Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Unlike last week, the All Blacks team for the final clash against France is filled with changes.   Ethan de Groot, Fabian Holland, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea and Rieko Ioane are the only players remaining from the last run-on side.  Rugby Commentator Tony Johnson told Andrew Dickens that Scott Robertson and the other selectors certainly fulfilled their promise to be bold with their selection.  However, he says, that comes with a considerable risk against the French team, who still feel that they can take something out of the series.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We may have to get used to paying more for butter.  Kiwi consumers are now consistently paying more than twice as much for butter as they were a decade ago, according to latest Stats NZ figures.  Supermarkets and suppliers have been under pressure to lower prices.  Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Karl Dean told Andrew Dickens there’s been a global trend towards consuming more butter, especially in the last five years, ramping up even further in the last twelve months.  However, he says, what goes up normally comes down, which these bubbles normally do.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK's Labour Party believes allowing the younger generation to vote could have positive ripple effects.  It's lowering the country's voting age to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to have their say.   The change will take effect at the next general election and brings the electorate into line with Scotland and Wales.  UK Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Andrew Dickens youth want to feel catered for, and Labour's keeping their word.   He says there's some thinking in the party that young people tend to be more left-leaning and could support Labour.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Friday the 18th of July 2025, jobseeker benefit numbers are continuing to climb, former welfare advisory group member Phil O'Reily shares why.  It's final All Blacks test against the french tomorrow night at FMG stadium in Hamilton, Rugby commentator Tony Johnson shares his thoughts on the line up.  Dairy prices around the globe are soaring and Kiwi's are footing the bill, Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean tells Andrew Dickens why prices have become so high.  Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest on the UK lowering the voting age to 16 at the next general election expected in 2029. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A welfare expert's pointing to the lack of jobs being the main reason more people are ending up on the benefit. Ministry of Social Development statistics show almost 8 thousand more were receiving a main benefit in June compared to March.  It follows the Government instating new requirements for beneficiaries in hopes of getting more into the workforce.  Former Welfare Advisory Group member Phil O'Reilly told Andrew Dickens the Government needs to up public spending to help the lagging economy. He says it's about trying to reinvigorate the construction sector, which has seen 17 thousand jobs lost in the last 18 months. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know the Covid Inquiry is looking at MIQ, amongst other things.  And we all know that MIQ had noble aims and notable successes. But we also know the execution was far from perfect, and many people ended up feeling ostracized from the rest of New Zealand.  The idea of the Inquiry is to find out what went wrong so we do better next time.  And yesterday, Les Morgan, the Chief Operating Manager of Sudima Hotels, wrote an exceptional piece in the Herald on the rights and wrongs of MIQ and in the middle of his piece he took my heart away with a stunning piece of writing.  He learnt at a 1pm briefing that his hotel had been requisitioned for an MIQ facility. Except no-one had told him and his team and their first refugees were expected that very day. He wrote this:  "The hotel in question had been closed indefinitely, meaning staff had moved on and there were no consumables or PPE gear on site.  "Once I had run the gauntlet of shock and bad language, our team swung into acti

News the Government's set to shred half a million books from the National Library is being described as standard management.  Books including religious texts, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf are among them, with the cull expected to save about a million dollars in storage costs.   Library and Information Association Executive Director Laura Marshall told Andrew Dickens books are destroyed to make room as part of collection management.  She says it's specific to the particular library or institute, and if they kept every book published, they'd need a 50 storey building.  Around 50 thousand books were offered to other libraries, Marshall says, and another 50 thousand to charities, adding at some point a book's time is up.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's being suggested we need to generate more power if we want to fix our electricity market.  Major power companies will soon be required to charge less for power during off-peak periods and pay more for solar and battery power during peak periods.  The Electricity Authority hopes the measures will drive down power prices over time.  But Paul Fuge —the manager of Consumer NZ's Powerswitch website— told Andrew Dickens the ultimate driver of price is supply.  He says the market is not delivering the amount of electricity needed for New Zealand's growth, and the country needs more power stations being built.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Thursday the 17th of July 2025, the Government's ditching open-plan classrooms, May Road Primary principal Lynda Stewart shares her thoughts on whether the classrooms work.  New deals will soon become available to bring down your power bill, Consumer NZ Powerswitch manager Paul Fuge tells Andrew Dickens the difference it'll make.  Multiple major religious texts will be shredded at the National library, Laura Marshall from the Library and Information Association shares her thoughts.  Plus, US President Donald Trump has said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release "whatever she thinks is credible" on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, US Correspondent Mitch McCann has the latest.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's concerns the Government's being too black and white with its decision to pull the plug on open plan classrooms. The idea was introduced by John Key's Government in 2011. The Education Minister Erica Stanford says now all new builds will have more traditional layouts. Auckland's May Road Primary School Principal Lynda Stuart told Andrew Dickens it shouldn't be a binary discussion. She says it works well when you've thought about neurodivergent children, others that need the space to move and you've designed an environment for them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So the Local Government Conference is underway and the Government took advantage of it to talk down to councils like a stepdad telling off their stepson.  They’ve been told to reign in wasteful spending to keep their rates increase down. It'd be good if the government that is currently spending more than any other ever practiced what they preached.  But anyway, the Government is talking about bringing in rate caps.   Sounds good. A simple idea we can all understand, but will it work?  The fact is the idea is in place in Australia. Melbourne and Sydney have them, but individual councils can apply for exemptions. And in Melbourne it means that some councils have imposed 10% rates.   But they don’t have them in Brisbane, and Brisbane has the lowest rate increases in Australia.   So why is that? Successive councils have kept the debt low. They’ve had smart long term plans with cross-party support.   They have a suburbs first policy so that improvements are made where people actu

Should your job provide health insurance coverage?  There are calls for a fringe benefit tax break as a Council report reveals people are twice as likely to have car insurance than life or health.  It says 78% of Kiwis pay for their own insurance, rather than employers footing the bill.  Enriched Retirement Founder Liz Koh told Andrew Dickens that New Zealanders tend to think they’re bulletproof, and they don’t tend to put health insurance at the top of their priority list.  She says that if you don’t have good health, it impacts your ability to work, and employers have a vested interest in making sure their employees are healthy.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The future of the latest BBC MasterChef UK series is up in the air.   John Torode is leaving after a report upheld allegations he used an "extremely offensive racist term".  It comes after an independent report substantiated 45 of 83 allegations about the behaviour of former co-judge Gregg Wallace.  UK correspondent, Gavin Grey told Andrew Dickens there are calls to scrap the already filmed series.    But he says competitors and the winner have worked hard to get there, and ideas around replacing them with voice overs will be almost impossible.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones is floating the idea of special economic zones as an answer to New Zealand’s energy security.   The Government's asking for feedback on its new long-term fuel strategy.   The special economic zones are areas where businesses can get tailored policies on regulation, financial support, and access to infrastructure.  Major Electricity Users' Group Chair John Harbord told Andrew Dickens it could give independent generators a better chance than they currently have.  He says the only big players that independent generators can sell to are the big four gentailers, and it's just cheaper for the gentailers to make it themselves.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Wednesday 16th of July 2025, The Government’s cracking down on councils -  forcing them stick to their core business, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell shares her thoughts. There's calls for fringe benefit tax breaks to help kiwis pay for the rising cost of health insurance, Enrich Retirement founder Liz Koh tells Andrew Dickens the difference it would make.  Shane Jones is pushing ahead with his desire to implement special economic zones to boost electricity generation and fuel security. Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on MasterChef TV presenter John Torode sacked by the BBC.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government wants to scrap local councils' four well-being provisions.  A amendment bill has been introduced to remove the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act, to refocus councils on their core services.  The Government wants councils to give more value to ratepayers.  Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell told Andrew Dickens she's looking forward to the removal of the four wellbeing clauses. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m always amazed at how much credence the United Nations is given in domestic New Zealand politics.  The left loves the UN pronouncements on New Zealand’s stances because if reinforces their view that we’ve got much to feel guilty about.  Meanwhile the right somehow believes that the UN can supersede our sovereignty and is an enemy to be repelled at all costs.  But the UN is actually an ineffectual bureaucracy.  A giant global virtue signaller judging its signatories to an idealistic standard that is often unachievable in the modern world.  There’s nothing wrong with the UN writing these reports because it might be nice to live in a world full of unicorns,  but they’re just words and often have little deep context.  David Seymour obviously took offence at one such report and in a fit of pique late one night, drunk on the power of being Deputy Prime Minister, fired off an angry letter signed Grumpy of Epsom.  That’s obviously not his job, and it’s right that he’s been t

A turning point for Auckland.  The third annual State of the City report has been released, showing how we compare on a global scale.  It highlights strengths in sustainability, resilience, and culture, but says we lag behind in prosperity, skills, and innovation development.  Deloitte’s Future of Auckland Lead Kate Sutton told Andrew Dickens that Auckland’s at 40% of GDP while the productivity per capita is about 20% lower than comparable cities around the world.  She says we’re doing more for less, and a step up needs to be done to deal with the structural reasons behind it.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here we go again.  The polytechs that were centralised by the last government are going to be de-centralised by the current mob.  It's not quite back to the future because it won't be the same as we had before the politicians started tinkering. There will now be ten polytechs run locally, six others will have to prove their financial viability, but it still feels like we're going back to where we started from. And this ideological flip flop isn't free.  The Labour Government allocated hundreds of millions of dollars over several years to support the merger and transformation of the vocational education sector. And now National has budgeted $200 million to fund the reversal. Key Cost Drivers in this change include swapping out the IT and systems integration across multiple institutions from centralised to local.  Obviously, staff restructuring, which includes finding new staff for the polytechs and firing some staff created in the centralisation.  Then there's branding and communicatio

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Tuesday 15th of July 2025, Secondary Principals Council Chair and Aotea College Principal Kate Gainsford joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the number of students passing the NCEA literacy and numeracy co-requisite tests slowly on the rise. Dr Sandra Grey, National Secretary of the Tertiary Education Union, shares her thoughts on the Government’s plan to replace Te Pūkenga and return to a more localised polytech model. Kate Sutton, Future of Auckland Lead at Deloitte, breaks down a new global report comparing Auckland’s strengths and weaknesses on the world stage. Plus, Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio has the incredible story of a German backpacker found alive after surviving 11 days lost in the harsh outback. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.