Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Full Show Podcast: 03 June 2026

Transcript

Full Show Podcast: 03 June 2026 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

0:00
Speaker 1: This is the issues, the interviews and the insight. Francesca
0:04
Speaker 1: Ruggin on Early Edition with Spark for business Technology that
0:08
Speaker 1: keeps business moving news talks.
0:10
Speaker 2: They'd be good morning, welcome to Early Edition. I'm Francesca
0:13
Speaker 2: Budkin filling in for Ryan Bridge this morning. Good to
0:15
Speaker 2: have you with us. You're most welcome to contact me
0:18
Speaker 2: anytime this morning. You canflict me a text on ninety
0:20
Speaker 2: two ninety two or email me at Francesca at Newstalks
0:23
Speaker 2: THEB dot co dot MZ on the show today, will
0:26
Speaker 2: the potential TSB Heartland merger be beneficial for rural banking customers?
0:31
Speaker 2: We've got some good news in New Zealand's luxury tourism
0:34
Speaker 2: industry is booming. High end travel spend is set to
0:37
Speaker 2: double by twenty thirty three, and Far North District councilor
0:40
Speaker 2: Divinus smolders on unelected members having full voting rights the agenda.
0:47
Speaker 2: It's Wednesday, third of June. Russia has launched a huge
0:50
Speaker 2: wave of strikes on Ukraine. Eighteen people have reportedly been killed,
0:53
Speaker 2: with more than one hundred wounded. Moscow correspondent to Ibel
0:56
Speaker 2: Bennett says it looks like Putin is trying to reclaim
0:59
Speaker 2: the narrative.
1:00
Speaker 3: Ukraine's long range drone strikes deep inside Russia have put
1:05
Speaker 3: the Kremlin on the back foot and exposed its lack
1:08
Speaker 3: of outright military success. Not only has Russia failed to
1:12
Speaker 3: defeat its enemy abroad, it's now struggling to protect its
1:16
Speaker 3: citizens at home, and that's not a good look for
1:18
Speaker 3: Vladimir Putin. So this feels like an attempt to reassert
1:22
Speaker 3: his authority and tell Russians at home, look, everything's under control.
1:27
Speaker 2: To peace talks between the US and around Testifying before
1:30
Speaker 2: Congress this morning, US Secretary of State Machio Rubio has
1:33
Speaker 2: updated where the negotiations are at.
1:36
Speaker 4: There is the prospect before us which could happen today,
1:38
Speaker 4: It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week. That
1:40
Speaker 4: for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have
1:45
Speaker 4: agreed to negotiate aspects of the nuclear program that just
1:49
Speaker 4: a month ago or just a year ago, they were
1:51
Speaker 4: refusing to even mention, much less in discussions about That
1:55
Speaker 4: is not a guarantee that ultimately we'll lead to a
1:57
Speaker 4: deal that's acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to Themerican people,
2:01
Speaker 4: but we will be able to engage them in a
2:02
Speaker 4: process that truly test the proposition of how far they're
2:05
Speaker 4: willing to go.
2:06
Speaker 2: Still with the US, Donald Trump has named controversial top
2:09
Speaker 2: housing official Bill Poulty as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
2:14
Speaker 2: Trump has appointed his close ally Poulty, just days after
2:16
Speaker 2: Toulsy Gabbard announced her exit from the role. Paulty has
2:19
Speaker 2: no experience in national security, and UK Prime Minister Keir
2:23
Speaker 2: Starmer has reactive to the killing of eighteen year old
2:25
Speaker 2: student Henry Noak. Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment
2:29
Speaker 2: police dismissed Noak's cries for help after he suffered stab
2:33
Speaker 2: wounds last December. Starmer said he's seen the video and
2:37
Speaker 2: it's harrowing.
2:38
Speaker 5: I have to say, as a father of a seventeen
2:41
Speaker 5: year old boy, I felt sick watching him. It is
2:46
Speaker 5: absolutely right that the IOPC are looking at this. There
2:50
Speaker 5: are clearly serious questions that need to be addressed, not
2:54
Speaker 5: least how accusations of racism informed the decision making in
2:59
Speaker 5: this case.
3:01
Speaker 2: More on this with Gavin Gray later in the hour
3:04
Speaker 2: News and.
3:05
Speaker 1: Views You Trust to start your day. It's earlier this
3:08
Speaker 1: year with Francesca Rudkin and Spark for Business Technology that
3:13
Speaker 1: keeps business moving confused talks at B.
3:16
Speaker 2: It's nine past five, right, It's been on the card
3:18
Speaker 2: since twenty twenty four. But it came as a bit
3:20
Speaker 2: of a surprise yesterday this news about Heartland Bank and
3:23
Speaker 2: tesB and this planned merger. There is a lot of
3:26
Speaker 2: consultation and approval required yet, but Heartland says they aim
3:29
Speaker 2: to complete the deal in December this year. So what
3:32
Speaker 2: will the impact be? If it goes ahead? It would
3:34
Speaker 2: become New Zealand's seventh largest bank with approximately fifteen billion
3:38
Speaker 2: in assets, and position itself as a challenger to the
3:40
Speaker 2: major Australian owned banks that dominate the market. But will
3:44
Speaker 2: it be big enough to transform the field? Combining Heartland's
3:48
Speaker 2: specialist lending expertise with tesb's retail banking capabilities will create
3:53
Speaker 2: a stronger New Zealand owned competitor. Heartland says greater scale
3:58
Speaker 2: will improve efficiency, resilience, product offerings and customer choice, particularly
4:02
Speaker 2: in regional New Zealand. The merged bank is also expected
4:05
Speaker 2: to achieve significant cost savings and may receive a stronger
4:08
Speaker 2: credit rating over time. Overall, the proposed merger aligns with
4:12
Speaker 2: the New Zealand government's efforts to create a stronger challenger
4:16
Speaker 2: to the dominant banks. But creating a larger bank doesn't
4:19
Speaker 2: necessarily guarantee lower fees or betterest interst rates for customers.
