Larry Williams Drive

This evening on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and current affairs commentator Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Education Minister Jan Tinetti has been referred to Parliament's powerful privileges committee, over failing to correct a statement around attendance stats. The last time a Minister was referred to the group of senior MPs was in 2008, when Winston Peters was investigated over controversial donations. Is this a big deal? Does this undermine Labour's credibility?  The Children's Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers, says police pursuits will unfairly target Māori and Pasifika, and that Māori and Pasifika are less likely to trust authority therefore more likely to flee. Are these fair comments? National have done a U-turn on its opposition to bilingual road signs, after claiming last week they would be confusing. They support the signs "in principle", but want Waka Kotahi to be spending its limited resources on fixing potholes and upgrading roa

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr indicated the 25bps increase to 5.5 percent is as high as the OCR will go for the foreseeable future. Orr explained that the OCR will have to stay at 5.5 percent for much of next year to bring down inflationary pressures. HSBC Chief Economist Paul Bloxham agrees that the OCR has peaked and doesn't think the Reserve Bank will hike rates up. He says the next direction for the OCR is down, and the earlier hikes have already tipped the economy into a recession. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sheep and beef farmers are experiencing record on-farm inflation levels for the second year in a row. Beef + Lamb NZ's report Sheep and Beef On-farm Inflation 2022-23 shows on-farm inflation is at 16.3 percent, a 40-year high. In March, Beef + Lamb NZ forecasted a 30 percent decrease in average farm profit based on estimated on-farm inflation of 12–13 percent. The Country's Jamie Mackay says this is crippling for farmers, as this higher-than-expected figure will lead to profits decreasing further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The big four Australian banks have been given a deadline for establishing open banking standards. Payments NZ’s API Centre has published a “minimum open banking implementation plan”, giving ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac until 2024 to prepare. Open banking refers to the tech-driven revolution in financial services overseas involving non-bank tech companies improving services for consumers. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says this 2024 deadline was a 'regulatory stick' for the banks to push forward with open banking. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Western Australia premier Mark McGowan abruptly resigned Monday, claiming he was 'exhausted'. McGowan delivered this shock announcement at a snap press conference, midway through his second term in office. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Mark McGowan remains a 'political juggernaut' for the region and he was 'loved' by his state for his Covid-19 response. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Miami Heat have rebounded from three straight defeats to beat the Celtics in Boston and wrap up the NBA's eastern conference. The Heat have won game seven 103-84 to take the series 4-3, having led 3-nil before Boston levelled the series. The eighth-seeded Heat now face the Denver Nuggets for the NBA title. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand businesses wary of burning out staff are taking steps to reduce employees working when on annual or sick leave. A recent survey revealed nearly half of Kiwi employees are too stressed to do their jobs properly. Employment law advocate Danny Gelb says this uptick in businesses locking staff out of work I.T systems while on leave is out of genuine concern for employee well-being over burnout concerns. "The thing with burnout is- the cause is not what people think. In my opinion, the reason we're getting burnout at the moment is actually bad leadership."  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drivers in New Plymouth are lambasting authorities for issuing parking tickets despite the number of broken meters. Of the 96 parking meters in New Plymouth's central business area, just 53 work properly. 8 are dead and the remaining 35 don't accept all forms of payment. New Plymouth councillor Murray Chong says plenty of people attempt to use the meters and face a fine without having any other options. "A lot of people drive and they can find a park near the shop they want to shop at on the same side of the road. So what happens is that they'd go to the meter, the meter doesn't work and the council's telling them to go across the road." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A faction of six Wellington City councillors have lost confidence in the capital's $7.4 billion transport plan. The councillors have filed a notice of motion stating they're no longer confident in Let's Get Wellington Moving and want the council to withdraw from their 2019 funding agreement. One of the Wellington councillors who signed was Diane Calvert, who says an earlier briefing gave them no more confidence in the plan. "We keep waiting and waiting for Let's Get Wellington Moving to provide us with all the answers that we have at the time. We had a briefing from them last Friday afternoon and it gave us no more confidence."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council is asking the National Emergency Management to help cover some of the costs from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Council is facing an $885 million repair bill, and wants NEMA to chip in $56 million. Councillor Neil Kirton says the Council could claim back multiple costs - but they're being challenged. "The air travel by helicopter, etc. to service isolated communities, now we've got NEMA saying- look, we're not going to pay for a whole host of those helicopter costs." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Children's Commissioner believes more needs to be done to stop offending than simply increasing police pursuits. Police have revised its fleeing drivers policy, giving more scope to pursue offenders when there's a serious offence and risk of ongoing offending. The policy was restricted in 2020, with a subsequent rise in fleeing drivers - and fewer being identified. Judge Frances Eivers says work needs to go into the causes of offending. "We can pursue young people with cars, we can put them away in prison- but how can we stop it?" LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Education Minister Jan Tinetti may face serious consequences after allegedly breaking House rules. Tinetti's been referred to the Privileges Committeeby the Speaker, accused of misleading the House by failing to correct a misleading statement around attendance stats. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Jan Tinetti pleading ignorance reveals more about the quality of Cabinet ministers being appointed. "If she's found to be in breach of Parliamentary privilege, they say it can be very serious, but it's more like a slap on the wrist." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Third year Canterbury University engineering students complaining about a must-pass exam have been proved right. The University has apologised after a new report found taking a competency test in the middle of exam season violated policy. Its timing meant more than half the students failed. Student Association President Pierce Crowley says it's not about how tough the exam was, but its timing. "The students accept that it needs to be tough if you want to be an engineer, but it was just around the structure, it was a lack of clarity around what topics were going to be discussed too. I think that's important. But mainly around having it so close to the main exam period." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am risk of repeating myself two days in a row, but that’s only because National appears determined to keep making the same mistake. So here we go. National should not have walked back Simeon Brown’s comments on bilingual road signs. When National sent Nicola Willis and Chris Bishop onto morning radio shows today, it should’ve been to back up Simeon Brown. Not to back-pedal from what he said. Because Simeon probably hit the nail right on the head for a lot of National Party voters. I don’t agree with Simeon, but I'm not a conservative voter. I spent five years learning Māori, so I’m gonna love bilingual road signs for a bit of practice. But every conservative in my life does agree with Simeon. And actually, if you interrogate Simeon’s argument, it stacks up and it’s not racist- as he’s been accused of being. He simply argued that two languages on a sign is confusing. Which he might really believe.    And more importantly, he argued that NZTA should be using its money and man power to fix potholes, rather th

