Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Full Show Podcast: 09 September 2026

Transcript

Full Show Podcast: 09 September 2026 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The issues, the interviews and the insight. Andrew Dickens on
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Early Edition with Spark for Business, technology that keeps business moving.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: As well, good morning to you and welcome to the program.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for choosing us. Ryan's feeling a
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: bit poorly, so it's me today and Katie Bramford on
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: the tally. So on the program, more and more politicians
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: are pointing out the problems with the ETS scheme. We're
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: going to talk to the chair of Beef and Lamb
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: and ask whether we're starting to get back on the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: right track. The government finds money to compensate councils for
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: tourism growth. We'll have the mayor of Queenstown on this
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: in 10 minutes. And good news about our education standards internationally.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I'm going to ask the head of the Principals Association
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: about what we're starting to get right. Gavin Gray out
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: of the UK, correspondents from right around New Zealand. The
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: news as it breaks. And you can have your say
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: by sending me a text. A small charge applies. It's 92.92,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: seven after five.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: The agenda.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: So today is Wednesday, the 9th of September. To the
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: UK first, where they will ban imports from Israeli settlements
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: in the occupied West Bank.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: We will take action against specific companies and individuals who
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: for settlement expansion. So to those who finance or facilitate
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: full force of UK sanctions.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Israel has reacted by closing the British consulate in
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Jerusalem and banning 11 British MPs from entering the country.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: A boycott of goods from Judea and Samaria is despicable
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: practice that harms hard-working, low-abiding citizens. Contrary to the false
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: claims of the Labour government, no new decisions have been
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: made regarding development in E1. The decision was taken more
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: than one year ago and the tender process has been
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: underway for about nine months.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Now, you heard the date at the beginning of the
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: agenda there. Can you believe it? 25 years this week
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: since 9-11, and the President of the United States has
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: been speaking at a memorial service in Washington.
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: On 9-11, nearly 3,000 precious souls were stolen from us,
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: killed by evil terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and.
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: On Flight 93.
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: All of these years later, we gather on another Tuesday
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: morning in September to reaffirm the sacred vow we made
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: a quarter of a century ago.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: We will never forget.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: We say it and we mean it. We will never forget.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, it may be 25 years later, but newly released
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: files show that toxic air was detected in Manhattan right
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: after the attacks. This while officials played down the health risk.
• 2:46
  Speaker 7: These are documents that show what the city knew about
• 2:49
  Speaker 7: the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it,
• 2:52
  Speaker 7: and how they acted to limit liability. They contain details
• 2:56
  Speaker 7: about DEP's response. They show how asbestos was found nearly
• 3:01
  Speaker 7: everywhere that inspectors tested. And they will help New Yorkers
• 3:04
  Speaker 7: access the health care they need.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Righto, now to the North American trade war. And Canada's
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Prime Minister Mark Carney says ditching the United States as
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: its biggest trading partner will come at a cost. That
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: says Canadian tariffs on nearly $ 28 billion worth of U.S.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: goods kick in, some as high as 50%. Here is Carney.
• 3:24
  Speaker 8: But Canadians have faced difficult stretches before, and what's carried
• 3:28
  Speaker 8: us through has never, ever been just one measure. It's
• 3:33
  Speaker 8: always been Canadians looking out for each other. In fact,
• 3:38
  Speaker 8: the most powerful actions have come from you, buying Canadian
• 3:42
  Speaker 8: and travelling in Canada. Decisions taken at the kitchen table.
• 3:48
  Speaker 8: Not the boardroom table.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: So both sides want a deal, but the talks have stalled.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: And it's ten after five.
• 3:55
  Speaker 9: Hear it first.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Andrew Dickens on early edition with Spark for Business. Technology
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: So the emission trading scheme, it's got to be on
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: its last legs, hasn't it? Yesterday, Chris Hipkins said the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: whole thing is broken. He understands no one thinks planting
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: trees to offset pollution is a good idea. He wants
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: to put that on pause. And he wants the carbon
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: price to go up. So that might force us to
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: make real improvements to our pollution emissions. Over the last
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: three years, National has overseen a complete collapse in the
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: carbon price. And here is the rub. Who actually understands
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: this scheme? Other than it takes food land away and
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: it doesn't reduce emissions. Elsewhere, ACT is campaigning to change
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: or leave the Paris Agreement. New Zealand First is campaigning
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: on pulling out of the Paris Agreement. They've described it
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: as senselessly hamstringing our economy. The National Party leader, Christopher Luxon,
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: has ruled out abandoning the Paris Agreement pledge on trade grounds.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, he's made clear that he
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: believes many countries won't meet their commitment and that the
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: agreement will face a day of reckoning. Let's face it,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: it doesn't work. The whole shebang appears to be rickety.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: And worst of all, it smacks of virtue signaling, trying
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: to do something but achieving nothing. It's been an expensive
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: experiment to make us feel better. It has done nothing.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Andrew Dickens today. Ryan's not feeling so well now. Kate
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Ackland is the Beef and Lamb New Zealand chair, and
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: she's going to talk about the ETS system a bit
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: later on. Later on in the program, the really great news,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: our education standards have lifted internationally. Now, whether it's we're
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: doing so much better or whether the rest of the
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: OECD is doing worse, we'll try and find out. We'll
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: do that just before six. News Talks here, Bea. It's
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: 12 after five.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio, powered by
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB. Before the news breaks, hear it first. Andrew
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Dickens on early edition with Spark for Business, technology that
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: 14 out of 5, and as I told you earlier,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Labour came out yesterday, said the ETS system is broken.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: They want to do something about it. They want to
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: make polluting more expensive. They want to make sure polluters
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: can't just cover their emissions by purchasing carbon credits and
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: planting forests. Yes, they want to put a pause on
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: new forestry registrations and ban people from turning their whole
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: farm into a pine forest. So I'm joined now by
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: the chair of Beef and Lamb New Zealand, Kate Acklam.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Kate.
• 6:24
  Speaker 10: Morning, Andrew.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Did you like the sound of this? Because Labour have
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: always supported the ETA scheme.
• 6:30
  Speaker 10: Well, we do welcome the news that they're looking to
• 6:32
  Speaker 10: put restrictions on whole farm conversions into the ETS. I mean,
• 6:36
  Speaker 10: we've had 300,000 hectares of whole sheep and beef farms
• 6:40
  Speaker 10: go into trees in the last seven years. And, you know,
• 6:43
  Speaker 10: although the current government's put some restrictions in place, we
• 6:46
  Speaker 10: don't think that's gone far enough.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we've got all the coalition partners saying, well, look,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: this whole regulatory framework for pollution is rickety, as I
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: called it. Now we've got Labour joining in as well.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Is this easier to say, though, in theory, rather than
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to do in practice?
• 7:04
  Speaker 10: Well, I think you're exactly right, and there is reasonably
• 7:06
  Speaker 10: widespread agreement that the ETS isn't working as it should,
• 7:10
  Speaker 10: but it is a very difficult thing to fix. So,
• 7:13
  Speaker 10: you know, it's a really positive first step that there's
• 7:15
  Speaker 10: agreement on this, but in terms of how it will
• 7:18
  Speaker 10: be fixed, that could take some time.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Is it difficult to fix because the whole world has
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: actually bought into it?
• 7:25
  Speaker 10: Well, as the whole world bought into it, I think
• 7:28
  Speaker 10: we're just far enough down the track. There's been enough
• 7:31
  Speaker 10: people investing money in planting forestry that it's very hard
• 7:38
  Speaker 10: to back out of that. I think as a first step,
• 7:42
  Speaker 10: probably further restrictions on what types of land can be
• 7:45
  Speaker 10: planted for conversion and whole farm conversion would be something
• 7:49
  Speaker 10: that we would welcome.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: And what Labour was saying yesterday is basically copy and
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: paste after what Simon Upton, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: actually reported back with a report last month. So is
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: that a good thing that they're actually listening to the
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: advice that's coming out from people who have looked at
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: it very closely?
• 8:09
  Speaker 10: Look, we did welcome that PCE report. We do think
• 8:12
  Speaker 10: it's a good thing. Look, there were some other quite
• 8:16
  Speaker 10: concerning things in that PCE report around methane and trading methane,
• 8:21
  Speaker 10: but in terms of the forestry piece, yes, absolutely.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: And do you think beef and lamb producers in New
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Zealand are getting more environmentally conscious over the years?
• 8:31
  Speaker 10: Look, they absolutely are. I mean, we've had a 30%
• 8:33
  Speaker 10: reduction in emissions since 1990. We're amongst the most emissions-efficient
• 8:38
  Speaker 10: farmers in the world and we're continuing to make those
• 8:42
  Speaker 10: gains and we're making them through efficiency gains and just
• 8:45
  Speaker 10: continually striving to be better. So I think as we
• 8:49
  Speaker 10: look to reduce agricultural emissions, actually stopping farming is not
• 8:52
  Speaker 10: the way to do it. And we sort of welcome
• 8:55
  Speaker 10: this news from the Labour Party because it sounds like
• 8:57
  Speaker 10: they are starting to recognise the importance of the agricultural
• 9:00
  Speaker 10: sector to New Zealand's broader economy.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Good stuff. Kate Ackland, I thank you so much for
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: joining us. Kate is the Chair of Beef and Lamb
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: New Zealand. immediate text response. One texter says, it was
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: all criminal. Bloody pine trees everywhere on farmland. Labour and
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: the Greens should be held to account. Well, everyone kind
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: of bought into it, to be fair, to Labour and
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: the Greens. Meanwhile, the PCM report, the Parliamentary Commissioner for
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: the Environment report, actually points out that there's a lot
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: of people who are making their money out of the
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: forestry and they're going to be a bit worried about
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: their entire income going. So we'll wait to see what happens. Meanwhile,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: we've got the new bed tax alternative. And it's not
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: going to hit you and I. It's going to hit
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: international visitors. We'll look at what the government is proposing
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: and whether John Glover from Queenstown thinks it's a good idea.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 9:59
  Speaker 9: The new you need.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: This morning and the in-depth analysis. Early Edition with Andrew
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Dickens and Spark for Business. Technology that keeps business moving.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Look at that, it's 5.21 already if you're just waking
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: up right now. Brian's got a bit of the lurgy.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Dickens in for this hour. Now, National's got
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: an alternative to a bed tax. They're going to redirect
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: the international visitor levy money to councils. Now, about $ 385
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: million will be handed out over four years based on
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: visitor nights. Auckland will get $ 19. 1 million given to them
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: by the government in year one. And Queenstown Lakes, $ 17.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: 1 million.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Here's Nicola.