4:23
Speaker 2: It could, yes, provide a stronger New Zealand ow alternative
4:26
Speaker 2: and improve banking choice, particularly in regional and rural areas,
4:29
Speaker 2: but it's probably not big enough to disrupt the sector.
4:32
Speaker 2: Its ultimate success will depend on whether the merged bank
4:35
Speaker 2: can use its increased scale to offer genuinely competitive products
4:38
Speaker 2: and services to customers. But there's one other thing they
4:41
Speaker 2: will have to overcome, the fact New zealand Is are
4:44
Speaker 2: notoriously lazy when it comes to changing banks. Anyway, Marke Hooper,
4:49
Speaker 2: the Federated Farmers Banking spokesperson, is going to be with
4:52
Speaker 2: us next on whether this will be a good move
4:54
Speaker 2: for farmers. It is eleven past five year with early.
4:57
Speaker 1: Edition the first word on the News of the Day
5:01
Speaker 1: Earl edition with friend Jeska Rudkin and Spark for business
5:05
Speaker 1: Technology that keeps Business moving Newstalk ZB.
5:10
Speaker 2: You know with the new STOOKSB it is a thirteen
5:13
Speaker 2: past five. We're just getting Mark Hooper on the phone.
5:16
Speaker 2: But in the meantime I just thought I'd mentioned I've
5:18
Speaker 2: noticed that Trump has signed executive Auto Griunting Oversight on
5:22
Speaker 2: AA models, which is a bit of a shift from
5:24
Speaker 2: the hands off approach the White House is privacy taken
5:26
Speaker 2: towards AI, but now they are suggesting that maybe it
5:30
Speaker 2: would be worth their while just checking AI the security reasons,
5:33
Speaker 2: of course, before a new software is launched. Right Heartland
5:39
Speaker 2: Bank has announced it wants to merge with tesB. Heartland
5:42
Speaker 2: will take its knowledge of the royal and farming sector
5:44
Speaker 2: and combine it with tsb's everyday banking services. Combined, they
5:48
Speaker 2: think they can take on the Big four. Mark Hooper
5:51
Speaker 2: is the banking spokesperson for Federated Farmers and he joins
5:54
Speaker 2: me this morning. Good morning, Mark, good morning. So what
5:57
Speaker 2: do you think a merger like this for rural people
6:00
Speaker 2: would mean?
6:03
Speaker 6: Well, it's quite an intriguing prospect.
6:06
Speaker 7: Actually.
6:08
Speaker 6: You know, if you stand back and you look at
6:10
Speaker 6: the at the big picture, you'd say that it's possibly
6:13
Speaker 6: a little bit ambitious, given that our major banks hold
6:16
Speaker 6: about ninety seven percent of the rule.
6:22
Speaker 2: We've lost him again. We seem to be having a
6:24
Speaker 2: little bit of a problem keeping Mark on the line,
6:25
Speaker 2: but we will try and track him down, because we
6:27
Speaker 2: are keen to hear whether this is going to be
6:29
Speaker 2: an attractive proposition for farmers. Love to hear from you. Actually,
6:33
Speaker 2: if you're a farmer, or you live rurally or regionally,
6:36
Speaker 2: whether this news sounds interesting, would you change banks? As
6:42
Speaker 2: Mark was kind of commenting on there, ninety seven percent
6:45
Speaker 2: of farmers banking is with the big banks. Mark, You're back,
6:50
Speaker 2: I'm back, welcome. You were just explaining how big a
6:54
Speaker 2: role Heart Bank has already in rural farming.
6:59
Speaker 6: Yeah. Yes, So there's a number of things here which
7:03
Speaker 6: are quite significant. I think, you know, if you look
7:05
Speaker 6: at those those big numbers in terms of the real
7:07
Speaker 6: debt markets, then it seems very small and a difficult
7:11
Speaker 6: challenge to break into that market. But remembering that rural
7:15
Speaker 6: communities have suffered quite a bit from you know, poor
7:19
Speaker 6: service I guess, the loss of facilities and services, and
7:24
Speaker 6: so here's an opportunity I guess to take the strength
7:26
Speaker 6: of these two banks and make sure that real communities
7:29
Speaker 6: are well supported. So that's an important aspect. It's also
7:32
Speaker 6: important to realize that there's a lot of opportunity at
7:37
Speaker 6: kind of an entry level, say with our share farmers
7:42
Speaker 6: stock purchases, plant and machinery, things like that that are
7:46
Speaker 6: really important that are smaller lump sums, but are just
7:51
Speaker 6: as vital to the you know, the the productivity I
7:55
Speaker 6: guess of a lot of businesses, and particularly at that
7:59
Speaker 6: entry levels. So there's huge opportunity there I think for
8:02
Speaker 6: a good, strong New Zealand based bank to get into
8:06
Speaker 6: the market in that way. So Mark and really make
8:09
Speaker 6: a good contribution.
8:10
Speaker 2: So make what specific expertise does Hartman have that would
8:13
Speaker 2: be a benefit at scale?
8:17
Speaker 6: Well, I think it's that it's that local community focus.
8:22
Speaker 6: And it's also the other intriguing thing about it is.
8:28
Speaker 2: No we've going to get I don't know what, I
8:29
Speaker 2: don't know. I'm not sure where markets, but gosh, we're
8:32
Speaker 2: really having problems keeping him on the line today. We'll
8:35
Speaker 2: try again for the time. As I would say before,
8:40
Speaker 2: really key to hear from you. If you are a
8:41
Speaker 2: farmer you live, really is this you know, are you
8:45
Speaker 2: likely to back a bank like this that that has
8:51
Speaker 2: come together? I think we're very We're not good in
8:54
Speaker 2: New Zealand, are we at changing banks? We get a
8:56
Speaker 2: little bit lazy, Mark, welcome back again.
9:00
Speaker 8: Yeah.
9:01
Speaker 6: So my other role with Federated Farmers is on real
9:05
Speaker 6: connectivity and it's just bizarre that we're having trouble with
9:09
Speaker 6: real connectivity.
9:10
Speaker 2: We well, look, you've just put something on the to
9:12
Speaker 2: do list today.
9:13
Speaker 6: Yeah.
9:14
Speaker 2: Look what I'm what I'm key to know is is
9:16
Speaker 2: this a bank Farmers are likely to back?
9:19
Speaker 6: Well, I think, As'll say, I think it's going to
9:21
Speaker 6: have a lot of appeal. What we've got to remember
9:23
Speaker 6: is that even three percent of the market is still
9:26
Speaker 6: significant and so so that's important that those customers looked after.
9:32
Speaker 6: I think there is going to be an element of
9:35
Speaker 6: appeal in terms of that New Zealand own entity that's
9:40
Speaker 6: sharp sort of regional focus and community service, and so
9:44
Speaker 6: I think it's got a huge potential and it offices
9:48
Speaker 6: offers a real alternative.
9:50
Speaker 2: Mark, thank you very much for your time this morning.
9:52
Speaker 2: I appreciate that that was Mark Hooper, the banking spokesperson's
9:55
Speaker 2: re Federated Farmers love to hear your thoughts on the
9:57
Speaker 2: merger of the text is ninety two ninety two. It
9:59
Speaker 2: is eighteen past five.
10:02
Speaker 1: Get ahead of the headlines on early edition with friend JESTERA.
10:06
Speaker 1: Rudkin and Spark for Business Technology that Keeps Business Moving.
10:10
Speaker 1: News talks be.
10:13
Speaker 2: Good to have you with us. Thank you very much
10:14
Speaker 2: for your tech. Quite a few people are texting through
10:16
Speaker 2: saying why isn't kiwibank and amongst this merge? Interesting question? Right,
10:22
Speaker 2: New Zealand's increasingly becoming a luxury tourism hot spot. New
10:26
Speaker 2: Data estimates it generated more than eight million dollars in
10:29
Speaker 2: revenue last year. By twenty thirty three, that could be
10:32
Speaker 2: more than doubled eighteen billion dollars. And that's not a
10:35
Speaker 2: bad chunk of change. James Dolan is the strategic director
10:38
Speaker 2: of Hotel Council Alter and he joins me now, good morning.
10:41
Speaker 7: James, Morning Pracchester.
10:43
Speaker 6: How are you good?
10:44
Speaker 1: Hey?
10:44
Speaker 2: Why is New Zealand becoming increasingly popular as a luxury
10:48
Speaker 2: tourism hot spot?
10:50
Speaker 7: Well, look, I think a number of reasons, but first
10:52
Speaker 7: and foremost it's it's a great news story and we
10:55
Speaker 7: have a wonderful international standard tourism product, amazing landscapes, wonderful people,
11:00
Speaker 7: are warm, wealth But we're also benefiting from a lot
11:05
Speaker 7: of global tail winds and tourism and travel generally as
11:10
Speaker 7: people get wealthier in parts of Asia and Africa and
11:14
Speaker 7: India are definitely getting wealthier. As people get wealthier, and
11:17
Speaker 7: once they get a certain basic level of security, they
11:21
Speaker 7: want to travel and experience the rest of the world.
11:23
Speaker 7: That's anightly human it's a wonderful thing. In New Zealand
11:27
Speaker 7: needs a very small share of the international outbound tourism market,
11:32
Speaker 7: so it's a great opportunity for us to grow our economy.
11:37
Speaker 2: James, what type of traveler are we talking about here?
11:39
Speaker 2: Are we talking about the very wealthy or is it
11:43
Speaker 2: the average traveler just wanting a high end experience and
11:46
Speaker 2: you know we've got you favorable exchange rates at the
11:50
Speaker 2: moment for some overseas tourists.
11:52
Speaker 7: Yeah. Look, that's a great question because a lot of
11:55
Speaker 7: people get wrong. I mean, I don't know what the
11:58
Speaker 7: exact term is, but I like that kind of average wealthy,
12:02
Speaker 7: entry level wealthy. I mean New Zealand geographically, we're a
12:06
Speaker 7: long way away from the rest of the world. Just
12:09
Speaker 7: to pay for the air fares to get here, any
12:12
Speaker 7: traveler who comes to New Zealand, and that includes the
12:15
Speaker 7: backpackers obviously by international standards, fairly wealthy. But we're talking
12:22
Speaker 7: about folks who are pushing the boat out even more.
12:25
Speaker 7: And if you pay a lot to come here on
12:28
Speaker 7: the plane, especially by business travel, you are more likely
12:33
Speaker 7: to push the boat out at dinner time. You're more
12:36
Speaker 7: likely to maybe stretch for a helicopter ride or a
12:39
Speaker 7: high end restaurant. And that might be people, as you say,
12:44
Speaker 7: who really saved very hard because New Zealand is for
12:48
Speaker 7: many of them are once and done or trip of
12:50
Speaker 7: lifetime destination. And that's a great audience for us to
12:54
Speaker 7: be getting here.
12:55
Speaker 2: So we've got the helicopters, we know we have excellent restaurants,
12:59
Speaker 2: and we know we've got fantastic scenery. It's world class.
13:02
Speaker 2: Our other facilities good enough for those seeking a luxury experience.
13:07
Speaker 7: Again, a really good question, because when you start attracting
13:11
Speaker 7: high end travelers, you are attracting discerning travelers. And the
13:17
Speaker 7: New Zealand's a wonderful scenery kind of gets up the
13:20
Speaker 7: interest level. But the quality of our attractions, our built form,
13:25
Speaker 7: and our service that's what closes the deals and deal
13:29
Speaker 7: and sticks with people. And I was just going to say,
13:33
Speaker 7: it's not an easy thing for us to deliver luxury
13:38
Speaker 7: service or luxury hotels in New Zealand. It's not easy
13:42
Speaker 7: because we have relatively high labor costs. We've all got
13:46
Speaker 7: many people have experienced lots of service while traveling overseas.
13:50
Speaker 7: We've got fairly high labor costs, and we've got fairly
13:53
Speaker 7: high construction costs. And our hotels are grace and do well,
13:57
Speaker 7: but it's expensive to build them and it's expensive to
14:00
Speaker 7: run them.
14:01
Speaker 2: James, really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much.
14:04
Speaker 2: It was James Doolan's strategic director of Hotel Council Altera.
14:07
Speaker 2: It's twenty four past five the.
14:10
Speaker 1: Early edition Full Show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by Newstalks
14:15
Speaker 1: at Me you.
14:16
Speaker 2: Were with early addition, it's twenty six past five. I
14:19
Speaker 2: normally do not respond positively to the way President Trump
14:22
Speaker 2: speaks about and two people, but a little part of
14:25
Speaker 2: me understood the way the President allegedly spoke to Israeli
14:28
Speaker 2: Prime Minister Neckya who in a phone call yesterday. On
14:32
Speaker 2: his social media page, it was all very polite, which
14:34
Speaker 2: is kind of unusual, with Trump saying he had had
14:36
Speaker 2: a very productive call with Prime Minister biby Ntnyaho of Israel.
14:39
Speaker 2: And there will be no troops going back to Beirut,
14:42
Speaker 2: and any troops that are on their way have already
14:43
Speaker 2: turned back. However, a US news outlet in the UK's
14:47
Speaker 2: The Telegraph both reported sources who claimed Trump ripsreads off Biby,
14:51
Speaker 2: you're bleep crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't
14:55
Speaker 2: for me, the US President allegedly said, referring to Netyaho's
14:58
Speaker 2: corruption trial, I'm saving your Everybody hates you, Everybody hates
15:02
Speaker 2: Israel because of this. It's like something in here on
15:05
Speaker 2: a reality show, like Love Island. An unadulterated release of frustration.
15:10
Speaker 2: It's been just over three months since Operation Fury was launched,
15:14
Speaker 2: just under two months of cease fire and negotiations. Everyone
15:17
Speaker 2: is over the price of fuel. Trump's approval ratings are tanking,
15:21
Speaker 2: so when oil price has surged this week again after
15:23
Speaker 2: Iran and Iran announced it would seek a complete closure
15:27
Speaker 2: of the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to Israel's military
15:30
Speaker 2: actions in Lebanon, Trump clearly decided to just say it
15:34
Speaker 2: like it is. Benjamin Letnia who played a significant role
15:37
Speaker 2: in drawing Donald Trump into the war with Iran by
15:39
Speaker 2: convincing him that military action could quickly weaken Tehran, halt
15:42
Speaker 2: its nuclear ambitions, and potentially destabilize the Iranian regime. But
15:46
Speaker 2: for all that Trump is responsible for the situation that
15:50
Speaker 2: the US find themselves in. He is responsible for US policy,
15:54
Speaker 2: regardless of any outside influence. But as Trump tries to
15:58
Speaker 2: face tries to fire mind a face saving exit from
16:01
Speaker 2: this conflict. Netnia, who is keen to keep the pressure
16:04
Speaker 2: on making it harder for Trump to end this war. Neignia,
16:08
Speaker 2: who is concerned an early settlement could leave Iran's government
16:11
Speaker 2: intact and capable of rebuilding its military and nuclear infrastructure.
16:15
Speaker 2: From this perspective, a ceasefire without major strategic gains would
16:19
Speaker 2: risk leaving Israel in a worse security position than before
16:22
Speaker 2: the conflict began. Continued American involvement also provides Israel with military, diplomatic,
16:28
Speaker 2: and political support that it could not easily replace on
16:32
Speaker 2: its own. But if this expective leyden Call suggests anything,
16:37
Speaker 2: it's that Trump's patience is wearing thin and that he
16:40
Speaker 2: has become increasingly frustrated with actions by the Israeli Prime
16:44
Speaker 2: Minister that are undermining US efforts to de escalate the
16:47
Speaker 2: wider conflict and pursue negotiations with Iran. Benjamin Neignatia took notice,
16:54
Speaker 2: with Israel calling off planned strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah.
16:58
Speaker 2: But he's given a man who has but given. He
17:01
Speaker 2: is a man whose career is built around opposing to run.
17:04
Speaker 2: Who knows how long this will last?
17:07
Speaker 1: Said, be can to.
17:09
Speaker 2: Hear your thoughts. You're most welcome to text ninety two
17:11
Speaker 2: to ninety two. Right here in New Zealand, the conversation
17:15
Speaker 2: as to whether a university degree is worth the time
17:17
Speaker 2: and money is growing. The same conversation has taking place
17:20
Speaker 2: in the UK, with more than one and three saying
17:23
Speaker 2: a university education just isn't worth the amount of time
17:25
Speaker 2: and money. It is the highest level of concern about
17:28
Speaker 2: the value of a degree. For twenty years, standard tuition
17:32
Speaker 2: fees have risen over ten thousand pounds a year. Gavin
17:36
Speaker 2: Gray on this shortly you're with Early edition.
17:47
Speaker 1: On your radio and online on iHeartRadio, Belly Edition with
17:51
Speaker 1: Francesca Rudger and Spark for business Technology that keeps business
17:56
Speaker 1: moving News Talk said by come as a road as.
18:09
Speaker 2: This is only additional newbolds V I'm predis of Rudkin
18:12
Speaker 2: filling in for Ryan today. Thanks for being with us.
18:14
Speaker 2: Did you know that there was a new toy story
18:16
Speaker 2: film coming? Yes, number five June eighteenth, Quite exciting doesn't
18:21
Speaker 2: it to have Woody in the gang back? While Taylor
18:23
Speaker 2: Swift has just announced that she has written an original
18:25
Speaker 2: song for the film. It is out this Saturday. It's
18:29
Speaker 2: called I Knew It, I Knew You. And apparently she's
18:31
Speaker 2: returned to her country roots with this new number. So
18:34
Speaker 2: that's look, that makes the weekend just that much more
18:36
Speaker 2: exciting for swiftiest, doesn't it right? And the next half
18:38
Speaker 2: hour we head to the UK, where senior politicians are
18:41
Speaker 2: getting involved in a case that saw police handcuffing a
18:45
Speaker 2: stabbing victim while he was dying after his attacker made
18:48
Speaker 2: a false claim that he was actually the victim of
18:50
Speaker 2: a racial attack. So Gavin Gray will explain more shortly.
18:53
Speaker 2: Also this our Far North District councilor Devina Smolders is
18:56
Speaker 2: going to join us to talk about a members bill
18:58
Speaker 2: that will stop unelected individual from voting on council committees.
19:02
Speaker 2: And this is a move that actors characterized as closing
19:04
Speaker 2: an anti democratic loophole. Some more on that this hour
19:07
Speaker 2: as well. Thank you very much for your feedback and
19:09
Speaker 2: the multi text to say Francisca could TSB and Heartland
19:12
Speaker 2: Bank also merged with Kiwibank and to take on the
19:14
Speaker 2: other the other banks. And look, you're not the only
19:17
Speaker 2: one asking that question. I think a lot of people
19:19
Speaker 2: wondered if we'd missed a trick on that. Yesterday. Another
19:22
Speaker 2: text reads, I don't think that the TSP should merge
19:26
Speaker 2: TSP talk about sorry, Heartland talks about leveraging tsp's better
19:32
Speaker 2: credit rating and their customer deposit basede TSP has a
19:42
Speaker 2: a minus rating and Heartland is a triple B plus
19:46
Speaker 2: from memory, my fair is at one hundred and fifty
19:48
Speaker 2: years of TSB will disappear in the next five to
19:50
Speaker 2: ten years if they go ahead with the merger. The
19:52
Speaker 2: text suggests that actually the better option would have been
19:54
Speaker 2: to have merge tesB with SBS, because you're merging the
19:59
Speaker 2: strengths of the teasp in the North Island would complement
20:02
Speaker 2: SBS strengths in the South Island. So thank you very
20:04
Speaker 2: much for your text. Keep the feedback coming. You can
20:07
Speaker 2: text on ninety two ninety two. It is twenty eight plus.
20:10
Speaker 1: Five news Talk zed b Okay.
20:13
Speaker 2: Let's head around the country and joining us now from Dunedin.
20:16
Speaker 2: Jamie Cunningham, Good morning, Jamie morning. What's happening along the
20:19
Speaker 2: Otigo coast.
20:21
Speaker 8: Well, so New Zealand's first new marine reserves in over
20:24
Speaker 8: a decade have been rubber stamped along the Otago coastline.
20:28
Speaker 8: The five reserves cover more than three hundred square kilometers
20:31
Speaker 8: and will come into force on July first, protecting coastal
20:35
Speaker 8: waters and safeguarding species like albatross, sea lions and penguins.
20:39
Speaker 8: The Department of Conservation and Kaita, who will co manage
20:43
Speaker 8: the reserves. Docs Gabe Davy, says hopefully this is just
20:47
Speaker 8: the start of protecting our oceans the same way we
20:49
Speaker 8: project land. He sees generations to come. We'll be able
20:53
Speaker 8: to experience what a thriving mowana can look like. And
20:56
Speaker 8: Kai Tahu spokesperson Edward Allison says they've been working on
21:00
Speaker 8: idea for thirty odd years and traditionally we have been amienated,
21:04
Speaker 8: so it's significant to be part of it.
21:07
Speaker 2: And Eden's weather today Jamie fine with.
21:09
Speaker 8: Some high cloud from this afternoon. Westerly is turning northeasterly
21:13
Speaker 8: in a high thirteen.
21:14
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, have a good day. Claire Sherbert
21:16
Speaker 2: is in christ Church and the Canterbury Council. Claire is
21:20
Speaker 2: getting ahead of dealing with the chaos that can come
21:23
Speaker 2: with the white baiting season.
21:25
Speaker 9: Yes, there was chaos indeed, in fact, it's gotten worse
21:27
Speaker 9: and worse every year Francesca specifically on wymarc Edi District's
21:30
Speaker 9: Kaiducky Beach. The council says this year they will enforce
21:34
Speaker 9: a by law they do have in place in order
21:36
Speaker 9: to remove the people who set up makeshift camping sites.
21:40
Speaker 9: Last year there were some concerns raised to police. There
21:43
Speaker 9: were fires at these sites. We had lots of news
21:45
Speaker 9: stories about it at the time, with the white baits
21:47
Speaker 9: effectively setting up there for the season and planning to
21:50
Speaker 9: stay now. Yesterday, at the council meeting, Senior Ranger Biodiversity
21:54
Speaker 9: Manager Mike Quant says issues have been escalating year on year,
21:58
Speaker 9: so they are acting this year before for the season
22:00
Speaker 9: kicks off in September. He says although the majority of
22:03
Speaker 9: white betas are reasonable, there are some who cause problems
22:06
Speaker 9: and that can't keep growing.
22:08
Speaker 2: The Mey and Dan Gordon says it is important.
22:10
Speaker 9: To send a clear message that poor behavior won't be tolerated,
22:12
Speaker 9: ensuring council staff are safe and will be backed by police.
22:16
Speaker 9: He does say if white betteries really want to camp
22:18
Speaker 9: out and stay close by. There is a camping site
22:20
Speaker 9: just next door where they wouldn't cause any issues. And
22:23
Speaker 9: the weather today mostly cloudly, there may be some occasional
22:26
Speaker 9: drizzle clearing to find a bit later in the high
22:29
Speaker 9: will be fourteen.
22:30
Speaker 2: Thanks so much. Claire Adam Cooper is in Wellington and
22:33
Speaker 2: Adam discussions around amalgamation and Wellington take a step forward today.
22:37
Speaker 10: Yeah, we're about ten weeks away from the deadlines set
22:40
Speaker 10: by Central government for regions to deliver a high level
22:42
Speaker 10: plan for reorganization. Now Wellington met Andrew Little this morning
22:46
Speaker 10: is going to present a speech with his views on
22:48
Speaker 10: the future of local government for Wellington City. He says
22:51
Speaker 10: he'll give us thoughts on the issue with the aim
22:53
Speaker 10: of furthering the conversation in the capitol now. Little has
22:57
Speaker 10: spoken a bit about it in the past. The general
22:58
Speaker 10: sense he favors the idea year of amalgamation and knows
23:01
Speaker 10: that a super city for Wellington is likely to happen
23:04
Speaker 10: in the future. The current mayors of Pottider and Lower
23:06
Speaker 10: Huts have cautiously supported the idea of amalgamation too. Upper
23:10
Speaker 10: Hut's new mayor, though Perrie Zay, has offered a few
23:12
Speaker 10: more reservations on it and in fact Upper Huts City
23:15
Speaker 10: Council has just launched a residence survey as they wants
23:18
Speaker 10: residents to be a part of the conversation before any
23:20
Speaker 10: proposals are developed. Now, she says no decisions have been made,
23:24
Speaker 10: no proposal exists, and no preferred structure has yet been
23:27
Speaker 10: identified for Upper Hut.
23:29
Speaker 2: And Wellington's weather today adam.
23:30
Speaker 10: Cloudy periods today. Some Charles Santahi have fifteen.
23:33
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Never Ritti Marnho was in the
23:35
Speaker 2: Auckland studio and you've got some really great news for us.
23:38
Speaker 2: Never about our water bills.
23:40
Speaker 11: Well that's right, oh, Auckland is facing another hit to
23:44
Speaker 11: their wallets. Yes, you're quite right there, Francesca. Water bills
23:47
Speaker 11: going up by more than seven percent. This is happening
23:49
Speaker 11: from next month. Water Care has confirmed the hike, increasing
23:53
Speaker 11: the average household bill of one hundred and twenty dollars
23:56
Speaker 11: by about eight a month. The developers developers they face
24:00
Speaker 11: an even steeper rise, charges per unit increasing by about
24:05
Speaker 11: twenty percent. So yes, what do you call this? Double
24:08
Speaker 11: wearing for Aucklander's council last week voting as we all
24:11
Speaker 11: know to increase rates by seven point nine percent. Water
24:14
Speaker 11: Kires says, Look, they understand households are feeling this pressure.
24:18
Speaker 2: But water Kires is that if they delay.
24:20
Speaker 11: This Higer is just going to make things even worse
24:22
Speaker 11: and more costly in the future.
24:24
Speaker 12: So you know, rip the band aid off.
24:26
Speaker 1: Do it now.
24:26
Speaker 2: If you have to reduce your water usage, what would
24:29
Speaker 2: you do? Shower every second day?
24:32
Speaker 11: No, I can't. I have to show because I shower
24:35
Speaker 11: every morning at about after three amses part of my
24:38
Speaker 11: wake up. So what I will do, though, is I
24:41
Speaker 11: would I would reduce the time in the shower from
24:45
Speaker 11: ten minutes to three.
24:47
Speaker 2: You've got about that. You've been reading all the press
24:49
Speaker 2: releases on how to sack your water.
24:51
Speaker 13: Good girl.
24:51
Speaker 2: Where they're in Auckland.
24:52
Speaker 11: Possible morning fog because I can't see outside the window,
24:55
Speaker 11: so I don't know if the fog is there yet
24:57
Speaker 11: or not. Shower some here be clearing though, to fine, fine,
25:00
Speaker 11: fine in the afternoon, eighteen high year in Auckland.
25:02
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Neva Nicks. We're after Europe and
25:04
Speaker 2: the UK. Gevin Gray is with us. Next. It is
25:07
Speaker 2: sixteen to.
25:08
Speaker 1: Six international correspondence with insign Eye Insurance Peace of mind
25:14
Speaker 1: for New Zealand Business.
25:17
Speaker 2: Gavin Gray joins us now from the UK. Good morning, Devin,
25:21
Speaker 2: Hi have appranchase, love you to talk to you. Look,
25:23
Speaker 2: can you just explain to us what is going on
25:26
Speaker 2: with this terrible case of a teenager who was stabbed
25:30
Speaker 2: in handcuffed while he was dying.
25:32
Speaker 12: Yes, it's a gruesome story and it's quite complicated. But
25:36
Speaker 12: an eighteen year old student who was walking in Southampton
25:40
Speaker 12: on the South Coast back in December was attacked with
25:44
Speaker 12: a knife. In fact, it was a ceremonial seekh knife
25:48
Speaker 12: of that religion by a man who simply had no
25:52
Speaker 12: provocation and just attacked him and stabbed him five times. Now,
25:55
Speaker 12: when the police were called, the victim was still alive
25:59
Speaker 12: and on the ground, and the attacker was stood by
26:02
Speaker 12: him telling the police that he had been verbally and
26:06
Speaker 12: physically attacked in a racist way. Now that was complete nonsense,
26:11
Speaker 12: as CCTV showed, and indeed he was the man that
26:14
Speaker 12: had stabbed the eighteen year old who was lying on
26:16
Speaker 12: the ground in the back when he was trying to
26:18
Speaker 12: run away, and also across the chest. And police arrived,
26:23
Speaker 12: unsure of what had happened, arrested the eighteen year old
26:26
Speaker 12: on the ground as he lay dying. They didn't realize
26:29
Speaker 12: that his claims about he's saying I've been stabbed, I
26:33
Speaker 12: can't breathe, they didn't take as being true. And what
26:36
Speaker 12: it's really flagged up Francescanal is something which many are
26:40
Speaker 12: beginning to call two tier policing here in the UK,
26:43
Speaker 12: that for some reason police officers are being trained to
26:45
Speaker 12: be so careful of those of non British descent that
26:51
Speaker 12: they sort of almost swayed the decisions the other way,
26:54
Speaker 12: and a big investigations underway. The body cam video of
26:58
Speaker 12: from the police is truly harrowing. One of course considers
27:04
Speaker 12: this very difficult for them to walk into. There was
27:06
Speaker 12: no obvious sign of blood on the victim, and indeed
27:10
Speaker 12: the attacker has been sentenced to a significant jail term.
27:13
Speaker 12: But this has led and fed into that two tier
27:16
Speaker 12: policing narrative. The leader of Forraw or Reform UK, Nigel Farage,
27:21
Speaker 12: says on social media this is two tip Britain where
27:24
Speaker 12: the rights of white people matter less than ethnic minorities.
27:28
Speaker 12: He said we should all feel pure cold range rage
27:32
Speaker 12: and he said we have enough here of anti white prejudice.
27:36
Speaker 12: White lives matter just as much as black lives will.
27:39
Speaker 12: Others have criticized him for those comments. We don't need rage,
27:42
Speaker 12: said the leader of the opposition, which is what Nigel
27:45
Speaker 12: Farage is pushing. But she too is angry at the
27:48
Speaker 12: police action and an investigation is underway. The Prime Minister
27:51
Speaker 12: says the footage is harrowing, but plenty of people believe
27:55
Speaker 12: that he is at the helm of the ship and
27:57
Speaker 12: he's the one that's instigated police who are more concerned
28:01
Speaker 12: about racist intentions than they are about helping a young
28:05
Speaker 12: teenager die on the floor.
28:07
Speaker 2: Gavin Gray, thank you so much for your time this morning.
28:10
Speaker 1: News talk zebby.
28:12
Speaker 2: Right central Government stepping in and telling councils that there
28:14
Speaker 2: will be no voting rights for unelected committee members. The
28:17
Speaker 2: government is planning to amend the Local Government Act two
28:20
Speaker 2: thousand and two to ensure only elected councilors can vote,
28:23
Speaker 2: which will stop the appointment of ewee representatives as full
28:26
Speaker 2: voting members. Devana Smolders is a Far North District councilor
28:30
Speaker 2: who Leeds who led the charge on the issue in
28:33
Speaker 2: her region. Divina, thank you very much for your time
28:35
Speaker 2: this morning. Are you pleased about this?
28:38
Speaker 7: Oh?
28:38
Speaker 13: Good? Morning French est. Yes, I'm absolutely delighted that the
28:42
Speaker 13: government has acted to restore democratic accountability. Are they removing
28:46
Speaker 13: the voting rights from unelected committee members?
28:49
Speaker 2: Divina? Why did the government the minister have to step
28:53
Speaker 2: in and councils couldn't sort this out for themselves.
28:57
Speaker 13: Well, I think it was around the numbers, especially when
28:59
Speaker 13: I was sitting at the table with ten of them
29:01
Speaker 13: around the table. So if someone has the power to
29:05
Speaker 13: cast a vote that affected your rates, your roads, your water,
29:08
Speaker 13: they should first have to earn the support of voters
29:10
Speaker 13: at the ballot box. And that's a fundamental principle of democracy.
29:15
Speaker 13: And I believe the government's made the right decision. I'd
29:18
Speaker 13: like to get a quick acknowledgment to Simon Rocks from
29:21
Speaker 13: the National Party and Cameron Luxem from the ex Party.
29:24
Speaker 13: Cameron is the action hero on this piece at the
29:27
Speaker 13: government end, and sometimes the government can move slowly and
29:31
Speaker 13: in this case that moves to remarkably quickly.
29:34
Speaker 2: Divina, what is the situation in the finals Because it
29:36
Speaker 2: is common around the country, there's different situations in different councils. Right,
29:39
Speaker 2: it is common around the country for there to be
29:41
Speaker 2: non elected members part of the committee. But final decisions
29:44
Speaker 2: are made by a vote of the elected members. Is
29:47
Speaker 2: that not the case in the finals?
29:50
Speaker 6: It is?
29:50
Speaker 9: Now?
29:51
Speaker 13: Decisions were being made at the committee level. However, now
29:55
Speaker 13: they've been forced to come to full council. But I
29:58
Speaker 13: believe that this is only the step and the next
30:01
Speaker 13: major issue that Parliament needs to look at is something
30:03
Speaker 13: called a gender setting where most people assume that councilors
30:07
Speaker 13: make the decisions, but councilors can only make decisions based
30:11
Speaker 13: on the information placed in front of them by staff.
30:14
Speaker 13: So if elected members are only presented with one option,
30:18
Speaker 13: or one perspective, or a faulted version of events, then
30:22
Speaker 13: the decision has effectively been shaped before it reaches the council.
30:26
Speaker 13: And I can assure you that at the Far North
30:28
Speaker 13: District Council that information is highly faltered, so I understand
30:32
Speaker 13: it's also happening with other councilors across New Zealand.
30:35
Speaker 2: Isn't it the council's jobs though, to get the information
30:39
Speaker 2: that they need and be fully aware of situations.
30:44
Speaker 13: That's the exact point, Francisca, that we're not fully aware
30:47
Speaker 13: of them because the staff or the department that the
30:51
Speaker 13: information channels through is not accountable and we don't have
30:56
Speaker 13: full visibility of implications of the decisions. We don't have
31:00
Speaker 13: full visibility of alternative options. So removing unelected voting rights
31:06
Speaker 13: was an important democratic reform, but examining the agenda setting
31:11
Speaker 13: may well actually be the very next one.
31:14
Speaker 2: And when you say gender setting, what do you mean there?
31:17
Speaker 2: When it comes to how's it applicable? What you've just
31:20
Speaker 2: been explaining.
31:22
Speaker 13: So the information placed in front of us elective members
31:25
Speaker 13: are only presented with one option or one perspective, and
31:29
Speaker 13: that is presented by staff and predominantly it's through the
31:33
Speaker 13: Maori Department or the EWE department.
31:36
Speaker 2: Right, you're talking about agenda. Gotcha? Sorry, I thought you
31:39
Speaker 2: said gender. You said agenda with the clears it up,
31:44
Speaker 2: hence my confusion. So how will has change the Far
31:48
Speaker 2: North District Council. Will it be a simple transformation once
31:51
Speaker 2: the bill is passed?
31:54
Speaker 13: Indeed, yes, so we have six months once the bill
31:56
Speaker 13: is fast past to change things. I understand that on
32:00
Speaker 13: one of the Hastings Water councils they have nine members
32:04
Speaker 13: and only two are elected members. So it's going to
32:07
Speaker 13: be a quick reshuffle for all councils around New Zealand.
32:12
Speaker 13: To get their ducks lined up and ready. But the
32:14
Speaker 13: government's given us six months to do that. So the
32:17
Speaker 13: first domino has now fallen, and the next challenge will
32:21
Speaker 13: be this agenda setting. We are ensuring that elected members
32:24
Speaker 13: receive the balanced information and genuine options. So it's a
32:31
Speaker 13: cause I intend to pursue with some determination and continue
32:34
Speaker 13: leaving the conversation around that space.
32:36
Speaker 2: Savina, thank you very much for your time this morning.
32:39
Speaker 2: Appreciate it. It is six to six.
32:42
Speaker 1: Before the news breaks here at first. Francesca Rudkin on
32:46
Speaker 1: early edition with Spark for Business Technology that keeps Business Moving.
32:51
Speaker 1: News talks there'd be.
32:53
Speaker 2: Coming up at six. Heather to Pisy Allen is in
32:55
Speaker 2: for Mike Hoskin and she joins me. Now, good morning morning, Francesca.
32:58
Speaker 14: Now today, yesterday you complained about my temperature settings in
33:02
Speaker 14: the studio, and today you have discovered that there is
33:06
Speaker 14: somebody here running at like nineteen degrees and it's.
33:10
Speaker 2: It's already when he's in here this morning. Yeah, yeah,
33:13
Speaker 2: And I thought you were complaining that I had it too.
33:16
Speaker 14: You did have too coldcause you were sitting at a
33:18
Speaker 14: good You're sitting at a good twenty twenty to twenty three. Perfect,
33:21
Speaker 14: but it keeps you away. Don't take offense because I'm
33:25
Speaker 14: going to say it aren't I we are in different
33:27
Speaker 14: hormonal periods of our lives.
33:29
Speaker 2: Just because I run a fraction hotter, it doesn't running
33:32
Speaker 2: about than me doesn't have anything to do with a
33:35
Speaker 2: pleasant work.
33:36
Speaker 14: You can play.
33:37
Speaker 2: Give me another twelve months. You sitting in here on
33:39
Speaker 2: twenty three like you're on holiday and fee or something.
33:42
Speaker 14: Give me another, Give me another twelve months, and we've
33:44
Speaker 14: running it down at seventeen.
33:47
Speaker 2: Maybe what are you talking about on the show day again,
33:48
Speaker 2: we're going to be talking to Simon.
33:49
Speaker 11: What so?
33:50
Speaker 14: Simon I think is doing the right thing and looks
33:53
Speaker 14: a lot for people to get their heads around with us,
33:55
Speaker 14: because it basically is going to read to a lot
33:57
Speaker 14: of people like an anti Marty thing.
33:59
Speaker 2: It's really not an an well let me part, but
34:01
Speaker 2: it's just anti random people, like just random.
34:05
Speaker 14: People getting getting put on these council committees and out
34:08
Speaker 14: voting the election.
34:08
Speaker 2: I still think counselors need to be a bit more
34:10
Speaker 2: proactive and ask questions. If they feel that they've been
34:12
Speaker 2: given a very limited amount of information, do something about it,
34:16
Speaker 2: but make a question.
34:18
Speaker 14: They went to get the info and they were told, no.
34:21
Speaker 2: We've elected you to do that, so do it. Looking
34:23
Speaker 2: forward to it. Here did you pussy? Allen is up
34:25
Speaker 2: at Sex. Have a great day back tomorrow.
34:29
Speaker 1: The same for more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
34:33
Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays,
34:37
Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio