Larry Williams Drive

Trade negotiations with the European Union are down to the wire.The Prime Minister is in Brussels with an aim to conclude talks over a free trade deal with the EU which have continued for roughly for years.A senior political reporter travelling with the delegation says the European negotiators are running down the clock until the very last minute.The Herald's Thomas Coughlan told Heather du Plessis-Allan Jacinda Ardern's made it clear she's willing to walk away without a deal.“That is possibly a negotiating strategy, a signal to the Europeans that if they don't come to the table, she's going to walk from the table. It is possible that we could see a last-minute deal announced.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don’t know why we try to reinvent the wheel sometimes.It’s becoming more and more obvious that we made a huge mistake 50 years ago changing the way we teach kids to read when we stopped teaching phonics.There’s a great article in the Herald today written by Megan Wood. She is a journalist and she’s also a mum.She tells the story of her almost 9-year-old son. He can’t read. He’s a really clever kid so everyone assumed he’d be great at school and would thrive but he got there and he never learned to read.Megan is now paying $120 a week to get him a tutor to teach with phonics.If this was 1969 she wouldn’t have to pay for that because he would just have learnt it in school.Back in 1969, kids still learnt to read through phonics. That’s where the kids learn by sounding the word out. And it was working. New Zealand 14-year-olds were placed 1st-equal out of 15 countries in reading comprehension.But then we ditched phonics in 1970 to teach kids by word association with pictures. So as Megan says, a word starting w

The June ANZ Business Outlook survey showed firms are increasingly pessimistic about the outlook for activity and profitability.However, it is the ongoing issues of inflation and an economy running at capacity causing most headaches, not recessionary forces.The data would do nothing to ease RBNZ concerns about the potential for a wage-price spiral developing, said ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner.Activity indicators were weaker across the board, the survey found.But "expected profitability" was particularly dire, said Zollner."Investment intentions are slipping. Employment intentions are holding up pretty well, but with the profitability outlook so pessimistic, one does wonder for how long this can remain the case," she said.Business confidence fell 7 points to -63 per cent in June, while expected own activity fell 4 points to a net 9 per cent expecting lower activity ahead.Despite recession talk, supply-side issues continued to dominate the list of firms' biggest problems, consistent with inflation pressur

An Auckland University professor says his students have come back to uni despondent after the Covid lockdowns.Professor Robert MacCulloch says students can no longer see a future and have also lost their buzz and mojo.Auckland University macroeconomics professor Robert MacCulloch joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A wake-up call for landlords, with property managers warning the market has changed.Rentals are staying vacant for 1 to 2 months before being re-tenanted because of a lack of inquiries.Residential Property Managers Association chairman David Pearse told Heather du Plessis-Allan there are multiple reasons why the market has turned - including a lack of overseas students.“But we’ve got an oversupply of properties, new builds, and also added to that is that the market’s changed for property sales. So the owners are now looking to rent their properties. So there’s a whole lot more properties coming out of the market.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A top epidemiologist is urging flu patients to manage their illness the same way as with Covid-19.Otago University's Michael Baker has raised concerns about the number of people going out and about with flu symptoms.He says we need to promote an environment whereby people are supported not to go to work if they are sick.Baker told Heather du Plessis-Allan people need to stay inside just the same as with Covid, but not for seven days.“The advice at the moment is five days. That’s international advice, so there’s nothing new in this – it’s just we haven’t been emphasising it very much.”Baker says the idea needs wide support.“We do need all of us to be on the same page. Employers, the public sector and our regulators, everyone saying 'yes this is the right thing to do.'”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The head of New Zealand's foreign ministry says there is "no question" Russian troll farms have been spreading disinformation online here under direction from the Kremlin.Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive Chris Seed said intelligence provided by the Five Eyes security alliance showed a "high degree of assurance" Russian-sourced disinformation was being pushed into New Zealand.This was similar to instances in other Western jurisdictions, and had been confirmed by tech platforms too, he said."It is a basic statecraft of the Russian system these days."Seed said there were examples in the anti-vaccination arena."The issue is the extent to which the troll farms and the way they are operating, the way in which that is directly directed by the Russian state, there is no question about that," he told a Parliamentary select committee, after questions from National Party MP Gerry Brownlee.Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said this disinformation was also harmful in its effect on how people were percei

Anthony Albanese has joined world leaders in sending a “strong message” to Russia and China, as the world warns the rules-based order is under significant threat from ‘barbarism’.On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, the Prime Minister joined his New Zealand, Japanese and Korean counterparts – the AP4 group – to discuss the threats facing the Asia-Pacific region.The group, who had been invited by NATO, said they were committed to security in the region amid the rise of China’s might.It came as NATO leaders made the unprecedented move to condemn China’s “malicious risk”, calling out the government’s “coercive” policies and misinformation campaigns, as well as the lack of transparency about its intentions.NATO members also specifically raised concerns about China’s nuclear build-up.It was this concern about the rise of China that prompted NATO to invite Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to the summit.“NATO has sent a strong message by including Asia-Pacific leaders in discussions at this fo

