Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday the 2nd of December. Labour has held its annual conference, leader Chris Hipkins says the party won't join AUKUS if reelected in 2026 and will rebuild Dunedin Hospital. Former Labour Minister Stuart Nash talks to Ryan. With Trump tariffs possibly coming next year, what is the red meat sector expecting and how are they preparing as demand for kiwi products continues. Silver Fern Farms Chief Executive Dan Boulton joins the show. The Black Caps have lost against England, the Women's Sevens are playing in the final in Dubai and F1 is on in Qatar with Liam Lawson starting in 10th. Adam Cooper has your weekend sport wrap. Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Politics is largely about trust.  When you break it down to its most simple terms, it's about trust.  If you see a bloke or a woman on the telly trying to get your vote, you try and work out what sort of person they are? Do they think like me? Are they smart? Are they thick? Can I trust that they'll make a good decision at an important time? It's a magic thing that takes a lifetime to earn in a second to plunder.  And so as the Labour Party faithful filed in for their annual conference gearing up for another year and then probably another term in opposition, voters won't be thinking about anything to do with politics right now because we're mid cycle.  It's way too early. It's like fretting over a birth before you're even pregnant.  But when they do, they will ask whether they can trust Chippy. Like a sugar daddy Santa he was doling out the cash quicker than you could rake it in at the weekend.  A full price new hospital in Dunedin. How much exactly will it cost? Well, we don't k

Retailers across the country are gearing up for an influx of customers keen to get their hands on some Black Friday sales. First Retal Group managing director Chris Wilkinson tells Ryan Bridge that the best deals are the reoccurring ones.   “It’s the likes of the Dysons that drop massively at this time of year.”   Wilkinson added the week ahead and beyond Black Friday make a difference for the sales made leading into Christmas. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s more sanctions from New Zealand for those involved in Russia's war with Ukraine.  Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced sanctions targeting those linked to supplying chemical weapons, ballistic missiles, and drones for Russia.  He says concern is growing about illegal Russian and North Korean naval activity.  Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Ryan Bridge it comes as Russia has launched another major drone attack on Ukraine's power grid and warned of more attacks on the way.  He says that around a million people have been left without power, as Russia aims to make this winter as difficult as possible for Ukraine.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public transport leaders say increasing fares is counter productive.   NZTA's ordering councils take a higher revenue share from users and agree to new targets by December 19.   As an example, the move would mean a Wellington commuter currently spending $10 on buses a day would have to spend $17.  Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Darran Ponter told Ryan Bridge the amount coming from users has slipped, but there needs to be a compromise.   He says this has a lot to do with the Covid-19 period and operators trying to get people back onto buses.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a belief an apology is due over some Government measures undertaken during our pandemic response.  Phase One of the Royal Commission Inquiry has delivered 39 recommendations.   It highlights that Government messaging was initially effective but became more challenging as objectives shifted.  It notes some vaccine requirements were too broad and continued too long.  Trust Litigation and Relationship Property Lawyer Lady Deborah Chambers told Ryan Bridge people who lost their jobs due to mandates remain angry.  She says there's a large group of people who remain hurt, which negatively impacts our social cohesion.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Covid phase one report – the verdict is in, and it's pretty much ‘guilty your honour’.   Fine to begin with, and then they as the single podium of truth basically went too far, for too long. Tell us something we don't know.   Trust in our institutions as shot, media took a hammering —and rightly so in some cases— Labour supporters and hysterical scientists and other groups went full militant.   I never spoke about the messages I got from some of them during my interviews, challenging old Jacinda Ardern during that period, especially those outside of Auckland during the lockdown to end all lockdowns. They were threats of beatings on my social media, loads of homophobia, I was killing people with my questions, there was hate, there was vitriol.   Now I'm not complaining about this, this is part of my job. But it just shows how wacko everyone got. Which is not to say the anti-mandate lot were angels either, but what we, the public were fed was a meal from only one of the two menus.  

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Friday 29th of November, the first phase of the Royal Commission into our pandemic response is out, and Lady Deborah Chambers says Labour should apologise. She explained why to Ryan.  Could you be paying more for public transport in the New Year? NZTA wants councils to increase their revenue share, so public transport leaders have written to the Transport Minister requesting a meeting. Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Daran Ponter wrote the letter and joins the show.  It's Black Friday. Chris Wilkinson explains how retailers have been preparing for the sales.  Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a belief the latest covid Royal Commission findings may provide assistance to current legal issues.   The first phase of the Inquiry into the pandemic response is being presented today, but it's unclear when the Government will release it.   Chaired by Professor Tony Blakely, it says mandates caused pain to a substantial minority.   Matthew Hague told Ryan Bridge this won't directly form the basis for further legal challenges.  But he says it may be helpful for ongoing challenges, such as the Supreme Court decision and Employment Court cases.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Water Services Authority says they are expecting further results around arsenic levels in the Waikato River this morning.   An elevated level of arsenic has been detected in the river which supplies drinking water to Hamilton and parts of Auckland.   It says there's no risk to public health and the water is safe to drink.   Authority Head of Operations Steve Taylor told Ryan Bridge that to impact health, people would need to drink at levels above the accepted value for 40 to 50 years.   But he says this is a marginal increase over acceptable value, which they expect to see reduced over coming days.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister's playing down expectations of a surplus, ahead of Treasury's opening of the books next month.  The Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate by half a percent, to 4.25 -- warning of slower economic growth.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Ryan Bridge the OCR cut is welcome news, but agrees there is still more to do.  "Of course, we want to see the economy growing faster, that's why we're so focussed on removing red tape, making sure people can get resource consents quicker, and getting infrastructure out the door," she said.  She says forecasts show the economy will grow much faster in 2025, compared to this year.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US economy is just humming along at the moment, isn't it? 2.8% is their lucky number this morning. 2.8% annualised GDP for the September quarter. Better than the Eurozone, better than the UK, and much better than New Zealand.  We're still going backwards. We went balls to the wall with interest rate hikes post Covid and we were the first to do it. Adrian Orr and the Reserve Bank held higher for longer and the hangover is hitting like a 40 ounce of Smirnoff in the morning. It's not pretty, is it? Sure, the rates are coming down and we saw more of that yesterday, but boy, the mess that wrecking ball has left behind. What's interesting about the Americans, even though their consumer confidence is low, as ours is well, they are still going out and using the credit card to buy stuff. In other words, the sentiment there isn't matching the reality, which is what we're seeing in the GDP number they announced this morning, which we should envy. Of course, they're a country that's run on domestic consumption.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Thursday the 28th of November. The Reserve Bank has cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 4.25%. Finance Minister Nicola Willis reacts.  Elevated levels of arsenic have been found in the Waikato river which supplies Auckland and Hamilton's drinking water. The Head of Operations at Water Services Authority Tau Mata Arawai speaks to Ryan about what it means for you. Phase One of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry will be handed to the government today. It says vaccine mandates cause pain to a substantial minority during the pandemic. Matthew Hague is a lawyer who represented a client who didn't want to be vaccinated, he joins the show. Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK’s Tory party is accusing Labour of stealing their ideas around unemployment resolution. Labour MP Liz Kendall says that her party intends on generating new jobs and an employment scheme, while her counterpart Helen Whately said that is her party’s idea repackaged. This comes as youth unemployment is at 14.8%, up 12% from last year. UK Correspondent Kay Oliver told Ryan Bridge that Kendallsaid the scheme her party is designing intends on getting people off benefits, getting them employed and making it easier to find work. She says the Tories are complaining that Labour has had 14 years to come up with their own plans and they think it is quite rich for them to steal what they see as their own unique ideas. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nikki Kaye is being remembered as a strong voice for the Auckland Central electorate. She died on Saturday aged 44 from cancer. Kaye served as Auckland Central MP from 2008 until 2020. She was also a cabinet minister and briefly deputy leader of the National Party. Former Auckland Business Chamber Chief Executive Michael Barnett told Ryan Bridge she took the seat as a young liberal. He says she was quite happy to have a different opinion around transport, where a port should go, or the LGBT community and same sex marriage. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank is widely expected to cut the Official Cash Rate today from 4.75% to 4.25%. It was cut by the same margin in October.   ANZ's already cutting most of its home loan rates ahead of this afternoon's decision.    BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Ryan Bridge he can see some of the logic for a 75 basis point move.   But he says those big moves tend to be reserved for crisis situations, and we're not in one of those.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I paid 40 cents for a paper bag while shopping at my local supermarket the other week.  40 cents.  Remember when they used to cost 10 cents? Back in the day when they swapped them out for plastic bags when they banned those – which used to be free.  40 cents.  And guess what they had printed on the side of this paper bag that you buy to put your groceries in.   They had printed little Christmas trees for goodness sake.  So you chop down trees, you make paper bags and then you print more trees on them – we're supposed to be saving the planet.  This is stupid, it's dumb and it's 40 cents.  It's a lot of money.  It's a lot more than free, which is what we used to get the plastic bags for.  And they're not reusable. You put a 2-litre milk in there, it's wet, it's soggy and it just falls straight through.  It's not a reusable thing.  People are probably over the paper bag thing and used to it by now. Take your own bags is the other thing, but I forgot, so

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 27th of November, 25, 50 or 75 points? All are on the table as the Reserve Bank decides the Official Cash Rate for the final time until February. How will Trump's second term and US President influence their decision? BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones joins the show.  The Government has found $42 million for more senior doctors and specialist nurses, but what does it mean for ongoing cuts in the health sector? David Wills from the Nurses Society speaks to Ryan.  Former MP Nikki Kaye has died at the age of 44. Michael Barnett talks to Ryan about her life of politics.  Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Businesses say the new Central Auckland Police base is a positive step towards improving the city's safety.   The new Federal Street station will be close to Aotea Square, making it easier to deploy officers right across the central city.   Police plan to have it open to the public 24/7 by the middle of next year.  Heart of the City's Viv Beck told Ryan Bridge that businesses have been after more police - especially with the City Rail Link opening soon.   She says we want a vibrant, safe, international city, so there needs to be enough police.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some patients in need of hospital treatment aren't even making it to the waitlist.   A letter obtained by RNZ reveals some referrals from an orthopaedic clinic are being knocked back.  It says it lacks the resources to see all patients within the Ministry of Health waiting time targets.  Royal College of GPs Medical Director Dr Luke Bradford told Ryan Bridge the acceptance level fluctuates normally, but the threshold rises as more pressure's applied to the health system.   He says the health targets have people being seen within four months and being operated on quickly, and one way to manage that is by not taking patients onto lists in the first place.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.