Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Full Show Podcast: 28 August 2026

Transcript

Full Show Podcast: 28 August 2026 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The issues, the interviews, and the insight. Ryan Bridge on
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Early Edition with Spark for Business. Technology that keeps business moving.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Good morning, six after five. Welcome to your Friday. So
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: the Russians not happy with the Brits. We told you
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: about that earlier in the week, and now we know
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: why the CIA boss has gone to Moscow.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: We'll tell you about that. Plus, Vincent McIverney's in the
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: UK for us.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: We'll talk to Transporting New Zealand about the rucks and
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: the fuel tax issues. and what happens to the state
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: of our roads. Elliot Smith is with us live from
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Cape Town. It is Friday the 28th of August. Nearly
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: 400 people are now dead. 900 are missing. This is
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: in Tibet, the tsunami. Five of these missing are New Zealanders.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: My son was stuck in the floods. He's a truck
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: driver and told me he was driving. We last spoke
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: before it hit. but there's no news of him. We
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: can't find out anything.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: So what happened? Well, a glacier collapsed.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: There's photos of before, satellite photos of the before and after.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: There's a glacier there and there's not a glacier there
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: and a wall of water.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Brits among the dead. Andy Burnham's promising money.
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: We're also redeploying foreign and Commonwealth office staff from the
• 1:14
  Speaker 5: wider region into Kathmandu so that there is a 24-7
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: consular support for British nationals in the country. But of course,
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: their families back here at home who are obviously going
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: through some really difficult moments right now. So a comprehensive
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: package of support has been put forward.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Now let's go to the Infantino drama. Are there going
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: to be criminal proceedings against him? UEFA is trying through
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: a Swiss court over that deal to sell rights to the.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Football World Cup.
• 1:46
  Speaker 6: This is what part of the legal document says. It's
• 1:49
  Speaker 6: arising out of the secretive structuring, valuation, financing and marketing
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: of a transaction that inflicted direct and concrete injury on
• 1:58
  Speaker 6: FIFA's reputation, governance authority and commercial relationships to the detriment
• 2:03
  Speaker 6: of FIFA as well as its 211 members, including UEFA's
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: 55 member associations.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I'll explain because there was a lot of big words
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: in there. I'll explain exactly what that means in a
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: few minutes' time. Remember the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle?
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: These are the two sort of Hollywood types that no
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: one really knows what they were suing each other for.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Case where Blake Lively first sued Baldoni for her It
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Ends With Us co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Baldoni then counter-sues for defamation. Now, she's been awarded $ 400, 000
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: towards illegal costs. After Baldoni's case was dismissed, she's been
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: seeking around $ 8 million.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Justin's attorney, Brian Friedman, telling E! News in part, Section
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: 47.1 is not a perfect law, but it is an
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: important one designed to protect real survivors, adding that the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: judge awarded only 5% of what Lake requested. The news
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: you need this morning and the in-depth analysis. Early edition
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: with Ryan Bridge and Spark for Business. Technology that keeps
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Great to have your company. It is nine after five.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: 9292 is the number to text. And I'll tell you
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: a little bit about, well, there's so many things to
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: get through this morning. I will quickly get to NVIDIA. Yesterday,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: we were preparing for their announcement, their results, and they've
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: given the results. And basically, they're saying AI bubble, what bubble?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Their shares are up 8%, stock price up 8%, and
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: they reckon their sales are going to increase by 70%
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: next year. And it's not demand that's the problem here.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: It's supply holding them back. Record sales of $ 96 billion,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: almost $ 60 billion of profit for the last quarter. Both
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: of those numbers double what they were a year ago
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and once again.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Above where the pundits thought they would be. So good
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: for them.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: We are going to talk to Elliot Smith as well
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: because there's been a few changes, just a couple of
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: wee changes, one to the front, one main, one to
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: the front and the backs for the All Blacks Springboks.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: This is in Cape Town, 3 o'clock Sunday morning our time.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: And the sort of big movers, Leroy Carter on the
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: wing and Simon Parker, he's a big boy, 6'6, 117 kilos,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and they will need the weight. So we'll talk to
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Elliot Smith about that this morning. The UEFA charges, well,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: criminal proceedings or criminal complaint it is at this point.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: So Infantino... obviously went and did this announcement, and that's
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: all it has become.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: It's basically shelved.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: So it did an announcement saying, I'm going to sell
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: rights to the World Cup, and that will go in
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: part to the investment firm Thrive Capital. Thrive Capital is
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: the company that is tied up with Kushner, which is
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Trump's son-in-law. And what they're alleging is interesting. So they're
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: going through Swiss courts to do it, What they're basically
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: saying is it was $ 4. 2 billion was the price for
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: a 20% chunk of the World Cup rights. That would
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: put the valuation of the World Cup at about $ 20 billion. Now,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: UEFA is saying that's junk. That's cheap. That's absurdly low.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Is it a corrupt number? Were they undervaluing this in
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: order to flick it off to a mate and make
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: some money? That's kind of what they're getting at here.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: So they're going after documents. They're going after documents in Europe.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: They're going after documents in America. And they're trying to
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: figure out, where did you get that number from, Infantino?
