Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Full Show Podcast: 25 September 2026

Transcript

Full Show Podcast: 25 September 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: News Talks ZB.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Good morning. Six after five. Great to have your company
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: this morning. Coming up, we'll speak to a former U.S.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: ambassador on Trump and Xi at the White House. The amalgamation,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: or is it Armageddon? The mayors are all up in
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: arms about this. They wanted a delay and they've got one,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: but they're still not happy. Vincent's in the UK for us.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: In Poland, there's been a fire at a satellite station
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: linked to Starlink and they're worried it's Putin. Plus, Fonterra
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: getting the job done. the agenda friday the 25th of
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: september all pictures and shaky footage out of dc this
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: morning basically what we've got from the trump and xi
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: summit ladies and gentlemen.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: The president of the united states donald j trump and
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: first lady melania trump accompanied by the president of the
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: people's republic of china xi jinping and madam pung lee.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Yuen Journalists slowly being let back into the White... Well,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: some of them being let back into the White House,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: but the meet and greet's already well underway now.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: A judge ruled overnight that they are now allowed back in,
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: and this, I believe, is a technician from one of
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: the organisations that was banned.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Now, earlier in the day, Republican Senator Roger Wicker had
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: some pretty strong words for Xi ahead of the visit.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Mr President, during every minute of dialogue, Our commander-in-chief should
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbours and
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: States of America.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Let's go to New York to the UN. A lot
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: of love for the Brits from the Palestinians over the
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Israeli settlement and the West Bank policy.
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: We highly appreciate the measures taken by the United Kingdom.
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: As well as 12 other countries in order to protect
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: the two-state solution.
• 2:09
  Speaker 6: Furthermore, we call upon President Trump to fulfill the commitments.
• 2:13
  Speaker 7: He made to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic
• 2:16
  Speaker 7: states last September.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Another day, another AI hack. This time it was a
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: rogue OpenAI agent that hacked into the Aussie government's stats
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: portal with non-sensitive data. At least that's what they've told
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: us so far. OpenAI turns out knew about it in June,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: didn't tell the Aussies until September.
• 2:33
  Speaker 8: This situation is obviously unacceptable. Today I spoke with the
• 2:37
  Speaker 8: CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to express Australia's extreme concern
• 2:43
  Speaker 8: about this incident. Today I'm announcing the establishment of a
• 2:47
  Speaker 8: task force to provide an urgent and immediate review into
• 2:51
  Speaker 8: this incident to determine whether existing processes are appropriate to
• 2:56
  Speaker 8: respond to AI-related cyber incidents.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Nine after five, Seal's coming to New Zealand. Mackenzie was
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: just asking me, do you think people care about Seal?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I said, of course people care. First thing I said was,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: is he dead? Gosh, don't tell me we've had it. No,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: he's coming to New Zealand, which is fantastic. So the tour,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: the summer concert tour, 2027, Wanaka, Saturday, 30th of January. Taupo,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Sunday 31st of January. And guess who's coming with him?
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Sophie Ellis-Bexter. Can't get enough of Sophie Ellis-Bexter. I interviewed
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: her a couple of months ago. She's absolutely lovely. She's
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: got like five kids, which, I mean, she's older now,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: so it kind of makes sense. But anyway, Seal's coming.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: You'll be pleased to know. And Mackenzie will have to
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: go along and find out a little bit more about Seal. Now,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: what more do you want from Fonterra? So profits up,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: near record output from them, near record volumes from them.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: The farmer shareholders, $ 9. 69 per kilo of milk solids, total
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: dividend for the 25-26 year, 73 cents. This is after
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: they reported $ 2. 6 billion after-tax profit. That is way up
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: on the previous year. And they sold the consumer brands,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: which nearly 90% of farmers wanted them to do. And
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Winston Peters didn't. Are they worrying about that now? Probably not.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Do we need to worry about that in the future?
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Do you think there is a case where we are
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: stripping out manufacturing and processing capacity from our economy, and
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: that's going to hurt us in the long run? I'd
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: be interested to know what you think of that. Anyway,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: they're doing what they do best, which is to get
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: milk out of cows and then flick it on. Very well.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much. And the payout, ANZ, after this
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: announcement was made yesterday from Fonterra, They've taken their milk
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: payout forecast for the new season to 980. That is
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: higher than Fonterra's midpoint currently, which is 950. 11 after 5. Next,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: we have a very special guest for you because we
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: thought we've got she coming to Washington. So let's speak
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: to somebody who knows a thing or two about this stuff.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: And Christopher R. Hill is your man. He's a former U.S. ambassador.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: He's been very tied up and into Asia-Pacific for the
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Americans for decades now. He joins us live next.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: The news you need this morning and the in-depth analysis.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Early edition with Ryan Bridge and Spark for Business. Technology
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Newstalk ZB time is 13 minutes after five. So the
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: White House, first time since 2015 that a leader of China,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: the leader of China in Xi Jinping has been there.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: So there's a big hullabaloo about that. We'll head to
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: find out more about that after 5.30 this morning. Also
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: this morning, price of oil is ticking up. This is
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: because the Iranian military came out and said, do you
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: know what we might do with this war? We might
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: just take it further and go into the Indian Ocean
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: if we're attacked anymore by the Americans. So we went
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: up over $ 106 a barrel. It has come back slightly
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: since then. This is for futures for Brent crude, which
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: is a global benchmark. So there you go. Is there
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: going to be some sort of deal hammered out at
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: the UN or on the sidelines of the UN in
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the US over the next couple of days? I highly
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: doubt it personally. 14 after 5. Ryan Bridge, the American
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: diplomat who famously called New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance a relic,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: says it wouldn't rank in the top 10 problems for
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: the U.S. in the Pacific today. Former U.S. Ambassador Christopher R. Hill,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: who served as East Asia Pacific Assistant Secretary, is speaking
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: to me as Trump is welcoming Xi to the White
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: House in D.C. Mr. Ambassador, good morning. Great to have
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: you on the show. Great to talk to you. Quite
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: the show that the White House is putting on for
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: President Xi right now. I can see uniformed soldiers at
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: attention over the Oval Office.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Yes, well, it's rather extraordinary because, as you know, the
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: major networks in the U.S. are not covering it. So
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: people are looking at some still photos of it. But
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: it is an extraordinary show. But usually you like an
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: extraordinary show to be accompanied by extraordinary substance. And so
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: far we haven't seen much of that.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Although I did note that they've extended the truce on
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: the trade war by a couple of months. That's something,
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: I suppose?
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: I think so, but I think it was pretty clear
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: that China had said, we're not going to be bullied
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: on that, and they were prepared to fight back hard,
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: and I don't think the president needs that right now.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: How funny that the U.S. networks aren't showing this when
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: presumably all the state-run networks in China will be.
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: Yes, that is how to put it, a certain amount
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: of irony.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: But I think the U.S.
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: Networks are hanging together here because they understand that tomorrow
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: each of them could be affected by being banned from
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: the White House. So as you know, there's a court
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: case going on right now, and the judge has been
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: rather clear about what the White House has to do.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: So we'll have to stay stay tuned. So that's quite
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: a drama going on.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: What's your, speaking of drama, midterms coming around the corner,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: what's your pick for whether the Republicans can hold on
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: to the House and the Senate?
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: I think the Republicans, I think most people believe the
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: Republicans are going to have some trouble. The president's polling
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: numbers have dropped considerably, yet he wants to be front
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: and center in the efforts in the midterms. So I
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: think it's kind of looking good for the Democrats, but,
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: you know, it's always hard to say. But certainly it's
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: I think the Republicans are going to have to are
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: going to have trouble getting their people out to vote.
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: And the Democrats are more than more than incentivized on this.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: You have an extensive background in the Asia Pacific region, Taiwan.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Are you worried that the Chinese might make a move
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: on Taiwan in the near future?
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: No, I think the real issue right now is that
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: arms package. The Chinese have many times told the U.S., hey,
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: this is a really core issue for us. And I
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: think Trump has kind of held off on that arms package.
• 9:17
  Speaker 5: I suspect he'll continue to do so. And so I
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: don't see any real moves, and I don't think China
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: really wants to take that move. You know, China has
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: its own problems, and it wouldn't be helped by a
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: cross-straits crisis.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: This is the package for the Taiwanese?
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 9:36
  Speaker 8: The U.S.
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: Has a military package. It would take some time to
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: get to them anyway, but I rather suspect Trump will
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: not try to go ahead with that right now. I
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: think he'll continue to hold it in abeyance.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Christopher, you famously described New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance, anti-nuclear laws
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: in 2006 as a relic. However, you do you still
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: feel that way well.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: You know what's a relic I feel like a relic
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: sometimes Uh, I feel, uh, you know, uh, that the
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: U S uh, New Zealand relationship moved ahead. Then I
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: was very proud to play a small part of that.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And part of that moving forward is basically just saying
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: you do, you will do us and we can still
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: get along.
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: There's a lot to be said for that in foreign policy.
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: You know, it's hard to get the other guy to
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: change their mind. It's better to kind of understand where
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: the other guy is coming from. And then you figure
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: out how you can maneuver around that. And I think
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: we all did a good job on that.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: North Korea and Kim Jong-un, just a guy who occasionally
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: fires his mad rockets into the sea or something we
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: really need to worry about?
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: I think it's something we need to worry about a
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: lot more. I used to joke that when I was
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: assistant secretary back in that period, I had two nuclear problems,
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: one of them New Zealand, the other North Korea. I
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: really feel the North Korean issue is very serious, and
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: I don't see any effort on anyone's part to deal
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: with it. I'm sure the Chinese are worried about it
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: because they're seeing a North Korea that's kind of drifting
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: toward the Russians. I'm sure they don't like like that,
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: but I'm not sure our president is really engaged on
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: it in a way that could slow down their program,
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: which I think is rather dangerous. It's dangerous not from
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: the point of view of annihilating the United States with
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: nuclear weapons. It's dangerous from the point of view that
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: the U.S. could somehow not consider South Korea under its
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: own nuclear umbrella. And I think it could be destabilizing
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: on the Korean Peninsula. So I wish there were more
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: effort to deal with this.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I know you were joking, but when you described the
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: New Zealand nuclear problem alongside the North Korean nuclear problem,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: do you think the current administration would be paying attention,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: is alive to our policy on even nuclear-powered ships in
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: New Zealand waters? Would they see that as a problem
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: still and perhaps as more of a problem given the
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: contested Pacific Islands?
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: You know, if I were to rank order our problems
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: in the Pacific, our top 10 problems, I don't think
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: the New Zealand ban on nuclear navy is high up there.
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: I mean, we have an excellent relationship with New Zealand.
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: We do a lot of things together. And I think
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: there's a lot of goodwill to make sure we continue
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: that excellent relationship. And that's a change for the 1950s,
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: where there was a concern that the New Zealand nuclear
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: policy positions could infect other allies. And before you know it,
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: we'd have problems with European allies not wanting nuclear navy
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: in their ports. You know, I think we're beyond that.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: And I think the U.S.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: And New Zealand have done well together. I think you're
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: probably right, Mr. Ambassador. Great to have you on the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: program this morning. Christopher R. Hill, former U.S. Ambassador, East
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Asia Pacific Assistant Secretary. Time is 21 after five. We'll
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: do Fonterra next. Hear it first.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge on early edition with Spark for Business. Technology
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: News Talk ZB. Welcome back. 23 minutes after five. So
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: $ 2. 6 billion annual profit. This is Fonterra. $ 1. 2 billion coming
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: from the sale of the mainland brands to the French.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: $ 20 billion being paid out this year. Not too worried
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: about El Nino yet.
• 13:32
  Speaker 9: They had a really good autumn, so there's quite a
• 13:34
  Speaker 9: bit of feed on farm that they can use if
• 13:37
  Speaker 9: we get a bit drier in the summer. And we've also,
• 13:39
  Speaker 9: as a cooperative, been through many droughts before in terms
• 13:41
  Speaker 9: of understanding how we need to adjust our plans.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Campbell Parker's with us, Dairy NZ CEO this morning. G'day, Campbell.
• 13:48
  Speaker 10: Morning, Ron.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: You like the sound of that?
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: What's that? Good result? Always good. Yeah, always good for
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: farmers and also good for the economy.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: What about the return on capital? This is Judy who
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: likes to text our program. Good morning, Judy. Judy says
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: return on capital 14.2%, way above the target, possibly one of,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: if not the best return on capital of all the
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: large global milk cooperatives or companies.
• 14:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah, look, I think the results, you know, reflected strong strategy,
• 14:17
  Speaker 6: but also execution. I mean, I go back to earlier
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: this year, you know, moving product overseas was pretty difficult
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: with some of the challenges around it. So I think
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: they've delivered a really strong result, and I think it's
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: positive for the reinvestment into continuing to extract value for farmers.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: The strong price that we have seen, and sure, it
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: has dipped a bit, but it's coming back. How long
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: does the strong price last?
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: I'm not an economist, Ryan, but if you look through
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: the cycle, there's certainly been some structural changes in demand
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: for things like protein, the trends around GLP-1 drugs globally.
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: So the demand is strong. When I talk to the
• 14:55
  Speaker 6: people at Fonterra, demand for products is strong, particularly across proteins,
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: but also across fats. But again, for farmers, we've been
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: there before where the industry can be cyclical. So farmers
• 15:06
  Speaker 6: have got good, strong balance sheets at the moment. I
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: think the key thing is to keep focused on doing
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: what they do well and keep control of costs because
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: those margins are certainly getting tighter as well.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Campbell, always good to chat. Campbell Parker, Dairy NZ CEO.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: It's 25 after five, Newstalk ZB. We'll look at that
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: breach from OpenAI to the Aussies next. 27 after five,
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Newstalk ZB. The North Korean who tricked their way into
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: a job with the Kiwi company to make Kim Jong-un
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: a bunch of cash was so yesterday's news. This is
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: how fast these things move. The nerds and the cyber
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: cops are now worried about yet another AI hack. The Aussies'
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: health New Zealand equivalent, was breached actually a few months
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: ago now. The culprit was an OpenAI robot. Albanese announces
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: this as it was happening at the UN in New
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: York yesterday. And in doing so, he revealed that OpenAI,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: that's Sam Altman, sat on this information for months. without
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: telling Canberra. Now, two red flags immediately leap out of
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: this story. Number one, how did the Australians not know
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: somebody had leapt over the castle gates to snoop around
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: on public and non-public information? And if they didn't know
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: this had happened, what hope is there for the rest
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: of us? If our friends can do this, and we
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: only find out about it because they tell us, what
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: about our enemies? Which brings us to the second point.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Altman and co. are supposed to be the good guys.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: They set OpenAI up as a non-profit initially to benefit humanity.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: They have since been commercialised. But if this is how
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: the well-intentioned behave, what do we and should we expect
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: from the bad guys? Don't worry, Trump and Xi are
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: going to save the day. They are talking about AI
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: for humanity at the White House right now. Big song
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: and dance going on there. A lot of pomp and ceremony.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Air Force flyover. They had military standing at attention above.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: They had guards standing to attention above the Oval Office.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: First time that's been done for a foreign leader, apparently.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: So all the bells and whistles, trying to impress the
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Chinese as Donald Trump. After the news at 5.30, we're
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: going to go to the UK. Vincent McIverney is with us.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: It's actually his final cross. He's been doing crosses into
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: this program for a decade now. He will deliver his
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: final one with a warning about Putin and Poland. All ahead,
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Newstalk ZB.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: The first word on the news of the day. Early
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: edition with Ryan Bridge and Spark for Business. Technology that
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: keeps business moving.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Newstalk ZB. 24 away from six here on Newstalk ZB.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: This is Bastille coming to New Zealand with Seal. In
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: January for a couple of concerts, including in Wanaka, if
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you're into Seal or if you're into Bastille, then you'll
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: be heading along to those. By the way, right now,
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Trump and Xi are loaded into some beasts, which is
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: the Secret Service cars that they drive Trump around in,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: loaded into some beasts and they're off. They've been at
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: the White House having a chat. I'm sure we will
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: hear from at least Trump at some point. Interestingly, ironically,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: whichever way you look at it, The courts in America
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: have just said to Trump, you actually have to include
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: the media in your White House briefings. You cannot kick
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: them out. So, you know, democracy, freedom of the press,
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: all of that stuff. Coming up here on the show
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: before six, did we actually just make waste millions of
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: dollars in local government on a merger that Cabinet couldn't
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: agree on? Or are the mayors just, you know, crying
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: wolf again? We'll talk about that plus Vincent's in the
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: UK for us.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Our reporters, Callum and Deneen. Morning, Callum.
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: Morning, Ryan.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Why is the City Council there looking at its make-up?
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: How many councillors it's got?
• 19:17
  Speaker 11: Well, it's just a keen to do a review, an
• 19:19
  Speaker 11: independent review on how the city's represented. This includes how
• 19:23
  Speaker 11: many councillors will sit around the council table here in
• 19:27
  Speaker 11: the city. Councillors have unanimously backed this review, Ryan. It
• 19:31
  Speaker 11: will also consider ward boundaries, how councillors are elected. and
• 19:35
  Speaker 11: whether community boards here should remain. Council will appoint this
• 19:40
  Speaker 11: panel following a public expression of interest process, which is
• 19:43
  Speaker 11: terms of reference also to be agreed. The review will
• 19:46
  Speaker 11: also include population analysis, communities of interest work.
• 19:49
  Speaker 9: Analysis, mapping.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: How's your weather?
• 19:52
  Speaker 11: Got the odd shower, meant to clear this afternoon though
• 19:54
  Speaker 11: and become fine later today, the high 12.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: Nice one, thanks Callum. Claire in Christchurch, morning Claire. Good morning.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Electric Avenue, a friend of mine bought a ticket yesterday,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: it was 500 odd bucks but they're all gone are they?
• 20:05
  Speaker 12: Yeah, well, your friend seems to be one of the
• 20:07
  Speaker 12: lucky ones because a lot of disappointment around here and
• 20:10
  Speaker 12: on my socials at the moment. Close to 60,000 people
• 20:13
  Speaker 12: joined the queue for the final 15,000 tickets that were
• 20:17
  Speaker 12: available for Electric Avenue yesterday afternoon. The team behind Electric
• 20:20
  Speaker 12: Avenue can't even give us a time for how quickly
• 20:23
  Speaker 12: they sold out. In fact, they say they virtually sold
• 20:25
  Speaker 12: out in an instant. The Hagley Park event returns in February.
• 20:28
  Speaker 12: We know now the headline is the Kings of Leon
• 20:31
  Speaker 12: and Calvin Harris. The festival had already sold 32,000 of
• 20:34
  Speaker 12: the two-day passes before the line-up was even announced. Managing
• 20:38
  Speaker 12: Director Callum Mitchell says after this extraordinary response, the team
• 20:42
  Speaker 12: feel the responsibility to deliver an epic experience for everyone
• 20:45
  Speaker 12: who has placed their faith in them.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: How's your weather?
• 20:49
  Speaker 12: Mostly cloudy, a bit of scattered rain about this morning,
• 20:51
  Speaker 12: but should clear to find southwesterlies and a high of 13.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: All right. Thank you very much, Claire. Max in Wellington. Morning, Max.
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: Max.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Good morning. Good morning. You've got a review of the
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Ministry of Education. What's the culture like?
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: Well.
• 21:07
  Speaker 13: We wouldn't be hearing about it if it was all
• 21:08
  Speaker 13: the sunshine and daisies. A ministry review of the curriculum
• 21:12
  Speaker 13: centre has found toxicity, bullying and harassment from leaders, fear
• 21:16
  Speaker 13: of speaking up, allegations of favouritism. The ministry already under
• 21:21
  Speaker 13: fire this week with a senior leader caught on camera,
• 21:23
  Speaker 13: of course, telling staff not to put it in writing, essentially,
• 21:27
  Speaker 13: to avoid OIAs. A practice, by the way, that's absolutely
• 21:30
  Speaker 13: commonplace in the public sector. Just ask anyone in Wellington.
• 21:33
  Speaker 13: This review came about via concerns raised via confidential channels.
• 21:37
  Speaker 13: So the whistleblower stuff, that's all working as it should.
• 21:40
  Speaker 13: Staff apparently not convinced senior leaders were giving the government
• 21:43
  Speaker 13: free and frank advice. Some former employees left because they
• 21:47
  Speaker 13: had difficulty being politically neutral. And that's really getting into
• 21:51
  Speaker 13: some of the core issues, I think, in the sector, right?
• 21:53
  Speaker 13: What do you pay to do? Who are you paid
• 21:54
  Speaker 13: to support? And what do you leave at the door
• 21:56
  Speaker 13: when you walk in?
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: It's funny, the Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove apparently used to say,
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: and he was sort of a rip shit and bust
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: kind of guy, but he used to say, for God's sakes,
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: never write anything down.
• 22:08
  Speaker 13: To act like this is one unique instance, I think
• 22:10
  Speaker 13: is a little hypocritical.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Totally. Hey, how's your weather?
• 22:14
  Speaker 13: Cloud increasing with showers later, nor'westerly 13. Nice one, Max.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Thank you. And Neva's in Auckland. Good morning, Neva. Good morning.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: City Rail Link, how are we looking?
• 22:21
  Speaker 14: Yes, I'm going to talk about that again, again, because businesses,
• 22:25
  Speaker 14: you know, they're very happy. They're enjoying this increase in
• 22:27
  Speaker 14: foot traffic being open now just under two weeks or
• 22:31
  Speaker 14: record 528,000 trips in the first week. Now, our reporters
• 22:35
  Speaker 14: have spoken to real groovy records manager that's Sarah Williamson
• 22:39
  Speaker 14: and that her store is just a stone's throw from,
• 22:42
  Speaker 14: you know, one of the new stations, Te Waihoroteo. She
• 22:44
  Speaker 14: says so many people came in from the start. She
• 22:47
  Speaker 14: just hopes that that just keeps coming back. You know,
• 22:50
  Speaker 14: people continue to come back. Also, Paiwhi on K Road. Now, apparently,
• 22:54
  Speaker 14: I didn't know this, but it's because I've never been there, obviously,
• 22:57
  Speaker 14: famous for a coffee served in a sweet pie crust.
• 23:00
  Speaker 14: It's near the Karanga a Hape station. The owner there
• 23:03
  Speaker 14: says that he's seeing a lot of new faces and
• 23:06
  Speaker 14: he's been told by, you know, regulars that they'll make
• 23:08
  Speaker 14: more trips soon. Because of that new station. And he
• 23:12
  Speaker 14: says that he's seen other businesses on K Road get
• 23:14
  Speaker 14: busier because of it. So a lot of people saying,
• 23:16
  Speaker 14: you know, K Road businesses will see a lot of
• 23:19
  Speaker 14: change with that CRL.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Great, because it needs it.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: It does.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: And they desperately need it.
• 23:22
  Speaker 14: Quite right.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: So that's fantastic news. How's our weather?
• 23:24
  Speaker 14: Cloudy, a few showers mainly from afternoon. 15 is the
• 23:27
  Speaker 14: high today. And just a little wee reminder, daylight saving
• 23:30
  Speaker 14: starts this weekend.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: It does not.
• 23:32
  Speaker 14: Put your clocks forward. That's not fake news. I'm telling
• 23:35
  Speaker 14: you the truth.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Ah, I didn't realise. I hadn't cottoned on.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 23:38
  Speaker 14: So, you know, hopefully we will return here on Monday
• 23:41
  Speaker 14: on time.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Might I say, you look magnificent, resplendent and mustard today.
• 23:45
  Speaker 12: Oh, thank you.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Nice colour for you.
• 23:47
  Speaker 14: Hey, can I just say, you were quite right because
• 23:49
  Speaker 14: it is mustard and not yellow. All you fashionista, you.
• 23:53
  Speaker 14: You know your colours, Brian Bridge.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: 18 to 6, Newstalk ZB. We're in the UK next.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Let's talk numbers because nobody else in the housing game
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: seems to want to do this. House Me's biggest home
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: is 52 square meters, three bedrooms, $ 155, 000 including just. That's
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: the price. Not from, not plus, not talk to our
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: team for an indicative range. It's on the website right
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: now next to the photo so that you can actually
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: see what you're dealing with before you even pick up
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: the phone. Brilliant. They're not doing it in small numbers either.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: That's the other fishhook people put. Not doing that. 40
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: to 50 homes built and delivered every single month. On
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: consent numbers, that makes Howes Me the fourth biggest home
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: builder in the country. Except these aren't consents sitting in
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: a pipeline waiting on something. They're homes finished on a
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: truck out the gate. If you're in the North Island,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: there's easy pile foundations now for you as well. Screw
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: piles in, done, no excavation, no concrete. Sitting your home
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: just got a lot simpler. Howsme.co.nz. Go and look at
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: the prices. Go and actually look at them.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: International Correspondence with NZI Insurance. Peace of mind for New
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Zealand business.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: Vincent McIverney, UK Europe correspondent with us for his final
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: slot on early edition. Vincent, great to have you here.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
• 25:15
  Speaker 9: Hi.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: You have 10 years you've been doing this, I was
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: told this morning, and today's your last one.
• 25:20
  Speaker 15: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I've been doing these hits now
• 25:22
  Speaker 15: for 10 years. We've done them across the UK, Europe,
• 25:25
  Speaker 15: the US, even in Argentina and Japan for you guys
• 25:28
  Speaker 15: on G20s and various trips. So yeah, right around the world.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Can I just say on behalf of not only me, obviously,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: but every other previous early edition host, thank you very
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: much for joining us. We always love your insights. Oh, well,
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: it's been great. We can't talk about what you're doing
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: next yet, but we will come to that, I'm sure,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: at some point. In the meantime, let's talk about what's
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: going on in Poland.
• 25:49
  Speaker 15: Yeah, that's right. A disturbing story coming out of Poland.
• 25:52
  Speaker 15: A Starlink satellite station in the centre of the country
• 25:56
  Speaker 15: has been attacked in what they're describing as an act
• 25:59
  Speaker 15: of deliberate sabotage in order to disable it and internet access.
• 26:04
  Speaker 15: And this is being used in part by the Ukrainian
• 26:07
  Speaker 15: army as well. It's believed that this has been done
• 26:11
  Speaker 15: by the Kremlin, then this is part of their new
• 26:14
  Speaker 15: Russian attack doctrine to try and sabotage key infrastructure across Europe.
• 26:19
  Speaker 15: Denmark is also issuing a new threat assessment saying it
• 26:22
  Speaker 15: thinks Russia is going to try and escalate hybrid warfare.
• 26:26
  Speaker 15: And this comes after NATO has been warning members really
• 26:29
  Speaker 15: heavily over the past week. And we've heard Prime Minister
• 26:32
  Speaker 15: Andy Burnham talking about this at the UN Security Conference
• 26:36
  Speaker 15: as well in New York, that this is the new
• 26:38
  Speaker 15: mode for Putin fresh from his elections. He wants to
• 26:41
  Speaker 15: try and disrupt life in all aspects across the continent.
• 26:44
  Speaker 15: And we've seen that in Germany earlier this month with
• 26:47
  Speaker 15: drones buzzing airports and other information coming to light that
• 26:52
  Speaker 15: Russian satellites are also trying to mess with European satellites
• 26:57
  Speaker 15: in space, too.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Now, the Germans, speaking of the prosecutors investigating a guy
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: aged 105 over allegations he might have been an accessory
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: to murder at a Nazi prisoner war camp in World
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: War II. How did they come across? Do we know
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: how they got to this information?
• 27:13
  Speaker 15: Yeah, really extraordinary. The prosecutors are investigating this man. We
• 27:16
  Speaker 15: haven't been given his name. He's 105. They think he
• 27:19
  Speaker 15: was an accessory in multiple counts of murder. And they've
• 27:23
  Speaker 15: just been investigating someone as well who was 99 simultaneously,
• 27:26
  Speaker 15: but they have now died. It's thought that sort of
• 27:30
  Speaker 15: new records came to light. This is, you know, an
• 27:33
  Speaker 15: ongoing part of German societies to fully look at this
• 27:36
  Speaker 15: because there is no statute of limitations. Since 1979, a
• 27:41
  Speaker 15: law was passed to enable the prosecution of Nazi era
• 27:44
  Speaker 15: crimes indefinitely. So it is incredibly difficult, though, to bring
• 27:49
  Speaker 15: perpetrators to justice more than 80 years after the war.
• 27:53
  Speaker 15: But they are still investigating this 105-year-old. Four years ago,
• 27:57
  Speaker 15: there was another concentration camp guard, 101, who was given
• 28:02
  Speaker 15: a five-year jail term for complicity in murder at one
• 28:06
  Speaker 15: of these horrific camps. So You know, they are taking
• 28:09
  Speaker 15: this still pretty seriously and it's, you know, your age
• 28:11
  Speaker 15: is not a barrier to finally facing justice.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: For the final time, Vincent, great to have you here.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Vincent McIverney, our UK Europe correspondent, 11 to 6. Government
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: decided to put the council amalgamation, just shelve it, put
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: it on ice for a while. The mayors aren't too
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: happy about this.
• 28:27
  Speaker 16: This council put incredible effort and energy and investment into
• 28:33
  Speaker 16: putting together a Head Start proposal. I think local government
• 28:36
  Speaker 16: has done everything that central government asked of it, and
• 28:39
  Speaker 16: we've been let down, and that's very disappointing.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: So it looks like Cabinet couldn't quite agree on how
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: to move forward. Let's go to Dion Swiggs, Canterbury Regional
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: Council Chair. Dion, good morning.
• 28:49
  Speaker 10: Good morning.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: How are you? Good, thanks. So Andrew Little reckons they've
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: wasted millions. Collectively, councils would have wasted millions. How much
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: have you guys spent? Did you get external advisers? Have
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: you spent a bunch of money on this?
• 29:02
  Speaker 10: We were a regional council, so we decided really early
• 29:05
  Speaker 10: on that we weren't necessarily part of developing those plans,
• 29:09
  Speaker 10: but I know that I've got 11 councils in Canterbury,
• 29:13
  Speaker 10: and we worked with every single council to tell them
• 29:15
  Speaker 10: exactly what our functions were, how we potentially would transition
• 29:19
  Speaker 10: those into new entities, considerable amount of staff time, a
• 29:22
  Speaker 10: considerable amount of our member time. But my TAs, those
• 29:26
  Speaker 10: district councils and the city councils, I think collectively potentially
• 29:30
  Speaker 10: over half a million dollars that was spent on consultant
• 29:32
  Speaker 10: fees in our region to set up these Head Start
• 29:37
  Speaker 10: proposals that they have put into the government and they've
• 29:39
  Speaker 10: just been put on ice at this stage which is
• 29:42
  Speaker 10: really not good enough.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: But you guys didn't want them in the first place
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: did you? So does it give you a chance to
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: go back and have a natter?
• 29:50
  Speaker 10: Yeah I mean what this does is it allows us
• 29:52
  Speaker 10: to have more time to go hey look how can
• 29:54
  Speaker 10: we do this better? I think one of the risks
• 29:56
  Speaker 10: of the whole process that the government has been putting
• 29:58
  Speaker 10: forward is They've been rushing this on a particular political timeframe.
• 30:03
  Speaker 10: Now we do have a little bit more time to go, hey,
• 30:05
  Speaker 10: is there some good outcomes that can come out of
• 30:08
  Speaker 10: potential amalgamations or doing things differently? Everybody knows that local
• 30:12
  Speaker 10: government needs to do things a little bit better. We've
• 30:14
  Speaker 10: heard that message time and time again. So what does
• 30:17
  Speaker 10: that look like? How can we do that? We've had
• 30:19
  Speaker 10: some real good conversations through these Head Start processes. Are
• 30:23
  Speaker 10: there opportunities now to go and look at how we
• 30:26
  Speaker 10: can do things a little bit differently so we get
• 30:28
  Speaker 10: better outcomes for our communities, do things more efficiently, get
• 30:31
  Speaker 10: better things delivered on the ground.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: Do you know, Dion, people listening to this are going, oh, shush,
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: there's another councillor saying, how can we look at maybe
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: doing things like, come on, you know? That's why you're
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: a political football, and that's why central government political parties
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: can kick you guys around.
• 30:50
  Speaker 10: Yep, but we've been forced into this situation that I
• 30:53
  Speaker 10: don't think is going to go away. So that's the
• 30:55
  Speaker 10: reality of this. It's not going away. So we've got
• 30:59
  Speaker 10: to do this. And there are a lot of good
• 31:01
  Speaker 10: ideas that have come out of those Head Start proposals.
• 31:04
  Speaker 10: One of the good things down here in the South Island,
• 31:06
  Speaker 10: we're talking to all of the other regional councils. There
• 31:09
  Speaker 10: is better ways to deliver some of the regional functions
• 31:12
  Speaker 10: that we have, such as that really important flood protection. Now,
• 31:15
  Speaker 10: if we have disruption of that flood protection, we've got
• 31:18
  Speaker 10: life risk. We can't have life risk. So we've got
• 31:21
  Speaker 10: to make sure that we're... setting our organisations up so
• 31:25
  Speaker 10: that can continue. But there are better ways to govern
• 31:27
  Speaker 10: these things, potentially, that actually make sure that it gets
• 31:30
  Speaker 10: the results on the ground. And people, just as you
• 31:33
  Speaker 10: were saying, don't actually think that we're just going to
• 31:35
  Speaker 10: be that political football that rolls around all the time.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: Dion Swiggs, Canterbury Regional Council Chair. It is 8 to 6,
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Newstalk ZB.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Get ahead of the headlines on Early Edition with Ryan
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Bridge and Spark for Business. Technology that keeps business moving.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: News Talk ZB. Six to six, News Talk ZB. Mike
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: is here for you Friday morning. Good morning, Mike.
• 31:56
  Speaker 5: Bro.
• 31:58
  Speaker 14: What?
• 31:59
  Speaker 13: Bruh.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Bruh. Do you like seal? No. Okay, he's coming to
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: New Zealand. Do you like Bastille?
• 32:06
  Speaker 7: See, they came in one day.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, did they?
• 32:09
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: Good song.
• 32:10
  Speaker 7: And that's the thing. So we had the best time
• 32:12
  Speaker 7: because they're really, really likeable guys and it was one
• 32:15
  Speaker 7: of those interviews where you sort of think they've only
• 32:17
  Speaker 7: had one song to erase. This is a thing. Anyway,
• 32:20
  Speaker 7: they couldn't believe. The story of the song was they
• 32:24
  Speaker 7: couldn't believe what happened to it and it changed their
• 32:26
  Speaker 7: life and it was amazing.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: They're English, eh?
• 32:28
  Speaker 7: Yes, and the guy who wrote it was an eclectic,
• 32:32
  Speaker 7: unusual person who sort of didn't like the success that
• 32:34
  Speaker 7: came with it and got all sort of weird about
• 32:37
  Speaker 7: it and it was strange.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: But they were lovely people. Because he started, it was
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: just one guy, and then they eventually expanded, got on
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: the keyboard.
• 32:44
  Speaker 7: And as far as I know, they've never done anything since.
• 32:46
  Speaker 7: They sort of just wander around the world, play the
• 32:48
  Speaker 7: song and a couple of covers and Bob's your uncle.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: Which is not a bad life, really.
• 32:51
  Speaker 7: Well, if you're happy with that, if you're creatively happy
• 32:54
  Speaker 7: with that. But I often think about that if you've
• 32:56
  Speaker 7: had a hit, And how many times do you want
• 32:58
  Speaker 7: to play it before you go, you know what, I've
• 33:01
  Speaker 7: probably done it a bit?
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: But you come in here and say the same thing
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: every day.
• 33:04
  Speaker 7: But it's like, well, it's like, yeah, but I've got
• 33:07
  Speaker 7: the option to change it up if I want.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: No, that's true. You know what I mean? That's true.
• 33:10
  Speaker 7: It doesn't mean I do. It's just like I could
• 33:12
  Speaker 7: if I wanted to, if I wanted to fix it up.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: But it's true. But if you, you know, people who
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: write songs, if you, once you write a good one,
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: You don't want to write one again.
• 33:23
  Speaker 7: That's the creative process, isn't it?
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: You don't want to have a bum note, though, do you?
• 33:26
  Speaker 7: No, but the other, I mean, can I be honest?
• 33:28
  Speaker 7: Seal's a has-been. I mean, what was Seal big for?
• 33:31
  Speaker 7: Name me three of Seal's songs. I mean, everyone goes, oh,
• 33:33
  Speaker 7: Seal's going so what? When Mackenzie said this morning, she said,
• 33:36
  Speaker 7: do people care about Seal?
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: I said, is he dead? Sorry, Todd.
• 33:40
  Speaker 7: That's not good. Hey, Liam Lawson, very quickly, we'll do
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: a little bit of him from Baku overnight. He's back
• 33:46
  Speaker 7: in the racing bulls. This is exciting. Everything comes forward
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: today because they've got a national day on Sunday.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: So they're racing.
• 33:52
  Speaker 7: They did practice overnight, qualifying tonight, race on Saturday.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: So that's exciting.
• 33:55
  Speaker 7: So we'll do a little bit on that. And the
• 33:57
  Speaker 7: bloke who runs Fonterra, he's in for a word about
• 34:01
  Speaker 7: milk and protein and El Nino and money.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: All the rest. What are you going to do this
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: weekend with no Warriors to watch?
• 34:09
  Speaker 7: I'm going to watch the F1.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: There's always sport, right? Something going on. Mike is with
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: you next here Friday morning. News Talk ZB.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: to News Talk ZB from 5 a.m. weekdays or follow
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio.