Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Donald Trump's turning his latest personal loss into a money making venture. He became the first US President to have a mug shot taken earlier today. Trump handed himself into Georgia's Fulton County Jail, facing charges alleging that he headed a scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Trump's begun selling t-shirts with the image —captioned 'no surrender'— on his website. Trump continues to maintain his innocence. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are patrolling a Hibiscus Coast high school three times a day in response to antisocial student behaviour. Whangaparāoa College Principal Steve McCracken says they put their hands up when the police offered. It was because of things like fights between students at school and bus stops. McCracken told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he's noticed a difference since the police came in. He says while he has no data on it, the school feels much more settled. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The long-standing tradition of popping over to an Irish pub for an authentic pint of Guinness may be coming to an end. New data shows 108 pubs closed in 2022, with an average of 152 pubs closing annually since 2019. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the combination of Covid-19 and the ongoing cost of living crisis has encouraged many Irish locals to drink at home instead. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was one of ten people killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, on a private plane enroute to Saint Petersburg. Was this news expected? Is this good news for Putin? National MP National MP Tim van de Molen has been stripped of his portfolios and has had to apologise for threatening a Labour MP. Can National bounce back from this ahead of the election? National has opted to keep Labour's fees-free policy for tertiary education- despite the policy copping backlash. Is this just a last bid for votes? Air New Zealand's annual after-tax profit of $412 million is being called 'a spectacular turnaround'. Is this good news? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The food and fibre sector export revenue has reached new heights and earned $57.4 billion in the year to June 30. This has brought an extra $1.2 billion into the economy, surpassing Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor's expectations. The Country's Jamie Mackay says this news comes with a caveat, as the dairy and sheep sectors are likely to take a hit. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How much financial pain is too much to inflict on young families struggling to pay off their first homes? History indicates it's a rite of passage- baby boomers endured mortgage rate spikes of 20 percent and Generation X suffered under rates that soared above 10 percent. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann agrees it's a generational rite of passage, but the weight of the burden has grown for young people. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qantas has posted an underlying profit of nearly $2.5 billion- their first since Covid-19. The flying kangaroo has bounced back from a $1.9 billion loss last financial year, driven by a 132 percent increase in passengers. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Qantas has been trying to distract their customer base with sales and extra points ahead of potential outrage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland International Airport has managed to bounce back following the return of international travel. A sharp increase in both domestic and international passengers enabled the company to report their first profit since the pandemic. CEO Carrie Hurihanganui says the airport still requires upgrades, and they're confident the forecast growth will support these developments. "After 10 years of consultation, and 21 concept designs benchmarking worldwide, we are confident in regards to the forecast growth- which airlines had an input into." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky TV has reported results in line with expectations and seeks to double their dividend payout to 30 cents in the next three years. Full-year profit fell 18 per cent to $51 million - but when adjusted for one-offs including restructuring costs, rose 15 per cent to $56.7m. However, the company is struggling to get consumers to switch to their new Sky Box, as only 7 percent of users have traded in their decoders so far. Sky TV CEO Sophie Moloney says a new update to be released next week will fix remaining issues with closed captions and improve navigation. "I'm excited that we've got to that point. I'm sorry, as I said, to those customers who experienced some issues- and I'm excited about looking forward." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An uncertain future looms for the Wagner Group after the leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's death. The 62-year-old was one of ten people killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, on a private plane en route to Saint Petersburg. Russian authorities say its commander and co-founder Dmitry Utkin was also among the casualties. Australian National University defence expert Matthew Sussex it leaves a big void for Russia to fill in its African allies. "Russia's gone on a kind of spree of constructing new private military companies, and it may well be that one of the existing ones will now step into the breach that Wagner's left." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See what National’s doing with the fees-free policy? This is exactly what I was warning you about a couple of days ago. National chickened out and it has now decided it’s going to keep Labour’s expensive policy of paying for university for students who were probably going to go anyway. This is a massive about-face from National, because they’ve spent six years bashing it and promising to cut it. For good reason- it’s an enormous and unnecessary waste of money when we are about to borrow tens more billions of dollars and can’t afford to waste money. It’s hard to find an exact price, but this could be costing us somewhere around $320 million a year to pay for the university study of kids who were probably going to go anyway. It doesn’t even do what it was supposed to do, which is lift the number of poor kids going to uni. Since it was introduced, fewer poor kids are going and more rich kids are going. And the only thing that’s gone up is the dropout rate, which is now the highest it’s been since 2014. This is such a massive disappointment to me, because it shows the wasteful spending is not going to end after the October election. I know this is hard for some National supporters to hear, but the fact is- National is not going to dramatically change the wastage or even the wokiness in Government that we’ve seen under Labour. We’ve had them supporting Labour’s dumb gender pay reporting policy just a few days ago, and now we’ve got them retaining an incredibly wasteful idea that they had told us they would ditch. Obviously nothing can be as bad as it is right now, so a centre-right Government will definitely be an improvement, it would have to be. But if you’re hanging out for a major reset of the country’s fortunes after October, I think you might need to set your expectations just a little lower. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland's mayor says some flooded homeowners buyback could be less than they expect. An Auckland flood recovery package worth more than $2 billion dollars has been agreed to in principle by Council and the Crown. It includes $774 million for buying out homes where there's risk to life and no possible mitigation. Wayne Brown says with different houses, there's bound to be variety in payouts. "Some people who have chosen to be in places which are quite dangerous themselves were already taking some risks- some people weren't." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand's chief executive warns that their fares are unlikely to go back to pre-pandemic levels. The company today reported a full-year underlying profit of $585 million on operating revenue of $6.3 billion, up 9 per cent on pre-Covid levels. This result is a turnaround on pre-tax losses of $725m last year. CEO Greg Foran says customers should expect prices to come down as they add more seats, but they'll never match 2019's offerings. "There are so many dynamics at play, but if I look ahead and say- what's going to happen to, say, North America over Christmas? We've got about 40 percent more capacity in there, we're back flying to what we were- I think we'll see prices ease." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christchurch rapists Roberto and Danny Jaz have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Danny has 16 and a half years, and Roberto, 17 years- the pair must serve at least half before parole is possible. Roberto Jaz told a a pre-sentence report writer he did nothing wrong. Herald reporter Anna Leask says he claims the abuse was consensual- and he doesn't accept the Judge's verdict. "Which is unfathomable, when you look at the evidence and the outcome. Danny Jaz has refused to engage. It's his right, but he's refused to engage with report writers, so we don't actually know what he's thinking." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National MP Tim Van der Molen has been censured following allegations of violence. The Privileges Committee has found he engaged in threatening and physically intimidating behaviour against Labour MP Shanan Halbert in a stand-off at the Transport Select Committee. National leader Chris Luxon has stripped him of his portfolios. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says he's seen worse behaviour from MPs over the years, which shows standards have changed. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks are fielding as close to a full strength side as possible for Saturday morning's last pre-World Cup test against South Africa in London. Outside of starting hooker Dane Coles and Luke Jacobson featuring at blindside for the injured Shannon Frizell, the rest of the run-on side is close to what might meet France in the opening match of the tournament. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave weighs in on what we can expect from this match. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A man's running for Parliament as an independent - who last year was found not guilty by reason of self defence, after instructing his son to cut a finger off a teen home invader. Farmer William Bruce Burr appeared in a Hamilton High court trial last year. He's standing in the Taranaki-King Country electorate. He says he expects to win votes on a platform of fixing law and order. "There's just got to be a change, because I've got grandkids- our community, our country is just unbelievable." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 40-year old woman in the UK has undergone the region's first successful womb transplant. The woman donated her uterus to her younger sister, who plans to undergo IVF later this year. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the procedure comes with several risks, but hundreds of women have contacted Oxford Transplant Centre about receiving similar procedures. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Business Mentors NZ CEO Sarah Trotman joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! There's growing calls for David Seymour to apologise following his controversial comments about sending Guy Fawkes into the Ministry of Pacific Peoples after he seemingly doubled down. Should he apologise, or does ACT have bigger issues to worry about? National MP Michael Woodhouse says he lost out on a good list placing due to diversity. Was National right to prioritise an equal spread of men and women? How important is diversity for political parties? The Taxpayers Union has called for an immediate end to parties for bureaucrats after the Department for Internal Affairs spent $16,000 on a welcome party- does this need to be reigned in? The Australian Government is considering banning bosses from contacting their employees outside of working hours- unless they’re getting paid for it. Could this work? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retail spending is continuing to decline as people opt to spend less money, according to new Stats NZ data. The total volume of retail sales fell 1 percent in the June quarter compared to the March quarter in the third consecutive quarterly decline, following on from March and December. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says inflation and interest rates are finally hitting consumers, forcing households to tighten their belts as more people join the economy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANZ has followed in ASB's footsteps in lifting mortgage and term deposit rates. Most of the increases target mortgages with two or more years, raising most of those rates by 20 basis points. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says ANZ is blaming rising wholesale interest rates and inflation for these hikes- but it's tough to say if this is a justification. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANZ has followed in ASB's footsteps in lifting mortgage and term deposit rates. Most of the increases target mortgages with two or more years, raising most of those rates by 20 basis points. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says ANZ is blaming rising wholesale interest rates and inflation for these hikes- but it's tough to say if this is a justification. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Several Kiwi businesses are feeling the impacts of a tougher economic climate as they report their earnings. Significant cost inflation and rising interest rates have impacted demand, and New Zealand's biggest companies aren't immune to the associated cost challenges. Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Mark Riggall says it's gotten harder for businesses to offset input prices with consumer demand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister's highlighting controversial comments by ACT Party candidates. Rangitata candidate Elaine Naidu Franz has stood down after revelations she'd likened Covid vaccines to Nazi concentration camps. In the House, Seymour asked Chris Hipkins if his promise of a rigorous campaign means mis-characterising remarks by other parties- and Hipkins fired back. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the accusation that ACT's being propped up by anti-vaxxers will be the next controversy sticking to the Party. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has added a Cyclone Gabrielle provision into their controversial bright-line taxation rules. It was revealed yesterday some cyclone-affected homes would be caught up by the bright-line test, which charges a capital gains tax on properties sold within 10 years of being purchased. Tax adviser Bruce Bernacchi says this provision only covers those who accepted a buyout from central Government or regional authorities. "It still doesn't address the issue, for example, of people who can't live in their house because their house has been cyclone-damaged and they're out of it for 12 months while it gets repaired." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian Government is considering a rule change that would see employers banned from contacting employees outside their working hours. Under the proposed amendment to fair work laws, employees would have the legal right to ignore calls, texts and emails from their bosses off the clock- unless they're being compensated. Australian careers expert Sue Ellson says she approves of the concept, but it comes with 'challenging' practical applications. "Clearly, there's a lot of people who feel they are always on, and that's been exacerbated by the idea of working from home. For a lot of people, the lines between work and home have become blurred." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former National staffer says diversity is an aspect of the Party's list ranking selections.Dunedin-based List MP Michael Woodhouse said 'diversity won' - and told the Otago Daily Times he lost a contest between diversity and experience. But he denies the paper's reports he also said being male cost him his spot. Former staffer Ben Thomas says there are several ways to get into caucus, and Woodhouse fit none. "The first one is to be part of his Cabinet considerations, the second one is to help with the diversity, and the third way is to win an electorate seat." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pressure on ACT over past anti-vaccine comments posted by candidates. Elaine Naidu Franz has resigned after creating a post comparing vaccine mandates to Nazi concentration camps. Another candidate, Darren Gilchrist, has apologised for suggesting drownings were connected to the vaccine. A third candidate called Covid-19 a ScamDemic. ACT Leader David Seymour says the Nazi comment is unacceptable- and says he just disagrees with the others. "If we're going to have purity tests and beat people down and have a 'right way' of thinking, that won't work. Because a whole lot of people, if they don't have the fashionable view, will find democracy's closed off to them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tomorrow is D-Day for scientists releasing treated nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean. It'll be done over the course of 30 years. A tsunami and earthquake in 2011 caused the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. It's caused one cancer death, but long-term studies are needed to reveal other radiation related fatalities. Curtin University Physics Professor Nigel Marks says dumping the water mightn't be politically popular - but it's scientifically sound. "They've looked at in in great detail, and there's no question that it's an acceptable thing to do. The real problem is the social and political conception." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The race is on to pick a future Republican presidential candidate- but front-runner Donald Trump is set to skip a key debate. Trump won't join the eight hopefuls gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin tomorrow, and he explained on social media that the public 'already knew' what he could offer. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Trump is set to appear on Tucker Carlson's online show that night- which may steal attention away from the upcoming debate. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns not enough is being done to meet demands of an aging population. A report from commercial real estate company JLL says an extra 22,000 retirement village units are needed by 2033, a 33 percent annual increase.It says demand's on track to be met, in terms of construction and planning. The Aged Care Association's Katherine Rich says she's worried there won't be enough beds. "We'd need another 13 and a half thousand by the end of this decade, and the Government has no plan. The problem is, they keep issuing loss-making contracts, so providers are closing their doors and not building enough." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It pains me to say this, it really does, but unfortunately for Michael Woodhouse- diversity does matter in politics, as much as I hate that it does. I think Michael Woodhouse has been treated poorly. There are other white men who work less hard than him and should’ve been bumped down the National Party list instead. But he’s been punished because he’s not in right friendship group in National, and he’s a bloke. That’s really what it comes down to. Now, the Nats will try to avoid admitting that he’s been punted down the list for being a bloke, because they know that heaps of their voters don’t like this kind of diversity nonsense. But that’s absolutely part of what’s happened. Luxon’s been banging on about the need for diversity since before the Tauranga by-election, where the spot to be National’s candidate was fought over by four white men in suits. They got so much grief for that- so Luxon ramped up the calls. Now, of the top 30 on the National list- 15 are women, just like Labour. Six sitting male MPs have been dumped into insultingly low list positions in the 50s- Joseph Mooney, Scott Simpson, Stuart Smith, Tim van de Molen and a couple more who deserve to be further up. And way higher up the list at 20, 21, 22, 23 and 27, there are five women you’ve probably never heard of because they aren’t in Parliament. That’s very high on the list for newbies. Now, personally I hate this stuff. Because I would hate anyone to think that I got any breaks because I was a woman. But this is how it works in politics. And parties have to do this, they have to play the diversity game. And they have to play, because the media play. The media are obsessed with whether political parties or corporates or whoever have enough women or Maori or people of colour or members of the rainbow community. And if that is what the media care about, then that is what the media will writes stories and headlines about. And therefore, it becomes an easy way for opponents to attack a party. Just like National got attacked and got negative stories and negative headlines for having too many white men last year. And so the political parties, if they want to give themselves the greatest chance of winning an election, have got to neutralise any weak spots that can create negative headlines. So they have to play the diversity game. Look at the current parties in Parliament- every single one of them have a man, a woman and someone Maori in the top four. This is the way it is, and this is the way it will be until we stop being fixated on gender and race. Until then, white men will be bumped down, like Michael Woodhouse. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Outrage in the UK as Lucy Letby refused to appear in court for sentencing after she murdered 7 babies. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled her a 'coward' and confirmed the Government plans to change the law to compel convicts to attend sentencing. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this trial has lasted 10 months, and experts should have guessed Letby would do this. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Labour has dropped to 29 percent in the latest 1News Verian poll. National is up 2 points to 37 percent- and can form a coalition with ACT's 13 percent. How low can Labour go before the election? Can they turn their luck around? Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has defected to help the Wallabies, shocking rugby fans across the country. Is this a wise move on his part- or is he betraying New Zealand? Labour are under fire for modifying the bright-line test, against advice from a select committee at the time. Someone who leaves their house more than a year could get taxed, even if their kids or spouse stay in the home. Was this deliberate? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US sheep farmers are calling for further tariffs to be imposed on New Zealand sheep meat imports in order to save their industry. Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor has expressed concern over this bid, and the ministry has approached the relevant US agencies. The Country's Jamie Mackay says domestic lamb and mutton production is down 60 percent in the US, and farmers have been taking a hit. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the other side of the Tasman, Australians are wondering how much further interest rates can rise. Australia's current OCR is sitting at 4.10 percent, and economists are predicting the RBA will hike interest rates again before the year is out. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says inflation is likely to persist longer, and the Reserve Bank will have to lift interest rates by the fourth quarter of 2023. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Villa Maria’s Māngere operations will start shutting down this October and will affect a total of 14 roles, owner Indevin announced today. Indevin Group, who acquired Villa Maria in 2021, said the decision follows a three-month review into its Māngere operations after the company announced it will move half of Villa Maria’s bottling to the UK next February. The Māngere plant will start decommissioning in October and is expected to continue until next April, the company announced. BusinessDesk managing editor, Pattrick Smellie, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the move. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour and Chris Hipkins took a significant tumble in a recent political poll. The 1News Verian poll puts the incumbent party down 4 points to 29 percent, while National gained 2 points to 37 percent. National could now form a winning coalition with ACT's 13 percent. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this is part of a wider trend, as Labour has descended in the last several political polls. "Polling at 29 percent- it's a follow on from a number of political polls. Roy Morgan put them on 26 percent, the Guardian Essential poll had them on 29, the Curia poll had them on 27 percent." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi entrepreneur and Zuru co-founder Anna Mowbray has launched a new app designed for the younger wave of job-seekers. Dubbed as 'Tinder for jobs', ZEIL allows candidates to easily browse through and save jobs they're interested in applying for. Mowbray explains that the app will connect job-seekers and employers in a more engaging, enjoyable and intuitive way. "What's really incredible as well is that organisations can showcase themselves in a completely different light. Rather than Seek or Trademe being the heroes when you advertise a job, it's the organisation." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have admitted that the information they released following the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl was 'inappropriate'. The girl went missing from Auckland's Bucklands Beach on August 11, and turned up safe 8 days later. Independent victim advocate Ruth Money criticised the police releasing her name and picture, saying the public release of this information will affect her re-integration into society. "She's not done anything wrong, the alleged person who'd allegedly taken her or encouraged her, manipulated her, coerced her to leave or remove herself from her family environment may well have committed a crime." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Backlash throughout New Zealand's rugby community as Sir Steve Hansen takes on a role across the ditch. The former All Blacks coach has joined the Australians in France as the Wallabies gear up to complete their tournament preparation against the World Cup hosts this weekend. Former All Black Josh Kronfeld says it's common for coaches to offer their services across the world once their time is up. "My understanding is- Steve and Eddie have always kept up a bit of a relationship outside of their rugby warfare. It seems kind of logical, in a lot of respects, for Steve to go over and give him a helping hand- and feed his pockets." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tax expert says the Government changed the bright line test, against advice from a select committee at the time. Under the bright-line test, people could have to pay a capital gains tax on their family home if they leave it for more than a year. It was changed by Labour in 2021. OliverShaw Tax Partner Robin Oliver says the Government did this deliberately. "They weren't prepared to listen to people who said- this is wrong. The minister at the time was David Parker, but this is the law." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After that poll last night - another one putting Labour in the 20s - the question now is: How low is Labour actually going to go? And I reckon it’s gonna be low enough to hurt them. They will keep falling from here, I think, for two reasons. 1- There is a downward trend already, Labour has fallen in every 1News poll this year. All the other public polls back up that decline trend. 2- They’ve now hit the 30 percent psychological barrier where voters start abandoning them, because they don’t want to back a loser. And that’s real in politics. Most voters, with the exception of the rusted-on diehards, do not want to support loser parties. So they leave, making it worse for the loser party. That 30 percent barrier is a line, for some reason, and this is now the fourth poll in two months that has Labour below the 30 percent line. So, how bad does it get? Well, the answer to that question is- how many rusted-on diehards does Labour have? How many voters do they have who will never vote for anyone else and stick it out? Officially, 24 percent is the low mark. That's where Labour slumped in two TV polls in July 2017, just a few days before Jacinda Ardern took over as leader. But there was a lot of talk a few weeks before that of a New Zealand First internal poll which had Labour falling to 19 percent. I don’t know that we’re in 19 percent territory right now- and I don’t know if that poll ever existed. But 24 percent? Not impossible. Voters have gone, and I don’t know what they can announce that will make voters come back. The GST policy was supposed to be that big announcement, they genuinely thought it was going to be huge. But this poll captured voters’ reaction, and it wasn’t good- it drove Labour under that 30 percent mark. So brace yourself, because Labour might be about to take a historic - or close to historic - spanking. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An anti-smoking group isn't keen on new Labour election vaping pledges. It's promising capping stores at 600, tougher penalties for underage sales and mandatory licensing for dairies, if re-elected. Action for Smokefree 2025 says it's unlikely to stop many children vaping. Director Ben Youdan says the plan doesn't address other problems. "It does create the opportunity for growth and a grey market in that illicit supply to young people, because they're already getting it from older kids and adults and other people- it just strengthens that supply chain." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme is undergoing a Government-commissioned review, as cost blowouts threaten the program's future. Professor Bruce Bonyhady, an original architect of the NDIS, is co-chairing the review and argued that a fundamental shift is crucial to the scheme's development. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the NDIS is growing by 14 percent per year as more children are diagnosed with autism. "11 percent of boys aged 5 to 7 are recipients of the National Disability Insurance Scheme- we have got so many children in Australia at the moment being diagnosed." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir Steve Hansen shocked rugby fans everywhere by seemingly defecting to New Zealand's greatest rugby rival. Hansen later revealed he joined up with the Wallabies as a favour to their coach - and his mate - Eddie Jones ahead of their final World Cup warm-up game against France. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau is dispelling worry over Middlemore Hospital's crowded emergency department. It yesterday treated more than 200 patients, and at one point over 70 people were waiting for beds. But Hospital and Specialist Services interim lead Vanessa Thornton says that's not unusual. "We've been very busy like this through the whole of winter, so this is not a new number for us. It's high, but it's not something that we can't manage." Thornton says processes are in place to deal with high demand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police say the UK’s most prolific child killer of modern times may be linked to up to 30 more cases. Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering 7 babies and attempting to murder 6 more- and is due to be sentenced. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says investigations are underway as to where else Letby may have worked or trained as a nurse. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and current affairs commentator Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! ACT announced that they would put public service chief executives on performance based pay, if they entered Government. The party also wants agencies to have outcome targets and public Key Performance Indicators. Is this a good idea for the sector? Labour has announced a new batch of educational policies- financial literacy and compulsory reading, writing and maths educational amendments will be introduced. Is this good enough? Why didn't Labour implement these changes earlier? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Labour Party has slumped in the latest 1News Verian opinion poll to below 30 percent. National has picked up 2 percent over the past month to 37 percent, and Labour's tumbled 4 percent to 29. These numbers tonight would see the centre-right forming a coalition Government, with ACT gaining a point to 13. NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says that Hipkins will have to give the performance of his life to save Labour's chances in the election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.