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: And if you can't tell us where you got the
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: number from, then it stinks to high heaven.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: 12 after 5, Newstalk ZB.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: A tax-free crypto announcement from the ACT Party yesterday.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: We'll look at that next.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio. Powered by
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB. on your radio and online on iHeartRadio. Early
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: edition with Ryan Bridge and Spark for Business, technology that
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: It is 14 minutes after five, so we talked to
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Vincent McIverney actually the other week about this, but you
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: know the storm shadow missiles that the UK produces, the
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Brits are giving the Ukrainians the rights or the IP
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: to go and make them themselves.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: Poking the beer, that is Russia.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: And Russia's hit back, and they're now saying you are, quote,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: playing with fire. Well, this is all tied in with
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: what we were talking about yesterday. John Ratcliffe, the CIA director,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: on a secret mission, a secret trip to Moscow, that's
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: not so secret because people were tracking his flight all
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: the way there, and then once he landed, there was
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: footage of him arriving at the airport. But anyway, so
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: why is the CIA boss going to Moscow to meet
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: with the Russians and Well, apparently the U.S. has got intelligence.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: This is according to the Wall Street Journal this morning.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: The U.S.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Has got their hands on some intelligence, and they reckon
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: that Russia is planning a hit on a NATO country
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: within the next year or two. And they're saying, and
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: so basically they're going to warn them off. Now, this
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: could be either, according to the journalist, cyber attack, or
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: it could be a small-scale incursion, probably a Baltic nation.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: And why are they doing this now? Well, they're getting
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: squeezed to hell in Ukraine. And they are also aware
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: that the Americans are short on munitions. So Putin's going, well,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: now's my chance. He's under pressure at home, as he
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: often is, particularly when wars aren't going well. So it's
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: sort of one plus one. One equals two on this
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: quarter past five. Actors launch his plan to make New
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Zealand a country of crypto pioneers. Key policy is the
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: removal of a tax on crypto gains earned after it
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: is held for more than a year. They'd also like
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to introduce a tax exemption on small digital currency purchases.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Paul Quickenden is SwiftX, New Zealand country manager, blockchain New
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Zealand executive council member with me this morning.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: Paul, good morning. Good morning, Ryan. How are you?
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: I'm well, thank you. Is this a good policy? What
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: are we paying tax on at the moment that we
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: wouldn't under this plan?
• 8:11
  Speaker 7: Really interesting question. So it kind of puts us in
• 8:14
  Speaker 7: line with a couple of other countries like Germany and
• 8:16
  Speaker 7: Portugal and to some extent the US. Last time I spoke,
• 8:21
  Speaker 7: you know, it's kind of said that there's at least 350,000,
• 8:24
  Speaker 7: probably close to 500,000 Kiwis who hold crypto assets. And
• 8:29
  Speaker 7: at the moment, every time you kind of sell or
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: buy a crypto asset, there's effectively a capital gain on that.
• 8:36
  Speaker 7: And so what Act.
• 8:38
  Speaker 8: Has come out with is, and I canvassed the base
• 8:42
  Speaker 8: last night, that it's pretty progressive. People who are in
• 8:45
  Speaker 8: it for a long term are feeling a little bit
• 8:48
  Speaker 8: punished at the moment, the way the IRD has treated
• 8:50
  Speaker 8: the sector. And then if you are using your crypto
• 8:55
  Speaker 8: assets to pay for goods and services, much like you
• 8:58
  Speaker 8: use your card and all that sort of stuff. It's
• 9:01
  Speaker 8: a very onerous process. You have to know what the
• 9:04
  Speaker 8: US rate was that you bought the cryptocurrency at. You've
• 9:07
  Speaker 8: got to convert that into New Zealand dollars at the
• 9:09
  Speaker 8: time you bought it, all that sort of stuff. And
• 9:11
  Speaker 8: we're talking about a lot of work for a very
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: small amount of tax.
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: And our interpretation is that they're talking about what's called
• 9:18
  Speaker 7: a de minimis, so like a $ 50 or $ 100 cap
• 9:22
  Speaker 7: on transactions that are essentially tax-free.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: Paul, why are we paying essentially a capital gains tax
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: on crypto?
• 9:34
  Speaker 7: Inland Revenue has applied some thinking to the sector from
• 9:39
  Speaker 7: a while ago that treats it very much like it
• 9:42
  Speaker 7: did with gold. And they're kind of saying, look, there's
• 9:46
  Speaker 7: no real reason to buy this gold other than speculate
• 9:51
  Speaker 7: it's going to go up. And so they're.
• 9:52
  Speaker 8: Treating the cryptocurrency sector uh this much the same.
• 9:56
  Speaker 7: Way and so um what acts come out with um
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: with with several other good policies actually uh is is
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: a it's kind of saying well look if we believe
• 10:07
  Speaker 7: the future is digital money why why are we making
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: it a little bit hard for people to come in
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: here and you know make make trade-off decisions essentially about
• 10:16
  Speaker 7: where they live, if we want to welcome in this
• 10:19
  Speaker 7: kind of new pioneer into the country. And I think
• 10:21
  Speaker 7: that's how they're going about it.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Interesting.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: All right, Paul, nice to have you on the show
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: this morning. Paul Quicken, SwiftX, New Zealand country manager, also
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Blockchain New Zealand executive council member. It is 18 minutes
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: after five.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: And you're on Newstalk ZB. 9292 is the number to text. Cathy,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: good morning. Nice to have you listening to the program
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: this morning. Ryan, I'm hearing there's going to be, this
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: is from Jamie, a major political candidate putting his hat
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: in the ring in Botany today.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Well, we will know if you're right by the end
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: of the day, I suppose, Jamie. We will get to
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Cape Town with Elliot Smith next. Newstalk ZB.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio, powered by
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB. Before the news breaks, hear it first. Ryan
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Bridge on early edition with Spark for Business, technology that
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: 5.21, so Qantas announced we're going to get a result
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: from Air New Zealand at 8.30 this morning. It's not
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: going to be pretty reading, but Qantas made their announcement yesterday,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: profit of more than $ 1. 5 billion. This is despite what
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: happened in the Middle East. This is the year to
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: June for them. That was down 19.7% on the previous year.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: This includes Jetstar, same group. They carried 8.9 million passengers
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: up from 8.3 the year prior.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: Revenue was $ 25.
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: 5 billion.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Now, that was up 7.1%. But obviously they've had fuel
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: costs hitting them, which has cut their profit by, well,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: almost 20% on the year prior, 22 after five.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: You know, we've got 40-odd players to pick from.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: So we've got a fair number of fresh bodies heading
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: into the weekend.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I think four or five of the guys who played
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: tonight potentially back up or start.
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: With the details, Elliot Smith, Newstalk ZB's voice of rugby
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: is in Cape Town.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Elliot, good morning.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Ryan.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: So what happened? What are the changes?
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: What do we know?
• 12:22
  Speaker 9: Well, two enforced changes through injuries. So Simon Parker moves
• 12:26
  Speaker 9: onto the blind side. He was on the bench last week.
• 12:29
  Speaker 9: Ryan and Tupo Vai, who started at blind side last week,
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: moves into the second row. This is with Josh Lord,
• 12:35
  Speaker 9: Ethan DeGroote, both out. They had a sickening head clash
• 12:38
  Speaker 9: in the first half. DeGroote replaced by George Bauer. The
• 12:41
  Speaker 9: one injury unenforced change is Leroy Carter coming in, as
• 12:45
  Speaker 9: you mentioned there before. into the run on side he
• 12:47
  Speaker 9: switches places with Josh Morby Dave already saying overnight there's
• 12:51
  Speaker 9: largely a defensive call they're back Leroy Carter in one-on-one
• 12:54
  Speaker 9: situations he's got a sevens background very very strong upper
• 12:58
  Speaker 9: body strength even though he's quite a small play he's
• 13:01
  Speaker 9: distinctively powerful so they want him to use that in
• 13:05
  Speaker 9: the the test on Sunday morning New Zealand time.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Simon Parker's a big boy isn't he 6'6 and 117
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: kilos that should help It should help, absolutely.
• 13:14
  Speaker 9: Look, to be fair, Simon Parker probably hasn't had an
• 13:17
  Speaker 9: explosive test match that he's owned as yet, but this
• 13:20
  Speaker 9: is a gilt-edged opportunity. He's been in the All Blacks
• 13:23
  Speaker 9: for about 18 months now, and you look, a huge
• 13:25
  Speaker 9: opportunity for him to stamp his mark on that sixth
• 13:28
  Speaker 9: Tuesday with the changes this week.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: And as you say, that big body.
• 13:31
  Speaker 9: Coming up against the likes of Serge Khaleesi, Peter Stiftetoi,
• 13:35
  Speaker 9: playing his 100th for South Africa on the weekend. That's
• 13:38
  Speaker 9: the kind of combative nature that the All Blacks want.
• 13:41
  Speaker 9: They want that defensive edge, and he'll add that steel
• 13:44
  Speaker 9: to the pack. And as you say, look, they're going
• 13:46
  Speaker 9: to have to improve from what we saw last week
• 13:49
  Speaker 9: as well, if they want to go up 2-0 in
• 13:52
  Speaker 9: the series.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what do you think is going to happen? Is
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: it going to be, you know, is someone going to
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: come out strong? Is someone going to finish stronger? What
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: do you think is actually going to happen during the game?
• 14:01
  Speaker 9: Well, I think the great news, Ryan, is for the
• 14:03
  Speaker 9: All Blacks perspective is that they won last week despite
• 14:06
  Speaker 9: being sloppy in a whole lot of areas. It wasn't
• 14:08
  Speaker 9: until they kicked home in the last 20 minutes that
• 14:11
  Speaker 9: they took hold of the game. They were poor at
• 14:13
  Speaker 9: scrum time for the first hour. They couldn't catch many
• 14:16
  Speaker 9: of the high balls. They turned over the ball a
• 14:19
  Speaker 9: lot of times. So too did South Africa. So the
• 14:21
  Speaker 9: list of what New Zealand needs to improve on is
• 14:23
  Speaker 9: quite long. They won last week in spite of that.