• 10:39
  Speaker 11: Next four years, which will come from future operating allowances.
• 10:43
  Speaker 11: That's so we can keep people on the front line
• 10:45
  Speaker 11: at dock doing their jobs, and so we can ensure
• 10:47
  Speaker 11: that we still have funds available to the government for
• 10:50
  Speaker 11: strategic tourism priorities.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: So joining us is John Glover, who's the Mayor of Queenstown.
• 10:54
  Speaker 9: Hello, John. Yes, good morning, Andrew.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: So are you pleased with this? Is it better or
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: worse than a bed tax, or at least is it something?
• 11:01
  Speaker 12: Well, we didn't have a bed tax on offer. It's
• 11:05
  Speaker 12: something we've been advocating for for about the past 10 years.
• 11:08
  Speaker 12: So it's not as good as a local accommodation levy,
• 11:11
  Speaker 12: but it's better than what we've got at the moment,
• 11:14
  Speaker 12: which is very, very little.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, as Wayne Brown pointed out yesterday, the councils will
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: get less than a bed tax. And they're also a
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: bit worried about the fact that Wellington is in charge
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: of doling out the money. So is that a rat
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: you're prepared to swallow?
• 11:26
  Speaker 12: Well, I mean, I think nobody really knows how many
• 11:30
  Speaker 12: people spend in light wear around the country, so that
• 11:33
  Speaker 12: hopefully won't consume people. Too much angst, but obviously there's
• 11:37
  Speaker 12: a lot of Airbnbs and nights spent there that never
• 11:40
  Speaker 12: make it onto any sort of government statistics. Look, I
• 11:45
  Speaker 12: think if the money comes back to councils and we're
• 11:47
  Speaker 12: allowed to spend it in our own way, that would
• 11:49
  Speaker 12: be amazing. It's a good start, but it's not as
• 11:53
  Speaker 12: much as we would have collected if we'd been looking
• 11:55
  Speaker 12: at a local accommodation levy.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Queenstown Lakes gets $ 17. 1 million. Now, what can you
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: do with that?
• 12:03
  Speaker 12: Oh, you can do a huge amount. I mean, when
• 12:05
  Speaker 12: you think that our population doubles with tourism, so there's
• 12:08
  Speaker 12: 50,000 residents in the district, we'll get another 50,000 on
• 12:12
  Speaker 12: a busy day, so everything needs to be twice as big.
• 12:14
  Speaker 12: So that's your waste collection, the size of your park reserves,
• 12:19
  Speaker 12: sport halls, swimming pools. We've got some really expensive roads
• 12:24
  Speaker 12: to maintain in our rural backcountry network, so if somebody
• 12:27
  Speaker 12: wants to go to the Rootburn track, for example, they
• 12:29
  Speaker 12: expect the roads are going to be there, and of
• 12:31
  Speaker 12: course these are quite quite remote, expensive roads to maintain. So, yeah,
• 12:36
  Speaker 12: no shortage of options.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Well, that sounds like a long list, but $ 17. 1 million
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: isn't a big sum.
• 12:42
  Speaker 12: Well, no, but it's maybe $ 17. 1 million if this is
• 12:45
  Speaker 12: what comes out after the election, and obviously that's what
• 12:49
  Speaker 12: it is. But it's $ 17. 1 that we wouldn't have to
• 12:51
  Speaker 12: get from our ratepayers, and they're currently picking up the.
• 12:54
  Speaker 10: Tab at the moment.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: True enough. And it's snowing down in Queenstown, and I
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: know this because all the ski fields have extended their season,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: so that's got to be good.
• 13:00
  Speaker 9: Oh, it is.
• 13:01
  Speaker 10: It's amazing.
• 13:02
  Speaker 12: And I was at the media yesterday, and the hills
• 13:05
  Speaker 12: were just looking amazing in the background. So it's really good.
• 13:08
  Speaker 12: What we do need is to spend on the infrastructure,
• 13:11
  Speaker 12: on our public transport, on our roading network, so people
• 13:13
  Speaker 12: can get around easily and effortlessly.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Good on you. John, you live in a lovely part
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: of the town. That is the mayor of Queenstown. That
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: is John Glover. Hey, and first things first, let's just
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: get one thing straight as we head towards the election,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: where tax is going to be talked about a lot.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: And the question is always, is a levy a tax?
