4 billion, so $1.5 billion is significant.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This business with the supermarkets and their pricing...  Consumer NZ has launched a petition. They want change to stop prices being incorrectly labelled.  So you go to checkout and scan receipts, something's different to what you expected. Then we would get a refund on the product, and the product for free.  The idea is that if you make the punishment more than fit the crime, they'll stop doing it.  Which I get. But the supermarkets reckon —and Consumer NZ calls this spin— that there's just too many products and they honestly make mistakes.  More often than not the prices are out by a few cents - so $5.99 instead $5.95. The key question here is whether we think the supermarkets are doing this on purpose, or whether they're just large organisation that occasionally get small things wrong.  And correct the errors when spotted. Refunds where necessary.  If we're saying they are deliberately doing this, that's a whole other thing.  I'm not saying the supermarkets should be given a Hall Pass here, but if we're talking about a few million dollars a year spread over a population of five million, plus the free products on top of refunds they'd have to fund... You've got to ask if the potential payoff is worth the cost of pushing a policy like this. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netball NZ is opening the door to overseas-based Silver Ferns.  They’ve updated their eligibility criteria, which means overseas players can be considered for national selection through a formal exemption process.   Former Silver Fern Margaret Foster told Ryan Bridge that to represent your country on a national level, regardless of where they’re playing in the world.  She says the best competition is currently in Australia, so playing overseas allows athletes to improve before bringing back their new skills to represent their country.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation is coming dangerously close to the top end of the Reserve Bank’s target band.  It’s reached 2.7% year-on-year – the main drivers being council rates, increased rents, electricity prices, and food prices.  Independent economist Cameron Bagrie told Ryan Bridge that there’s not only cyclical damage to the economy from the Reserve Bank’s efforts to curb inflation, but also significant structural issues.  He says that productivity used to be, on average, 1.4% per year, but it’s now down to 0.3%.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A belief the Government's claim a new medical school in Hamilton will provide more rural doctors and GPs is yet to be proven.  Cabinet's putting almost $83 million into the $230 million new University of Waikato Medical School, opening in 2028. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Ryan Bridge no doctor out of university has any specialty, and it takes years of experience to get to this point.  Dalton says everyone might hope that more people going to medical school will be GPs and rural hospital medical specialists, but this isn't guaranteed.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT's insistence that the Waikato University doctors school cost was out of whack and based on a poor quality business case seems to have been proven correct.  Why else would the cost to the taxpayer has shrunk by $200 million? He says it was going to cost us $280 million.  If he was right, and he's one guy at the cabinet table, how many other business cases don't stack up? There's an entire lucrative business case industry in Wellington. Some of this work is done in-house by government departments, but much of it is outsourced to the private sector.  Can we trust these reports?  MBIE had a business case train wreck a few years back when calculating the benefits of hosting events like the World Dance championships.  After questions from the media, they realised they'd been incorrectly calculating the cost-benefit analyses of events for two years - more than a dozen applications had to be fixed.  We've recently had scraps over the benefits of four-laneing to Whangarei.  This is a problem because if we can't trust the numbers we're basing decisions on, then how can we make proper decisions?  I hope this Waikato uni med school is a success. They say it'll train an extra 120 doctors a year from 2028.  But there are three reasons this has the risk of becoming the government's biggest white elephant project.  1. Other unis say they could have trained the same number of doctors for cheaper 2. Waikato Uni has a tonne of its own money and untapped and unlimited access to loans, so why aren't they fully funding?  3. The business case was clearly shonky to begin with.  Perhaps we could spend the remainder on a business case school with qualifications for the getting the numbers right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Tuesday 22nd of July 2025, the Government finally gave the green light for a new medical school at the University of Waikato, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Sarah Dalton shares her thoughts.  The Netball New Zealand board have voted to update its eligibility criteria for the Silver Ferns, allowing overseas-based athletes.  Inflation came in at 2.7% yesterday, independent economist Cameron Bagrie tells Ryan whether it will impact an OCR cut in August.  Plus Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio has the latest on the Australian parliament resuming for the first time since election. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Monday 21st of July 2025, inflation figures are out today which will help paint a picture of how the economy is doing, ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith tells Ryan where he thinks the figure will land.  Andrew Alderson has the latest on the weekend's sport.  The Government's promised movement for six billion dollars worth of infrastructure projects, Civil Contractors NZ Chief Executive tells Ryan how the industry will react to all the jobs it will create.  Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on thousands of Afghans whose personal details were leaked not expected to receive any compensation.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning that a stretched workforce could threaten the future of the country's infrastructure.   Six billion dollars of projects including roads, schools and hospitals will kick off between now and late December. Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Allan Pollard says 15-thousand construction workers have lost their jobs over the past year.  He told Ryan Bridge the next six months will be achievable - but it could be a strain longer term.  Pollard says we need to do some major scaling up of the work force over the next two years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If we could mark NCEA level One... would it even get an achieved. let alone a merit or excellence? We heard at the weekend about an ERO report.  Basically, said the whole system is too flexible. Kids are scooping up credits from all corners of the classroom. It's too broad and flexible, they reckon. As a result, students aren't being properly taught core subjects. The government's looking it. But there was a number in this report which should jump out at all parents and teachers.  22%.  In 2024, just 22% of NCEA results came from external assessment. Which means exams.  The bulk of credits come from internal assessments - stuff like essays.  This means kids can use AI and all sorts to do the work for them.  One in four don't bother sitting the exams because they've already got enough internal credits.  I went through the NCEA system and this happened to me too - but I would never dream of skipping an exam and missing out on credits.  Clearly, something has to be done. What hope do we give students if they're not being taught the basics and not being assessed properly?  Until something's done, bad headlines and reports like this one will just keep undermining the qualification so many young people rely on to get through their working lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unlike last week, the All Blacks team for the final clash against France is filled with changes.   Ethan de Groot, Fabian Holland, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea and Rieko Ioane are the only players remaining from the last run-on side.  Rugby Commentator Tony Johnson told Andrew Dickens that Scott Robertson and the other selectors certainly fulfilled their promise to be bold with their selection.  However, he says, that comes with a considerable risk against the French team, who still feel that they can take something out of the series.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We may have to get used to paying more for butter.  Kiwi consumers are now consistently paying more than twice as much for butter as they were a decade ago, according to latest Stats NZ figures.  Supermarkets and suppliers have been under pressure to lower prices.  Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Karl Dean told Andrew Dickens there’s been a global trend towards consuming more butter, especially in the last five years, ramping up even further in the last twelve months.  However, he says, what goes up normally comes down, which these bubbles normally do.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK's Labour Party believes allowing the younger generation to vote could have positive ripple effects.  It's lowering the country's voting age to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to have their say.   The change will take effect at the next general election and brings the electorate into line with Scotland and Wales.  UK Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Andrew Dickens youth want to feel catered for, and Labour's keeping their word.   He says there's some thinking in the party that young people tend to be more left-leaning and could support Labour.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Friday the 18th of July 2025, jobseeker benefit numbers are continuing to climb, former welfare advisory group member Phil O'Reily shares why.  It's final All Blacks test against the french tomorrow night at FMG stadium in Hamilton, Rugby commentator Tony Johnson shares his thoughts on the line up.  Dairy prices around the globe are soaring and Kiwi's are footing the bill, Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean tells Andrew Dickens why prices have become so high.  Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest on the UK lowering the voting age to 16 at the next general election expected in 2029. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A welfare expert's pointing to the lack of jobs being the main reason more people are ending up on the benefit. Ministry of Social Development statistics show almost 8 thousand more were receiving a main benefit in June compared to March.  It follows the Government instating new requirements for beneficiaries in hopes of getting more into the workforce.  Former Welfare Advisory Group member Phil O'Reilly told Andrew Dickens the Government needs to up public spending to help the lagging economy. He says it's about trying to reinvigorate the construction sector, which has seen 17 thousand jobs lost in the last 18 months. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know the Covid Inquiry is looking at MIQ, amongst other things.  And we all know that MIQ had noble aims and notable successes. But we also know the execution was far from perfect, and many people ended up feeling ostracized from the rest of New Zealand.  The idea of the Inquiry is to find out what went wrong so we do better next time.  And yesterday, Les Morgan, the Chief Operating Manager of Sudima Hotels, wrote an exceptional piece in the Herald on the rights and wrongs of MIQ and in the middle of his piece he took my heart away with a stunning piece of writing.  He learnt at a 1pm briefing that his hotel had been requisitioned for an MIQ facility. Except no-one had told him and his team and their first refugees were expected that very day. He wrote this:  "The hotel in question had been closed indefinitely, meaning staff had moved on and there were no consumables or PPE gear on site.  "Once I had run the gauntlet of shock and bad language, our team swung into action and I am proud to say our local staff welcomed the first guests by 8pm the same day with full PPE equipment and comprehensive operational procedures. (The military and public health teams involved arrived on-site equally unprepared but also rallied.)   "These were staff who had left the business earlier in lockdown but came back to bravely face an unknown health risk and the enormous task of recommissioning a hotel, all because they thought it was the right thing to do to help save the lives of fellow New Zealanders. They are all heroes, and they deserve to be properly recognised by the Government." Damn right.  In London there is a Covid Memorial Wall on the banks of the Tames opposite the Houses of Parliament.  It features over 240,000 individually hand-painted red hearts. Each heart represents a person in the UK who died with COVID-19 listed as a cause of death on their death certificate. It’s all ages, but particularly the young and the old.  We have nothing like that in New Zealand.   This Inquiry will not give everybody want they want. It will prove MIQ to be neither right or wrong.  But it will remind us that there are silent heroes in New Zealand who we have not thanked nearly enough.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News the Government's set to shred half a million books from the National Library is being described as standard management.  Books including religious texts, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf are among them, with the cull expected to save about a million dollars in storage costs.   Library and Information Association Executive Director Laura Marshall told Andrew Dickens books are destroyed to make room as part of collection management.  She says it's specific to the particular library or institute, and if they kept every book published, they'd need a 50 storey building.  Around 50 thousand books were offered to other libraries, Marshall says, and another 50 thousand to charities, adding at some point a book's time is up.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's being suggested we need to generate more power if we want to fix our electricity market.  Major power companies will soon be required to charge less for power during off-peak periods and pay more for solar and battery power during peak periods.  The Electricity Authority hopes the measures will drive down power prices over time.  But Paul Fuge —the manager of Consumer NZ's Powerswitch website— told Andrew Dickens the ultimate driver of price is supply.  He says the market is not delivering the amount of electricity needed for New Zealand's growth, and the country needs more power stations being built.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Thursday the 17th of July 2025, the Government's ditching open-plan classrooms, May Road Primary principal Lynda Stewart shares her thoughts on whether the classrooms work.  New deals will soon become available to bring down your power bill, Consumer NZ Powerswitch manager Paul Fuge tells Andrew Dickens the difference it'll make.  Multiple major religious texts will be shredded at the National library, Laura Marshall from the Library and Information Association shares her thoughts.  Plus, US President Donald Trump has said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release "whatever she thinks is credible" on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, US Correspondent Mitch McCann has the latest.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's concerns the Government's being too black and white with its decision to pull the plug on open plan classrooms. The idea was introduced by John Key's Government in 2011. The Education Minister Erica Stanford says now all new builds will have more traditional layouts. Auckland's May Road Primary School Principal Lynda Stuart told Andrew Dickens it shouldn't be a binary discussion. She says it works well when you've thought about neurodivergent children, others that need the space to move and you've designed an environment for them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So the Local Government Conference is underway and the Government took advantage of it to talk down to councils like a stepdad telling off their stepson.  They’ve been told to reign in wasteful spending to keep their rates increase down. It'd be good if the government that is currently spending more than any other ever practiced what they preached.  But anyway, the Government is talking about bringing in rate caps.   Sounds good. A simple idea we can all understand, but will it work?  The fact is the idea is in place in Australia. Melbourne and Sydney have them, but individual councils can apply for exemptions. And in Melbourne it means that some councils have imposed 10% rates.   But they don’t have them in Brisbane, and Brisbane has the lowest rate increases in Australia.   So why is that? Successive councils have kept the debt low. They’ve had smart long term plans with cross-party support.   They have a suburbs first policy so that improvements are made where people actually live. 85% of their budget is spent on this - it’s also cheaper than grand projects.   And they like public transport.  A record $210 million is being spent on it, which is a lot cheaper than building roads, roads, roads. Here public transport and alternative transport options are the first to be cut in hard times.   And because of their resident friendly, suburban centric approach combined with fiscal prudence, they have some wriggle room.  Senior citizens in Brisbane get the most generous rebates in the country, cutting their rates in half.   And it means that Brisbane can pursue some big stuff like the Olympics. But there they show some balls as well, canning the re-development of the Gabba because the business case didn’t measure up.  Rates caps are good slogan policy.  It sounds like a simple answer to a complex situation, but they didn’t work in Sydney and Melbourne.  In fact there they’re suffering from rates catch up. If you defer projects then eventually someone is going to pay for them.   Whanganui will find that out in the future. Work on the Opera House has been deferred, saving $8 million, but that work hasn’t gone away and will cost more in the future.  The reason we’re in the hole we’re in is false promises of rate cuts by previous councils that resulted in a rates catch up.   Wellington’s water sound familiar.  We don’t need rates caps, what we really need is sensible long term fiscally prudent governance. Look for that next election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should your job provide health insurance coverage?  There are calls for a fringe benefit tax break as a Council report reveals people are twice as likely to have car insurance than life or health.  It says 78% of Kiwis pay for their own insurance, rather than employers footing the bill.  Enriched Retirement Founder Liz Koh told Andrew Dickens that New Zealanders tend to think they’re bulletproof, and they don’t tend to put health insurance at the top of their priority list.  She says that if you don’t have good health, it impacts your ability to work, and employers have a vested interest in making sure their employees are healthy.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The future of the latest BBC MasterChef UK series is up in the air.   John Torode is leaving after a report upheld allegations he used an "extremely offensive racist term".  It comes after an independent report substantiated 45 of 83 allegations about the behaviour of former co-judge Gregg Wallace.  UK correspondent, Gavin Grey told Andrew Dickens there are calls to scrap the already filmed series.    But he says competitors and the winner have worked hard to get there, and ideas around replacing them with voice overs will be almost impossible.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones is floating the idea of special economic zones as an answer to New Zealand’s energy security.   The Government's asking for feedback on its new long-term fuel strategy.   The special economic zones are areas where businesses can get tailored policies on regulation, financial support, and access to infrastructure.  Major Electricity Users' Group Chair John Harbord told Andrew Dickens it could give independent generators a better chance than they currently have.  He says the only big players that independent generators can sell to are the big four gentailers, and it's just cheaper for the gentailers to make it themselves.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Wednesday 16th of July 2025, The Government’s cracking down on councils -  forcing them stick to their core business, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell shares her thoughts. There's calls for fringe benefit tax breaks to help kiwis pay for the rising cost of health insurance, Enrich Retirement founder Liz Koh tells Andrew Dickens the difference it would make.  Shane Jones is pushing ahead with his desire to implement special economic zones to boost electricity generation and fuel security. Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on MasterChef TV presenter John Torode sacked by the BBC.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government wants to scrap local councils' four well-being provisions.  A amendment bill has been introduced to remove the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act, to refocus councils on their core services.  The Government wants councils to give more value to ratepayers.  Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell told Andrew Dickens she's looking forward to the removal of the four wellbeing clauses. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m always amazed at how much credence the United Nations is given in domestic New Zealand politics.  The left loves the UN pronouncements on New Zealand’s stances because if reinforces their view that we’ve got much to feel guilty about.  Meanwhile the right somehow believes that the UN can supersede our sovereignty and is an enemy to be repelled at all costs.  But the UN is actually an ineffectual bureaucracy.  A giant global virtue signaller judging its signatories to an idealistic standard that is often unachievable in the modern world.  There’s nothing wrong with the UN writing these reports because it might be nice to live in a world full of unicorns,  but they’re just words and often have little deep context.  David Seymour obviously took offence at one such report and in a fit of pique late one night, drunk on the power of being Deputy Prime Minister, fired off an angry letter signed Grumpy of Epsom.  That’s obviously not his job, and it’s right that he’s been told off about it.  And that's about that. It's caused a minor tiff amongst the coalition partners because of process and pecking order, but it's not the major crack in the coalition that some claim.  And don't worry about so called international embarrassment because the world has a lot more to be embarrassed and worried about rather than some little report by an arm of the UN that criticises one piece of legislation in a very small country globally.  So, chill out about the UN. They’re not the boss of us. They’re not the boss of anyone. That’s their biggest problem in getting anything tangible done. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A turning point for Auckland.  The third annual State of the City report has been released, showing how we compare on a global scale.  It highlights strengths in sustainability, resilience, and culture, but says we lag behind in prosperity, skills, and innovation development.  Deloitte’s Future of Auckland Lead Kate Sutton told Andrew Dickens that Auckland’s at 40% of GDP while the productivity per capita is about 20% lower than comparable cities around the world.  She says we’re doing more for less, and a step up needs to be done to deal with the structural reasons behind it.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here we go again.  The polytechs that were centralised by the last government are going to be de-centralised by the current mob.  It's not quite back to the future because it won't be the same as we had before the politicians started tinkering. There will now be ten polytechs run locally, six others will have to prove their financial viability, but it still feels like we're going back to where we started from. And this ideological flip flop isn't free.  The Labour Government allocated hundreds of millions of dollars over several years to support the merger and transformation of the vocational education sector. And now National has budgeted $200 million to fund the reversal. Key Cost Drivers in this change include swapping out the IT and systems integration across multiple institutions from centralised to local.  Obviously, staff restructuring, which includes finding new staff for the polytechs and firing some staff created in the centralisation.  Then there's branding and communications and legal and compliance costs. It isn't cheap and at the end of the day, we're back to square one.  The same things happening over at Health New Zealand. It's happening all over the country as the government reverses Labour's changes. People are packing up their desks that they packed up four years ago. Now who to blame? Labour for coming up with the new ideas in the first place, or National's dogged determination to reverse everything the last mob did because they've built their brand on not being Labour? I don't know about you but the whole thing feels like wasteful government spending, and are we substantially better off?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Tuesday 15th of July 2025, Secondary Principals Council Chair and Aotea College Principal Kate Gainsford joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the number of students passing the NCEA literacy and numeracy co-requisite tests slowly on the rise. Dr Sandra Grey, National Secretary of the Tertiary Education Union, shares her thoughts on the Government’s plan to replace Te Pūkenga and return to a more localised polytech model. Kate Sutton, Future of Auckland Lead at Deloitte, breaks down a new global report comparing Auckland’s strengths and weaknesses on the world stage. Plus, Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio has the incredible story of a German backpacker found alive after surviving 11 days lost in the harsh outback. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns we're narrowing the focus too much in the push to improve literacy and numeracy rates. Small improvements were seen on last year with 57% of NCEA students achieving the numeracy standard, 61% achieving the reading standard and 55% achieving the writing standard. Secondary Principals Council Chair, Kate Gainsford told Andrew Dickens the focus hasn't been spread across other important subjects like science or languages.  She says we need to ensure we don't neglect other parts of the curriculum while also looking at the basics. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the weekend, a group of well-known organizations published an open letter to the Prime Minister.  Organizations like the EMA, 2degrees and Consumer New Zealand all signed the letter calling for the government to reform the energy sector.  Chief Executive of Consumer New Zealand John Duffy said that the government needs to have a fast, but measured response.  He said, ‘[We don’t] want the minister to rush into a knee-jerk reaction.’   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Monday 14th of July 2025, Act's Tertiary Education Spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar shares her thoughts on a new plan from the government to double the amount international students contribute to our economy to $7.2 billion by 2034.  A group of well-known organisations have written an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for immediate reform to our energy sector, Consumer NZ Chief Executive Jon Duffy, tells Andrew Dickens why.  Andrew Alderson has the latest on the weekend's sport.  Plus Europe/ UK Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on more than 70 people arrested at protests against Palestine Action, being designated a proscribed terrorist group. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's unveiling new initiatives in hopes of doubling the international education sector.  Education Minister Erica Stanford wants it to contribute 7.2 billion dollars to the economy by 2034.  The Government's plan begins with expanding work rights to all tertiary students in approved exchange programmes.  It's also allowing eligible students to work 25-hours per week - up from the current 20.  It will also investigate a new short-duration work visa and streamlining multi-year visa application.   Act Tertiary Education Spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar told Andrew Dickens she welcomes the news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I find it ironic that the government and the electorate are once a gain keen on getting rid of some of the layers of our council bureaucracy. First NZ First’s Shane Jones publicly questioned the role of regional councils, pondering whether “there’s going to be a compelling case for regional government to continue to exist”. Then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking that the Government was looking at local government reform. On Friday Matthew Hooten wrote a piece about Regional Councils reiterating Chris Bishop’s question that he’s been asking many local councillors.  Is there any point in having regional councils.  So it's on the table.  Of course the battle against bureaucracy is alive and well around the world. Duplication of services and excessive layers of governance means that savings could be made easily and safely and it's something we've always discussed. Last term the government reformed District Health Board from 20 boards into a single entity Health New Zealand or just that reason but the new government has taken against that and they've announced a return to locally delivered healthcare because they believe that in regional decision making is the best way to go. We're still waiting to see what that will look like.  Meanwhile reform of regional councils looks awfully like the formation of Auckland's Super City.   A reform that has a heap of enemies because of it's devolution of power away from communities.  As Hooten says the reason we hate the Super City are the Council Controlled Organisations a move that was supposed to replicate State Owned Enterprises.   But the problem there is that we can't but shares in CCOs so they become the worst of things. A mongrel hybrid of Council bureaucracies and Private Monopolies.  So we seem to like amalgamating public bodies but then when it happens we moan that our voices are no longer heard and that bureaucracies have become too huge and out of control. So, what is it people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson is determined to have more success in the air against France during Saturday's second test in Wellington.  The French aerial assault often caught the ABs on the hop in the narrow first test win, an area Robertson says the All Blacks have been tidying up in practice.  Weekend Sport Host Jason Pine told Andew Dickens that defusing their ariel game is essential, and Caleb Clarke, who is coming on as injury cover, is a big part of that.  “He’s probably the All Blacks’ best winger in terms of diffusing the high bomb.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A belief all sectors will need to step up to deal with online scammers.  The new Anti-Scam Alliance brings together government agencies, banks, telcos, digital platforms, and consumer groups.  The task force will share data about scams to shut them down in real time.  Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont says it will make a difference if all participants play their part.  He says particularly social media companies and digital platforms need to do what they can to interrupt scams.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Friday 11th of July 2025, the Government's going to address the country's scamming issues head on with a anti-scam alliance, NZ Banking Association Chief Executive Roger Beaumont, tells Andrew Dickens the difference it will make.  The All Blacks are taking on France this weekend in Wellington, Newstalk ZB's Jason Pine shares his thoughts ahead of the game.  Just under 30 thousand New Zealanders left the country for Australia last year, the highest level of emigration across the ditch since 2012. Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest on a new deal between the UK and France which addresses small boat crossings.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New migration numbers may be painting a bleak picture of our economy.  New Zealand saw it's highest net migration loss to Australia in the year to December in more than a decade - with 30 thousand leaving. Overall net migration for the May 2025 year levelled out at a gain of just under 15 thousand.  But ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith told Andrew Dickens net migration is normally about a 30 thousand person inflow.  He says over the past few years, there's been a sharp slowdown in the number of people coming in, and we've also seen record numbers leaving - which reflects the weakness in the economy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.