• 14:26
  Speaker 9: So if they improve with that, and the key is
• 14:27
  Speaker 9: keeping the ball in play for longer. That's the big stat, Ryan.
• 14:30
  Speaker 9: 25 minutes, 28 minutes it was last week. If the
• 14:33
  Speaker 9: All Blacks can edge that towards the mid-30s, they'll bring
• 14:35
  Speaker 9: fatigue into the game and back themselves to run South
• 14:38
  Speaker 9: Africa ragged and potentially go 2-0 up in the series.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Nice one.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Elliot Smith, Newstalk ZB's voice of rugby in Cape Town,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: 24 minutes after five.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Christchurch.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: There were some stats in Z numbers that interest.co looked
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: at yesterday, which I thought were quite interesting, and it's
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: about Selwyn. We always talk about Selwyn. In fact, Claire
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Sherwood probably, if she's not mentioning the stadium in Christchurch
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: when she joins us after 5.30 this morning, she'll be
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: talking about Selwyn District. Anyway, their population just going through
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: the roof. So at the moment, 85,000 people live in Selwyn.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: That is expected. They've upgraded the numbers.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Now they expect that to increase to 160,000 over the
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: next 25 years. 25 after five, Newstalk ZB. We'll look
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: at your fuel tax next. Newstalk ZB, it is 27
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: minutes after five. Are we about to witness the return
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: of the pothole? Both Labour and National want to basically
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: put the petrol tax on ice. Labour would stop the
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: 22 cents a litre going up over three years. The
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Nats probably won't go ahead with a 12 cent hike
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: that they've penciled in for January, though they have to
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: get the coalition's support for that. Problem is, this money
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: goes into a big fund, along with rucks from trucks
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: to pay for building and fixing our roads. Remember at
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: the last election, people were angry as hell about potholes.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: Remember that?
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Nasty things, really annoying. I remember a headline about them
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: being really annoying.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Rim wreckers, rim shredders they are.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Panel beaters had a field day performing more rim jobs
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: than you could shake a stick at. We had 62,000
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: potholes back then, highest number in a decade. The money
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: to fill them comes from the petrol tax. It's ring
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: fenced into a wee pothole fund. Less money in that
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: fund means crapper roads. To make matters worse, Labour wants
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: to raid this fund to pay for cheaper bus fares
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: for city folk. It's one of their election promises that
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: they've made on the campaign. So the fund is being
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: starved on new money at the same time it's being robbed,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: basically a Peter to pay Paul type situation. The coalition
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: is making its call on Monday about the funding. The
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: easy route is to stop the tax. The hard route
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: is to hike it, which means no matter who's in charge,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: we'll probably have cheaper gas next year, but wrecked rims.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: And that includes, ironically, buses.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: 29 minutes after five.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Trump's doing one of his funny press conferences at the
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: White House at the moment. And he's got, you know
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: how he wants to rename, because he's mad as hell
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: at Carney in Canada, he wants to rename Lake Ontario
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: as Lake America. And he's got us holding up one
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: of his classic signs. And on the top of it,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: it says, make the Great Lakes even greater. You've got
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: to love that, don't you? You're on Newstalk ZB. Friday morning,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: we'll get to Vincent McIverney out of the UK after
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: news at 5.30. How serious is this talk of Russia
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: getting involved with a NATO country?
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Newstalk ZB.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: News and views you trust to start your day. It's
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: early edition with Ryan Bridge and Spark for Business. Technology
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB. 24 away from 6,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB on your Friday morning.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: We'll talk to truckies about the petrol tax debate that's
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: coming up in about 15 minutes' time.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: And just before that, we'll head to the UK.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Vincent McIverney will talk about, well, amongst other things, the
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: threats that Russia's making to the Brits. And the fact
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: that the CIA boss has gone over to Moscow, apparently
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: that's all related, so we'll tie it all in for you.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Did you see this yesterday?
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Quite funny from the resources minister, Shane Jones. He went
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: on the country yesterday. And, you know, Steven Spielberg, we
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: spoke about the fact Steven Spielberg, movie director, had gifted
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: money to the opposition to the gold mine in central Otago.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: And Shane came out on yesterday on the country and said, E.T.,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: go home.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: You're not welcome.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Your money is not welcome here, Steven Spielberg. A number
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: of quite entertaining things.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: Jokes in there from Shane Jones, is to be expected.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, the other thing I wanted to mention was this
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: text from Aidan. We had loads of texts on, as
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: you can imagine, on potholes, because you mentioned pothole, and
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: it's like.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: A red rag to a bull. If you want to
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: go see some craters, have a look at what they're
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: growing on the Lewis Pass, yet again forgetting about the
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: West Coast. Aidan, send us some photos. Aidan would love
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: to see the craters you're talking about.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: I know that particularly on roads in Northland. Basically, any
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: time you head north of Whangarei, you are driving through
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: divots in the road.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: It's pretty bad.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: So the reason we're talking about this is the petrol
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: tax money pays to fill the potholes. So you take
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: away the petrol tax money. Do we have potholes coming
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: back 22 away from 6?
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: Right, let's go to our reporters around the country. And
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: we're starting in Dunedin this morning.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Good morning. How are you? Good.
• 19:55
  Speaker 10: Happy Friday.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: Happy Friday. So what are we talking about?
• 19:59
  Speaker 10: The Central Otago-Queenstown Lakes and Otago Regional Councils were on
• 20:03
  Speaker 10: the cusp of inking a deal delivering critical initiatives, including
• 20:06
  Speaker 10: a commitment to explore a bed tax. But they've paused
• 20:09
  Speaker 10: the deal after the government proposed replacing the bed tax,
• 20:12
  Speaker 10: raising questions about its long-term ambitions. They say they're disappointed
• 20:16
  Speaker 10: to reopen talks on an agreement they thought was ready
• 20:19
  Speaker 10: to sign and need clarity for their communities. The council
• 20:22
  Speaker 10: stressed they're not withdrawing from this deal.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: Hannah, it's lovely to have you on the show this morning.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: I momentarily forgot your name. Forgive me. How's your weather?
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Mostly cloudy.
• 20:33
  Speaker 10: A few showers clearing later this afternoon and a high
• 20:35
  Speaker 10: of 16.
• 20:35
  Speaker 6: Nice one.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Claire in Christchurch. Couldn't forget you, Claire. Good morning.
• 20:39
  Speaker 7: Never.
• 20:40
  Speaker 11: Good morning.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Some Christchurch Uni students are losing their GP.
• 20:44
  Speaker 9: Yes.
• 20:45
  Speaker 12: Look, I wish I had something from Selwyn for you,
• 20:47
  Speaker 12: although I'm sure other Canterbury Institute services students from Selwyn,
• 20:51
  Speaker 12: and look, it is not far from the new stadium.
• 20:53
  Speaker 12: This is about a national shortage of GPs that's impacted
• 20:57
  Speaker 12: the other Institute of Canterbury. Lots of us here at
• 20:59
  Speaker 12: ZB have come through there. It's where the broadcasting school
• 21:01
  Speaker 12: is located. They have had to close their GP service.
• 21:05
  Speaker 12: UTA launched an extensive search for a replacement doctor back
• 21:08
  Speaker 12: in May. They haven't been able to find someone, so
• 21:10
  Speaker 12: they're now stopping the service. The health centre will remain open, though.
• 21:13
  Speaker 12: They'll have social work, they'll have counselling, they'll have some
• 21:16
  Speaker 12: nurse-led triage systems and other supports there, but students will
• 21:19
  Speaker 12: not be able to see a GP. Doesn't look like
• 21:22
  Speaker 12: it's a sector-wide issue, though. Canterbury Unis say they employ
• 21:25
  Speaker 12: 15 GPs in order to help meet the needs of
• 21:28
  Speaker 12: staff and students.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Fifteen, that's quite a few.
• 21:31
  Speaker 12: Overkill should share one.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: How's your weather?
• 21:34
  Speaker 12: Mostly cloudy. A few spots of morning rain, but then
• 21:36
  Speaker 12: some fine breaks. Gusty north easterlies. The high will be 20.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: You know where all those GPs will be heading, Claire? Selwyn.
• 21:42
  Speaker 12: That's right.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: Booming. You could fill a stadium with GPs in Selwyn.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: Happy Friday.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Happy Friday. By the way, Cathy's just texted in again.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Happy Friday. She says, Cathy, happy Friday to you. Nice
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: to have you listening this morning.
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: Let's go to Wellington. Max, good morning. How are you?
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: Good. Good.
• 22:01
  Speaker 13: How's it going?
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Good.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: You know, there's a lady that texts, not Kathy, someone else,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: every time after I've spoken to you, texts and say,
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: why are you always so mean to Max?
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: You never say, hang on. No, I've noticed that too.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: She says, I never say hello or never say good morning.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: How are you? She's exactly right. I've noticed it as well.
• 22:20
  Speaker 8: Oh, really?
• 22:20
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: It's just a complete lack of pleasantries.
• 22:23
  Speaker 14: Actually, yeah.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: It's just straight to pleasantries. Mackenzie says I say, hey, Max. Look,
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: it's not intentional. It's too colloquial.
• 22:30
  Speaker 10: Okay.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Hey, nice to have you on the show too, as always.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Scarlet fever, we've got a case confirmed at a school
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: in Wellington.
• 22:38
  Speaker 13: Yeah, this is Brooklyn Primary School, which has sent a
• 22:42
  Speaker 13: message to all parents notifying them of the case. It
• 22:45
  Speaker 13: says scarlet fever can spread easily and the community should
• 22:48
  Speaker 13: keep an eye out for symptoms as a precaution. Scarlet fever,
• 22:52
  Speaker 13: of course, sounds a little ominous and a throwback to
• 22:54
  Speaker 13: a different time, but it is still around a few
• 22:57
  Speaker 13: dozen cases typically a year in New Zealand.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: It is contagious.
• 23:01
  Speaker 13: An infection spread in the air via coughing or sneezing.
• 23:05
  Speaker 13: And while it can be serious, it is relatively easily
• 23:08
  Speaker 13: treatable with antibiotics. The fear is that a certain type
• 23:12
  Speaker 13: of infection can lead to more serious illnesses like rheumatic fever.
• 23:16
  Speaker 13: So again, the advice is the usual, look out for symptoms,
• 23:19
  Speaker 13: particularly a distinct type of rash, and try and see
• 23:22
  Speaker 13: a doctor if you can, if you have any concerns.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: All right, how's your.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Weather, Max?
• 23:27
  Speaker 13: Mostly cloudy with some rain later. Strong northerlies, 14. Have
• 23:31
  Speaker 13: a good weekend.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: You too, Max. Lovely to have you on the radio
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: this morning. Oh, stop all the pleasantries, you two.
• 23:38
  Speaker 15: For goodness sake.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: The thing is, I think it was with Max. I
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: know he doesn't like to muck around. We're not here
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: to muck around.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: We're here to get the news.
• 23:46
  Speaker 11: That's right.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: So give it to me.
• 23:48
  Speaker 15: Yeah, you two have that friendship and relationship. You're like,
• 23:50
  Speaker 15: come on, hurry up.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: What is it?
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Hey, we had a police, well, there's still a police
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: hunt underway in Auckland. This is after the double homicide yesterday.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, quite right.
• 24:00
  Speaker 15: And look, as South Auckland councillors say, telling the constituents
• 24:04
  Speaker 15: to be vigilant amid this police hunt. Yeah, you're right.
• 24:07
  Speaker 15: The two people were found dead in Wattle Downs. The
• 24:10
  Speaker 15: bodies of a man and woman, they were discovered by
• 24:12
  Speaker 15: emergency services. Now, this was at Gambier Place Address. It
• 24:16
  Speaker 15: all unfolded about two o'clock yesterday afternoon. So police, we
• 24:20
  Speaker 15: know they've been searching through the night for an offender
• 24:22
  Speaker 15: who fled the scene. Daniel Newman, he's Manurewa Papakura ward councillor.
• 24:27
  Speaker 15: He says, look, locals, just go about your business, but
• 24:30
  Speaker 15: be aware that this has happened and we'll update you
• 24:33
  Speaker 15: on this police hunt as the morning goes on to
• 24:35
  Speaker 15: see if they've found these people.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much, Neva. How's our weather?
• 24:39
  Speaker 15: OK, cloudy periods. We've got early morning showers and then
• 24:42
  Speaker 15: these showers will pop up again this afternoon. 17 is
• 24:45
  Speaker 15: a high here in Auckland.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: Nice one. Thank you very much.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: 17 minutes away from six. By the way, Rabobank had
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: a little global review out yesterday. They look at what
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: are the biggest dairy companies in the world. Fonterra has slipped.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: It was 7th largest global dairy business in the world,
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: now 10th. The reason for that was pretty obvious. They
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: basically went and sold the, to lack the least, to
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: the French, sold the divested, well, had a divestment process,
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: sold the consumer brands.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: So we slipped back slightly.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: And biggest is, like the French, revenues there rose to
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: more than $ 40 billion. Fonterra now at $ 11 billion. U.S.,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: the EU has five of the top 10 dairy companies
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: in the world. China, too, one each for us, the Americans,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: and the Canadians. 16 to 6, we're in the U.K.
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: Next.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: News Talk ZB, it is 14 minutes away from six.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Let's get to Vincent McIverney, our UK-Europe correspondent. We'll get
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: to the Russians in a second, but we'll start with UEFA,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: and they are apparently going after criminal legal proceedings on Infantino.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: What do we know, Vincent?
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 26:00
  Speaker 14: UEFA is not backing down in its battle with Infantino.
• 26:04
  Speaker 14: So they've been holding a big meeting in Miami today.
• 26:07
  Speaker 14: They represent, sorry, in Monaco, they represent over 50 European
• 26:11
  Speaker 14: football associations. And apparently coming out of this meeting, their
• 26:15
  Speaker 14: plan is to bring legal proceedings against Gianni Infantino for
• 26:21
  Speaker 14: his attempt to to sell off stakes of the World
• 26:24
  Speaker 14: Cup to private investors. And UEFA claims that the valuation
• 26:28
  Speaker 14: of the stakes, if they'd been sold, had not been
• 26:30
  Speaker 14: independently verified and would have been offered too cheaply, calling
• 26:35
  Speaker 14: the proposed sale a fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino
• 26:40
  Speaker 14: for his own benefit. So some incredibly damning language there.
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is going through the Swiss courts, right?
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: What about the Russians, and they're not happy with the Brits,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: and the French actually, who are giving IP for missiles
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: to Ukraine, and the CIA director's being pulled into all
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: of this with that trip to Moscow.
• 27:00
  Speaker 14: Yeah, well, if we go back to Tuesday, that extraordinary
• 27:04
  Speaker 14: flight by the CIA director, just to give you an idea,
• 27:07
  Speaker 14: the last time a CIA director flew to Moscow was
• 27:10
  Speaker 14: in November 2021. That was to warn Moscow that it
• 27:14
  Speaker 14: knew it was planning to invade Ukraine and to tell
• 27:17
  Speaker 14: it not to go. It's quite extraordinary for a CIA
• 27:20
  Speaker 14: director to make that kind of trip. We understand from
• 27:23
  Speaker 14: reporting today that, again, the CIA director was there to
• 27:26
  Speaker 14: tell Moscow to de-escalate its aggression. There are thoughts that
• 27:29
  Speaker 14: it might try to attack NATO in some way to
• 27:32
  Speaker 14: see whether or not that Article 5 joint response pledge
• 27:35
  Speaker 14: still holds under Trump. Suggestions that it might be Estonia
• 27:39
  Speaker 14: that they are going to try to target. But then today,
• 27:42
  Speaker 14: warnings for France and the UK over recent moves that
• 27:46
  Speaker 14: we've made to give more missile technology, to Ukraine in
• 27:50
  Speaker 14: order to support its cause. Russia is saying it doesn't
• 27:53
  Speaker 14: really differentiate itself now when it comes to the UK's
• 27:57
  Speaker 14: role in the war and that they could strike targets
• 27:59
  Speaker 14: here in the UK or potentially overseas, so possibly bases.
• 28:04
  Speaker 14: The fact is already they have targeted things here in
• 28:06
  Speaker 14: the UK because they have been paying sort of low-level
• 28:10
  Speaker 14: gangsters who don't know what it is that they're actually doing.
• 28:13
  Speaker 14: They get hold of them via social media and they've
• 28:15
  Speaker 14: been getting them to do things, for instance, like attack
• 28:17
  Speaker 14: terrorists certain properties, those belonging to the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer,
• 28:22
  Speaker 14: at the time, and also warehouses storing supplies for Ukraine
• 28:27
  Speaker 14: as well. So this isn't really anything new, but we'll
• 28:30
  Speaker 14: see whether or not they escalate it.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 100%.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: And apparently going to take advantage of the lack of
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: a stockpile that the West has got and certain types
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: of bombs and missiles. And there's more headlines about that overnight,
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: by the way, as well. The US has degraded its
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: stockpile of certain types of weapons because of transfers to Ukraine,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: but also the Iran conflict. It's 11 away from six.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: That was Vincent McIverney out of the UK for us.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: National says it won't increase the petrol tax in January
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: by 12 cents a litre. They need ACT and New
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: Zealand First support to confirm.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: That, though. Labour came out yesterday and said they won't
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: increase it for three years.
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: His government has locked in a 22 cents a litre
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: increase in fuel tax.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: That's still government policy as of today.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: Money pays for building and fixing roads. Dom Khaleesi is
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: with us, Transporting New Zealand CEO.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: Dom, good morning.
• 29:20
  Speaker 7: Morning, Ryan.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: What do you make? We'll start with Labour's promise.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: No increase to the fuel taxes for three years.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: What do you reckon?
• 29:31
  Speaker 16: Firstly, I think it's good to see parties starting to
• 29:33
  Speaker 16: show their policies. But certainly from our members' view, a
• 29:38
  Speaker 16: reliable road network and getting freedom people to where they
• 29:41
  Speaker 16: need to go, it's really important for economic prosperity, productivity
• 29:47
  Speaker 16: and safety. And so our concern is that any holding
• 29:51
  Speaker 16: off on roading investment, it's false economy. It's like delaying
• 29:56
  Speaker 16: going to the dentist. Short-term gain for long-term pain.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: And the fact is that, and I mean, this won't
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: be a popular take, but it's true that the fuel
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: tax is a flat rate, right, per litre. So in
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: real terms, it's actually gone backwards of late.
• 30:13
  Speaker 16: Look, that's dead right. If you look at the cost
• 30:17
  Speaker 16: of road maintenance on a dollars per kilometre basis, from
• 30:20
  Speaker 16: 2021 to 2025, costs increased 36%, right? And so even
• 30:29
  Speaker 16: if the planned increase, which was $ 0. 22 over three years,
• 30:34
  Speaker 16: if that had gone through, that only equates to a 31% increase.
• 30:39
  Speaker 16: So we're just going backwards.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: So you're saying the cost of actually fixing, maintaining the
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: roads has gone up 35%, 36% in five years?
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: Yep, that's correct.
• 30:50
  Speaker 16: That's NZTA data, right?
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: So what does this mean?
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: More potholes?