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: And the short answer is yes. A tax is a
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: type of levy, but a levy is a broader category.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: A levy simply means any charge imposed and collected by
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: an authority, like the government, and when the government makes money,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: let's just call it a tax. A tax is a
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: specific kind of levy, and that is a compulsory payment
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: to the government. So, of course, National is campaigning on
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: no new taxes levied by central government, but they can't
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: get away with rebranding it as, oh, it's a levy,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: not a tax, because a tax is a levy, in
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: my humble opinion. News Talk ZB is 5.26. The jungle
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: drums are starting to thrum for the fast-track regime. Word
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: on the street is that legal action is coming for
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: a number of the proposals currently before the committee. Meanwhile,
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: there was a really fiery Auckland Council meeting yesterday full
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: of anger at residential fast-track developers. One councillor caused the
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: whole fast-track thing an existential threat. Mayor Wade Brown has
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: vowed to be a thorn in the side of subdivisions
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: looking to circumvent the council. and considering telling FastTrack developers
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: and the people who will buy those places that it
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: will not provide or fund basic services to them. So
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: the problem is, I reckon, that the developers are using
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: the new system to gazump planning rules. So FastTrack was
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: designed to speed up the process of getting consents, but
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: not to supplant the regulations currently in place. And there's
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: been a stampede, particularly by housing developers, who want quick
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: consents but they also want more latitude for their plans. Now,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: a prime example of that is the redevelopment of the
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Devonport Township. The developers there have proposed a series of
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: eight-storey buildings, but the unitary plan currently only allows four,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and that's got locals concerned that the main road will
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: be overwhelmed. It's very picturesque, and they'll have absolutely no
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: say in there. The fast track is there to make
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: the gaining of consents faster, but not to fundamentally change
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: the plan that's currently in place. You want a success story?
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: The ports of Tauranga. whose plan was stuck in bureaucratic
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: limbo for seven years. Now, in a matter of months,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: the plan has been improved. But it's still a plan
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: that adheres to all the planning regulations in place. They
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: didn't actually steal a march. They didn't take the mickey. Anyway,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: so expect some expensive legal action as locals and, of course,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: councils put the spanner in the works of the developers
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: who are trying to push the boundaries for a quick buck.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: It was lovely to come into work this morning and
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: look at what I'm going to do on the program
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: today and go, gosh, it's full of good news. There's
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: a new Business NZ report showing more signs of economic recovery.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Growth's becoming more broad-based. Manufacturing back in expansion. Tourism arrivals
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: up 9%. Construction forecast to hit 65%. Sorry, construction forecast
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: to hit 65 billion by 2030. Unemployment's expected to have peaked.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: GDP growth forecast to near 3% by 2028. That was good.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: But what was really good was the education statistics. The
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: latest PISA results internationally have our 15-year-olds 9th in reading,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: 10th in science, 16th in maths, all above the OECD
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: average in all three. Good on us, eh? The results
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: have stabilised while the OECDs continue to slide. So the
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: question remains, are we getting better or is the rest
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: of the world getting worse? But what they really pointed
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: out is that the gap in New Zealand between richer
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: and poorer Kiwi students has narrowed. So back in the
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: day when we had the old COVID, the poorest students
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: were the ones who actually got hit the most and
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: their educational standards slipped. But now those levels are starting
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: to even up. And now it doesn't matter whether you're
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: coming from a poor family or a rich family, you're
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: achieving the same sort of results. And that's got to
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: be good news. So we're going to talk about this
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: with the head of the Principals Association just before six
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: o'clock this morning.
• 17:12
  Speaker 9: So there we go.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Good, good news. But I will also read some text
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: very shortly about this whole money from the tourist levy
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: for the councils, and what people are asking for on
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: the text machine, well, you can probably guess it, that's
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: still to come. Here on Early Edition with Newstalk ZB.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: Whatever, I'll think of you forever.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: The Early Edition Full Show Podcast on iHeartRadio. Powered by
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Newstalk ZB. Andrew Dickens on Early Edition with Spark for Business.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Technology that keeps business moving. Newstalk ZB.
• 18:00
  Speaker 10: Welcome back here.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Dickens. And for Ryan, who's not feeling so
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: well today, Katie Bradford's doing the TV show. takes through
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: about some of the issues we've covered so far. First on,
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Labour pausing forestry because of the ETS. Nathan points out
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: that IKEA is the single largest forestry owner in New Zealand,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: 45,000 hectares under their ownership, all of it holding New
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Zealand carbon credits to offset their global emissions profile. And
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: this is because New Zealand carbon credits are five times
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: cheaper than European carbon credit pricings, and that's why we're
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: getting so many forests, and that's why everyone's saying we've
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: got to get that price up. Now to the international
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: visitor levy. Norman writes, the proposed scheme to sweeten councils
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: by giving them money from the tourist levy is a
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: good plan, but only if the councils who already charge
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Airbnb renters double their rates, which is what Rotorua has
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: been doing for the last two years. That's the problem
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: with the bed tax. You can't figure out who's got
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the beds, you know, and who's got the Airbnbs. That
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: was a difficulty. The other difficulty was the people who
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: mostly rent beds in our tourism industry are New Zealanders.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Of course, the government doesn't want to tax New Zealanders,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: so there it is. But Norman finishes with something that
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: many people have said. It would be nice, of course,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: if these councils then reduced their rates back to normal levels. Norman,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: it's only $ 100 million for all the councils, so you're
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: not seeing that. 22 to 6. We're going right around
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: the country now and to Dunedin we go for Otago News.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Rosie Leishman, good morning to you.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: And I've already mentioned this with John Glover, the Queenstown Mayor,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: the snow's falling.
• 19:42
  Speaker 13: It is indeed. So spring snow is giving several ski
• 19:45
  Speaker 13: fields a strong finish to the season. Mount Hutt and
• 19:48
  Speaker 13: the Remarkables will run through to the end of the season.
• 19:50
  Speaker 13: the end of the school holidays in mid-October, while Coronet
• 19:53
  Speaker 13: Peak closes a week earlier. Kadrona, though, has also extended
• 19:57
  Speaker 13: its season by a week to October 18th. But it's
• 20:02
  Speaker 13: a different story at Canterbury's Mount Cheeseman and Craggyburn Valley,
• 20:06
  Speaker 13: which have closed weeks early after rain was washed out
• 20:09
  Speaker 13: their seasons. NZ Ski Chief Executive Paul Anderson says snow
• 20:14
  Speaker 13: cover is now the best it's been all season but
• 20:17
  Speaker 13: skier numbers are still slightly down on last year because
• 20:20
  Speaker 13: of the late start. He says Australian visitors have made
• 20:23
  Speaker 13: up a significant share of those on the slopes while
• 20:26
  Speaker 13: numbers from Auckland are also lower than usual.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Well I'm coming down in a week and a half
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: and I always come down for that week, have been
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: for 30 years so I can't wait. How is the weather?
• 20:35
  Speaker 13: It's mainly fine today with some possible morning frosts, cloud
• 20:39
  Speaker 13: increasing in the afternoon with rain developing late evening, northwesterlies
• 20:43
  Speaker 13: turning southwesterly and a high of 15 degrees.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: And I thank you. And Claire Sherwood joins us from Christchurch. Hello, Claire.
• 20:50
  Speaker 10: Hello.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: We had a helicopter crash in North Canterbury last night.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: What's the story?
• 20:53
  Speaker 14: Yeah, this is tragic. Pilots died after a helicopter crashed
• 20:56
  Speaker 14: near a North Canterbury aerodrome at around 5.30 last night.
• 21:00
  Speaker 14: Emergency services were called to the area of Airwell in Waimakadere. Now,
• 21:05
  Speaker 14: light was quickly disappearing given the timing of this, so
• 21:08
  Speaker 14: responders were scouring the wreckage and the paddock around it
• 21:11
  Speaker 14: with torches. Police say the pilot, who was the sole occupant,
• 21:15
  Speaker 14: died at the scene. Other media are this morning reporting
• 21:18
  Speaker 14: that the chopper may have been home-built. The Civil Aviation Authority,
• 21:21
  Speaker 14: of course, has been notified they will attend this morning
• 21:24
  Speaker 14: as some further recovery work is undertaken as part of
• 21:27
  Speaker 14: the investigation.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: How's your weather?
• 21:29
  Speaker 14: Areas of morning low cloud and frost, but otherwise should
• 21:32
  Speaker 14: clear to find northeasterlies turning lighter northwest and a high
• 21:35
  Speaker 14: of 16.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: To Wellington we go. Max Toll, good morning to you.
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: Good morning.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: So there's pressure on the council infrastructure boss to front
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: up and talk about what a wild success his regime
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: has been. Hello, actually.
• 21:47
  Speaker 6: But yes, this is in regard to the Moa Point
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: wastewater debacle article in the Herald. We've just had a
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: crown review into what happened. It was a big press conference.
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: The mayor, acting chief executive, fronted. We had reporters there.
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: We noticed the council's infrastructure boss, Jenny Chetwynd, was not there,
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: apparently has been on holiday for some weeks, like the
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: chief executive himself. Digging deeper into this report, it notes
• 22:10
  Speaker 6: Chetwynd was neither available to be interviewed for the investigation,
• 22:13
  Speaker 6: which obviously made it a more challenging endeavour for the
• 22:16
  Speaker 6: Crown team. Written comments provided not much use, heightened the
• 22:20
  Speaker 6: risk of the Crown team misunderstanding what happened. Just to
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: go back a bit, in 2020, a report into Wellington
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: Water reported recommended a chief infrastructure role be created in
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: the first place. So we're going in circles a bit here.
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: That's how Chetwynd came to be paid her salary of
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: several hundred thousand dollars a year. The report now on
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: Moorpoint says the role has not been improving engagement, transparency
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: with Wellington Water, now Tiakiwai, etc. Instead, that's remained in
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: the hands of less senior staff. Quite an indictment. This
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: may seem like picking on one person, but that is
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: the problem. These reports end up offering us ratepayers only
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: vague platitudes and bureaucratic language that criticise everyone, and yet
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: no one, and never get to the root of the issue.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Good on you, Max. Don't hold back, mate. Hey, how's
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: the weather today?
• 23:04
  Speaker 6: Mainly fine.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: Mainly fine.
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: Lighter winds, 13.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Very good to walk and we go. Good morning to you.
• 23:10
  Speaker 13: Good morning.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: So the Auckland City Councillors really don't like the fast
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: track thing.
• 23:14
  Speaker 11: Yes.
• 23:15
  Speaker 15: So what's happened now is that the councillors, they've voted unanimously, Andrew,
• 23:20
  Speaker 15: to investigate ways to tell those planning fast track developments
• 23:24
  Speaker 15: they aren't wanted. So the council's considering telling fast track
• 23:28
  Speaker 15: developers and also future residents it won't provide or fund
• 23:31
  Speaker 15: basic services. Now, staff have taken legal advice on ways
• 23:36
  Speaker 15: for the council and also related arms like water care
• 23:39
  Speaker 15: to take a united view and stance on the project.
• 23:42
  Speaker 15: So among the resolutions passed... Staff's going to look at
• 23:46
  Speaker 15: powers available to ensure that council can recover the greatest
• 23:50
  Speaker 15: possible share of capital and operating costs of an unanticipated growth.
• 23:54
  Speaker 15: You still with me?
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, not really. What they don't like is these
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: guys are actually changing the plans. They spent years making
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: a plan and then they go, oh, yeah, who needs toilets?
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: And they're not happy about that. And I can see why.
• 24:06
  Speaker 15: So they're investigating ways and then they're looking at more advice.
• 24:09
  Speaker 15: And it also wants advice, advice on the advice on
• 24:11
  Speaker 15: whether to reduce the service level.
• 24:13
  Speaker 9: So, yeah.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: How's the weather?
• 24:14
  Speaker 15: Fine, fine, apart from areas of early fog, just a
• 24:17
  Speaker 15: chance of a shower in the afternoon. Still warm though, 17,
• 24:20
  Speaker 15: the high here in Auckland.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: And I thank you, Niamh. Now, talking about planning, I
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: was reading the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday and the New
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: South Wales government has unveiled draft plans to reshape Sydney
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: with high-rise towers around 34 storeys high around Edgecliff and
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: the new Wallara station. Now, this is just to the
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: east of the city. This is going to enable 9,500
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: new homes over 20 years. seven new parks, nine kilometres
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: of walking and cycling tracks, at a new Wallara local centre. 40%
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: of the homes would sit within 200 metres of rail
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: because they say that's important. The Wallara station opening in
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: 2029 and the rezoning aims to let private developers build taller,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: denser projects without the council having to go out and
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: do compulsory land acquisition. Anyway, it all sounds very familiar,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: doesn't it, to what's being debated in Auckland and Wellington
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: and Hamilton and Christchurch lately. And the rub of all
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: of this is that Willara, if you know Willara, just
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: to the east of the city, it's actually very pleasant.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: It's quite low rise. There's a lot of those heritage
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: quality things, a lot of Paddington houses there. And no
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: one living there now is happy with the plans of
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: that city side paradise being intensified. All sounds very familiar,
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: doesn't it? Now, Harry and Megan. have not been given
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: a happy welcome home by the King. More on that
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: to come with Gavin Gray. And also, the U.K. is
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: cracking down on Israel.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: It is 16 to 6.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: We've got new numbers on how students are comparing with
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: the rest of the world, and it's very good news,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: and we'll have an interview about that in a couple
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: of minutes' time. But first, to Gavin Gray in the U.K.
• 25:56
  Speaker 9: And Europe. Hello, Gavin.
• 25:57
  Speaker 16: Hi there, Andrew.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: So France and Canada and now the UK, they're cracking
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: down on Israel's actions in the West Bank and in Gaza.
• 26:05
  Speaker 16: Yes, it's not going down very well with Israel. But
• 26:08
  Speaker 16: first of all, the UK has announced sanctions that have
• 26:10
  Speaker 16: gone much further than expected and certainly a lot further
• 26:13
  Speaker 16: than they might have done under our previous prime minister,
• 26:16
  Speaker 16: Sakhir Starmer. So the sanctions are against companies and individuals
• 26:20
  Speaker 16: who provide services to for settlement expansion and also the
• 26:24
  Speaker 16: refusal of license applications for arms that contribute to the occupation.
• 26:29
  Speaker 16: The language used was really quite startling. The Foreign Secretary,
• 26:33
  Speaker 16: Ed Miliband, said that what is going on in the
• 26:35
  Speaker 16: West Bank amounts to ethnic cleansing. That's something that really
• 26:39
  Speaker 16: ministers would not have said before. Now, Israel has shot back.
• 26:44
  Speaker 16: The foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said, right, okay, we're going
• 26:47
  Speaker 16: to close the British consulate in Jerusalem. We're going to
• 26:50
  Speaker 16: remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in
• 26:54
  Speaker 16: southern Israel. and terminate British activities to train Palestinian authority
• 26:59
  Speaker 16: forces and also denial of entry to Israel for 12
• 27:05
  Speaker 16: British MPs and other representatives. So that's what they're shooting
• 27:09
  Speaker 16: back on. But this seems to be the start, I think,
• 27:11
  Speaker 16: of a big and fairly significant move by this government
• 27:15
  Speaker 16: to really, really crack down and try and put the
• 27:18
  Speaker 16: pressure on Israel.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Now, meanwhile, King Charles hasn't really put out the welcome
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: mat for Harry and Meghan who's come home.
• 27:26
  Speaker 16: Indeed not. No, quite a surprise, this. So all of
• 27:30
  Speaker 16: a sudden, a letter went out to the representatives of
• 27:34
  Speaker 16: the king, but also to other people as well, basically
• 27:37
  Speaker 16: saying that while Prince Harry and Meghan are back in
• 27:40
  Speaker 16: the UK, they are here as private citizens and not
• 27:43
  Speaker 16: working royals. Now, that means they cannot use the titles
• 27:46
  Speaker 16: His and Her Royal Highness. They remain private citizens, and
• 27:50
  Speaker 16: any visits and any official things they go to are
• 27:55
  Speaker 16: not royally official. They are doing so in their private capacity.
• 27:59
  Speaker 16: And now it's materialized that despite saying, oh, and Meghan
• 28:03
  Speaker 16: and Harry knew about this, Meghan and Harry say, we
• 28:06
  Speaker 16: didn't know about it until shortly before that letter went out.
• 28:10
  Speaker 16: And they're said to be slightly surprised by it. But
• 28:13
  Speaker 16: I think this is the King definitely setting out a
• 28:15
  Speaker 16: few of his own red lines, not to try and
• 28:18
  Speaker 16: get the public into confusing an official royal visit that, say,
• 28:23
  Speaker 16: Prince William might be conducting, and an unofficial one like
• 28:28
  Speaker 16: Prince Harry might be conducting, and to put that clear
• 28:31
  Speaker 16: water between the pair. This is all no doubt part
• 28:34
  Speaker 16: of the agreements and discussions about Meghan and Harry moving
• 28:37
  Speaker 16: back to the UK. But yeah, lots of eyebrows being
• 28:40
  Speaker 16: raised about Did he really? Did the Kings and the
• 28:43
  Speaker 16: officials really not involve Harry and Meghan in this letter
• 28:47
  Speaker 16: earlier than one hour before it was released? Anyway, it
• 28:50
  Speaker 16: doesn't look like all those family rifts have, Andrew, yet
• 28:53
  Speaker 16: to be resolved.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the King is worried that Harry's going
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: to turn up to an event and he's going to ka-ching,
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: ka-ching and do some back pocket sort of stuff. And
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: he doesn't want that happening because William doesn't do that either. Gavin,
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: I thank you so much. It is 10 to 6.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: News Talk ZB.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: Want some good news as you wake up this morning?
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: We've got the numbers out on how students are comparing
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: with the rest of the world. It's the PISA stuff,
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: and it is good. According to that PISA report, looks
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: like we've done a lot to close the gap from
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: our results in 2022. In science, we're better than the
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: OECD average. We're making gains in maths and science. And
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: much of that seems to be maybe the rest of
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: the world is getting a bit worse, but at the
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: same time, maybe we're getting a bit better. So what
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: is happening? Steve McCracken says, is the chair of the
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Secondary Principals Association, joins us now. Good morning to you, Steve.
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: Good morning, Andrew. How are you?
• 29:38
  Speaker 16: Good.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: What did you take from the results? Is the rest
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: of the world getting worse or are we actually getting better?
• 29:43
  Speaker 9: Well, the data says that the rest of the world
• 29:45
  Speaker 9: is getting worse, isn't it? So, yeah, that's a little
• 29:47
  Speaker 9: bit concerning in a global perspective. However, it's really pleasing
• 29:51
  Speaker 9: to see that we have maintained our current scores and
• 29:55
  Speaker 9: percentages that the students have achieved since 2022. So that's
• 29:58
  Speaker 9: a real positive from my perspective.
• 29:59
  Speaker 10: Well, hold on.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: Are we better or not?
• 30:02
  Speaker 9: I think we have maintained. I wouldn't say we're better,
• 30:05
  Speaker 9: but I think that it's pleasing in terms of the
• 30:08
  Speaker 9: rest of the world is declining and we have maintained. So, yeah,
• 30:11
  Speaker 9: I think that there's a positive to take from that.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: So the minister will be claiming that we've had a
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: turnaround if we're just still at the same level, but
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: the rest of the world has got worse. Was that
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: actually a turnaround?
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: No.
• 30:22
  Speaker 9: I wouldn't say personally it's a complete turnaround, but it's
• 30:25
  Speaker 9: a real positive sign. It's a sign that our teachers
• 30:28
  Speaker 9: are working really hard. And, yeah, I think that there's
• 30:31
  Speaker 9: some real positives that we can take out of there,
• 30:33
  Speaker 9: particularly in the improvement in the disadvantaged students, and particularly
• 30:37
  Speaker 9: in science. Well, that's true.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: That's what I like the most about it because during COVID,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: of course, they were the ones that were impacted the most.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: When you look at the rest of the world as well,
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: there's economic headwinds there, and maybe that is affecting them.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: We're affected by the same headwinds, but it's not affecting us.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: So that's the good news, that our poorer kids are
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: doing better.
• 30:59
  Speaker 9: Fundamentally, and how good is that? It's so good to
• 31:01
  Speaker 9: see that that gap is potentially not getting as big
• 31:04
  Speaker 9: as the rest of the world, but there's still some
• 31:06
  Speaker 9: work to do as well, isn't there, Andrew? I think
• 31:08
  Speaker 9: that we should be in that top 10 countries in
• 31:11
  Speaker 9: the world in this particular testing score, and yeah, we've
• 31:14
  Speaker 9: got some real work to do still in the next
• 31:16
  Speaker 9: few years.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Stephen, I thank you for your time today. That is
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Steve McCracken, who is the Secondary Principals Association Chair. Five
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: countries had scores similar to New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Finland,
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: and the States. 77 countries had science scores lower than us,
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: including Sweden, Germany and Norway. Seven countries scored significantly higher
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: than us. China, of course. New Zealand has a simple
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: ranking of 10th amongst all the participating countries in PISA.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean the mean score is actually not
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: that much different from the eighth ranked United Kingdom and
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: the 13th ranked United States. So if I was going
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: to be a teacher giving this a mark, it would
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: probably be a C plus more work to do.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: News and views. You trust to start your day. It's
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: early edition with Andrew Dickens and spark for business technology
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: that keeps business moving. News talk ZB.
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: I've changed my mind. Not a C plus. I'm going
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: to give it a B minus tending towards a B.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: We are certainly holding our own. The rest of the
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: world is going backwards. Here's a text from Carl. Uh, he,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: he thought that the criticism of, of the improvements was
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: perhaps politically motivated. Um, But he does say now that
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: we have a decent education system again under the National
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Party Coalition, this is good. And he wants to talk
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: about his nephew who was struggling to read and struggling
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: to do maths. And now he's up at the average
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: where he should be for his age. So that is
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: a good thing. And it is nice to wake up
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: to that sort of stuff. And it's nice to wake
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: up to Mike Hosking. I reckon it is too. What
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: did you conclude out of that? I couldn't work out
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: whether we have... We have certainly held our own. So
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: we're holding our own in a slipping world. In a
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: slipping world. And it's all about inequity, in that the
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: poorer are not educated very well, so the rest of
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: the world's got a bit poorer, so their standards are slipping.
• 33:08
  Speaker 17: I'm not sure whether that's good, is it?
• 33:10
  Speaker 12: I don't know.
• 33:10
  Speaker 17: Going nowhere in a world that's getting worse is.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Well, look, there's eighth, which is the UK, and then
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: there's 13th, which is the United States. So we are
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: 10th right now. And then right at the top is China,
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: which is only four provinces that actually do the piece
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: of stuff. And they are miles ahead of us.
• 33:26
  Speaker 16: There they are.
• 33:27
  Speaker 17: Anyway, Eric and Stanford on that. This morning, Warriors have
• 33:30
  Speaker 17: sold out, so we'll talk to Cameron George about that.
• 33:32
  Speaker 17: I mean, selling out is not really a thing, is it?
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: No, but how many people were so angry yesterday when
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: the tickets sold out in minutes and they're members and
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: they can't get in because the ground is 25,000. If
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: you need a 50,000-seater stadium.
• 33:44
  Speaker 17: They'll be going there. It's a funny story.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: It's a weird story here.
• 33:48
  Speaker 17: No one wants to say they're going to Eden Park,
• 33:50
  Speaker 17: but in Australia, if you read the Australian media, they're
• 33:52
  Speaker 17: going to Eden Park. It's already a done deal.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: Are you talking to Cameron George?
• 33:55
  Speaker 17: Yes, talking to Cameron George. So we'll do all of
• 33:57
  Speaker 17: that and more in Politics Wednesday for.
• 33:59
  Speaker 7: You after, right?
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: Fantastic stuff. Good to have you back. Good to see
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: you're still healthy. See you tomorrow, maybe.
• 34:06
  Speaker 12: I don't know.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you to producer Kenzie.
• 34:09
  Speaker 10: Have a fucking minute, we're going back to real life.
• 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
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio.