Larry Williams Drive

Another slide for Labour in tonight's One News-Verian poll, with the National Party up two points to 39 percent, and Labour down one to 28. The Greens and ACT are both down, on 10 percent. Winston Peters' New Zealand First is back in the game, up one to poll 5 percent. The Battle of the Chrises is neck and neck with both on 23 percent as preferred Prime Minister- Hipkins is up 2 percent, and Luxon up 3. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Labour's fighting a losing battle as National retains their strong lead. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour says the pandemic showed a need for more local healthcare worker training. The party's announced it'll train another 335 doctors every year from 2027- and increase medical school places from next year. Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says they've already increased the workforce by 2,000 people. "So I think the National Party's attack line - that this should've happened earlier - is negated by the fact that we already grew our workforce. We're now choosing a different way." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts are hoping to get to the bottom of mysterious banging noises coming from below an Auckland home. For months, noises have reverberated from beneath the Forrest Hill house, on the North Shore - with council officials yet to figure out its origins. Neighbour Lizzie Oakes hopes a new development may help solve the puzzle. "I think an engineer has made contact with the homeowner, they seem to think it might be a sound they've heard somewhere, so I think they're having a meeting with the homeowner tomorrow." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Qantas staff will be chasing compensation, after Australia's High Court has upheld a decision against the airline. It's agreed the airline illegally sacked more than 1700 workers during Covid. It breached the Fair Work Act by outsourcing baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff. The Australian Transport Workers' Union's Nick McIntosh says the next step is going back to the federal court. "These workers will have their compensation hearing held and then after that, there will be a penalty hearing about exactly how much money Qantas has to pay." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT thinks more people should be in jail. The party's law and order policy would invest $1 billion into 500 more prison beds, and toughen sentences for offending against vulnerable workers. Leader David Seymour says the Government has tried letting criminals out of prison. He says a Ministry of Justice survey shows the result. "Victimisations are up by about 30 percent in 5 years, but the human price of that is that people feel it's not safe to run a dairy- and for some people, it's been absolutely tragic." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's pledging to lift medical school places by 95 a year from 2025, in New Zealand's largest boost ever. Chris Hipkins says if re-elected, they'll lift training 62 percent over the coming decade. Labour's extra places amount to 874 doctors trained each year by 2027- beating out National's promised 759 by 2030. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this scheme is the latest strategy Labour's borrowed from National, following on from their roading outline and pledge cards. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Division among Republicans, over a push to impeach democratic President Joe Biden. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's asking for a formal investigation, calling the President's dealings corruption. He alleges Biden used his power to facilitate his son's business deals - and benefited. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Kevin McCarthy's under pressure from fellow Republicans to push this investigation forward- but it's unlikely anything will be brought forward. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions over divisions within New Zealand. An Essential Research poll shows 77 percent of Kiwis believe the country is either a little more - or much more - divided, depending on their political stance. Labour and Green voters think there's less division, and National and ACT supporters say we are more so. Those aged 55-plus are the most concerned. Victoria University's Max Rashbrooke says he's unsure he agrees. He says the poll doesn't clarify what people mean by division. "But particularly with older people- they may just be expressing concern about the pace of change, about social change, about things they find destabilising."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost one third of female NHS surgeons have been sexually assaulted at work, according to a new survey. A study published in the British Journal of Surgery found 30 percent of female surgeons had been sexually assaulted, and 29 percent had experienced unwanted physical advances in the workplace. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the first-person stories shared exposed a pattern of senior consultants and surgeons taking advantage of younger graduates and trainees. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and current affairs commentator Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! This year's deficit is expected to be $10 billion, next year's expected to go up to $11.4 billion - Treasury reckons we've come out of recession but the next Government will have a tough battle on its hands to pay down debt and return to a surplus. Is this a nail in the coffin for Labour or is there an inkling of good news in there that's enough to calm some nerves? Is it game over for Labour? Last night's Newshub-Reid Research poll had Labour down to 26.8 percent support, while National is up to 40.9 percent. Will the gap only get bigger? LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts are warning of a potential power shortage risk ahead of winter 2024. The closure of one of Contact Energy's 100 megawatt peaking plants after a turbine blade broke and caused extensive internal damage to the machine has sparked concerns for future power supply. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie explains the extent of the damage- and why the plant won't be up and running until 2025. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Troubling news for our national carrier, with a global engine problem affecting hundreds of planes worldwide. Engine maker Pratt and Whitney says up to 700 engines will be impacted over the next three years. It'll affect 16 A320 and 321 NEO aircraft in Air New Zealand's fleet - mostly serving Australia and the Pacific Islands. Aviation commentator Geoff Thomas says this disruption has been caused by parts of the engine prematurely wearing out. "Over about 20 years, you'll replace every part of an engine. They all have different design lives within the engine, all different parts. What they've found is one particular area wearing a bit sooner than they thought." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rumours are circulating about a new famer-led movement set to challenge the current drive for taxing on-farm emissions. Rural News claims this campaign will promote a a 'methane accord', designed to fight against 'unscientific' emissions taxes. The Country's Jamie Mackay says farmers are growing sick of 'political games' being played with their livelihood- even by their own industry organisations. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's Chris Luxon has been quick to slam Labour's 'economic mismanagement' after the PREFU revealed Government debt has blown out further. Treasury's latest update is forecasting no recession, but shows the Government will be in deficit longer than expected and take on billions more debt. Luxon says Kiwis are worried about losing their homes and taking on second jobs as the Government continues to spend. "What's obvious is that Hipkins and Robertson have no idea how to run the economy, they're running it into the ground. And that's just saddling up a bad set of circumstances for future generations of Kiwis, and that's not on." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health advocates are celebrating the release of a new DIY cervical screening test kit for women. This test, available from today, will allow women to use a swab to detect the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes more than 95 percent of cervical cancers. Te Whatu Ora National Screening Unit clinical lead Dr Jane O’Hallahan says this 'game-changing' test kit will encourage more people to screen themselves. "At this point, you will need to seek out your provider- but the test is so much easier to do. You can do it yourself, it's a simple swab that you place 4 or 5 centimetres up- and move it around, take it out and put in a container. This will be a game changer." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The future of Mount Ruapehu's skifields remain up in the air. The Tuwharetoa iwi group has abandoned its bid to take over the liquidated Ruapehu Alpine Lifts. Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton says there are reports the iwi now plans to take legal action, if the sale isn't stopped. He says it's a sad situation. "They thought they were going to be bidding- then they come in out of left field and say that they're not going to support a new bidder to actually go ahead with this negotiation."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister is standing by the Government's record, after Treasury today laid the books bare. The Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update suggest our recession's likely over, but shows the Government deficit will continue longer than predicted in the Budget. Debt's now expected to peak at 22.8 percent of GDP by 2025. Grant Robertson says our Government borrowing wasn't for nothing. "Lots of New Zealanders alive today who wouldn't have been during Covid, businesses that have been able to survive- yes, we had to borrow significant amounts of money to get through Covid. Most political parties supported us doing that." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An important balance needs to be struck on welcoming more residents. Provisional Stats NZ figures show a net migration gain of 96,200 people in the year to July, a new record. Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchod says we need skills from abroad, but it needs careful management. "Those people who are coming in- many of them are going to go into our essential services, like healthcare, where we need staff. That infrastructural pressure that we see from more people in the country- it's got to be balanced against the provision of services that we all need right now." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's promising to spend our money on the right things, if elected next month. Treasury's today revealed the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update. It suggests our recession's likely over - but shows the Government will be in deficit for longer, and take on billions more in debt. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Opposition's now crunching its numbers. "What National's now got to do is sit down and look at the meaning of these figures that have been presented today. And they'll come up with their fiscal strategy within the next few weeks, so it'll be interesting to see what they make out of it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian Government has confirmed its centrepiece housing fund bill will pass through Parliament, breaking a months-long impasse. Australia's Green Party pledged support, meaning the Housing Australia Future Fund has the necessary majority support in the senate. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the housing crisis is going strong, with affordable rental properties growing further out of reach for Australians. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.