Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

A tech expert says there's good reason to be sceptical about digital identifications.   Digital Services Minister Judith Collins says driver licences could soon be available on our phones before the end of the year.   New South Wales has already rolled out a similar service.  Digital Identity New Zealand Executive Director Andy Higgs told Francesca Rudkin it has to be done in good faith.   He says in some countries people are treated as a number, with much of their personal information stored with the licence.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belief the Government's half-a-billion dollar investment to infrastructure will boost the construction sector. Both projects involve upgrades and maintenance for hospital and school buildings nationwide. It's at a time when construction activity is at a six year low. Certified Builders Chief Executive Malcolm Fleming told Francesca Rudkin these announcements show that better days are starting to emerge. He says the Government's starting to listen to the industry's concerns, that some pipeline of works like schools, had been closed off for the last couple of years. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast Tuesday 23rd of September 2025, The long-awaited overhaul of the Holiday's act will be announced today, Business Canterbury CEO Leeann Watson tells Francesca what she hopes will come from it.  Digital services Minister Judith Collins says digital driver’s licenses could be rolling out by the end of the year, Digital Identity NZ Executive Director Andy Higgs shares his thoughts.  The Government’s pumping more money into schools to prop up our struggling construction sector, Certified Builders CEO Malcolm Fleming tells Francesca how much of a difference it'll make. Plus Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio has the latest on more details on the Optus catastrophic triple zero outage and the Australian Prime Minister preparing to address the UN General Assembly on Palestine. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudi

On its own, you wonder what’s the point of moving in this direction when we have perfectly good drivers licences in our back pockets. But it’s not really about the driver’s licence, it's about creating an app like NSW has, which allows people to do a whole lot of government related transactions simply and easily from their phones.    Things like: car registrations, a WOF, paying road user chargers, road tolls, Inland Revenue and tax payments, dealing with superannuation and benefit payments – maybe even paying parking tickets. The lot!   Which makes sense. We deal with so much of this online already, why not put in an ‘all-in-one’ place. NSW rolled out the digital drivers licence  in 2019 and today over 80% of drivers use their licence via the app.   It's good to see the Minister acknowledge we need to have choice around this. A digital licence  system can’t exclude those who don’t have access to the necessary technology or simply prefer to keep things offline. Groups like the el

A $100million dollar boost is being put towards upgrading clinical spaces and key infrastructure,  at hospitals across the country. Health Minister Simeon Brown's announced the investment for 21 local projects - ranging from more clinical space in emergency departments to extra carparks. Health New Zealand's also allocating $20million dollars to increasing frontline ED staff. Minister Simeon Brown says most of the projects will be delivered next year and into 2027. He says they want to make the current facilities more efficient and deliver more care - it will also provide a number of construction jobs while they're underway. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cyber incidents continue to cause chaos across major European airports. Dublin, Berlin, Brussels and London's Heathrow are thought to be experiencing cyber attacks, knocking out online baggage and check-in systems. It's the third day of technical failures, with dozens of flights delayed or cancelled. Europe correspondent Gavin Gray told Francesca Rudkin that the issue is with a widely-used system by Collins Aerospace, which allows airlines to use the same check-in desks and boarding gates. He says things are going wrong and many airlines are having to use manual boarding and check-in with paper and pen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Francesca Rudkin, Monday 22nd of September Full Show Podcast 2025, The Government's spending $100 million of cash from the budget on upgrading hospitals across the country, Health Minister Simeon Brown tells Francesca what that money will go towards.  Andrew Alderson has the latest on the weekend's sport.  Investor confidence has slumped back to pandemic levels, ASB wealth economist Chris Tennent-Brown provides some analysis.  Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on Chaos at major European airports as a cyber-attack hits the electronic check-in and reports that the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, sent an email to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, calling him a "supreme friend".  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand investor confidence has dropped to its lowest level since Covid. ASB's latest survey shows sentiment is weakest in the lower North Island and among those over 60, with under 40s being more optimistic about their situation. Senior Wealth Economist Chris Tennent-Brown told Francesca Rudkin global uncertainty and the weak housing market have made the last six months challenging. He says it's not quite as bad as during the depths of despair during the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday Health Minister Simeon Brown announced $100 million has been allocated for hospital maintenance and refurbishment. It will fund 21 upgrades around the country.    The money was set aside in the 2025 budget – listed under things like ‘remediation’ and ‘redevelopment’ - but at the time Treasury didn’t say how much was allocated due to commercial sensitivities.    But it has been announced now, and if you were a cynical person you could think it was timed to distract us from the 48 hour strike - 5,500 ASMS members are undertaking this Tuesday and Wednesday – which will delay healthcare for almost 13-thousand patients.    This is a bit of an underwhelming announcement. The work the money is funding is not sexy. It’s the basic stuff which needs to happen to keep the lights on in some cases, and improve services in others.   Maternity Services are getting an upgrade at Ashburton Hospital.  The Lakes District Hospital is getting an ED expansion – which makes sense co

The Black Ferns have made it to the semi-finals.   After handily defeating South Africa in the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, they’re now set to face the World No 2 team – Canada.   However, they’re missing a major player from their line up – flanker Jorja Miller appearing to be out with a hamstring injury.  Sky Sport Commentator Rikki Swannell told Ryan Bridge that while Miller is a huge loss, her replacement Kennedy Tukuafu is still a handy player.  She says fingers are crossed that Miller is available again if they do make it through to the finals.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Corrections Minister says the Government has helped reduce the number of people breaching electronically monitored bail.   There were 832 cases of absconding from EM bail last year - up from 64 in 2015.   The total number of people on EM bail has risen from 1300 to over six thousand since 2015.   But Mark Mitchell told Ryan Bridge the percentage rate of absconding is actually coming down.   He says it was at 19% in 2019, which dropped to 14% last year.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Surprise across the board with the latest sharp drop in GDP. Our economy's contracted 0.9% in the June quarter - a worse outcome than any economists had been forecasting. Many were predicting a 0.3% drop, including the Reserve Bank and ASB. ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith shares his analysis with Ryan.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Friday 19th of September 2025 GDP fell 0.9% in the last quarter, ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith shares his thoughts.  The Women's World Cup semi-final is this weekend; Sky Sport commentator Rikki Swannell tells Ryan about the atmosphere leading up to the game in the UK.  Ankle monitor escapes have increase from 64 in 2015 to more than 800 in the last year, Corrections Minister, Mark Mitchell tells Ryan why.  Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest on day two of Trump's state visit to the UK.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has Nicola Willis failed on growth in her year of growth?  So far, yes. We’ve gone nowhere in six months - Q2 basically wiped out Q1.  Should she resign? No. Why? Trump’s tariffs. Nobody saw them coming. Markets thought he was bluffing, a negotiation tactic. Until he wasn’t. Businesses and Mums and Dads sat on their cash to wait it out - a reasonable response to an uncertain future.  Should she borrow and spend more? She can’t. It’d be political sacrilege for a party elected to do the opposite.  Besides, she’s already borrowing Robertson-level cash. The interest tab’s nearing $10 billion and ratings agencies are watching closely.  The RBNZ printed money like it was going out of fashion, governments here and abroad overcooked the Covid response with border controls. The world ground to a halt. We artificially concocted an inflationary wildfire so hot the ambers burn close to central limits to this day.  As for those the calls from Douglas and Co. for Willis’ head on a stake, you’v

Wellington's globally renowned World of Wearable Arts show opens its doors today in its 20th year.  The event runs for three weeks at TSB Arena with more than 60-thousand people are expected to attend.  It brings in designers and creatives from around the world in a mix of fashion, music, and design.  Chief Executive Meg Williams says it embraces the capital's creativity and around 70% of visitors come from out of town.  She says WOW brings $30 million into the regional economy every year, because of visitor spend.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Opposition doesn't want the Government taking all the credit for a drop in youth offending.   The Government says the rate of serious and persistent offending from young people has dropped by more than 14% since June 2023.   Labour's Children Spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime says it is largely because of the Circuit Breaker programme – which they started.  She told Ryan Bridge that the Government is effectively saying the drop is due to the boot camp programmes, which have actually been an abject failure with seven of the nine youth reoffending.  Prime says they should be more transparent that it’s the continuation and expansion of things Labour began that is contributing.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist is predicting a gloomier number than the Reserve Bank from the latest GDP figure.  Stats NZ data on GDP for the year's second quarter will be released today.  The Reserve Bank's predicting a 0.3 percent drop.  BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones is a picking a 0.5 percent fall.  He told Ryan Bridge economic growth is probably going to be slow for a while.  Jones says it will probably be until next year that we see what can be classed as recovery.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Thursday 18th of September 2025, GDP is out today, BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones tells Ryan what he's expecting to see.  The World of wearable arts kicks off in Wellington today, CEO Meg Williams tells Ryan about the impact it has on the capital.  Labour's Willow-Jean Prime shares her thoughts on the latest youth crime data.  Plus, US Correspondent Toni Waterman has the latest on Donald Trump's state visit to the UK and the US Federal reserve decision.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you see the cops put out a handy warning for us all yesterday? Hide, tell, escape. The spooks in Wellington reckon extremist violence is a realistically possibility in this country.  Now, they’ve been saying this for some time.  Yesterday you may have got a news alert about this new campaign from police telling you what to do during an armed attack in a crowded place.  You could think, well, maybe they’re just being prepared, and better to know what to do than not. But isn’t there a part of you that also thinks, do they know something specific? Or are they following so many suspected terrorists that they’ve maxed capacity and feel now is the time to inform the last line of defence, or self-defence, us? It’s one of those things —I was thinking about it last night after watching the news— where you wonder if you’re being a bit paranoid or whether it’s so plain and obvious that everyone else assumes the same. On the news we had Luigi Mangione. A young guy who hated insurance companies and assa

Food price inflation is starting to stabilise.  Latest figures from Stats NZ show the food price inflation is 5% – unchanged on a month ago.  Butter prices have risen 32% in a year, cheese is up 26%, while milk has increased by 16%.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Ryan Bridge that while households are still seeing high costs, the pressure is coming through in a more contained fashion.  He says that when inflation was running rampant a few years ago, just about everything was impacted, but now it’s not.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.