• 30:57
  Speaker 16: More potholes, probably a less resilient network. The Infrastructure Commission
• 31:05
  Speaker 16: did a report too recently, and that showed we're in
• 31:07
  Speaker 16: the bottom 10% of OECD for return on investment for
• 31:12
  Speaker 16: infrastructure spend. We just can't keep holding off investing in
• 31:18
  Speaker 16: key infrastructure.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Dom Khaleesi, Transporting New Zealand CEO, 8 to 6, Newstalk ZB.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge on Early Edition with Spark for Business. Technology
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: It is six away from six.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: The Aussies had an inflation number higher than they thought
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: it probably would be yesterday. And as a result, they're, well,
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: potentially they're going to get another rate hike. This is
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: in September. NAB is now tipping a September rate hike
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: for the Aussies.
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: It's 5-2. Ryan Bridge. And it's Friday. Mike's here. Morning, Mike.
• 31:49
  Speaker 11: You're a bit throaty.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: No, why?
• 31:51
  Speaker 11: Oh, you sound a bit throaty.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: Do I?
• 31:53
  Speaker 11: Yeah, no, Katie's had a throat thing all week.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: No.
• 31:55
  Speaker 11: Just wondering if you're, you know.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: Mackenzie, do I sound throaty?
• 31:59
  Speaker 5: No.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Mackenzie says no. Okay. Do you know what? It's probably
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: your ears.
• 32:02
  Speaker 11: It could be that. Kiwi Bank, they're calling for nothing
• 32:06
  Speaker 11: next week. No, no move.
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: Well, that's what Kiwi Bank tends to do.
• 32:10
  Speaker 11: They do tend to. And you know what's important about that?
• 32:13
  Speaker 11: They tend to be right. They tend to be more
• 32:16
  Speaker 11: right than the others.
• 32:16
  Speaker 3: I'm not criticizing them.
• 32:17
  Speaker 11: I think Jared reads it well. So he's on the
• 32:19
  Speaker 11: program this morning.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: I like him.
• 32:20
  Speaker 11: Have you read Chris Pink's thing and stuff this morning?
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: No.
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: What time did that come out?
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Five.
• 32:25
  Speaker 11: You know, whenever.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: While I'm on here.
• 32:28
  Speaker 11: So the thing that wasn't on here is much earlier
• 32:29
  Speaker 11: when you could have read it. But look, be that
• 32:32
  Speaker 11: as it may, Ryan. So here's the thing. This is
• 32:35
  Speaker 11: everything that's wrong with Pink and the media. So the
• 32:37
  Speaker 11: headline is the elephant addressing the elephant in the room.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: And he doesn't address the elephant.
• 32:41
  Speaker 11: Well, he gets to the elephant, but the elephant turns
• 32:44
  Speaker 11: out to be a kid's story. And it's a kid's
• 32:46
  Speaker 11: story that he recommends we all read because there's a
• 32:49
  Speaker 11: message in there for life. And then he talks about
• 32:51
  Speaker 11: how he's enjoyed not being recognized by everybody as he
• 32:54
  Speaker 11: orders coffee. So you go around ordering coffee and they go,
• 32:57
  Speaker 11: what's your name? And he goes, oh, thank God, no
• 32:59
  Speaker 11: one recognizes me. So coffee for Chris. So I'm thinking,
• 33:02
  Speaker 11: at what point, mate, are you getting to the thing
• 33:04
  Speaker 11: that we all want to know about? Like, the article
• 33:06
  Speaker 11: should be starting, I tell you what happened, or something
• 33:09
  Speaker 11: like that, and what a gripping article it could be.
• 33:12
  Speaker 11: It does not address the elephant or anything to do
• 33:15
  Speaker 11: with what he did.
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: A couple of stamps at this now.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: He did a spinoff podcast earlier in the week. He's
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: showed up to Parliament. He's clearly not going to talk
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: about it, so don't bother.
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: Talking to him.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: So go away.
• 33:25
  Speaker 11: But he also talks about being in the public eye.
• 33:28
  Speaker 11: And I think, if you don't like being in the
• 33:29
  Speaker 11: public eye, mate... Stop writing articles.
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: Is there a whiff of Harry and Meghan about it?
• 33:34
  Speaker 11: There's something about that. But then he goes and says,
• 33:36
  Speaker 11: I'm not going to do a valedictory, which I think
• 33:38
  Speaker 11: is sad. Because even though he cocked it up at
• 33:40
  Speaker 11: the end.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: He was a good minister.
• 33:42
  Speaker 11: He could have done other stuff and talk about it.
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Do you know what?
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: I have to say, for something that you're so not
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: interested in, you seem quite worked up.
• 33:49
  Speaker 11: No, I'm not not interested in it. I'm ropeable about it.
• 33:52
  Speaker 11: The guy owes us an explanation.
• 33:54
  Speaker 8: All right.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: Doesn't he?
• 33:55
  Speaker 11: Because he's the architect of a major political calamity. And
• 34:02
  Speaker 11: when he does a headline like elephant in the room,
• 34:05
  Speaker 11: deliver for God's sake.
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: Chris, you know where to call this morning and whose
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: show you need to be on.
• 34:10
  Speaker 11: Will Jordan too, by the way.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: News Talk ZB. Mike's next.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: to News Talk ZB from 5am weekdays or follow the
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.