Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Full Show Podcast: 06 October 2026

Transcript

Full Show Podcast: 06 October 2026 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: And the insight. Andrew Dickens on Early Edition with Spark
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: for Business, technology that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you. Dickens in for Bridge, who is
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: preparing for his leaders' debate. That's on screen tomorrow, Wednesday.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Coming up over the next hour, New Zealanders have a
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: real nose for cocaine. So what is that about? We'll
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: have that story for you in five. Labour says you
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: should have the right to repair your car. Will it
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: make a difference? It did in Australia. We'll have Arena
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Williams in ten. And National wants to fund a very
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: expensive road in Canterbury. So we'll talk to the Transporting
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: New Zealand CEO. We'll have Donna DeMaio from Australia, correspondents
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: from right around New Zealand, and news as it breaks.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: And you can have your say by using the text.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: And the number is 9292. Small charge applies. So it's
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Tuesday the 6th of October, inflation all around the world
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: and now Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: snap election to be held on the 29th of November.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: This is after recent defeats on legislation aimed at addressing
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: the country's housing crisis.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: I have decided to convene an extraordinary cabinet meeting this
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: very morning to dissolve the Spanish parliament and call a
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: general election to be held on Sunday, November 29th in
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: accordance with the timeframes laid down by law. You, the
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: people of Spain, must decide what role you wish to
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: play in it, and also what role you want Spain
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: to play in it.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: These AI translators, aren't they classic? Right, to America. Marco
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Rubio says the US bombers that leave from the British base,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: the RAF Fairford, aren't directly linked to the arrests of
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: five men near the base recently.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: The only reason why you guys are focused on how
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: many planes are at Fairfield is because of the threat
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: that happened last week. But it's not unusual to see
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: rotations happen and movement of assets to different parts of
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: the world based on exercises, redeployments, people changing out and
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: new people coming in.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: And he says he still has full confidence in the
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: security of U.S. bases. To the U.K. and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: the man formerly known as Prince... is taking Thames Valley
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Police to court over his arrest in connection with the
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Jeffrey Epstein files. He's challenging the search warrants that led
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: to the police raids.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: What it means in reality is when the Crown prosecutors
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: make a decision on whether they will or will not
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: bring criminal charges against Andrew, they will look at the
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: evidence and see whether it is admissible or not, in
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: part based on this current application being made. If the
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: evidence is not admissible, if there's not other supporting evidence,
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: they may then decide not to bring criminal charges at
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: all and the case may not proceed to the criminal
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: courts any further.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Follow that, clear as mud. And still with the UK,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Jeremy Clarkson has taken to the main stage at the
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Conservative Party conference. and he struck farming and business, and
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: he took aim at inheritance tax.
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: Why would anybody set up a business in this country
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: right now? See if we can do it abroad somewhere.
• 2:58
  Speaker 7: I probably won't, but I'm dreaming of it.
• 3:01
  Speaker 8: OK, well, I'm going to try and persuade you back
• 3:03
  Speaker 8: to Lincolnshire.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I might have to go to Piddington.
• 3:08
  Speaker 7: That's abroad, isn't it?
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Well, I know, if you don't get that, Piddington was
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the small village in Oxfordshire where they had all those
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: anti-migrant protests. That's a smart joke. It is nine after five.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: The news you need this morning and the in-depth analysis.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Early edition with Andrew Dickens and Spark for Business. Technology
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Now, I have to admit that I've never really seen
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the need for the Mills Road Highway. Is it a motorway?
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Is it a highway? It's certainly a lot bigger than
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: it is at the moment. Now, this is the road
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: that goes from Manukau parallel to the Southern Motorway through
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Takanani to Papakura, and eventually it would like to go
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: to Drury. So it seems to be repeating the Southern Motorway. But,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know about it because I don't
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: live anywhere near there, and I never commute in the area.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: So yesterday, in the pursuit of journalism balance, I went
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: for a drive around Mill Road. Now, to be fair,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: I actually know the area really well. My mum went
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: to Ardmore Teacher College. We used to ride horses out there.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Back when we used to go to those places, it
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: was a lovely semi-rural place. Not anymore. Just north of
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Papakura are acres and acres of intensified townhouse developments where
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: once there were cows, there's now thousands of families. And
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: thousands of families have thousands of cars. And they're stuck.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: And Drury, which is at the end of the proposed route,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: That's going to have 134,000 people living in it before
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: you know it. And how are they going to get
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: into town? But much of the roading in the area
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: are the same rural country lanes that I remember from
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: my youth when I went to ride a horse. So
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Mill Road is necessary for the same reason that so
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: many other roads all around New Zealand are much needed.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: By the way, someone please extend State Highway 16 to
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Kumio and Riverhead. The reason it's needed is because we
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: build houses on land that's not ready for them. It
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: may be no roads. or these days, developers who want
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: to build houses that can't connect to wastewater so we
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: end up with tracks full of human waste trucking down
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: the highway. But whatever, how about someone buying a horse
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: before they build a cart? Mill Road has to happen
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: purely because some numpty built a suburb there before it
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: was ready. We're going to talk more roads just before six.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk about the 11km Belfast to Pegasus extension.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: which National is promising to fund to the tune of
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: $ 800 million. Now, $ 800 million means it's $ 73 million a kilometre.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what the global average for building highways
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: are later in the programme, but $ 73 million a kilometre,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: I can tell you, is high. We'll talk about that
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: just before six with the Transporting New Zealand CEO. But next,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: don't snort. Apparently New Zealanders really like their cocaine. That story.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Come on. On Newstalk ZB, 12 after five.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: The Early Edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio, powered by
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB. The first word on the news of the day.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Early Edition with Andrew Dickens and Spark for Business. Technology
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Anthony writes, Andrew, the East-West link, which is in Penrose,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: is more important. Jacinda Ardern stopped it in the first
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: week she got in. It needs to be done. It's
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: a massive transport link. Yes, okay, Anthony, that is true.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: But if you look at the proposal, that was $ 1. 8
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: billion for 5.5 kilometers of road. And that works out for,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: wait for it, wait for it, $ 327 million a kilometer
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: for the East-West Highway. The most expensive roading project in
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: the world.
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: Why?
• 6:40
  Speaker 9: Why?
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: I'll ask that question later on. But right now, Kiwis
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: love the cocaine more than ever, according to new research. 31%
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: of respondents to Drug Trends Survey say they've used cocaine.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: And that's up from 11% in 2018, so now 31%.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Glenn Dobson is the CEO of the Drug Detection Agency
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: and joins me this morning. Good morning to you, Glenn.
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, good morning, Andrew.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: So why is coke suddenly so popular?
• 7:04
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? It's a survey, obviously, that's
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: been a voluntary online survey, and what it appears is
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: it's coming up with three things. Number one, it's cheaper
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: on inflation-adjusted prices. It appears to be easier to get,
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: and it also is becoming a lot more socially acceptable.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: Who's taking it? Are they people who used to smoke marijuana?
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Are they people who used to take pee? Are they
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: people who like to dance and take MDMA?
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: It appears to be a real cross-section of society. What
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: we're hearing anecdotally and what looks like the settlement survey
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: as well is that it's not your glamour drug of
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: the 80s and 90s, and it's becoming more popular right
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: across a broad range of society.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, and it's no longer the glamour drug because it's
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: getting cheaper and cheaper. So why is cocaine getting cheaper
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: and cheaper in New Zealand?
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah, look, certainly the survey shows that inflation just is
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: definitely cheaper. In Australia and the United States, we're seeing
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: it cheaper as well. There appears to be a real
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: big global supply at the moment. The producers are getting
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: better at growing the coca plant. They're getting better at
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: extracting the cocaine. And New Zealand, at the bottom of
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: the world, as we've said before, is really starting to
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: be a target for supply of not just cocaine, but
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: all sorts of drugs for the cartels.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: And what is the quality of the cocaine coming into
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: New Zealand like? I mean, should we be concerned that
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: it's been cut with other stuff like fentanyl or contaminants?
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: That's always a concern with any sort of drug we're
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: seeing come over here. One of the things around it is,
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: fair enough, there's no real quality control in the production
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: of these types of things. So people, first of all,
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: don't know what the purity is like. And they also
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: have no idea what they're taking. They'll just take it
• 8:43
  Speaker 6: on an honesty system that if they're sold what they're
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: told is cocaine, it is actually cocaine.
• 8:48
  Speaker 10: All right.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Is there anything we can do about it? Is there
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: anything we need to do about it?
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  Speaker 6: We definitely need to do something about it. It's a
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: concern for society. It's a concern for the safety of
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: the people in the community. Government agencies can continue doing
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: the same as what they have been doing. It's around
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: collecting the data and seeing what the size of the
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: problem is. It's around educating people on the risks involved.
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: of the drug, of any drug, but specifically the risk
• 9:11
  Speaker 6: of cocaine. And it's also around continuing enforcement. I know
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: at the moment there are agencies from New Zealand up
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: in Pacific Islands trying to cut the supply chain through
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: the area.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: All right, Glenn, I thank you so much for your
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: time today. That is Glenn Dobson, who is the Drug
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Detention Agency CEO, and it's now 17 minutes after five,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: and Anthony's come back to me and said, well, explain
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: to Andrew, that's big dollars.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: The east-west link that Ardern stopped, that National wanted to do,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: is $ 327 million a kilometre. The high cost is due
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: to the fact that it was being developed through highly
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: developed industrial land. There's a bit of reclamation that had
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: to happen in the Manukau Harbour, and there was bridging
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: work as well, but still $ 327 million a kilometre. The
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Belfast to Pegasus Road, $ 73 million a kilometre. Mills Road,
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: that's going to be really expensive as well. Why, I
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: ask you? Meanwhile, why can you not repair your car,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: especially the new ones? Well, Labour's decided that there should
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: be a right to repair aspect to our car ownership,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: stopping the monopoly of the guys who sold you, the
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: dealers who sold you the car in the first place.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk to Arena Williams, Labour's Consumer Affairs
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: spokesperson next.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Get ahead of the headlines on Early Edition with Andrew
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Dickens and Spark for Business, technology that keeps business moving.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: News Talk ZB.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: 5.21, Russell writes, don't new cars have a warranty? Yes,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: that's true, but that's not the issue. And I'll explain
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: more about that in a moment with Arena Williams. Labour
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: is promising to make it cheaper and easier to repair
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: your car if elected. They say drivers should have a
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: right to repair their vehicles and choose where they get
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: it done. They also want to look at petrol prices.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: They've got a couple of measures there. Arena Williams is
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Labour's Consumer Affairs spokesperson and joins me now. Good morning
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: to you, Arena.
• 11:07
  Speaker 11: Morning.
• 11:07
  Speaker 9: Thanks for having me, Andrew.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: So what do you mean by a right to repair,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: for those who don't know?
• 11:12
  Speaker 9: Yeah, we want to make sure that independent mechanics can
• 11:15
  Speaker 9: get access to the information that they need to repair
• 11:18
  Speaker 9: all cars. At the moment in New Zealand, some manufacturers
• 11:21
  Speaker 9: withhold that information. So your small mechanics can't get it
• 11:24
  Speaker 9: and they're having to send your car down the road
• 11:26
  Speaker 9: if they can fix it. So things like fully fixing
• 11:30
  Speaker 9: the repair on your car, but not being able to
• 11:32
  Speaker 9: turn off the dash light. And that's driving up costs
• 11:36
  Speaker 9: for ordinary people.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: To answer Russell's questions, don't new cars have a warranty?
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Here's the problem. If you don't actually give the independent
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: garages the technology and the knowledge to fix a car,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: then the dealers keep on actually doing the repairs at
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: a higher cost after the warranty period has come out.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: So do you have any proof that the dealers have
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: been rorting us?
• 11:58
  Speaker 9: That's right. So in Australia, they brought this law in
• 12:02
  Speaker 9: in 2022, and a Treasury review found that independent mechanics
• 12:06
  Speaker 9: can do the same repairs for 25% cheaper. What's important
• 12:10
  Speaker 9: is that if manufacturers are offering a valuable warranty, then
• 12:14
  Speaker 9: consumers should be able to get that. But for the
• 12:16
  Speaker 9: vast majority of New Zealanders with cars out of warranty,
• 12:19
  Speaker 9: those repairs are more and more expensive. Something like a
• 12:22
  Speaker 9: Mitsubishi ASX 2014, I know because that's my car, has
• 12:25
  Speaker 9: a diesel particular filter, which is a manufacturer with special
• 12:30
  Speaker 9: rules about who can access those codes. My mechanic down
• 12:34
  Speaker 9: the road in Manukau can fix it for me, but
• 12:36
  Speaker 9: he has to send the car to another mechanic to
• 12:39
  Speaker 9: get that code. And so I want to make sure
• 12:41
  Speaker 9: he's got access to it for a fair fee.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I have a Chinese EV, and of course
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: they fix it by using a computer program, but they
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: don't share the computer program with mechanics, so it's as
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: simple as that. In fact, with the EVs and the hybrids,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: we've got a growing problem arising, don't we?
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we do.
• 12:57
  Speaker 9: It's important that mechanics are also getting that information. Yes,
• 13:00
  Speaker 9: they need to have qualifications to fix an EV because
• 13:03
  Speaker 9: they're increasingly computers on wheels, but we've got an aging
• 13:07
  Speaker 9: workforce of mechanics who are in their 50s and 60s,
• 13:09
  Speaker 9: and instead of Being able to confidently invest in the
• 13:12
  Speaker 9: tools that they need to fix those cars and skill
• 13:14
  Speaker 9: up the guys in the auto shop, they're considering selling
• 13:18
  Speaker 9: their businesses because it's getting harder and harder for New
• 13:20
  Speaker 9: Zealand mechanics to run a business.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, you also want to crack down on fuel price gouging. Now,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: that sounds like tilting at windmills. How are you going
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: to do that?
• 13:28
  Speaker 9: That's right. So Labour will introduce a price gouging law
• 13:31
  Speaker 9: in our first 100 days, which will apply to essential goods.
• 13:35
  Speaker 9: But for fuel, we're saying, look, this is.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: A special case.
• 13:38
  Speaker 9: We're going to bring in some clear rules around not
• 13:40
  Speaker 9: only the retail level, but the wholesale level and adopt
• 13:43
  Speaker 9: some of the Australian measures in the Australian oil code,
• 13:47
  Speaker 9: which look at the contracts which small independent fuel retailers
• 13:52
  Speaker 9: enter into with the wholesalers. Because it's hard to compete
• 13:55
  Speaker 9: when you are reliant on your fuel supply from the
• 13:58
  Speaker 9: big end of town, who you've also got to shop
• 14:01
  Speaker 9: a few hundred metres down the road from your own
• 14:03
  Speaker 9: small retail fuel supply.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: All right, Irina, I thank you so much for your
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: time today. Labour's Commerce and Consumers Affairs spokesperson. And yeah,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Australia started doing this in 2022 regarding the right to repair.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: You may remember we talked to David Seymour yesterday about
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: taking the tax off your KiwiSaver investments. Australia did that
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: in the past as well. Why don't we actually look
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: across the road from time to time and see what
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: works over there and do it a little bit quicker?
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: It's 5.24. News Talk ZB. It is now 5.27. I'm
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Andrew Dickinson for Ryan Bridge, who's preparing for his tele-debate,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: which is happening tomorrow at 7.00. Labour finally released their
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: fiscal plan on the weekend, and you have to say
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: it was much anticipated. Commentator after commentator for weeks now
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: have been demanding it. Come on, Labour, where's your numbers?
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Where's your numbers? And now it's being dissected, and mostly,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: of course, by the current coalition parties, etc. But here's
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: the thing. Where's Nationals' numbers? Why don't they get the
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: same sort of pressure about this sort of stuff? I
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: know they're in government, so we kind of know what
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: they're doing anyway, but they don't get the same pressure.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: And how about ACT? Where's ACT's number? Yesterday, I was
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: talking to David Seymour on the show, and I said,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: what spending are you going to have to cut to
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: afford the loss of revenue from the KiwiSaver tax exemption?
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: And he said, well, enough. And don't worry, my fiscal
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: plan is forthcoming. We'll bring it on. What's source for
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: the goose is source for the gander. I would like
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: to see these fiscal plans, please. Meanwhile, I bumped into
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Jenny Marcroft at a Sunday market in the weekend, and
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I was talking to her about all sorts of things.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I asked her, where are you going to be on
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: the list? She has no idea. She's waiting. We're waiting.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: I say this because it's only 32 days until the election.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Advanced voting in New Zealand begins in 21 days. Overseas
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: voting begins in 16 days. We don't have nationals fiscal plan.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: We don't have acts fiscal plan. And remember, part of
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: those days are weekends and rugby tests and all sorts
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: of stuff when we're not thinking about it. I just
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: feel I felt like this election campaign has been going forever.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, a whole lot of vital
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: information is being withheld as the election becomes ever closer.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: So we're going to talk.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: About the Belfast to Pegasus Road at $ 73 million a kilometre,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: just before six. I was listening to the front bench
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: with Heather yesterday. It happens every day at four. And
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Josie Begani said a good thing. She said, when do
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: roads become right wing and rail become left? I thought
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: that was a good question. The Greens, by the way,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: went all in on trains in the weekend, $ 4 billion
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: promising work on the Golden Triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Tauranga to need in Christchurch service, and the return of
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: an overnight sleeper train to Wellington. Now, that was a
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: bit of a blast from the past, a bit of nostalgia,
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: because I used to use the Silver Star back in
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: the day when it was noticeably cheaper than flying, and
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: I was a poor student, and I had to get
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: to Wellington. And I can tell you, it was not pleasant.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: It's only pleasant if you get a whole sleeper cabin,
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: preferably to yourself so you can bed yourself down. But
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: if you have to sit in a seat overnight, it's
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: not good. By the way, if you put a sleeper
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: cabin into this train service, that's going to be really expensive.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: And then the cost for the fare becomes uncompetitive. And
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: so I was thinking about this idea going, I cannot
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: see this working for the business crowd for whom time
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: is money. I can't see it being any cheaper than flying.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: And again, I can't see tourists using it because a
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: tourist would prefer a day service because they want to
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: see the sights. And I sat there thinking about this
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: and what the Greens said and their $ 4 billion. You know,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: you wonder sometimes if our politicians actually have a think
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: before they make their hot takes policy. So we'll talk
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: about the Belfast to Pegasus Road. We've got Donna DeMeo
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: from Australia. We're right around the country. This is Newstalk ZB.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: News is next.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: The early edition Pulp Show podcast on iHeartRadio. Powered by
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Newstalk Zippy. on your radio and online on iHeartRadio. Early
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: edition with Andrew Dickens and Spark for Business, technology that
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 18:17
  Speaker 12: A little bit.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Of Olivia Dean counting down to her concert at Western
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Springs Stadium, October 17th. I'm Andrew Dickens, in for Ryan Bridge,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: who's preparing for his debate more on this in just
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: a second. By the way, text through, Joanne writes... Doesn't
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: the Prefue set out how National's fiscal plan works? No,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: that sets out how National's plan worked when they were
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: in power. What I'm wanting is a fiscal plan about
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: what they want to do going forward because they're making
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: all sorts of policy announcements. How are they going to
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: fund those? Lewis writes, I don't support Labour, but the
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: right to repair ideas is a must. It's a big problem.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: If I purchase a vehicle, I should be able to
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: repair it. I'm currently taking a dealer to court over it.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: So well done. Now, speaking of debates, finally, it is here.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: The very first election debate is tonight with the Chrises,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Luxon and Hipkins, TV1, 7pm. I want to give a
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: warning to the Chrises. If I hear someone blaming the
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: last Labour-led government for our current fiscal morass, I'm turning off.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: If I hear someone saying that Nicola Willis has failed
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: to fix the economy, I'm turning off. If I hear
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a politician claiming they can fix the cost of living crisis,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I'm turning off. If I hear anyone claiming Maori privilege
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: or the lack thereof, I'm turning off. Anyone wants to
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: babble on about who is a woman, I'm turning off.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: We all know the mess we're in, and we all
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: know that everyone and every government has contributed to it.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: So what I would love to hear today, Chris, is...
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: a little bit of realism, a little bit of pragmatism,
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: a whole heap of honesty. But what I'd love to
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: hear is a bit of hope and not some blamestorming
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: bitch fest. Over to you.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: It's 22 to 6.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: We're around the country right now. Good morning. Morning, Andrew.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: You've got wilding conifers all over the place.
• 20:10
  Speaker 13: Yeah, look, it's a big problem, especially right around central Otago.
• 20:14
  Speaker 13: And we're getting a major funding boost to tackle these
• 20:18
  Speaker 13: wilding conifers. The Otago Regional Council's funding through the national
• 20:21
  Speaker 13: wilding conifer control programme is more than quadrupling. So it's
• 20:25
  Speaker 13: going from around $ 1 million to $ 4. 5 million for the
• 20:28
  Speaker 13: coming year. So this increase follows the government's $ 79 million
• 20:32
  Speaker 13: boost to the national programme back in May's budget. So
• 20:35
  Speaker 13: the Regional Council says this means the Wanaka Management Unit
• 20:38
  Speaker 13: will receive national funding for the first time and that
• 20:41
  Speaker 13: will give them a chance to tackle the spread early
• 20:43
  Speaker 13: before it becomes harder and much more expensive to control.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Good stuff. How's your weather?
• 20:48
  Speaker 13: A good day around the south, Dunedin's fine, like northerly's
• 20:51
  Speaker 13: 19 today.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Claire Sherwood joins us from Christchurch.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Claire.
• 20:55
  Speaker 10: Good morning.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: So schools are worried about children not being properly cared for.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: What's the story?
• 20:59
  Speaker 14: Yeah, particularly here in Canterbury, some new data shows schools
• 21:03
  Speaker 14: have made more reports of concerns about children not being
• 21:06
  Speaker 14: cared for. Effectively, there have been more than 12,000 reports
• 21:10
  Speaker 14: to Oranga Tamariki last year. It's up 9,000 on 2020 figures.
• 21:15
  Speaker 14: In Canterbury alone, reports have surged 53%. Canterbury Primary Principals
• 21:20
  Speaker 14: Association President Lisa Dillon-Roberts says most of them involve concerns
• 21:25
  Speaker 14: about care and neglect in the home. She says this
• 21:28
  Speaker 14: could be when a child might mention that they've witnessed
• 21:31
  Speaker 14: something that's been really violent or inappropriate or when teachers
• 21:34
  Speaker 14: believe those kids are not safe in their home.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Good stuff. How's your weather?
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Ah, fine.
• 21:39
  Speaker 14: Aside from some areas of morning low cloud, a bit
• 21:41
  Speaker 14: of high cloud about this evening, nor the least hanging
• 21:43
  Speaker 14: around a warm one, though, 22 degrees.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know quite why I said good stuff then,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: because that was quite a sad story, but I thank
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: you once again, Clare Sherwood. Max Toll from Wellington, good
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: morning to you.
• 21:52
  Speaker 7: Good morning.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Can't be anything happening in the capital when your story
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: is that Joe's Garage is closing the cafe.
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: Well, yes, but, you know, it's been there for 13 years.
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: It is still, I mean, look, I think there's an
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: element of nostalgia with a place like this closing. There
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: have been a flood of comments on its Facebook post
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: announcing its closure. Yeah, Joe's Garage on Tory Street, a chain, obviously,
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: for those familiar, a few spots dotted around the country.
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: The first brand opening in Queenstown, roughly the turn of
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: the century. Opened on Tory Street 2013, now in liquidation.
• 22:28
  Speaker 7: No information given about why it's closing. I would imagine
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: it's just run its course. Reduced foot traffic, custom. Other
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: new cafes as well, opening at the same time. You
• 22:37
  Speaker 7: look around with a more vibrant look. Gravel and Grace, Awaji,
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: just locally. In with the new, unfortunately out with the
• 22:44
  Speaker 7: old for Joe's Garage fans in the capital.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: All right, so how's your weather?
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: Partly cloudy with stronger northerlies, 14.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: And I thank you, Niva Reteman, who now joins us
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: from Auckland. Good morning to you, Niva.
• 22:54
  Speaker 10: Good morning.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: So, we've got a baby who died, and this baby
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: died after meth exposure from breast milk.
• 23:01
  Speaker 12: That's right, Andrew. This is very sad. So, the levels
• 23:03
  Speaker 12: of meth found in a baby who died just over
• 23:05
  Speaker 12: three years after his little sister died were partly from
• 23:08
  Speaker 12: exposure to his mother's breast milk. So, Open Justice is
• 23:11
  Speaker 12: reporting Ronan John Tony Stanley Hunt, aged three months, died
• 23:16
  Speaker 12: in June. This is in 2024 at his Auckland home.
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: So.
• 23:19
  Speaker 12: His cause of death's unknown, but a coroner's found that
• 23:23
  Speaker 12: it's likely a combination of the meth exposure, RSV, dehydration
• 23:27
  Speaker 12: and an unsafe sleep environment. So the coroner's come out
• 23:32
  Speaker 12: obviously making some recommendations saying more resources to support pregnant
• 23:36
  Speaker 12: mothers who use meth to minimise all the risks of
• 23:38
  Speaker 12: harm to babies.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but mums have one job and we all know
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: what that job is. Now, how's the weather?
• 23:44
  Speaker 12: Cloudy conditions today. It's You know, warming up, 19 is
• 23:47
  Speaker 12: the high here in Auckland.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Nibiru Itimanu from Auckland, I thank you so much. It
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: is now 18 minutes to six, so the lead story
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: at the moment is all about the price of petrol,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: $ 3. 50. 6 apparently for 91. I've got a bulletin of petrol
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: news for you here. OPEC, which includes Russia, Saudi Arabia
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: and Iraq, have agreed to hold oil production steady for November.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: And this comes as the petrol prices here hit their
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: highest level since the war began. Now Brent crude is
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: above $ 100 again, while the Kiwi dollars fall in 7%
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: since August. That inflates our import costs. That's why the
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: price is high. Now Brent crude went above $ 100 because
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: China halted most fuel exports for October, which tightened up
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: the global diesel and gasoline supplies. And that's what helped
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: push Brent back over the $ 100. Thanks, China. Saudi Arabia, though,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: has cut oil prices for Asian customers, signaling a fight
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: for market share as the flows through the Strait of
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Hormuz recover. So that move has put some downward pressure
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: on crude. Meanwhile, Iran's oil minister has resigned because basically, well,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: there are allegations that an intermediary trust selling Iranian oil
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: abroad owed millions of dollars worth of export receipts to
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: the state. But it's also because he's just not running
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: the place very well. And his departure comes as Iran
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: grapples with a dire economic situation. Their inflation is running
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: at 85%. If we don't beat them with the bombs,
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: we'll beat them with the economy. 17 to 6. Donna
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: DeMeyer from Australia is next.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: International Correspondence with NZI Insurance. Peace of mind for New
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Zealand business.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: It's 14 to 6. Good morning to Donna DeMeyer from Australia.
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: Hello, Donna.
• 25:29
  Speaker 6: Oh, hello.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: How are you doing? Good, thank you. Australia co-hosted a
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: major climate summit in Fiji. Now it turns out it
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: cost a bomb.
• 25:37
  Speaker 8: Yes, it cost quite a lot. Taxpayers not impressed with
• 25:41
  Speaker 8: the $ 20 million bill for this major climate gathering. And
• 25:45
  Speaker 8: the PM really has had to defend this taxpayer-funded event
• 25:49
  Speaker 8: on that cost and on the guest list because it
• 25:53
  Speaker 8: is being co-hosted by Australia and there are representatives from
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: more than 50 nations. Now, this is an event that
• 26:01
  Speaker 8: is ahead of the COP31 summit in Turkey next month.
• 26:04
  Speaker 8: But Albanese says, Australia is proud to stand with its
• 26:07
  Speaker 8: Pacific family and to co-host. And in his words, for
• 26:11
  Speaker 8: many of the nations represented by leaders at the meeting,
• 26:14
  Speaker 8: climate change is literally a threat to their very existence,
• 26:18
  Speaker 8: which is why the world must act. But this criticism
• 26:21
  Speaker 8: continues because the event really failed to lure those world
• 26:25
  Speaker 8: leaders that typically may go to events such as this.
• 26:30
  Speaker 8: Chris Bolan, the Energy Minister, has defended the guest list. Tomorrow,
• 26:35
  Speaker 8: we'll be hearing from Jacinda Ardern.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: You may have heard of her. Yeah. Look, here's the thing.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Talkfests about climate are losing their power. So you might
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: want to think about that a little bit more before
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: you spend a lot of money. Now, this fly Dubai
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: pilot who allegedly attempted, we say allegedly, but we kind
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: of have to for legal reasons, allegedly attempted to hijack
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: a plane. It turns out he spent some time in
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: New Zealand, but you guys, you've been investigating him because
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: he spent quite a bit of time in Australia.
• 27:03
  Speaker 8: Yes, we've had confirmation from Aussie University RMIT in Melbourne
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: that the Fly Dubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: that Israel-bound flight with 182 people on board, actually went
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: to the uni for a period of time, did not
• 27:23
  Speaker 8: complete his qualifications, so left before he completed his studies
• 27:26
  Speaker 8: at that Melbourne campus. Not much more from the uni,
• 27:31
  Speaker 8: as they put it, it's an ongoing investigation, so unable
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: to provide further comment. But we also know now that
• 27:39
  Speaker 8: quite a number of Agencies are investigating the Australian Federal Police,
• 27:44
  Speaker 8: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, otherwise known as ASIO. We have
• 27:48
  Speaker 8: heard from a source through The Guardian that this man
• 27:53
  Speaker 8: was granted an Australian student visa in 2014. He arrived
• 27:57
  Speaker 8: in the country a year later. He left Australia in 2017,
• 28:02
  Speaker 8: visa cancelled 2019, when authorities confirmed he was no longer
• 28:06
  Speaker 8: enrolled in the course. But we know that we'll get
• 28:09
  Speaker 8: an update at an appropriate time, as authorities put it,
• 28:12
  Speaker 8: on what happened there.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Donna, I thank you. It's 11 to 6.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: More infrastructure promises from the Nats in its roads. $ 800
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: million to fully fund 11 kilometres from Belfast to Pegasus.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: It's a motorway. It's in Christchurch. NZTA says having that
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: road there will save up to 10 minutes. But everyone's
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: asking the question, why does it cost so much?
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: We will contribute $ 800 million of Crown capital in Budget
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: 2027 if we're re-elected, which means we can get on
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: with the road in the 2027 construction season.
• 28:43
  Speaker 9: It's farcical what they're doing at the moment.
• 28:45
  Speaker 13: They announced many of the roads that they're re-announcing in
• 28:47
  Speaker 13: this campaign at the last election.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: So Dom Kalasi is the Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: Officer and joins me now. Hello, Dom.
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: Good morning, Andrew.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Is this road necessary? Will it be good?
• 29:02
  Speaker 11: Well, I think we're probably having this call because there's
• 29:07
  Speaker 11: a lot of certainty about this thing.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Okay. You're the guy from Transporting New Zealand, you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: so all those guys who transport, will they sit there
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: and go, ah, yeah, 11 kilometres, Belfast to Pegasus, this
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: is going to make such a good difference. Is it
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: going to be good?
• 29:21
  Speaker 11: Look, it will make a difference. It will make a difference.
• 29:26
  Speaker 11: But the concern we have is whether we're getting the
• 29:30
  Speaker 11: best value for money from the money being spent and
• 29:35
  Speaker 11: also whether there's not a degree, there's a of certainty
• 29:41
  Speaker 11: on whether it'll be delivered on budget. And I'll just
• 29:45
  Speaker 11: give you a few examples, okay? If you look at
• 29:49
  Speaker 11: Transmission Gully, that's the Wellington Expressway, that cost $ 1. 25 billion, right?
• 29:57
  Speaker 11: up from an initial estimate of $ 850 million. And it's
• 30:03
  Speaker 11: a 25-kilometre section of road. So that cost, construction cost,
• 30:06
  Speaker 11: was $ 46 million a kilometre.
• 30:09
  Speaker 6: All right?
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 30:10
  Speaker 11: If you look at Otake to north of Libet, which
• 30:12
  Speaker 11: is a bit further north of there, that's costing $ 2. 1 billion,
• 30:16
  Speaker 11: up from an estimate in 2020 of $ 800 million. That's
• 30:18
  Speaker 11: 24 kilometres. So the cost of that is about $ 87
• 30:29
  Speaker 11: million per kilometre.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: All right. I understand what you're doing here. You're doing
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: the price per kilometre. This one, 73 million a kilometre.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: That's extraordinary. If we built the East-West Highway, that was
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: budgeted at $ 327 million a kilometre. So I actually did
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: some research this morning. I said, what is the global
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: average for building a highway? How much does it cost
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: a kilometre? The global average is around about $ 15 to
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: $ 16 million. Why does it cost so much in New Zealand?
• 31:01
  Speaker 11: It's going to vary in New Zealand depending where you build, right?
• 31:05
  Speaker 11: And because of our... We do have challenging topography, right?
• 31:09
  Speaker 11: And in fact, one of the issues was, say, Otaki
• 31:11
  Speaker 11: and the North of Levin, because I asked the project
• 31:14
  Speaker 11: engineer that exact question.
• 31:17
  Speaker 9: 11Ks.
• 31:18
  Speaker 11: Sorry, 24Ks, why is it so expensive? There's 11 bridges.
• 31:24
  Speaker 11: Or between 11 bridges and Colbert. And that really ramps.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: Up the cost.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but Belfast to Pegasus, it's flat.
• 31:32
  Speaker 11: Well, that's right.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: There is no problem. It's still $ 73 million a kilometre.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: Is it because we stop-start with our development and therefore
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: we have to restart everything and rehire everybody and restock
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: everything and so it costs so much more because we
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: don't have our plan?
• 31:51
  Speaker 11: I think that's some of it. But the other thing
• 31:53
  Speaker 11: is it will depend on when the land was purchased.
• 31:57
  Speaker 11: So if you look at the transmission gully, now that
• 32:00
  Speaker 11: was being talked about for 60 years. So, you know,
• 32:03
  Speaker 11: there'd been property designated for that section of road, so
• 32:07
  Speaker 11: they didn't have to go and purchase that. Whereas Otaki
• 32:10
  Speaker 11: to north of Levin, you also see Taranaki way with
• 32:14
  Speaker 11: Awakena Gorge. They're having to buy land now. Yep. That
• 32:21
  Speaker 11: brings a lot of uncertainty.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Dom, it's a tragedy that roads cost so much in
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: this country, and it's something that if someone could fix,
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: we'd all cheer. It is 7 to 6, and I
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: thank you.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: Before the news breaks, hear it first. Andrew Dickens on
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: early edition with Spark for Business, technology that keeps business moving.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: And Dom's little list of all the roads that cost
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: so much in this country is heartbreaking. And of course,
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: the East West Highway, that's the record breaker. They haven't
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: even started that $ 327 million a kilometre. So I've got
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: a texter who says, if you think the supermarket duopoly
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: is a problem, maybe you should look at the road
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: building duopoly. He reckons that Dionysus and Fulton Hogan have
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: the ear of the government and he reckons they charge
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: whatever they like. Well, I don't know about that, but
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: I do wonder why the hell are roads so expensive
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: in this country? Mike Hosking, good morning to you.
• 33:06
  Speaker 6: Good morning.
• 33:06
  Speaker 10: It's funny you should raise that. Fulton Hogan announced their
• 33:09
  Speaker 10: profit yesterday, and that's good. They're a New Zealand-Australia company,
• 33:13
  Speaker 10: private company. Anyway, we're talking about that today. The other
• 33:16
  Speaker 10: thing I was going to raise with somebody is there
• 33:18
  Speaker 10: was a claim from Barbara Edmonds that in taking the
• 33:22
  Speaker 10: excess off and not having it for three years, this
• 33:25
  Speaker 10: is the petrol excess, they would just lose 440 metres
• 33:27
  Speaker 10: of State Highway 1. 440 metres.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: Metres.
• 33:32
  Speaker 10: So half a kilometre, in other words, which strikes me
• 33:36
  Speaker 10: as being untrue because my understanding is the lack of
• 33:39
  Speaker 10: excise will be at least $ 3 billion and it doesn't
• 33:42
  Speaker 10: cost $ 3 billion to make half.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: A kilometre. Well, does it or does it not?
• 33:48
  Speaker 10: That's what I'm going to find out this morning anyway.
• 33:50
  Speaker 10: We'll do a bit of that.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: Is Barbara with you this morning? No, she's not. She's yesterday.
• 33:53
  Speaker 10: No, I've got somebody on who might actually know what
• 33:55
  Speaker 10: the answer is. Might actually know what the answer is.
• 33:59
  Speaker 10: And also Garth Tander. You know Garth?
• 34:01
  Speaker 11: Yes.
• 34:02
  Speaker 10: So he retired last year. He was racing around Bathurst
• 34:05
  Speaker 10: with Matt Payne.
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 34:07
  Speaker 10: In the rain when Matt Payne and Garth Tander won
• 34:09
  Speaker 10: that particular race. So then he retired, and so he
• 34:11
  Speaker 10: was back for the first time in whatever it is, 27,
• 34:13
  Speaker 10: 28 years, not actually driving a car.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: He's with us. That's great. You can keep going forever
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: in that driving. Why don't I always... Denny Hoom died
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: on Conrad Strait at Racing Bathurst. What a great way
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: to die, but he went to the end, didn't he, just... Michael,
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: thank you so very much. My thanks also to producer Kenzie.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: My thanks to set-up producer Sam. My thanks to you.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: I'll be back again tomorrow. The TV One debate is tonight.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: Ryan's debate on Herald Now is tomorrow.