The All Blacks have named their starting XV for their first test this year.In a Covid-hit team, Leicester Fainga'anuku is the only debutant, while Richie Mo'unga will come off the bench and Scott Barrett starts in the No 6 role.Scrum coach Greg Feek is also now the latest to sit out Saturday with after testing positive for Covid, while Mark Telea has been called up for injury cover.Meanwhile in the Ireland camp, their tour has not got off to the best of starts.The visitors found themselves on the receiving end of a 32-17 defeat to the Maori All Blacks in Hamilton on Wednesday night, and were 32-17 down at halftime.Sportstalk D'Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Country Calendar episode about Australasia’s first certified carbon-zero farm has received a tsunami of backlash.The episode about Geoff and Justine Ross’ Lake Hawea farm has become the most viewed episode of the series.The farm uses alternative techniques in the wool shed as well.Entrepreneur and farmer Geoff Ross joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kiwi owners of a laundry detergent brand labelled "worse than water" in a recent Consumer NZ tests are disputing the results and could take legal action.Grant Taylor and Renee Lee's Re.Stor laundry sheets performed "terribly" at removing stains according to the Consumer NZ test published this week.According to the Consumer NZ tests the tropical scented Re.stor Concentrated Laundry Detergent Sheets performed worse than a water-only wash and landed the product on the Consumer NZ "do not buy" list.The other laundry liquids not to make the grade included Essentials Laundry Liquid (2L) and Value Laundry Detergent (2L).Taylor and Lee are refuting Consumer NZ claim the Re.Stor product was the "most expensive" and say because of the price per wash the laundry sheets were more economical.The Consumer NZ test compared 55 laundry detergents, powders and sheets on performance.The tropical strength laundry sheets received a 'do not buy' review from Consumer NZ. Photo / SuppliedProducts were tested to see how well they

The Government has announced its plan to get Wellington moving.A light rail from the city to Island Bay and a new multipurpose tunnel under Mt Victoria is also being built with two lanes each for cars and public transport.Andrew Little has said the health system is 'managing'.It comes in response to a letter from the country's DHB warning of "critical workforce issues", calling it an "unsustainable situation" with some overloaded hospitals at "code red".Little says his office didn't know about it as they weren't copied into it, which was sent to MBIE, and had first learned of the letter in May.Nick Kyrgios is back in the headlines for his behaviour and not his playing.In his first round win at Wimbledon, he called the line judge a "snitch" and spat in the direction of the crowd.Jack Tame and Tim Wilson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on The HuddleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're past the halfway point of the year.So far sharemarkets are predicting a major economic slowdown, due to effects from Covid-19 and inflation rates.The first six months of this year is one of the worst starts in history for shares and bonds.Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Stephen Johnston joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New analysis from Infometrics is pointing to higher levels of infrastructure investment over the next decade.$172 billion is expected to be invested by 2031.The money is expected to go into roading, electricity generation, and water systems in particular.Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scotland's leader told lawmakers in Edinburgh Tuesday that she plans to hold a fresh referendum on Scotland's independence on Oct. 19, 2023 — even though U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson maintains it wasn't the right time for such a vote.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the question to be asked will be the same as that in Scotland’s first independence vote in 2014: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”The U.K.-wide government of Johnson opposes a new referendum and has repeatedly said the issue was settled in 2014, when 55% saying they wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom.Scotland’s government requires a special order from Johnson to legally hold a referendum.Sturgeon said she will ask the U.K. Supreme Court to rule on the Scottish government’s right to hold the vote if Johnson does not give the go-ahead.Scotland’s most senior law official has referred the matter to the top court on Tuesday, she said.She added that she would be writing to Johnson to inform him of her plans.Sturgeon, who lead

ASB and ANZ are both pausing their mortgage lending again for anyone who has less than a 20 percent deposit.Meanwhile, Westpac is now limiting availability.The three banks reckon they're coming up against the limits the Reserve Bank has set for them on the amount of high-risk lending they're allowed to do.NZ Herald Wellington Business Editor Jenée Tibshraeny joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apprehension for a New Zealand-European Union trade deal don't bode well.The Prime Minister is heading to Brussels tomorrow after Nato meetings in Madrid, and will hold talks with EU trade negotiators.Despite discussions continuing for roughly four years, there's been no win yet.Democracy Project international analyst Geoffrey Miller told Heather du Plessis-Allan the rumours around the deal aren't good.He says the EU just doesn't seem to want to budge on giving New Zealand substantial market access for meat and dairy.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Kyrgios has been causing trouble again.In his first round victory over Britain’s Paul Judd, Kyrgios called a line judge a “snitch” and spat in the direction of rowdy spectators.Elsewhere, Serena Williams’ singles comeback was over very quickly.The 23-time Grand Slam winner found herself crashing out in the first round to French player Harmony Tan.Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has today announced a new light rail project in Wellington from the city to Island Bay.The project has been costed at $7.4 billion.A new multipurpose tunnel under Mt Victoria is also being built with two lanes each for cars and public transport.Transport Minister Michael Wood joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Little has got to be having a laugh if he’s trying to pretend he didn’t know our health system was going to melt down like it is at the moment.Because that’s essentially what his office is trying to do. They’re claiming they didn’t know about a letter that was sent a year ago warning of exactly this.In that letter, the DHBs asked the Government to fix the immigration system so they could get overseas workers in and so they wouldn’t lose migrant staff back overseas.Otherwise our staff shortages would become ‘critical’ and they would have to steal staff from planned surgeries and move them to dealing with winter illnesses.All those things they warned about are happening right now.We haven’t got enough nurses. We’re 4000 short.Migrant doctors and nurses have gone home because they weren’t given residency, hospitals up and down the country don’t have enough staff, patients up and down the country are experiences hours and hours long wait times.But Andrew Little’s office reckons they weren’t copied in to th