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Because that's what's just happened.

The National Party has announced, completely unexpectedly, with nobody getting a heads-up that this was coming, that it wants to break up Foodstuffs into two separately owned businesses. One would be Pak'n'Save  and the other would combine New World and Four Square.

It won't be forcing any owners to sell their businesses because, by the way, these businesses are owned by Kiwi owner-operators. They're not going to be forced to sell. But they are going to be forced to move with their chosen brand.

Now, if what the National Party wanted was a water-cooler announcement, you know, the kind that gets so much attention everybody ends up talking about it at the water cooler, then they got it.

And for all the wrong reasons.

Because this is completely bonkers. Especially because it comes from a party that should know better: the National Party.

Now, I'm not defending supermarket prices here. I'm not saying it's okay that you're paying $300 to $400 a week just to feed your family. But what I am saying is that the Nats pushing the red button and going nuclear here may actually be worse.

Think about what this is going to do to confidence in investing in this country. Who is going to put serious money into business in New Zealand if this is the kind of country that just goes around splitting up corporates?

And it's not theoretical to say this is going to have a chilling effect. We know it will.

We're still trying to convince oil and gas companies to bring their money back into this country and back into the gas sector after Jacinda Ardern announced the oil and gas exploration ban. That was eight years ago and there is still no sign that confidence is returning.

It takes decades to undo this kind of damage.

Even having the so-called business-friendly party in New Zealand discussing a policy like this is damaging our international reputation right now.

And is it worth it?

Is it worth it?

Have a guess how much money this is going to save you each week when it's finally baked in at the end of the process.

Maybe $3.80.

$3.80 a week.

For all of this.

Is it worth it?

No. Of course it's not.

This is an incredibly damaging idea for apparently very little gain.

As you can imagine, I've had countless texts and conversations about this since it was announced. And the one that sums it up best is this:

"New Zealand is not a serious country anymore."

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For the 26 weeks ended July 26, 2026, Briscoe Group reported total sales of $374.2 million - up over $3 million compared to last year.

Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke says the number of high-profile sporting events in rugby, football and the current NRL season have contributed to the boost, but the Iran war remains an economic concern. 

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The campground has been popular with Kiwi travellers for over 26 years, and it's unclear if it will be up and running in time for Labour weekend.

Waitākere Ranges Local Board chair Mark Allen says they received new information about possible flooding risks, and extra work had to be undertaken.

"We decided we needed to do some work on it, just to make sure everything was good... the position is, we want it to reopen it for the summer, while we do further work."

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NZTA is partnering with four provincial rugby teams to encourage young men to buckle up and stay safe.

Northern Rescue COO Karl Taylor says too many younger men between 18-40 think they're 'bulletproof' and that's a factor behind these stats.

"We need to get the message out there, and we just need to keep sounding that message out there and keep beating the drum."

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An inquiry's laid bare failures by police and Oranga Tamariki before and during the four-year search for fugitive Tom Phillips and his children.

Their mother repeatedly expressed fears before Phillips went on the run with them a second time, but Oranga Tamariki assured the Court, they were fine in his care. 

Auckland University associate professor Carrie Leonetti says such failures are well established.

She explained almost nothing stops fathers getting extensive, unsupervised access to their children - even mental health conditions, substance abuse and a history of violence. 

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National is campaigning on separating Pak'nSave from New World and Four Square - if the Commerce Commission believes it stacks up.

Nicola Willis says there's less benefits and more costs around restructuring Woolworths, as the retailer would have to set up an entirely new operator and brands.

"Whereas, Foodstuffs already has two different brands, it already has Pak'nSave vs New World. So the costs of that restructure are lower - and once you add in all of the extra costs of the Woolworths restructure, you end up with lower net benefits."

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Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds was questioning Finance Minister Nicola Willis, and Speaker Gerry Brownlee noticed someone else was talking.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper noticed that Brownlee first thought the interruption came from Simeon Brown, then Paul Goldsmith - until someone 'narked' on Bishop.

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The board, which was chosen by Trump and includes many of his allies, has voted to close it down for two years.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Trump says the any future renovations and repairs will not take place until his name is added to the building, according to social media.

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He's headed off competition from the likes of Erin Clark and Wayde Egan.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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Auntie Anne’s and Carvel will open their first stores on September 26th - giving Kiwis the chance to try new hand-baked pretzels, ice cream, milkshakes and more.

UOA marketing professor Mike Lee says it's expected there will be 'lines out the door' when these companies launch, with high demand expected for Auntie Anne’s pretzels.

"I just know the New Zealand palate - the mainstream New Zealand palate, I'm not talking about the carb-free health people, I'm just talking about the general mainstream New Zealand public . I think there'll be lines waiting to get a taste of these pretzels." 

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The family recently moved from the United States to the UK, and their private security team reportedly advised them to make this move.

UK correspondent Enda Brady indicated Harry and Meghan could be looking to 'manufacture' a situation to create some extra pressure - and this will likely cost the taxpayers.

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But confidence for the next 12 months has dropped, with many farmers wondering how long these good times can really last.

The Country's Jamie Mackay outlined the survey results further.

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Sir Graham Henry was one of the big names to recently claim that less TMO involvement is the way to go, following the latest All Blacks-Springboks clash over the weekend.

International rugby referee and expert Ben O'Keeffe says television match officials still serve a purpose.

"I like having the ability to have the technology available, but it actually comes down to the application of how I actually try and use it."

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Auckland mayor Wayne Brown and Local Government Minister Simon Watts have traded strong words after the Government announced it was moving to ban voting rights for non-elected members of council committees. What do we make of this? What's really going on with Wayne Brown?

The findings of the Tom Phillips inquiry have been released today, and the report has revealed the extent of how the relevant officials have mishandled the case. Who looks worse - the police or Oranga Tamariki? How could this have been handled better? 

Nicola Willis has hinted more tax cuts could be on their way - once the books are back in surplus. Are we excited for this, or does the wait put us off? 

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Probably the most shocking mistake was made by the police. A woman called them and said she had Phillips in her car, and she even took a photo of him to show them, but they never showed up.

She'd come across his broken-down car somewhere around Marokopa and the kids were with him. She and another family member, a mother-in-law or something like that, tried to help him jump-start the car. After they'd done that, she went home and immediately called the cops.

The police sent officers over but they ended up being redeployed to another job before they even reached her so they never turned up.

That was May 2023. Those kids had already been in the bush for 18 months. Everybody in this country knew about the Phillips family by then. It wasn't as if the police didn't know who they were looking for. There was no excuse for treating it that way.

For me, the second most alarming thing is that police knew Phillips was an alcoholic and a weirdo who'd done strange things, like wearing a full military gas mask around Ōtorohanga, talking about doomsday prepping and at times drinking a box of beer and a bottle of vodka in a single day.

And yet, he had the kids in his care.

And that was known in October, by the way. October is important because that's the month he runs away the first time. He comes back and authorities realise what they're dealing with: an alcoholic, deeply eccentric man. Yet before he runs away the second time, they leave the kids in his care.

How is this a country where we leave kids with someone who gets that drunk?

Now, what I've told you is by no means an exhaustive list of what went wrong. There was the case of OT actually closing its file in February 2022. The kids had been missing for 74 days  and they said they had no concerns for their welfare.

When he first disappears the second time, police say they're not worried about the kids' safety. Again, this is a guy who gets completely rotten drunk on a frequent basis.

When his ute is found near Marokopa a month after he disappears, police don't bother turning up for nearly a week. They leave it there for six days. When they finally arrive, they simply leave a note and then leave.

And it goes on and on and on, the failures.

The basic finding in this review is that police and OT could have stopped him from going bush with the kids the second time but they didn't. Police also could have tried to get those kids out earlier but they didn't.

Which means, if you know what the suppressed information is, they could have stopped all of that from happening and they didn't.

And that is more horrific than bears thinking about.

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Speaking on a panel at BusinessNZ’s election conference in Wellington, Willis said the party has been monitoring 'bracket creep' and adjustments could be made after a return to surplus. 

OliverShaw Tax Partner Robin Oliver says there's a case for indexing the tax rates, and the Government should be transparent if they need to make changes. 

"We should legislate that each year, the Government should be transparent, it should go to the public and say - actually, we need to increase the tax rates on middle-income New Zealanders because we're going to spend it on healthcare, ED, what have you."

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On The Huddle, Liam Hehir and Katie Bradford on Wayne Brown's latest bust-up with the government.

Top rugby referee Ben O'Keeffe tells us how there's less TMO interference in New Zealand rugby.

And why Heather's pledged to run a marathon.

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The Government announced it's moving to ban voting rights for non-elected members of council committees.

Brown's now threatened to pull out of the Auckland Deal, and sent a terse message to Simon Watts - telling him to 'butt out' of the council’s democratic processes.

Watts says democracy is non-negotiable.

"Elected representatives are accountable to their communities, and voting rights should reflect that." 

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A four-year police hunt for them ended when Phillips was shot dead last year. 

An inquiry's laid bare numerous failures, including a lack of coordination between Oranga Tamariki and the police. 

Two months before Phillips took off the second time, the Ministry told the Family Court the children were fine in his care. 
 
Chief executive Amanda Malu says Oranga Tamariki didn't provide all the information it had - partly because the social worker was still compiling it.

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An almost four-year hunt ended last year, when police killed Phillips in a shootout.

An inquiry's exposed numerous failures by police and Oranga Tamariki, and a lack of information sharing.

Police delayed following up on credible sightings - and overlooked repeated concerns over Phillip's mental health and alcohol use and access to weapons. 

The district's Deputy Police Commissioner, Jill Rogers, says police didn't fully understand how the isolation harmed the children.

"We were always of the belief that Tom Phillips was a man motivated not to hand the children over, and we have wrongly assumed that he wasn't a risk."

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The big match is set to take place at Eden Park, and the team's hoping to shake off last weekend's loss to the Dolphins and emerge victorious for Sydney's final against the Panthers.

Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad says it's going to be an 'amazing atmosphere' after reports confirmed that Eden Park had sold out ahead of the game.

"I love Eden Park, I've played there a few times, obviously with the Kiwis - and I was just saying today that it's great to be able to take a game like that to a different stadium." 

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The recent The Post Freshwater Strategy poll had Labour down seven to 28 percent, with National down two to 27 percent.

Newstalk ZB senior correspondent Barry Soper says there could be a risk of a hung Parliament, given how tight the numbers are between the two major parties. 

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Hanson labelled Indigenous Australians as the 'most primitive race on Earth' when she criticised schools teaching their history and culture back in 2025.

Australian correspondent Sam Emery says at least three senators have condemned her statement and called for a 'real apology' after she attempted to provide context.

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General tickets went on sale at 10am this morning, hours after fans bought out 22,000 tickets in a Warriors' club pre-sale.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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The party would also introduce a training wage for under-20s' first year of employment, at 60 percent of the minimum wage. 

It also wants to shorten the personal grievances time-frame, and require they be raised with the Employment Relations Authority within three months.

EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald has raised concerns with aspects of this - and says an 'indexed' approach to the minimum wage would be a better idea. 

"What we've seen in the last two or three minimum wages - they've been quite small steps up, they've been 20 or 50 cents. And that, to me, makes more sense than freezing them completely, because there is inflation."

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Local Government New Zealand is calling on central Government to pause all referrals on housing projects - claiming they're bypassing council decisions.

It wants a review to clarify the housing fast track's role within the new planning system.

Nicola Willis says she wants to make clear fast-track approval doesn't give developers a free pass to charge ahead.

She says expert panels still impose conditions - requiring roads, wastewater and other infrastructure to be in place, before construction.

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Solar company Electrify Nelson says inquiries have gone up a couple-of-hundred percent on a year ago.

But the industry warns we need about six thousand more trained electricians - across the country - to do the work.

Rewiring Aotearoa Chief Executive, Mike Casey told Heather du Plessis-Allan he hopes interest will continue over time.

He says oil shortages because of the Iran war is keeping demand high - with energy prices climbing.

He says solar is the one reprieve Kiwis get.

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The network faced its first weekday today - recording about 72-and-a-half thousand train journeys as of five this evening. 

It will be put to the test again this weekend - with 55 thousand fans headed to Eden Park to watch the Warriors take on the Newcastle Knights. 

Public Transport director Richard Harrison told Heather du Plessis-Allan extra trains will be running - and there will be buses to the stadium from the North Shore. 

He says those with tickets to the game can get free travel from 2pm. 

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10-year New Zealand government bonds are now paying above five percent - the highest level since 2023.

US 30-year Treasury bonds are at their highest point since 2007.

The OCR rose to 2.75 percent two weeks ago.

Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold told Heather du Plessis-Allan central banks have a lot of work to do next year, so he expects the OCR could be four percent at the end of next year.

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It happened because Louise Upston passed a piece of legislation so fast, under urgency, in just two days last year that no one had time to spot the fact the law contained a mistake.

What happened was that the law required MSD, the ministry, to check with people every year that they were still entitled to the money they were receiving. However, it didn't exclude pensioners and veterans receiving the Winter Energy Payment, which they get simply because they are pensioners and veterans.

Of course, they should have been excluded under those circumstances because, once you're a pensioner, you're a pensioner. You're not going to stop being a pensioner; you'll be a pensioner until you die. Once you're a veteran, you're a veteran until you die. It doesn't change.

So they should have been exempt from this law but they weren't because it went through the parliamentary process too quickly.

This actually happens quite a lot. A few years ago, under urgency, Parliament realised that it had tabled and voted through the wrong piece of legislation because proceedings were moving so fast.

It happens all the time.

This Government has used urgency a lot. Jacinda Ardern's Government used urgency a lot as well. They often do it because they're running out of time but sometimes it's because they want to avoid too much attention being focused on what they're doing for an extended period.

That's why, for example, National tabled and rushed through the Pay Equity Bill. They didn't want all the drama that would have come with people focusing on it for a long time.

But they've been warned that, if they do this, the consequence of rushing legislation through is that mistakes may go unnoticed and therefore never get fixed.

In this case, it's been particularly unfortunate because it has affected some of the most hard-up people in the country at the worst time of year: people relying on the pension and trying to heat their homes during winter.

That is a really hard lesson for political parties on why they should not rush laws.

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We hear about what it'll take to save Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch.

A powerful voice in the "front row club", Sean Fitzpatrick, gives us his view on Codie Taylor's reinstatement as All Blacks hooker and captain.

And on The Sports Huddle, Andrew Gourdie and Nathan Limm on whether the Wahs are on the up and up.

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"It'd be nice to be able to draw the series, which will be a lot better feeling," Former All Blacks hooker and captain Sean Fitzpatrick told Andrew Dickens.

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Firstly, I have to say it never needed to be so expensive because it never needed to be this late. The idea of a rail link between Auckland and Morningside was first mooted in 1912 and again in 1918. There was even a plan drawn up in 1923. Robbie, Dove-Myer Robinson, talked about it in the 1970s. But it wasn't until 2003 that we finally pulled our finger out and started doing something about it.

Imagine if we'd built it in the 1920s. Imagine if we'd built it in the 1930s, when Australia was building underground rail and the Harbour Bridge. But no, we were afraid of it. We hesitated. If only we'd had the courage of our convictions back then, when it was cheaper and easier.

And it's not like we've always been this timid and overly cautious. Construction of the Central Motorway Junction, affectionately known as Spaghetti Junction, began in the 1960s. If you think the disruption caused by the CRL was significant, consider what happened then. To build Spaghetti Junction for the car, they effectively eradicated an entire inner-city suburb. Yet these days we lose our heads over a couple of inner-city streets, a few barber shops and some traffic cones.

My own memories of the debate are full of toxic misinformation and, can I say, that came from all the radio stations and plenty of politicians. People were calling it a loop. It's never been a loop. It's a link. It's a through-link.

People would say, "Well, it's a loop. What about the Simpsons monorail? What about the Sydney monorail?" But it was never anything like that. It was a link. It joined two previously disconnected parts of a railway network we'd already invested in.

Those myths made much of the conversation unnecessarily fraught. But there we go. It's happened. It's done. Thank God for that.

Now that it's finished, people will be demanding a revolution. It won't be a revolution. It will be an evolution. But it is the single biggest step we had to take to allow our biggest city to grow even bigger. It's what we needed to do to show we're not afraid of growth. That we're not the timid New Zealanders Christopher Luxon has so often accused us of being, and that our businesses are not afraid of growth either.

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New York firefighter Dave Morkal was on ground zero that day, and he joined Andrew Dickens to discuss. 

"As soon as we got there it was work is on. This is what we have to do. We have to save as many people as we can."

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Orana Wildlife Trust Board co-chair Dr Ken Hughey joined Andrew Dickens to discuss the financial difficulties facing them and other similar attractions. 

The financial struggles are not contributed to visitor numbers, which Hughey says are increasing, but instead the operating costs.

"The difficulty with the model that pretty much all of the large zoos, and there are other entities like that as well... is that they're becoming more and more expensive to run."

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NZ First wants to restrict birthright citizenship and prevent asylum seekers from accessing work, while Labour wants to introduce a citizenship pathway for children born to undocumented parents and a longer permanent residency process.

ACT would change New Zealand's residence system by removing the existing Permanent Resident Visa category, whereas the Greens want to end 12-month stand-down periods requiring workers to leave the country between visas, and allow migrant workers to change jobs.

Current Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Andrew Dickens that National's policy will be revealed soon, and it will be 'more of the same that you've seen in the last 3 years.'

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Former Warriors captain turned real estate mogul Tohu Harris joined Andrew Dickens to discuss. 

"From what we've seen from the Warriors this year and how they've defended, I'm quietly confident."

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National Air Traffic Services CEO Martin Rolfe has faced criticism following the outage, and there's growing calls for him to lose the role. 

UK correspondent Enda Brady says this latest incident cost airlines millions and industry experts and passengers have voiced outrage.

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Jacob Coxon spent the past three years pre-training AI models, beginning at OpenAI and moving to Anthropic, but has since claimed neither of the big companies are 'acting responsibly'.

Fisher Funds expert Sam Dickie says this is the latest in the case of AI experts 'sounding the alarm' over the risks of the technology.

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Beef + Lamb New Zealand has warned the margins are likely to tighten, and they've cited rising input costs and the risk of dry El Niño conditions creating additional pressure.

The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further.

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Apple has unveiled their new foldable iPhone - retailing for over $4,000 on the low end? Is this worth the price?

Speaking of pricy things - would we pay $250 for a Te Pati Māori jacket? What do we make of all the political merch, anyway? 

The Ministry of Social Development has been made to issue an apology after over 30,000 benefit payments were incorrectly suspended. Who's at fault for this? Should the Government have to share in some of the blame?

ACT has pledged to, if elected, scrap the Waitangi Tribunal for good. Do we think this is a good idea? 

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We ask David Seymour if ACT's plan to abolish the Waitangi Tribunal is realistic.

It's up and up for the Wahs. The marketing boss on how the NRL club's battling to satisfy the demand for merchandise.

And on The Huddle, Katie Bradford and Maurice Williamson on political merchandise - and whether they'd pay $250 for a Te Pati Maori jacket.

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ACT's headline policy is that it will scrap the Waitangi Tribunal, which many people, including me, may see as a good idea because the tribunal has gone completely off piste. It has started to resemble a branch of the Māori Party, finding in real time that one Government policy after another breaches the Treaty of Waitangi.

In some cases, it has made these findings about policies that have not even become law yet, which means there cannot be an actual breach because nothing has happened.

When the point of the Waitangi Tribunal was to investigate contemporary breaches, not the possibility of contemporary breaches, the distinction is important. That distinction turns the tribunal into a political player.

Because it has become exactly that, a political player, which was not the original intention, it's not unreasonable to applaud a plan to scrap it.

However, that is not what ACT's plan actually does. ACT is proposing to scrap the tribunal only once all historical Treaty claims have been settled. And when do you think that's going to be? When do you think that's going to happen?

It will only happen when Ngāpuhi finally settles and Ngāpuhi is not going to settle anytime soon because its various groups are still fighting among themselves about it. I reckon they'll be arguing over it for decades.

So, in my view, this is so far in the future that David Seymour will likely be retired and spending time with his grandkids before it actually happens.

Beware of these kinds of policies this election. You'll come across plenty of them. They're designed to make it look as though a party is going to do the thing you really want it to do, without having to go through the political drama of actually doing it.

In my opinion, this policy is a case in point.

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The new store will be the retailer's first to debut the new Plan C+ format with checkouts at the front, and New Zealand's third 24-hour store after Sylvia Park and Manukau.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson says this new store is unlikely to draw people away from Sylvia Park, as both outlets have their own selling points.

"The reality is, Sylvia Park has its own draw, it's got a lot of very unique retailers there - and at the end of the day, the Kmart product is the Kmart product." 

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The new 'Duo' product will be available by the end of next month - but Kiwis will have to pay at least $4199 for one on the low end.

BusinessDesk tech columnist Peter Griffin says we're all holding onto our phones for longer, and there's no need for most people to rush into upgrades. 

"You're talking about the wealthiest consumer tech company in the world, it's taken years to develop this - so you'd expect that the product is excellent, and we'd sort of expect that it would be expensive." 

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Saturday's big finals clash against the Dolphins at Mount Smart Stadium has seen historic demand, and jerseys and other merchandise are flying off the shelves.

Warriors COO of Commercial and Marketing Glenn Harris says everyone wants to be a part of the 'togetherness' and that's reflected in what they wear to the games.

"Everywhere we go, people are wearing merch - and even if they have merch, they want to get more merch." 

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The party intends to limit the Tribunal to claims lodged before September 2008, and then it would be dis-established for good once those are sorted.

Seymour explained that he's looking to remove the Tribunal's jurisdiction over 'contemporary claims', where activists critique the Government. 

"That ends straight away, and then we leave them on a sort of skeletal basis until they finish these remaining claims, bearing in mind there's no new claims, because they all had to be in by 2008."

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A review has found superannuitants were wrongly made to confirm their circumstances to get the Winter Energy Payment in legislation passed under urgency.

The high number of confirmations meant processing delays, and people’s benefits didn't continue when they should have.

The Ministry of Social Development's paid more than $2.5 million dollars in arrears, and is apologising to the thousands impacted.

Chief executive Debbie Power says people questioning it from April were told it was no mistake, and it wasn't raised with the Minister until August.

"The policy intent was never to impact these clients in this way, we got it wrong."

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A recent review has found several Winter Energy Payments, main benefits, and supplementary assistance were mistakenly paused - and the Ministry has since issued an apology. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Labour's Chris Hipkins has been quick to condemn this and says the MSD shouldn't take the blame for the Government's mistakes. 

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Organised crime groups are reportedly stealing Australian cars and stripping them down to sell off the parts in Iran and Russia.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says there's a sophisticated network behind these growing cases, with many of these thefts happening in Victoria.

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The Kiwi side is down a few key players, with Ardie Savea, Quinn Tupaea and Luke Jacobson out of commission following some injuries.

Weekend Sport host Jason Pine speculated about the kinds of changes the team could make following the big match. 

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This means New Zealand-produced beer is taxed more than its Australian counterpart, and this dispute between the trans-Tasman partners has been a point of contention for over a decade.

Garage Project co-founder Jos Ruffell says their brewery has had to pay $2.5 million worth of tax in Australia because of this, and this should have been resolved earlier.

"MFAT's looked into this, it's a clear breach of CER and we've had some really encouraging news in the last week where Minister McClay has actually now raised this openly with his Australian counterpart, and he's acknowledged that there is a precedent with wine." 

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France, Canada and Spain are among the 12 countries imposing similar sanctions - but Australia and New Zealand haven't followed suit as of yet. 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the Government is being quite tough on this situation, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband using 'extraordinary' languages about the matter.

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ACC Minister Scott Simpson recently promoted that number of fraud investigations launched by ACC increased '12-fold' from two in the 2023 calendar year to 24 in 2025.

In the eight months to the end of August this year, it launched 38 investigations.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained that the ACC sees millions of claims a year, and there's been a decrease in interventions in claims.

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The company behind Kathmandu and Rip Curl saw its share price go up by 17 percent, largely driven by Australian entrepreneur Josh Rudd buying 6 percent shareholding.

Milford Asset Management expert Jeremy Hutton outlined what this could mean for the company - and whether a full takeover is possible.

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Labour's "Office of AI" idea - what will it cost?
 
We ask NZTA what can be done to combat vandalism of its mobile speed camera trailers.

And on The Huddle, we ask Tim Wilson and Mark Sainsbury if cutting the red tape for alcohol licensing will cause more harm than good.

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The Government has confirmed they'll be cutting some of the red tape around the hospitality sector - a move that's been welcomed by industry experts. Do we think this is a good idea - or could this cause extra harm?

At least 10,000 public service workers have downed tools and gone on strike after months of failed negotiations. What do we make of this, is serious change needed? What could this Government do for the public service? 

Labour is looking to introduce tougher regulations on AI if they get elected - do we need this kind of oversight? 

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Thomas has breathlessly reported after an inquiry under the Official Information Act revealed a number of rejections of Special Needs Grants for urgent and essential emergency costs. The inquiry found these rejections were increasing, and more than 8000 people were declined on the basis food was deemed 'non-essential'.

The ministry says this was caused by an administrative error in which the wrong option had been selected but it maintains this did not mean the underlying decision was incorrect.

Now, I have no idea what that means. Did they make a mistake or were they not incorrect? I don't know. But whatever.

Thomas Mead has been hunting down anyone who will demand that MSD or the minister apologise. But the minister and MSD are flatly refusing.

Frankly, it got a bit farcical, with the head of MSD dancing on the head of a pin and refusing to say sorry. It was a word salad. His mouth was flapping, but nothing was being said.

Now look, I get why MSD doesn't like the bad news. I get that those refusals affected only 0.094 percent of claimants, which is a small number. However, it's still 8000 people and 8000 families affected. They were affected because they were unable to get grants for food, a basic necessity.

Those 8000 people over six years, while a small minority, deserve an apology.

The refusal by the minister and the department just perpetuates the story that they are heartless and don't care about the poor and the hungry. That perception will last longer than any perception of ineptitude this case has created.

And yes, it's all about ineptitude. You can apologise for that while you're at it, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, the minister, Louise Upston, pointed out that MSD processes more than 350,000 claims a year successfully.

But Louise, that's the real shame.

Six percent of New Zealanders need government help to afford food and that's nothing to be proud of.

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Councillors voted unanimously to investigate ways to tell those planning such projects that they aren’t wanted.

Auckland Council planning committee chair Richard Hills says these projects are putting a lot of pressure on communities - and their budgets. 

"And also, the stresses on their roads and highways and the current council assets are quite extreme."  

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The UK is the latest among a dozen countries - including France, Spain and Canada - to sanction the settlements over the 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians.

Waikato University's Al Gillespie says our approach towards Palestine is more conservative.

"The defence that we have is that we are targeting those that are involved with the most extreme violence, but we're now out of step with like-minded countries. I imagine part of it's got to do with the fear of what Mr Trump would do if we joined that list." 

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Data shows that these cameras were graffitied 11 times, the trailers have been damaged at least six times - and there's been one incident of the tyres on a camera trailer getting slashed.

Head of Driving Regulation at NZTA, Chris Rodley, says these camera trailers are deployed to make the roads safer and they've got an important job to do.

"It is a real nuisance having the vandalism, but it's not affecting the deployment schedules too much. They're usually out for a day or two." 

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About 10,000 union members from MBIE, Internal Affairs, NEMA, and the Ethnic Communities and Social Development Ministries, went on strike today - after months of fruitless bargaining.

Public Service Association National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says Chris Luxon claims he has a laser-focus on the cost-of-living. 

"This is the workforce that his Government's in charge of - we want to see some of that laser-like focus of the cost of living when it comes to these workers."

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A Ministry for Regulation review has found bureaucratic red tape and complexities could be scaled back.

It's found food safety checks were sometimes disproportionate to risk, and unnecessary costs from building requirements.

Brewers' Association Executive Director, Dylan Firth, says district licensing committees have caused inconsistencies.

"You've got some businesses waiting six months to get a licence, if not a year to get a renewal. And that's just really difficult for business - you know all these people want to be doing is providing food and beverages to their customers and their communities."  

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A review's outlined the costly and cumbersome problems faced by food and drink operators.

Ministers are now working with industry players on a Hospitality Action Plan, with the aim of developing more consistent templates and tools. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper voiced support for less red tape around the sector - and says other people working in the industry have had issues in the past. 

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This is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran, and the US military has indicated they're not looking to slow things down. 

US correspondent Gordon Robison says this follows several attacks last week - and it's a sign that this back and forth has no end in sight. 

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Ali Williams has posted the job ad on his LinkedIn profile, calling for candidates to 'own all aspects of building the organisation' - from player contracting and stakeholder relations, through to marketing and fan engagement.

Sportstalk's D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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The party's proposing establishing an 'Office of AI' to co-ordinate policy across Government, including clearer copyright rules, safe adoption for small businesses, and forcing data centres to secure their own renewable energy supply and pay connection costs. 

Labour's science, technology and innovation spokesperson, Reuben Davidson, says this will allow for more Government involvement in the technology.

"Like all opportunities, there's a level of risk - and I think it requires responsible governance."

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The King recently authorised a letter to senior British officials claiming that the pair, who recently returned to the UK, will not use the titles His or Her Royal Highness.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says it's likely Charles felt the need to clarify that Harry and Meghan aren't representing him or the royals.

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Australia's current official cash rate is currently at 4.35 percent, but the central bank is due to make an announcement later this month.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham outlined when the next increase could come - and whether there's more in the pipeline.

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In an earlier announcement, leader Chris Hipkins said the party would make changes to the scheme - and that they wouldn't campaign on pricing agricultural emissions, a departure from their earlier stance. 

The Country's Jamie Mackay has admitted he supports this development, and unpacked the rest of the party's announcement.

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently declared that OpenAI's new Astra model has brought about the start of 'artificial general intelligence' earlier this week, and pointed out the technology was aided by Nvidia's chips.

Gorilla Technology CEO Paul Spain says it's Nvidia's job to sell the hardware AI runs on - and it needs to keep excitement up in order to sell us on the technology.

"That's how his share price stays high, that's how OpenAI and Anthropic end up sort of having big IPOs. So I think this is part of trying to keep it exciting and hype for people - but I'm not sure we've reached what I would call artificial general intelligence just yet." 

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Labour leader Chris Hipkins tells us why he's been playing "hard to get".

A royal watcher on King Charles' "brutal" letter to Harry and Megs.

And on The Huddle, we ask Gareth Hughes and Jordan Williams if Wellington Zoo should be shut down.

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Nearly 3,000 people have voiced support in an open letter for growing Bathurst Resources' Stockton site in order to keep operations going and ensuring 289 workers keep their jobs. What do we make of this fight? What could we replace steel with, anyway? 

Continuing the climate topic, Chris Hipkins has confirmed Labour will review the Emissions Trading Scheme - and admitted making farmers pay for agricultural emissions probably wouldn't have worked. Do we think this is the right call? 

Wellington Zoo needs an extra $14 million for its lion enclosure, and Wellington City Council is expected to foot the bill. Is this worth the money, given the other expenses the council has? Should the zoo be shut down?     

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Wellington Zoo needs $14 million for its lion enclosure. It's urgent. It's not something that can be deferred. Wellington City Council needs to cough up the money.

What's more, Wellington Zoo may not be a going concern as early as the middle of next year, which means Wellington City Council will have to cough up again. The zoo will probably run a deficit of around a quarter of a million dollars next year, then another deficit the following year and another the year after that. After that, who knows?

The problem is Wellington City Council doesn't have money. It doesn't even have money for essential infrastructure, like wastewater pipes.

Meanwhile, Wellington homeowners are already paying some of the highest rates in the country, to the extent that some pensioners are considering selling their homes because they can no longer afford them. Depending on who you talk to, those rates are also hurting business. Commercial rates are placing significant pressure on some of Wellington's businesses.

So Wellington City Council does not have money for the lions.

And there's something really strange going on with the way Wellington Zoo is run.

Despite having the highest revenue for each visitor in the country, even outperforming Auckland Zoo, the council subsidy for each visitor is four times higher. Auckland Council contributes about $5 a visitor; Wellington City Council contributes about $21.

The cost per species is also considerably higher than at Auckland Zoo, Hamilton Zoo or Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park.

Now, the problem, of course, is that Wellington Zoo can't close. That's not really an option, is it?

Modern cities have zoos and for good reason kids love them. I personally hate them, but the kids love them.

I took my kids to Auckland Zoo on Saturday to see the Tasmanian devil and the ostrich and apparently it was the highlight of their weekend.

But I think Wellington City Council, because it can't simply shut the zoo down, needs to be brutal. It will always have to provide some level of funding because most zoos in New Zealand require subsidies. However, it should demand, in a way it clearly hasn't until now, that the zoo turns its finances around and explores every possible commercial opportunity.

That lion enclosure won't be the last major expense. And it's hard to justify spending money on discretionary attractions such as zoos when you're not spending enough on wastewater infrastructure and untreated sewage is flowing into the sea.

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The mine company is seeking fast-track approval to expand the Stockton site, warning operations could otherwise stop by March - gutting over 200 jobs. 

An open letter in support has attracted 3,000 signatures - about a quarter of the district's adults.

Organiser of the petition, Jessie Creedmore, says without strong local support, there’s a risk the application could be declined.

"As I understand, the fast-track process is very rigorous  - I think that people that think that a fast track is a rubber-stamping exercise, that's not correct."

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The King released a letter clarifying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain private citizens and won't resume royal duties.

They can't use the titles His or Her Royal Highness.

Royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter says there'd been talk the pair wanted to ramp up their charity work. 

"The King has made it very clear that no, they are there furthering their own interests, they do not represent the monarchy or the Sovereign himself."  

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Emergency services arrived to find the children's bodies in a Glenholme property, and the woman died soon after.

A man's appeared in the District Court charged with assault in a family relationship - to reappear next month.

Rotorua Daily Post reporter Annabel Reid says neighbours who saw police arrive have been looking on today. 

"They were discussing it on the street with one another and watching as police carried out their duties - they had tape measures and markers and drones." 

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It wants to split revenue from the $100 levy - currently going to conservation and tourism. 

It would ring-fence $150 million a year for that, letting councils divvy out the remainder based on their number of international guest nights. 

Tourism Spokesperson Louise Upston says New Zealand's cities have differing needs for that funding and it'll be split accordingly.

"This way, it'll get funding from the 1st of July next year, whereas a bed tax would have been at least May '29 before they got any funding - and the best part about this is that Kiwis won't be taxed any time they stay in a hotel." 

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The party's promised it'll hand over a share of revenue from the newly announced International Visitor Levy, divvied up according to a council's visitor nights.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has voiced disapproval with this idea, and says Auckland will be short-changed as a result of this. 

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Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend, Jack Carter Rhoad, were reportedly shot dead after being robbed at a surfing hot-spot in Baja.

Australian correspondent Sam Emery says three suspects are on trial for the murders, and the case is expected to run for four weeks.

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Labour has released a pledge to review and reform the Emissions Trading Scheme - saying the price is too low.

It wants farmers to adopt new tech to reduce emissions, and isn't campaigning on making them pay for agricultural emissions, as it did for nearly two decades.

Hipkins says he's not convinced it would've worked.

"We went through that whole process, it actually would have been very difficult to pull it off. That was all done before I'd become the leader of the Labour party - I'd inherited that one." 

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This marks his third consecutive opportunity warming Isack Hadjar's seat, as the latter continues recovering from a wrist injury.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave speculates further ahead of next week's race.

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This is the first time a far-right party has won control of a state since World War II.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says these are only preliminary results, but this result is sending 'alarm bells' among the nation amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. 

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Experts indicate the Asia-Pacific market is still going strong, with the index going up by 1.1 percent.

Harbour Asset Management Shane Solly explained further - and revealed why Korean chipmakers are helping things grow.

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The report shows every dollar invested into medicine returns $1.93 to the economy. 

BusinessNZ CEO Katherine Rich explained that there's long-term benefits into investing more, including boosting productivity and improving the quality of life for New Zealand families. 

"It takes up to six years to get a new drug through - and these are drugs that are available freely not just in Australia, but around the globe." 

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NZ First's Winston Peters has indicated NZ Super should be restricted to citizens only. Do we see this winning votes - or is this a step too far? Should immigrants who've worked and contributed still be given something? 

The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll shows Labour has dropped to 25.9 percent - the lowest result for them since 2024. Should Labour and Hipkins be worried? Do we see these results improving? 

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Warriors legend and TV star Shaun Johnson on why playing a finals match at Eden Park wouldn't be a smart move.

Bob Hendrix explains what his mushroom coffin is all about.

And on The Huddle, Josie Pagani and Trish Sherson are hot on the political poll. One of them says it's a "charge of the lightweight brigade".

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They've now fallen to 26 percent, which is below the 27 percent they got at the last election.

Now, this is not a surprise to me, and it shouldn't be a surprise to you, because we've been saying consistently on this show all year that Labour was going to come down in the polls once the policy started being released.

Basically, what's happened up to now is that Labour has said very little. They've been a blank canvas of silence, if you like, which has allowed voters to project whatever they wanted onto Labour.

If you like the idea that Labour represents kindness, project it on. They're saying nothing to dispel that notion.

If you believe Labour is competent, project it on.

If you believe Labour will fix the cost-of-living crisis, healthcare, education, the roads, the economy and, heck, why not the whole world? Go for it. Project it on.

But the problem with that small-target strategy is that it becomes increasingly problematic the closer we get to an election. Even though Labour is still not saying very much, everyone else around it is, aren't they?

And it's pretty mental, isn't it?

The Greens with their Soviet-style supermarket plan and wealth tax.

The Opportunity Party with its land tax and plans to raise the youth justice age.

Te Pāti Māori with its proposal to establish a Treaty Commission that could stop Parliament from making laws.

Because Labour is saying so little, it ends up being tainted by all these other policies.

What's more, if there's one thing voters are really hankering for this election, it's vision. It's a plan to get us out of this mess.

You could argue this is actually a problem for both major parties, Labour and National. But Labour isn't producing a vision because it's not saying anything.

Frankly, I've got to be honest with you: I'm starting to wonder whether Labour is even really campaigning at more than about 60 percent at the moment. Its performance is so lacklustre that I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually in it to win it.

Notably, Chris Hipkins hasn't said this time that it's a rogue poll, like he did last time. Instead, he's said there's work to do.

And that's because he knows this isn't a rogue poll, is it?

This is a trend that started in March, when Labour's polling began to fall, and it hasn't stopped.

And this may not be the end of it. Twenty-six percent may not actually be the bottom.

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National holds the lead at 29 percent, while Labour has tumbled to 25.9 percent - and the Greens have jumped to 13.9, ACT is on 10.5 and Opportunity has fallen all the way to 4.5 percent. 

National's Nicola Willis says the party is committed to reminding voters that it aims to fix the basics and build the future - and to highlight the proposals of the opposition parties.

"We've been delivering a lot of policies, whether that's universal KiwiSaver, extending paid parental leave, extending eligibility for first home loans, reducing the student loan repayment rate - we've been delivering a lot." 

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The coffins are made from mycelium and upcycled plant fibres - and they take a week to grow in the lab.

These coffins are the project of Dutch biotechnology company Loop Biotech, and founder and inventor Bob Hendrix says they can also be nutrition for the soil itself.

"We have an opportunity to feed the earth when we die...in ideal conditions, it's actually very fast - it's 45 days."

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The party wants it to be subject to citizenship from 2029.

It says superannuation for migrants who become residents aged 50 or older - now costs more than a billion dollars a year.

Immigration expert and Woburn International CEO, June Ranson, says these are often highly skilled workers who should still get something when they reach retirement.

"Where your problem lies - if those people that come in, and they're being sponsored by family members and they do not work, they've never worked." 

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The Stella Passage development will extend container berths and wharves, after getting fast-track approval, subject to conditions.

Payments will also be made to the local marae as part of 'cultural mitigation'.

Port CFO Simon Kebbell says it'll be two and a half years before it's finished.

"It's probably going to take six months to stand up for construction, so there will be consent conditions that we have to meet first, to get our contract in line - and then it's a two-year building time."

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The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll has the Party slipping below the Parliament threshold - on 4.5 percent.

National leads at 29, Labour's down to 25.9, but the Greens have climbed to 13.9, ACT is at 10.5 percent and NZ First is on 8.4. 

Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong says they'll keep working to earn Kiwis' trust.

"If we can't get anywhere with that largest party, if they're not going to agree to those things, then we will go and speak to the next largest party." 

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It's lagging behind National's 29 percent - on 25.9, making it the lowest poll result for Labour since July 2024.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says National has also dropped two points, so it's not good news for either major party.

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The fines would be aimed at sites like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and the bill is designed to boost the eSafety Commission’s information gathering powers.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says concerns have been raised that the social media giants haven't been doing enough to keep the under-16s off their platforms - and the rest of the world will be watching this for their own bans.

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Three players have been ruled out after suffering injuries in the third match - Ardie Savea has a dislocated shoulder, Quinn Tupaea picked up a knee knock, and Luke Jacobson injured an elbow tendon.

Sportstalk host recapped the team's defeat in Soweto, and speculated about what this latest loss means for the Kiwi side's World Cup odds.

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The Kiwi side will host the Dolphins next Saturday at Go Media Mt Smart, and they're guaranteed another home final irrespective of that result.

Former Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson says the side's been 'grinding hard' all season, and he's hoping the second NRL home final will take place at Mt Smart over Eden Park.

"I've got no doubt that we'd probably go close to selling out Eden Park anyway, but the fan experience and even the player experience - and I've been fortunate to play both venues - and even though Eden Park is a world-class facility, it's not the best spot to play at." 

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His punishment is very much at the low end of the scale. He was facing a ban of up to four years. It was downgraded, firstly, because he was using cocaine recreationally.

He snorted a few lines the night before he was due to play in Mallorca. He wasn't using it immediately before the match to enhance his performance and that's a material distinction. That reduced the potential suspension to three months.

Then, secondly, it was cut to a month because he agreed to enter rehab.

Now, I don't want to be sticking up for Nick Kyrgios because the guy's a clown but I think this is a case of doping laws backfiring. The people at WADA do not have to punish Nick Kyrgios, or any other athlete, for using drugs recreationally. It doesn't actually improve their performance on the court, the track, the field or wherever they compete.

They choose to punish athletes for recreational drug use because, they argue, it tarnishes the clean image of sport.

Now ask yourself this question: how has Nick Kyrgios' love of the nose candy tarnished the clean image of tennis?

Is it because we know he used cocaine the night before? Yes. And how do we know that he used cocaine the night before? Because the doping authorities told us. That's the only reason we know.

If they had conducted the test and, as they say, found only a low level of cocaine, which they admit was consistent with partying the night before rather than taking it immediately before the test, then surely the smarter strategy would have been to declare it below the required threshold and move on.

That way, nobody would know that Nick had used cocaine and Nick would not need to be punished for doing so.

It's silly, isn't it? To punish an athlete for what he does in his free time when it has no impact whatsoever on his performance on the court. If anything, you'd think it would make him play worse because he's feeling a bit rough.

I've always found this kind of moralising disappointing. But when it creates an own goal like this, I think it's even worse.

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The Privacy Commissioner on retailers putting up walls of shame of suspected shoplifters.

Sav's saucy selfie - plus more from the veteran rugby man's travels in South Africa.

And on the Sports Huddle, Adam Cooper and Nick Bewley tell us if they reckon All Blacks' pack really did need a big reshuffle for the third test.

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South Africa evened the score Cape Town last week adding extra pressure to this week's test. 

All Blacks senior assistant coach Neil Barnes told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "it's a hell of an occasion and the boys are in a good place, to be honest."

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The original captain of the Warriors joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the match. 

"We've got to sort of look forward to these playoffs with a lot of hope, you know it's not going to surprise us if they're at the grand final day and they lift the trophy, but as I say it's a different level."

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Michael Webster has warned small retailers, such as dairies, about putting up "walls of shame" featuring people they say have shoplifted from them. You know the ones. You go into the dairy and there's a mood board of dodgy-looking people in trackies, snapped by CCTV, usually stuck up on a wall or window close to the counter.

The Privacy Commissioner has warned that this can cause the named individuals serious embarrassment, emotional distress and reputational harm, especially if the retailer is not 100% sure they actually shoplifted. The consequences can be particularly serious for children and young people and there can also be tikanga Māori considerations because of the tapu associated with the human body and, of course, any tattoos on that body.

Webster has some advice for retailers. Good questions businesses can ask before displaying someone's image are: Do you know who it is? Do you have their permission? Are they identifiable? Is it fair to post it? Will it embarrass or hurt them?

Now, far be it from me to tell the Privacy Commissioner how to do their job but I suspect there are more deserving victims of privacy breaches to go into bat for than the people on a dairy's wall of shame.

My sympathies in this case actually lie with the dairy owners because I think we all know that putting up a wall of shame is an act of desperation. It's done because nothing else is working.

Calling the police doesn't work. You'll remember that, for one hot minute, officers were reportedly told not to attend shoplifting incidents involving less than $500. Threatening the shoplifter doesn't work. How many times have we read about people simply filling up their trolleys and walking out? Holding a shoplifter on the ground is a pretty risky thing to do.

So really, the only thing left for these owners to do is put up photos, often simply to remind themselves what the offenders look like in case they come back again.

These dairy owners cannot afford the kind of facial recognition technology that Bunnings can, right? This is the sort of technology that stores a shoplifter's face in a database and triggers an alert when old mate waltzes back in. These guys have to rely on a printer, a bit of Sellotape, and their own memories.

Privacy is the last thing anyone is likely to be worried about in a scenario where someone has stolen from a dairy owner.

Sticking up for shoplifters is definitely an inside-your-own-head conversation, not one for sharing with the rest of us.

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Privacy commissioner Michael Webster explained to Heather du Plessis-Allan some of the potential concerns. 

"The first... is you could potentially break the law, the second, the wrong person could be identified." 

He says there are better avenues businesses can take. 

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The psychiatrists will be able to provide pharmaceutical-grade MDMA to patients within their clinics, but not to take home. 

One of the psychiatrists permitted to prescribe the medication, Dr Gary Wynn, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the treatment. 

"It seems to quiet down the fear centres in our brain, so that people aren't as overwhelmed when they start talking about, thinking about, and then processing these traumatic experiences they've had," Wynn explained.

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If the jury does not reach a verdict and the judge declares a mistrial, prosecutors will need to decide whether to retry the case.

"The prosecution is kind of in serious trouble at this point, and the best thing they can hope for is a mistrial if they're lucky," US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan.

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The party gave examples, including the nearly $631,000 spent on a 12m-high sculpture at the Piarere roundabout on the Waikato Expressway.

ACT infrastructure spokesperson Simon Court told Heather du Plessis-Allan "we've spent years essentially turning good roads into a philosophy seminar."

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The chances of landing one will be slim at this stage, as there's only 15 vehicles so far licensed.

UK correspondent Enda Brady also revealed that the cars will come with a licensed human driver sitting in the front seat to take the controls if the need arises. 

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The US, Japan, Germany and many other countries have reached the highest levels of Government debt in nearly two decades, inspiring economists to coin the term 'debt doom loop'.

Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained further.

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It was previously thought to have been confined to Northland, but a discovery in the Wairarapa region has prompted concerns.

The Country's Hamish Mackay explained further.

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Luxon is copping some backlash after it came out that he took a second plane overseas after criticising Hipkins for the same thing. Do we think this is acceptable, or is this a bad look? 

National is on the attack, directing ads at Labour and the left accusing them of wanting to increase taxes. Are we getting sick of this? 

Why are EVs getting so popular? 

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A property economist on thousands of Kiwis having a bigger mortgage than their house is actually worth.

Some new numbers reflecting the surge in popularity of EV vehicles.

And on The Huddle, Jack Tame and Liam Hehir on whether they're angry about Christopher Luxon taking a second plane to Palau.

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What I'm talking about is the blatant strategy they have of swamping social media and traditional media with warnings about Labour, the Greens, and the Opportunity Party's taxes in a bid to freak you out so badly it drives you back to National.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm not entirely convinced this is working. It just seems desperate and embarrassing from National.

For example, National has been accused of dishonesty because it's running social media videos featuring a number of National MPs warning about Labour's nine taxes.

Now, Labour doesn't have nine taxes. At best, it has two: the capital gains tax and the bed tax. The others are taxes it's ruled out.

You and I might have legitimate doubts about Labour's ability to rule out those taxes because we all know coalition negotiations can change everything. But that's what National should say. They should make that argument.

Pretending Labour has nine taxes that it doesn't have is embarrassing and, honestly, it's no better than what Tamatha Paul of the Greens has been doing when she's accused National MPs of buying houses for rent, when that is blatantly not true.

National's social media feed at the moment is a line-up of really lame, try-hard memes about tax. I don't know who finds these funny. I don't know who the target audience is because I look at them and think they're cringeworthy.

There's one that looks like a trailer for a Pixar movie about a little boy named Chris who gets told off by a teacher for stealing other kids' money. Then there's one with a Star Wars reference to tax, with Chris Hipkins' face imposed over the top. Again, it lands really poorly and just looks cringe.

I think the problem is that I'm not convinced tax is what people are worried about right now. People are more concerned about what's actually going on in their lives: the rates bill, the power bill, the grocery bill and the possibility that each of those might go up again.

They're more worried about that than paying capital gains tax on a house that hasn't had any capital gains in years.

Now, maybe the strategy will eventually pay off. It's entirely possible that, at some point, voters will engage their brains about how they're going to vote, the tax issue will click and it will be worth a few points to National. Maybe talking about it ad nauseam, as they are at the moment, will help make that happen.

But it's coming at a cost right now.

It looks desperate. It looks a bit dishonest. And it's led to comparisons with Tamatha Paul, who is as loose as you like with the facts. Frankly, when you start getting compared to the Greens and Tamatha Paul, it's probably time to ask whether the strategy has gone a bit too far.

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At least 3600 first home buyers owe more than what their home is worth, but Cotality suspects the number could be higher.

Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson says true number in negative equity is likely to be higher because many bought with a deposit smaller than 20 percent.

"If you live somewhere like Auckland or Wellington, where values are down 25, then you'll sort of be 5 percent in negative equity - which, very quickly...are based on average values. It could be $40,000. something like that. It's not trivial."

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Bonus saver accounts are those where people can get higher interest rates - but only if they comply with rules like making a monthly deposit and not making a single withdrawal. 

Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich says many savers don't understand how these arrangements work, and the 'complexity' of banking has made it tough for people to understand.

"The real story here is, of course, that life happens. And so, you think you're going to be able to put that money away, you think you're not going to have to touch it - and then, surprise, surprise, something happens and you do need to touch it." 

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BMI research forecasts sales of EVs, including plug-in hybrids, will rise 219 percent annually by next year.

It expects adoption will accelerate - as lower-cost Chinese models enter the market.

Drive Electric chair, Kirsten Corson, says they're cost-effective to run, and getting cheaper.

"I plug mine in tonight, it's going to cost me around $3 per 100 kilometres - if you're driving an average petrol car, it's around $25."

EV drivers must also pay Road User Charges.

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The Ministry of Education's cancelled the school's registration for a second time, and applied to lift High Court orders preventing its closure.

Gloriavale Leavers' Trust founder, Liz Gregory, says when it finally shuts will depend on the court's availability for urgent hearings.

"The one that kept the school open happened within a day or two, it was very quick. But I suspect that they want to sit down with the Gloriavale School, they'll want to discuss appropriate timeframes for closing." 

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In a number of social media ads, National MPs say Labour is planning to introduce nine taxes.

However that figure also includes a number of tax policies from other parties, including Opportunity’s 1.75% Land Value Tax or the Green Party’s 33% capital acquisition tax.

National Party campaign chief Simeon Brown is on the defence - and says there's an issue of credibility impacting Chris Hipkins and Labour. 

"They've done it before, they've got a track record of saying one thing and then bringing in more taxes - and that was at a time when they won the election with a Labour-majority Government."

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Two 575s were deployed to take Chris Luxon to Palau.

The fleet's been plagued with break-downs, and is being replaced as part of the Defence Capability Plan. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says there's a fair case for this, given that New Zealand has a responsibility to make sure the delegation runs smoothly.

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Opposition Leader Angus Taylor made this pledge, and explained the resulting price reduction would stop the black market from growing further.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says less people are buying legal tobacco than ever in Australia, but advocates have raised concerns about the impact of this move.

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During Naomi Osaka's first-round match, some influencers attempted to stage a photoshoot - which prompted some backlash.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave outlined his thoughts, and recapped the match.

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Labour's Chris Hipkins has signed a pledge to support this proposed policy, alongside Green co-leader Marama Davidson and Jessica Hammond from the Opportunity Party.

E tū Union director Finn O'Dwyer-Cunliffe says this could impact 20,000 workers across the country if implemented.

"It would not cost anything like some of the costs put into other areas - we already have contracted companies in catering, cleaning and security who employ people in Government departments who are paying the living wage and there's no reason it shouldn't be extended out."

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In a statement he said it had been a 'huge honour and privilege' to represent the constituency for 11 years but he would now turn his focus to 'international affairs'.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Starmer could be looking into a role at NATO, but it's unclear if he's the best fit for that post.

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Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand is advocating for the next Government to allow people to delay the age at which they start receiving Super.

According to NZIER modelling, this approach could reduce the annual cost of Super to the Crown by billions of dollars every year, depending on how the system was designed.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further.

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Markets expected the cash rate would go up, but many had priced in a bigger increase - and there's still an expectation that the OCR could go up further down the track.

Milford Asset Management's Remy Wisenberg explained further.

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The OCR went up again today, but concerns have been raised about what this means for the economy and the Government's election chances. Do we see things improving?

Speaking of Wellington - a new report has exposed how Wellington Council could have improved the Moa Point situation before the recent disaster. Are we sick of big systemic leadership failures? 

Bruno Mars has announced a second Auckland show - are we going to go? 

Are we surprised less young people are drinking? 

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Another council in the gun for systemic leadership failure. Will anyone be held to account for Wellington's Moa Point poo disaster?

Music journo Chris Schulz on how Bruno Mars is set to be part of a bumper period of big stadium concerts.

And on The Huddle, we ask Mark Sainsbury and Brigitte Morten if they're fans of Mars. One of them reveals why the pop star is a turnoff.

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It turns out the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant is only half built. There's another half that was supposed to be built and never was. If it had been built, that spill probably wouldn't have happened because there would have been enough capacity at the treatment plant to cope with the extra rainwater that fell that evening.

Now, we don't know why the second phase was never built. Maybe someone, somewhere along the line in the past 30 years, decided to save some money and shelved it. Or maybe it just got lost on the list of things the council was supposed to do. Maybe, as people left their jobs over the years, someone packed up their desk and forgot to tell the next person, "Oi, can you remember to build the rest of the Moa Point plant?" And so it never got built.

That's a question that perhaps could have been answered by the Chief Infrastructure Officer at Wellington City Council, or maybe the previous Chief Infrastructure Officer, or perhaps their specialist advisers. But none of them made themselves available to be interviewed for this report.

Now, that's suspicious, isn't it? That's the kind of thing you do if you don't want to say something that might be used against you, isn't it?

But here we are once again, with a council dropping the ball on one of its core jobs, in this case treating poo, and then nobody being held accountable. Instead, it's being blamed on systemic issues.

Doesn't that sound exactly like what happened with Tauranga City Council and its failure to act on repeated warnings about the looming landslide that went on to kill people?

Once again, Minister Simon Watts is doing nothing about it. He's simply going to close the book on a sorry chapter and promise that the council is already working on doing better.

Now, I'm getting very tired, and I suspect many of you are too, of councils being really rubbish at their jobs, stuffing up in quite significant ways and then nobody ever getting in trouble for it.

Someone made the decision not to build the second part of the plant, just as someone made the decision not to bother setting up a warning system for a landslide in Tauranga.

I'd like to know who that was, and I'd like them to be made an example of so that other council staffers get a bit of a fright and do their jobs better in the future.

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The methanol producer is selling most of its natural gas entitlements from the first quarter, and it says continued decline in domestic natural gas, and no clear pathway to meaningful new supply means it isn't sustainable to continue operations in New Zealand.

Former CEO of Methanex Bruce Aitken says Labour's decision to ban oil and gas exploration in 2018 was bad for the sector, with many companies paying the price for it now.

"It's a pretty sad day in a lot of ways, but it's a consequence of one silly ideological decision." 

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Police data shows just over three percent of saliva tests came back positive, out of more than 4,000 conducted by officers.

The Spinoff reports in nine of the 13 police districts, meth and MDMA was detected as frequently or more frequently in drivers than cannabis.

Drug Detection Agency head Glenn Dobson says that's higher than expected.

"Meth was increasing from a workplace drug testing perspective - and that creates some huge safety problems, both on the road and in the workplace, but we normally see cannabis at a higher rate." 

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Citing 'overwhelming fan demand' for the singer’s March 13 date, promoter Live Nation said presale tickets for the new show are now on sale for those who registered.

Entertainment commentator Chris Schulz says the next few months are shaping up to be good for major artists, with Robbie Williams, the Foo Fighters, Olivia Dean and Dom Dolla, among others, seeing big demand among Kiwi audiences.

"I don't have the stats yet, but I believe that would be record-breaking. I can't think of another summer like it." 

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An independent Crown review of the February disaster, which let billions of litres of raw sewage flow into coastal waters, found three decades of governance and risk assessment failures. 

Report author Raveen Jaduram says it's likely councillors didn't know they needed to build the next stage. 

"Because of the time delay, people leave and the new people coming in didn't know and didn't make it their business to find out." 

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The Reserve Bank has raised the cash rate 25-basis-points this afternoon to 2.75 percent.

Governor Anna Breman says they are moving it towards a neutral level, to around 3 percent.

But she says nothing is set in stone.

"Today's decision will allow us to assess the impact of these two OCR increases - and then we will see whether we need to do further increases." 

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The Monetary Policy Committee agreed unanimously to the rise, broadly expected by economists and the market.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this could have an immediate impact on retailers, as people will now have less money to spend in stores. 

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Vance defended the recent controversies over President Trump depicting himself as God - and claimed the Antichrist could be 'walking among us'. 

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson speculated over why Vance would circle back to religion ahead of the mid-terms, and what it could mean for his political prospects. 

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Janet Dickson has been in a three year fight for her job - and has now failed to get an exemption. 

She claims the course is irrelevant to her work, politically biased and conflicts with her Christian beliefs. 

Dickson says she'd like to keep fighting if there's enough money. 

"I'd like to pursue this to a point where we actually can get an outcome." 

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The 31-year-old will wear the number one jersey on return from suspension in Saturday's final regular season game against Manly, while Tuaupiki has dropped back to the six-man interchange.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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This year has seen five significant widespread heatwaves and 40 days of temperatures above 30C (86F). 

UK correspondent Enda Brady explained further.

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She will attempt to reclaim the record from North Island shearer Sacha Bond, who broke Whitehead’s mark in 2023 by shearing 720 lambs in nine hours.

The Country's Hamish McKay explained further.

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Workers First Union says Woolworths is proposing to cut about 130 customer care roles in New Zealand - with affected staff called to a meeting.

Woolworths says it's exploring integrating customer care operations with Sydney's established support capability.

Union deputy secretary Rudd Hughes says this move won't help their customer service, as people will benefit from having workers who have insights into New Zealand operations.

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Is there a case to be made for cutting down the Government departments? Newstalk ZB's revealed Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche recommended the Government reduce the 42 agencies. Do we think this is a good idea? 

Former Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s rebuke of the airline was 'not cool'. This follows the airline posting a $242 million after-tax loss in the last financial year. What do we make of this?

Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams have come to the rescue to save domestic netball in New Zealand. Do we like this idea? What could it all mean for the future of the sport?

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Labour MP Phil Twyford on why he says the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment boss should go.

An Australian expert shows us how easy it was to get a pack of illegal cigarettes as soon as he arrived in New Zealand.

And on The Huddle, Phil Goff and Maurice Williamson on whether Rod Fyfe has a point in saying it wasn't cool for Christopher Luxon to put the boot into Air New Zealand.

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To be fair, the netball bosses have probably had little choice. The sport was heading towards ruin in this country without outside help.

Eighteen of our best players have signed contracts to play in overseas competitions next year. That includes almost the entire Silver Ferns squad that went to the Commonwealth Games, with the exception of just two players, one of whom has suffered an ACL injury.

No broadcaster wanted to put netball on television without Netball New Zealand covering the production costs. And in a single season, Netball New Zealand lost $3.7 million simply trying to keep the engine running.

This could not continue much longer. Probably not even for another year. That's why the netball bosses have likely had no real option but to let private money take over.

But the fact their backs were against the wall doesn't detract from how bold this decision is.

Netball is the first of our traditional sports to truly pull the trigger on handing control to private interests.

You could argue rugby went first with Super Rugby, but rugby's administrators never really ceded much control. In fact, they didn't give up any meaningful control at all.

You could also argue cricket got there earlier with the T20 deal announced this year. But we don't know the full details of that arrangement, if the parties themselves even do. And that competition isn't due to start until January 2028, whereas this netball deal has to be finalised within weeks.

The licence will soon be handed over to Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray. It's happening.

This is the beginning of the privatisation of our traditional sports.

Netball has probably been forced to move first because it's in the greatest financial trouble. But that may also prove to be its silver lining. Going first means getting the money first.

And not just the money. It also means gaining the commercial expertise of successful business people such as Anna Mowbray.

Don't underestimate the value of that.

Here's hoping it works.

Frankly, it probably couldn't have gone much worse than where it was headed.

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The Government has already created an action group of Customs, police, and health officials - with improved planning and joint operations to fight the illegal trade.

The industry estimates around one in three cigarettes consumed here are illegal.

Former Australian detective Rohan Pike says he's already managed to buy an illegal pack.

"It took me about one minute after landing on Sunday night to find these at a convenience store straight across the road from my hotel."

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Newstalk ZB has recently revealed Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche last year recommended the Government reduce the 42 agencies to between 15 and 20.

Minister Paul Goldsmith says there's plenty of countries the same size as New Zealand that can get by with less. 

"There's no magic number, and we certainly haven't made any final decisions - but it's something that we've given some thought to."

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Last week, Parliament’s Privileges Committee found Blakeley was among officials who deliberately misled MPs by not revealing the project had been scrapped.

Labour MP Phil Twyford says the report was debated in Parliament today - so it felt appropriate to showcase the party's stance on the matter. 

"This is such an important issue... these very senior public servants came to Parliament specifically to answer questions from MPs about the public money being spent by these ministries. This is Parliament's role - holding the executive or the Government of the day to account." 

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Former gang boss Duane 'Keffe D' Davis has been found guilty of orchestrating the crime back in 1996, and recounted the shooting in a 2019 memoir. 

True crime documentarian Mike Dorsey says Davis didn't pull the trigger, but he supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson used in the crime. 

"Tupac basically punched the wrong guy that night, and that guy came back and got him."

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Industry groups say the move is about safety, but experts warn of an incoming 'scope creep' that comes with this technology.

Australian correspondent Kristina Harazim says consumers privacy advocates are drawing comparisons between Australia and China and North Korea over this technology, as Coles and Woolworths look to incorporate more of it into their stores.

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The national body have confirmed they're set to hand investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams the licence for a new league from 2027 and beyond.

While team ownership, player contracts, scheduling and broadcasting are yet to be finalised, the initial agreement has Wootton eager for next steps.

"We're really excited about what today means - in signalling that privatization is the path we're going down."

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Officials, including CEO Nic Blakely, suggested at a hearing this year a biometrics upgrade project was continuing after it had been scrapped.

A Privileges Committee report's labelled that misleading - and Blakely's offer to resign was declined.

Labour's Phil Twyford says accountability's needed.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Twyford has a point about this - given that the public needs to trust politicians.  

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Lionel Messi's last game came in July aged 39 in this year's global showpiece defeat to Spain in New Jersey.

Messi earned 207 caps and scored 125 goals.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further.

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Pharmac has brought forward funding initially timed for next April, as health services struggle with the worst outbreak in years. 

It makes more than 260,000 children aged six months to five years eligible. 

GP NZ chair Dr Bryan Betty says the flu arrived late this year and is likely to continue into spring. 

"We weren't expecting it to this degree, but it is happening - and I think it is a positive step." 

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Many of these inmates were let out as part of the 2024 early release scheme to ease overcrowding - with one prison governor describing it as a 'revolving door'. 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Prime Minister Andy Burnham has expressed interest in making changes, and no has Reform's Nigel Farage.   

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There's speculation the cash rate could be set for an increase this Wednesday.

Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly outlined his prediction further ahead of the next update.

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New Zealand retail revenue is up 3.1 percent.

CEO Jonathan Waecker says it's a great result that profit has gone up in all three markets, including New Zealand.

"Our offer in New Zealand is resonating really, really strongly, and in Australia, we are seeing some softness with certain consumers - so we're just needing to go to market a little bit differently." 

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Louise Nicholas on why she supports a proposal to replace juries with expert panels for rape trials.

We ask a pilot if the low-flying planes ahead of the All Blacks test in South Africa really is a safety issue.

And Trish Sherson and Josie Pagani on The Huddle. One of them gives ACT leader David Seymour a telling off.

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The Government has deferred the planned fuel tax increase - with a smaller five cent hike planned for 2028 instead. Do we think this is the right move, or will this cost us in the long run? 

ACT's David Seymour says New Zealand needs to renegotiate its role in the Paris Agreement - or step away. This follows Luxon saying National will stay in the agreement and hold firm to this in future coalition negotiations. Do we agree with Luxon or Seymour? Which will be better for the economy - and New Zealand's future? 

Some jets flew quite low over the stadium ahead of the second All Blacks v Springboks test in Cape Town - and it sparked a divided response on social media. Was this too risky or are people just being uptight again?

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In case you missed it, it is essentially this: go easier on people with student loans who still live in New Zealand and crack down harder on those with loans who live overseas. National says it's a bid to keep our brightest graduates here.

Do I think that's actually going to work? No, I don't. I don't think raising interest on loans from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent for people living overseas is going to stop someone from leaving when they can, in some cases, move to Australia and double their income. They're still going to go, aren't they?

And do I think a Kiwi paying back their student loan in New Zealand is going to stay here because they're now only paying 10 percent of their income towards their student loan instead of 12 percent ? Again, no.

Frankly, I don't think this is going to make a jot of difference to the so-called brain drain. But what I think it is actually going to do is crack down on the bludgers who take a ride on our generous education system, study essentially for free, then bugger off overseas, pay taxes in another country and never pay this country back.

It's going to lower the threshold of what authorities need to prove, which should make it easier for them to arrest these people at the border. It's also going to freeze defaulters' KiwiSaver accounts until they actually pay New Zealand back in full.

Right, so until they've paid us back, they don't get access to their KiwiSaver accounts.

It grinds my gears every single time I read stories about people absolutely taking the mickey, refusing to pay this country back for putting them through university and then swanning back from overseas to visit Mum and Dad for the summer hols as if they're not obligated to pay when they are.

Ninety-three percent of our outstanding student loan debt is held by people who are overseas. Ninety-three percent.

Do you remember the doctor? This was the worst case of it. The doctor who moved to Australia and owed us $180,000. Then he came back here, got himself arrested at the border because he owed us $180,000 and then moaned about it, saying he didn't think he could afford to pay it back.

He was a surgeon.

There's a two-way billboard right there.

This policy, I don't think, is going to stop the brain drain. But I'll tell you what: it's going to lead to a few actual arrests and I'm okay with that.

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The excise was due to rise 12-cents a litre next January, but has been delayed to the following year - and will only be five cents.

Nicola Willis says the Government is still on the path to returning to surplus, and they've determined they can fit this in as part of it.

"Ultimately, we've judged that we can fit it and also meet all of our budget responsibility rules in terms of maintaining that path to surplus - ensuring that we're still going to get debt tracking down."

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Three directors have resigned after founder Chris Meehan quit as CEO in July - among them, former Finance Minister Steven Joyce.

Shareholders Association head, Oliver Mander, says losing independent directors meant the business no longer met requirements for being listed on the exchange. 

"It's definitely not a technicality, it's a pretty core principle for a publicly listed company that exists on the exchange - there should be appropriate representation there."

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The jets swept over DHL Stadium before kick-off, and people observed that the jets flew quite low - prompting divided reactions among rugby fans. 

Former airline pilot and safety consultant Doug Moss said the jets appeared to be 50 feet away from the top of the structure - and quite close to the people in the stands.

"Normally, they require about 300 meters away from people... they flew a lot closer than what's normally allowed."

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It wants a better methane deal, and says we should otherwise walk away.

But National leader Chris Luxon says remaining in the pact is a bottom line for his party. 

Leader David Seymour says we're likely to miss the 2030 target, so the issue must come to a head soon.

"You have to negotiate when reality comes calling, and as he himself said this morning - three-quarters of the countries in the Paris Agreement aren't on track to meet their commitments." 

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The Government's today cancelled the 12 cents a litre increase scheduled for next January - and will have to top up the Land Transport Fund, to the tune of $1.4 billion dollars. 

Association Advocacy Head, James Smith, says successive Governments keep delaying funding.

"It just means that the gap in the national Land Transport Fund is going to come out of general taxation for yet another year." 

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The excise was due to increase 12-cents a litre from the first day of 2027, but will instead go up 5-cents a litre from 2028. 

Transport Minister Chris Bishop says this will give Kiwis more time to recover from post-Covid economic pain, and recent uncertainty in the Middle East.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained further - and outlined how much this could cost down the line.

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One Nation's Luke Herdegen emerged victorious on Saturday - the first seat One Nation's won from Labor since the 1998 Queensland state election.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this is a big win for Pauline Hanson's party, and it sends a message to Labor and the Liberal Party.

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The 21-year-old endured a few rogue hits as his family watched from the stands.

The result has the Warriors top of the ladder via points differential with one regular season game left.

Sportstalk host Jason Pine unpacked the odds of the team taking home the title this season.

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Chief Government Victims Advisor, Ruth Money, has recommended using expert panels rather than jurors for such cases.

She says the current system is failing - with jurors having misconceptions and lacking understanding of sexual violence.

Sexual Violence Advocate Louise Nicholas says judge-alone trials would also work, because they are completely impartial.

"A judge knows the law - it doesn't mean it will give us a higher rate of conviction, but it will bring in fairness."

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New Zealand Rugby is already saying it's not going to allow it to happen and has briefed news media to that effect.

The problem for New Zealand Rugby, apparently, is that it's all a little bit hard for the accountants.

I don't know whether you understand how it works but NZR pays a retainer to players for playing for the All Blacks, and then their Super Rugby clubs top that up. Damian McKenzie, for example, might receive a whopping $1 million retainer to play for the All Blacks, with that income then supplemented by his Super Rugby team.

The question, of course, is why NZR would continue paying that really gigantic salary if he's actually in Australia playing for the Waratahs.

So there would have to be some significant changes to the way players are contracted, and apparently that's all just a little bit hard. Too much paperwork.

But it's a lame excuse because, if anything, it should actually take some of the financial pressure off New Zealand Rugby. If Super Rugby could become genuinely profitable, and profitable enough for the clubs to pay the lion's share of player salaries, it would work well for NZR in terms of the money it's spending.

The benefits for the competition could be enormous because it could, if done properly, create a much more dynamic league. Australian teams could recruit a group of elite All Blacks and then start beating New Zealand teams, which would be very different from what we've seen year after year, with New Zealand sides dominating the playoffs in a highly predictable fashion.

But this is the problem across many of our traditional sports, really: rugby, cricket and netball. The national bodies don't want to let go of control.

The Super Rugby clubs are trying to force that conversation. They're the ones who commissioned the Deloitte report I've been telling you about in the past few weeks, which basically lays out the fact that Super Rugby clubs can't turn a profit.

They're also holding a summit next month with NZR to try to drive some change.

But clearly those changes will be, as the briefed media have described them, more of an evolution than a revolution, which means don't expect anything major.

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Residents are upset that deals are off to sell their houses to make way for the Mill Road upgrade.

Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick on Ardie Savea's touching gesture before the first test against South Africa.

And on The Sports Huddle, Nicky Styris and D'Arcy Waldegrave on how impressed they are with Savea's leadership.

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CEO Sophie Moloney told Heather du Plessis-Allan she is 'really thrilled' by the result. 

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Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the team shown in last weeks test.

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And to be fair, it's not just him, okay?

I suspect very strongly, because they've hinted as much, that the National Party and the coalition government will announce exactly the same thing on Monday. After all, raising fuel taxes by 12 cents a litre in January, at a time when petrol prices are already elevated because of the war involving Iran, is, as Chris Bishop once put it, a political death wish.

But you can't have everything, okay? You're going to have to give something up.

Maybe it's the maintenance on your local road that those taxes help pay for. Maybe it's the new road you were hoping for.

In my case, it's the upgrade to Mill Road, which was promised to us by Grant Robertson, then cancelled, then re-promised by Chris Bishop, and now appears to have been cancelled again. That's because letters have gone out to property owners informing them that the deal is off.

NZTA is passing this off as a delay of maybe a couple of years. BS.

This is not a small delay. Remember, they started buying properties for a second Mt Victoria Tunnel in the 1960s. It is now 60 years later and we still don't have that tunnel.

So if they're cancelling these property purchases, it's because the upgrade has effectively been shelved for the foreseeable future.

Now, I'm gutted about that because I've lived south of Auckland in Pukekohe and I know how difficult it is to get up the Southern Motorway during rush hour. I also know how important Mill Road is as an alternative route for those vehicles.

But it has been cancelled because there simply isn't enough money. We haven't increased fuel taxes for nearly seven years now.

So sure, politically it's a smart move for these political parties not to increase the fuel tax, but there will be consequences.

And Mill Road is one of them.

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"If the project is not shovel ready, then the New Zealand Transport Agency should simply be renting those houses out to people on a temporary basis until such time as the project is shovel-ready," Auckland City Councillor Daniel Newman told Heather du Plessis-Allan. 

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CEO Nikhl Ravishankar says multiple global issues are to blame for the loss, but he remains optimistic for the future.

"First and foremost, the reason I feel that way, optimistic about the future is, we're delivering for our customers again. You know, our on-time performance, our punctuality and reliability, again, has been as good as it's ever been, and the planes are back," he told Heather du Plessis-Allan. 

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CEO Jodi O'Donnell told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the paper loss was due to a heavy rate of investment into the streaming platform.

"We've signalled that for the next two years we will strategically invest our savings into ensuring that TVNZ is around for a long time yet," O'Donnell said.

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The BBC reports the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Archie and Lilibet, have flown in privately from California, landing in Birmingham.

UK correspondent Enda Brady speculated about why they've come back - and indicated the pair are hoping to turn things around before King Charles passes.

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Public Services Commissioner Sir Brian Roche tells us why he didn't accept the resignation of MBIE's chief executive for misleading politicians.

Porirua mayor Anita Baker defends a ratepayer-funded trip to a Sydney sister city for football, even though she disagrees with sister cities.

And on The Huddle, Gareth Hughes and Jordan Williams on whether seven-year-old children should be allowed to travel alone on a bus.

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It's earned $100 billion of revenue in three months - more than double a year ago. 

Fisher Funds expert Sam Dickie explained further, as well as what this result means for the AI boom.

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More birds are dying, and the recent strain has made the jump to animals, and it has impacted food production.

The Country's Hamish McKay explained further.

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Without actually admitting that kids get addicted to social media, they have effectively admitted it by promising to make changes to their platforms designed to break that addiction.

Now, this is part of that massive court case I've been updating you on for the past week or so. This is the one where 29 states have taken action against Meta, the parent company, in California. The case has only been going since last week and was set down for many weeks to come but Meta has called it to an end and settled to the tune of nearly US$18 billion, then promised these changes.

The changes are significant. Meta will upgrade its checks to stop 13 year olds from signing up and for kids aged between 13 and 17, their use will be limited. There will be a daily two-hour limit on the apps and, after that, the apps will shut down.

The apps will not open between midnight and 6am, which is basically there to stop kids using them secretly while their parents are asleep. The apps will not send notifications during school hours, so they do not distract kids, and there will be a complete ban on visible like counts and reaction numbers, along with a total ban on filters that mimic cosmetic surgery or alter facial structures.

Now, if that is not an admission that kids cannot help themselves on these things and that they affect mental health, I don't know what is. I don't know what other admission people are looking for.

The problem is Meta has only agreed to do this in the US. What now needs to happen is for these measures to be introduced in New Zealand and for every other social media provider to do the same thing here: TikTok and the whole lot of them.

If, and it is a big if, Meta does this properly, with integrity, and does not just pretend to introduce these safeguards for kids, this could actually be more effective than a social media ban in New Zealand. If Meta does this properly, it will be harder for kids to get around these restrictions than it would be to get around a ban.

There are a lot of ifs there. But if you are still not sure that social media is actually bad for kids, look at this. Meta would not settle for this amount of money and would not bring in safeguards that essentially admit guilt unless it was being forced into it by a court case that was going to do that anyway.

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Should Sir Brian Roche have accepted Nic Blakeley's offer to resign? Do we think keeping him on as the head of MBIE was the right move? 

What do we make of Meta needing to pay a settlement over teen social media addiction? Do we think this is the right move? Do we need more regulations on this matter? 

Would we let our kids go alone on a city bus from the age of 7?

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Anita Baker will travel to Blacktown for the inaugural Trans-Tasman Mayoral Cup, played between football teams from both cities. 

It'll cost ratepayers $2500 dollars in flights for Baker and a local kaumatua, with Blacktown's council providing accommodation.

Baker says she keeps costs low by not employing office staff - and managing rates rises. 

"We've had our sister city relationship with Blacktown for 42 years, so I think it's a reasonable expense." 

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It cuts short a trial in a federal court in California brought by 29 US states over teen social media addiction.

Instagram and Facebook will need to introduce daily limits and night-time blocks for teen users.

Sydney University Associate Professor Dr Rob Nicholls says if Meta breaks the agreement, it'll be in contempt of court.

"They weren't on a really great track - that might be because both sides knew that there was a negotiation in the wings, and ready to be settled." 

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Parliament's Privileges Committee has agreed Ministry officials deliberately misled MPs over a cancelled border biometrics project, which had swallowed up at least $40 million taxpayer dollars. 

Sir Brian Roche says he declined Nic Blakeley's offer - and explained that he took ownership of the mistake and undertook the steps to remedy it. 

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A massive flash flood and landslide has killed more than 160 people near Tibet's border.

More than 1,000 are missing, and MFAT says it's aware of five Kiwis among them - and is supporting their families.

World Vision Nepal director, Roslyn Hanson Gabriel, says they're bracing for a much higher death toll. 

"One of my colleagues, who's part of the major response in data gathering, is thinking it's definitely going to increase - we're going to see it go upwards to high hundreds, hopefully not hitting the thousands." 

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The tax attacks have ramped up again this week, with Hipkins accusing National of lying over Labour’s tax agenda and National countering by accusing the Labour leader of not being upfront about what his party is planning.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacks what we know so far.

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