Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

It's fair to say that the GDP figures out this morning came as a shock- it's a lot weaker than economists were expecting. Economists were tending to forecast a bit of growth, around 0.2 percent to 3 percent, and instead what they saw was the economy slumped 0.3 percent for the third quarter, which is July through to September. And if you calculate it per capita to account for all the extra people who arrived here during that time, it's even worse- the slump is 0.9 percent, which is actually quite material. Now even more than that, the statisticians have revised what happened earlier this year and they're now saying that Q1 was also negative, which means we had a technical recession over last summer. The fact is, if you look at today's number, you look at the fact that this economy's not flash right now, you could probably say we're in another technical recession right now this summer. That's probably not news to you, these numbers are probably only telling you what you're already feeling. If you're in retail, you've noticed sales are slowing- it's tough graft at the moment. If you're in hospitality, you know people aren't eating and drinking out like they used to. If you're in construction, the jobs may be fewer. It's tough, the numbers are just backing it up. Now politically - there is always a political element to this - this is good for National and the new Government because as weird as it sounds, they now have data to prove the mess they say Labour left for us all. As for Grant Robertson in particular, this really sucks because this is the third piece of bad money news that he has had in two days. There is a slumping economy that he's left us with, he just had a slap-down from the Auditor-General about how fast and loose he was being with the infrastructure spending, and then the mega-ferries deal got cancelled because it was blowing out. Now Grant is apparently sticking around this term for the time being, to try and defend Labour's track record on spending. He's got one hell of a job, given what's going on right now. But let's be honest right now, frankly this is probably not what you care about. You care about what this means for you. The good news is, this makes it way less likely that the Reserve Bank will lift our mortgage rates again. Adrian Orr can talk as big as he likes about how he's going to do that and how that's a possibility. But at the moment, it looks like the economy is suffering enough. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has faced a battle within his own party over his controversial flagship Rwanda bill. The legislation comfortably passed its first Commons hurdle with a majority of 44- but the bill is expected to face further opposition in the new year. No Tory MPs voted against the bill, but some critics on the right of the party rebelled by abstaining. UK correspondent Gavin Grey explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and David Farrar from Kiwiblog joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The UN General Assembly has called for a ceasefire in Gaza – the US voted against amongst a tiny minority, is the public opinion really turning against Israel? Air New Zealand is laying out some new gimmicks- new snack menu, new uniforms and Starlink wi-fi on domestic flights. Shouldn’t they focus on getting their planes and schedules running correctly? The Grocery Commissioner has encouraged supermarkets to lower their prices for the Christmas season. Is this a effective idea? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technology continues to evolve and spill over into the world of work, allowing more robots to fit into modern workplaces. More companies have turned to robot workers to fill jobs that are difficult to recruit for, primarily the manufacturing sector. Milford Asset Management's Deborah Lambie explains what this means for the years ahead. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand’s current account deficit remains stubbornly high, according to the latest data. A new report shows the country spent $30.6 billion more on imports than it earned from exports in the year to September, the equivalent to 7.6 percent of GDP. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains what this data means for Kiwi spending habits. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand, and more than three-quarters of the General Assembly, have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - despite the US not being in favour. 153 UN members voted in favour on humanitarian grounds, 10 voted against. Earlier today, Prime Minister Chris Luxon joined the leaders of Australia and Canada in calling for a pause. ZB political editor Jason Walls says these leaders know a ceasefire needs unity to be effective, and wonders how effective this statement actually is. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The deal's off - with two new mega-ferries for the Cook Strait no longer going ahead. KiwiRail has confirmed it will terminate a contract signed in 2021 to build the new ships in South Korea. The Government has turned down KiwiRail's funding request to cover the escalating cost for the new ships and port infrastructure. Chief Executive Peter Reidy says this is 'disappointing news for him and the KiwiRail team. "We'll focus today on our people and our customers, which we've been doing. And on Monday, we'll turn around and work with the Government on options." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Auditor-General has left a 'scathing' review of the previous Government's $15 billion infrastructure spend-up during Covid-19. This report addressed the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme and $3 billion Shovel-Ready Programme designed to boost the economy and long-term infrastructure in 2020. John Ryan says neither of these projects had any real business cases backing them. "A lot of those projects, Ministers were advised, were not ready to be announced. Business cases were mainly out of date or only partially complete." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Nelson charity giveaway for Christmas ended in pushing, shoving and fighting over gifts. Helping Families hosted the event, which saw hundreds pouring through the door and stepping over each other to clear out the room in half an hour. Helping Families founder Kristy Rowe the aggression was overwhelming for volunteers, who were subject to verbal abuse. "We had positive comments, and we want to thank people for those. But as usual, it's the negative comments that stick a bit harder, especially for our volunteers." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister says the Government's looking at other ferry options after turning down KiwiRail's request for more Interislander funding. The cost of two mega-ferries and upgrading port infrastructure had ballooned to about $3 billion- and KiwiRail says it can't proceed without help. Nicola Willis says that project is over, and they'll explore other options. "The option that had been on the table for KiwiRail was the equivalent of the Ferrari, and now we as a Government are saying- look, can we have a look around, are there some very good, safe, reliable Toyota Corollas we could be using instead?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Napier's mayor accepts a report finding the city was hugely unprepared for Cyclone Gabrielle. RNZ reports the City Council commissioned an independent review of its response. The Resilient Organisations report shows the Council wasn't set up to cope with such an event, and only a few staff had emergency management training. Kirsten Wise says it's good to get the feedback - to plan for future events. "We certainly acknowledge that we weren't as prepared as we could have been, and that is what we're now focused on- ensuring that we have actually taken on board the recommendations of this report." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

International public opinion is turning against Israel bombing Gaza. 153 members of the UN General Assembly, including New Zealand, voted today to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Former UN Development Programme head and former Prime Minister, Helen Clark, says even the US President - a staunch advocate - has acknowledged Israel is losing support. She says the situation in Gaza is dire and getting worse. "Two-thirds of people have no home, 80 percent of them have been displaced. People are given a choice between flee or die." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Joe Biden has slammed Republican lawmakers, as he reiterates his support for Ukraine. His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited Washington DC to ask lawmakers to continue supporting their war efforts. A support deal's been held up by an impasse in the US Congress on tightening immigration and border policies. US correspondent Mitch McCann says it's unlikely the Republicans will be able to negotiate their way into a solution within a clear timeframe. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relief from the New Zealand Sail GP team their home regatta has been rescued by Christchurch. Lyttleton will shoulder hosting responsibilities for the event in March after Auckland was ruled out as a viable location due to spectator facility issues. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave breaks these events down. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Grocery Commissioner is shining a spotlight on grocery prices this festive season. Pierre van Heerden is challenging supermarkets to implement Everyday Low Pricing on staple items before Christmas. Demand typically rises at this time of year - and van Heerden says prices often do, too. He says groceries have been this year's biggest driver of cost of living pressures. "Supermarkets can actually bring a bit of Christmas cheer and provide something back to consumers." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Look, I feel like we are now at a global tipping point with Israel and I think tolerance is running very short- and probably about to run out completely for their bombardment of Gaza. A lot has happened in just the last few days, even just today, to indicate that this is on the cards now. We've had New Zealand, Australia and Canada putting out a joint statement this morning calling for a sustainable ceasefire, saying that they are alarmed at what's happening to the civilians in Gaza. A few hours ago, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. And in probably the biggest sign that the time is up, Joe Biden, who has of course been Israel's biggest backer globally, has started to pull his support away from Benjamin Netanyahu and warned Israel it risks alienating its allies if it continues. He said that they cannot say no to a Palestinian state, and then he went as far as quite pointedly saying to Netanyahu that he had to change this Government- which I think a lot of people will agree with. A lot of people will blame this Government and the past Governments of Netanyahu for the situation that Israel is currently in. The fact is, these world leaders are basically doing this because they are losing domestic support for continuing to support Israel. You've seen the pressure mount here in New Zealand on the Government. Labour and Te Pati Māori and the Greens have all put pressure on the Government to call for a ceasefire, there have been protests up and down the country as a result. In the states, a poll has found that only 20 percent of Americans think that Biden's approach is going to lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It is not surprising that Israel's running out of runway at all- on this show we said pretty much immediately after the October 7 massacres by Hamas that Israel would only have so long to do what they always do, which is disproportionately punish the Palestinian people before sentiment would change. Sentiment is now changing, the only thing that is surprising is how long the tolerance lasted, how long the runway was for this bombardment. Especially given that the bombardment was never going to work. We all knew that, right? We'd never fully root out Hamas, we'd never be able to get all of those people out of the tunnels, all it ever was going to do was punish the civilians - which it has - and foment anger and probably create another generation of terrorists. And only time will tell whether that's going to happen- but I say it probably will. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised a few eyebrows with his refusal to share his WhatsApp messages during the Covid response inquiry. Sunak claimed he had changed phones many times in recent years and never backed up his messages- leaving no evidence from the pandemic period. UK correspondent Enda Brady says Boris Johnson also lost 5,000 WhatsApp messages during that period, and reached for a similar excuse. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and projects director at Still, Sam Johnson, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! FIFA's latest report into online abuse reveals players at the football Women's World Cup were 29 percent more likely to be subject to online harassment. Can anything be done to address this? Is abuse just a drawback that comes from being a public figure? Sir Colin Tukuitonga has resigned from his public positions - should he have made this move? Or would have he been better staying on to advocate for his cause? COP28 talks could be in jeopardy following an outcry from several nations regarding a 'weak' draft deal. What happens now? Experts are calling for 'best before' labels to be scrapped, claiming they contribute to the widespread problem of food waste. Is this a good idea? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2023 is drawing to a close, and economists are predicting what lies ahead for the new year. New Zealand is still fighting a long, drawn-out battle with inflation, which is set to impact jobs and house prices. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says the uptick in migration is set to boost demand for goods and services- meaning inflation will be stickier for longer. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's biggest rural telethon is set to kick off this Thursday from 6am. The Big Feed will be hosted by TV personality Matt Chisholm, former boxer Dave Letele, and Meat the Need co-founder and Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford. The Country's Jamie Mackay says the telethon aims to raise enough for 1.2 million meat and milk meals for food banks nationwide. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More local councils appear to be drawn towards attempting asset sales. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has begun the process of selling a chunk of its majority share in the Port of Tauranga. Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington are also investigating potential asset sales. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie explains the benefits and drawbacks of this process. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges against two construction companies and their directors for alleged cartel conduct. The pair were accused of colluding to rig bids for their publicly-funded infrastructure projects in Auckland. Commerce Commission Chair, John Small, says their cartels team investigated this historic case right away. "It's obviously, with a criminal standard, the standard of proof and the standards of evidence, got to be pretty high. Because the consequences are very serious- potential imprisonment- we've got good evidence." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new FIFA report has published some eye-opening stats into social media abuse. Players at the football Women's World Cup were 29 percent more likely to receive online abuse than those at the men's tournament in 2022, according to new data. One in five Women's World Cup players, a total of 152, received "targeted discriminatory, abusive or threatening messaging". Former Football Fern Katie Duncan says it's 'saddening' that online abuse has gotten this extreme. "It's good for it to be actually recorded from the players, it just gives them data so hopefully more can be done for the statistics- for the data to be lower." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Tauranga iwi hopes its Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal claim is accepted and heard sooner rather than later. The Ngāi Te Rangi Settlement Trust is accusing the Government of bending Treaty rules with its policies. Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley claims the Government has launched an attack on culture and language. He says they are attempting to extinguish the language within multiple areas of Government. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealanders under clear skies tonight could glimpse a meteor shower. The rare display will be visible between 8pm and midnight, as the debris field intercepts Earth's orbit. Auckland University physics professor Richard Easther says it's the first appearance from this particular shower. "There are some meteor showers that happen every year, but this one is new- and it's associated with a comet. So we're getting some insight into how these little icy snowballs work." Easther says Kiwis will be able to see the shower if they look to the north west sky. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's Climate Change Minister says more ambition's needed to transition the world away from fossil fuels. Simon Watts is attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, which is reportedly on the verge of failure, because of a lack of agreement. Its draft climate deal doesn't include plans to phase out fossil fuels and several countries are threatening to walk out. Watts says words in the agreement such as 'could' take action simply won't cut it. "Our Pacific Island neighbours and brothers and sisters, in effect, are at the front lines- and we're standing right with them, calling for a consensus." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a fiery afternoon in Parliament, with Winston Peters filling the hot seat. Prime Minister Chris Luxon is out of the country to attend his daughter's graduation in Australia. ZB political editor Jason Walls says Winston stuck to his usual habits of insulting political rivals and referencing himself in the third person. "You can imagine the smile on his face when he was saying all this in the House, he was really back in his element in Question Time today." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The judge in Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case ordered Sky News to release an alleged secret recording of a conversation between Brittany Higgins's lawyer and fiancé. The conversation reportedly showed the pair discussing Higgins's cross-examination while she was still testifying. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says this is the latest development in a long and costly investigation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The White Ferns are well and truly pegging Pakistan back after the visitors made a strong start to their chase of a mammoth target in the opening one-day cricket international in Queenstown. The visitors are 145 for 2 after 30 overs - pursuing a target of 366. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts are urging New Zealand to ditch the 'best before' labels on food packaging to reduce food waste issues. Food waste costs the nation $3.2 billion per year, with an estimated 100,000 tonnes of product tossed out. Love Food Hate Waste's Kate Fenwick says many people are confused between the 'best before' and 'use by' dates. "I've seen people throw away perfectly good packets of dry pasta, which literally can't go off, because it's got a 'best before' date on it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK Government has earmarked at least £700 million to manage the arrival of migrants on small boats until 2030, according to previously unnoticed commercial plans. Officials published the projections online last week, with predictions the Channel crossings could continue up to 2034. UK correspondent Gavin Grey explains the two-pronged partnership to accommodate this scheme. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! National's Chris Luxon has confirmed Fair Pay Agreements will be scrapped by Christmas and 90-day trials will be implemented. Is this terrible news for workers? More PISA results show Kiwi kids are among the worst behaved in the OECD. Is this surprising news? Are there any solutions? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former politician and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash has issued a warning about the second pillar of AUKUS. US lawmakers have struck a deal on the AUKUS military pact - with legislation approving the sale of three Virginia-Class vessels expected to soon be made public NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan noted that his concerns reflected previous sentiments that the US held too much influence over the new Government. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emerging AI company Being AI is set to become the first artificial intelligence-based business to appear on the NZX. Listed investors Ascension Capital have today entered into a conditional agreement to acquire several businesses, with a vote set for March. Co-founder David McDonald says the venture aims to help other companies make sense of the AI space. "We've got three branches, if you will. There's AI consulting, the AI ventures arm for the investments and then Being labs, which is the incubator." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says scrapping Fair Pay Agreements and bringing in 90 day trials means more workers can be hired. FPAs - which triggers collective bargaining if it's called for by 10 percent of a workforce - will be scrapped by Christmas. Meanwhile, a new bill will mean every business will be allowed to dismiss a worker in their first 90 days. ZB political editor Jason Walls says this update isn't particularly surprising. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new visa that would take one week to approve is being introduced to lure skilled workers over to Australia. Applicants from pre-approved fields will be fast-tracked over as part of an initiative to return overseas migration to a sustainable level. Australia's net migration level is believed to have peaked last financial year at 510,000 and forecast to fall to more normal levels, down to 375,000 next year and 250,000 in 2025. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the Government plans to revise their migration strategy to let less people in overall. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister says she has faith leaks of sensitive Government information will dry up. The new Government has faced two in the past five days. The latest shows the Government has suspended Regulatory Impact Analyses for some proposals within the first 100 days. It means legislation will undergo less scrutiny. Nicola Willis says she believes the public service will want to keep its reputation intact. "Those who release information in this way are letting down the vast majority of them who just want to get on and do their work in a politically neutral way." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greenpeace have labelled the Government 'climate extremists' over their plan to repeal the oil and gas exploration ban. The organisation erected a billboard near Parliament in Wellington featuring Chris Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour. Executive director Russel Norman says New Zealand is transitioning away from fossil fuels- and the Government should help that transition along. "You can see the electrification of transport starting, and that's where we need to go. Turning the clock back to the 1950s- as if we're going to do that- is ridiculous." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Major worry about pedestrian safety as 'over-powered' e-scooters hit the streets. RNZ reports scooters under 300 watts with a top speed of 35 kilometres an hour qualify as low-powered vehicles, and don’t have to be registered or licensed. Higher-wattage versions that go nearly 100km an hour require registration, but it isn't happening. Living Streets Aotearoa President Tim Jones says better rules are needed. "It's bad enough that a pedestrian is hit by an existing e-scooter. If a pedestrian is hit by one of these things, we're talking death or serious injury." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wairoa District Council is looking for answers to explain the unusual flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle. It's launched an independent investigation to understand whether the flooding was linked to heavy amounts of slash. Mayor Craig Little has suggested there was a theory Genesis opened the Waikaremoana Dam floodgates - which Genesis denies. He says the river was uncharacteristically different from its normal flooding. "Bridges were blocked up like beaver dams, rivers went different ways out in different places. One part of the town was flooding, another part hadn't quite started flooding, which was very unusual." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT's leader says the Government isn't prepared to return all Crown-owned land in Northland to its iwi. Over the weekend, the Waitangi Tribunal provided a report on extensive Te Tiriti breaches against Ngapuhi. It recommends the Crown apologise, return land, offer compensation and enter talks to rework our constitutional framework. David Seymour says there've been claims on land in almost every part of the country. "But I'm not aware of any region in New Zealand where all Crown-owned land has been returned." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A bold new transport plan pitched as a cheaper, faster replacement for Let's Get Wellington Moving has attracted the interest of city leaders. It features a mega-tunnel, demolition of heritage buildings, ditching Light Rail and a host of other changes. Greg Pollock, the capital’s former public transport boss, will pitch his plan this week. He says it's clear Wellington needs a better transport system that suits the needs of the people. "I think for a billion dollars, we could do a huge amount improving bus lanes, electrifying the bus fleet and just doing the basics really well to work for the people in Wellington." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let's talk about the public service leaks against the new Government. There's been a couple of leaks of Cabinet papers in just the first two weeks of the Government. Obviously, they're designed to hurt the new Government- and they're probably coming from within the public service. Bless- that's got to be your first thought about this. Because obviously, whoever's doing the leaking is going out of their way to snaffle these Cabinet documents and get them leaked to the media cause they think they're on to dynamite here. They're obviously not, these Cabinet papers are a snorefest. The first one from Monday last week shows that the people most negatively impacted by the rollback of the fair pay agreements are women, Māori, Pasifika and young people. Which maybe I would care about if those people were helped by the fair pay agreement. But they haven't, because there are no fair pay agreements actually in place. And the second is that the Government has suspended the regulatory impact statements on all of the polices in the 100-day plan. Which again, I don't really care about because many of the things in the 100-play are repeals. You don't need any paperwork to tell you the pros and cons of going back to the way it was only a few months and years ago, do you? It's not really dynamite, either of these things. I'm going to tell you who comes out of this badly- it's backfiring on the public service. Not the Government, the public service. Because these are the people who will go to great lengths to tell you that they are politically neutral and they can work for any Government. The boss of the public servants once took me to task in a column, arguing they could be very politically neutral all the time- they're that amazing at working in the service of the country. And yet here we are, leaking against the new Government that hasn't even had a chance yet because they've only been in for a couple of weeks. If you don't want to take my word for it, take the word of Catherine Delore, Head of Communications at Health NZ. She wrote on her LinkedIn page that she was 'deeply disappointed and frustrated' to read about leaks of Cabinet papers- and the suggestion that this is happening within the public service. She also claimed leaking by public servants is a gross betrayal of trust, because they're here to serve the Government of the day and people who cannot do that should 'opt out or be cut out'. She's bang on. Of course, public servants have got a problem with this Government because this Government wants to cut a bunch of them out. And of course, people in the public service are going to have their own opinions, we all do. They're entitled to hold them. And of course, importantly, there is a place for whistle-blowers. But the stuff whistle-blowers leak is momentous. The things that they expose are serious. The impact of rolling back FPAs and not doing RIS? Bless.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reports suggest Eddie Jones is set for a second stint as Japan's rugby coach, six weeks after his resignation as Wallabies mentor. Jones previously led Japan between 2012 and 2015. Any final sign-off must come from the Japanese board, who meet on Wednesday. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is a warning that most pay rises next year are not going to keep up with the cost of living. Global consultancy Robert Walters salary survey shows that while most bosses are planning to give pay rises, the vast majority of them will only give between one and 5% despite inflation reaching 7.5%. Robert Walters Commercial Director Stuart Nash told Heather du Plessis Allan that businesses "simply can't afford" to pay their staff more. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Wellington City Councillor is bemused to have been under investigation for breaching council code. Five City Councillors have been ordered to take lessons on the code of conduct - over leaks of a closed-door briefing on the future of the closed CBD Reading Cinemas. They're accused of failing to keep things confidential when responding to media. Councillor Ray Chung told Heather du Plessis Allan that he doesn't understand how he's done that. He says all he said was Council shouldn't be going into negotiations when it has no money .. and he never mentioned the name of the cinema or where it was. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Transport has given itself the ambitious target of fixing 550 kilometres of road this summer to try to get to the potholes before they become much worse. Auckland Transport CEO Dean Kimpton told Heather du Plessis Allan that they are 1400 kilometres behind due to "lack of investment and wet weather but we're determined to get the roads to where they need to be". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has raised concerns over the escalating cost of KiwiRail's Cook Straight ferry project. She revealed yesterday that the potential cost to the taxpayer is now many times what the Government initially signed up to and said the situation was “deeply troubling”. Willis told Heather du Plessis Allan that she doesn't think "the proper work was done to thoroughly understand the options and the costs". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two people have been found guilty of murdering Christchurch mother Angela Blackmoore 28 years ago. Former debt collector David Hawken, 50, and ex-stripper Rebecca Wright-Meldrum, 51, were on trial in the High Court at Christchurch after denying murdering Angela Blackmoore on August 17, 1995. In 2019, police issued a $100,000 reward for information regarding the death of Angela Blackmore which led to the confession of Jeremy Powell who was sentenced for at least 10 years in 2020 for Blackmoore's murder. Crime Reporter Sam Sherwood told Heather Du Plessis Allan that the confession was "crucial to the crown case". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has said he won't re-appoint Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt. Goldsmith told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he wants to see a Human Rights Commissioner "who's really focused on fundamental human rights such as free speech, freedom of expression and equal voting. All these sorts of issues that I haven't heard quite as much as I would have liked to over the past five years." Paul Hunt's warrant for the role currently ends in January 2024 LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.