Turkey’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a fifth term, extending his run in office into a third decade. 99 percent of the ballot boxes have been opened, and Erdogan won 52 per cent of the vote over the 48 per cent for his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Erdogan is a divisive leader, having taken aim at a Kurdish prisoner and the entire LGBTQ community after calling for unity. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This evening, Trish Sherson from Sherson-Willis PR and former Labour Chief of Staff and current director at Mike Munroe Communications, Mike Munroe, joined The Huddle to discuss the following topics- Waka Kotahi are opening consultation on whether road signs should include Te Reo Maori. National's Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown has claimed these changes will be 'confusing'. Do we approve of these changes? Police have released a new framework for dealing with fleeing drivers, claiming it factors in the threat posed by the driver, their suspected offence - and the chance they'll commit more offending or harm. Will these help the police send a message to criminals? Christchurch City Councillor Sam MacDonald says Labour should also give up on housing density rules, following National's U-turn on the bipartisan housing deal. Is the policy really that unpopular? People are calling for tougher penalties for pitch invaders after a dozen spectators dashed onto Napier's McLean Park during Saturday's Warriors match

National have backtracked from a bipartisan agreement with Labour to address the housing shortage on their own terms. Under a National-led government, councils will be able to opt out of the Medium Density Residential Standards and have the option to either increase density or develop farmland. NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says National have used this backtrack to 'sandbag' Labour at their recent party Congress. She says that commentators agreed Labour hadn't come out with any new policies and National took the agenda forward. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister won't divulge any potential changes to Labour's tax policy. The latest 1News Kantar Public poll revealed more than half of voters think the time is right to introduce tax cuts, and National promised to implement them if elected. Finance Minister Grant Robertson says it's not the right time to introduce tax cuts and add to inflationary pressures. "We just don't think that's the right thing to do right now, they would be more inflationary." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's growing calls for fines and increased consequences after a dozen pitch invaders disrupted Saturday's Warriors' match. Police decided to trespass and release the 12 offenders who dashed out onto Napier's McLean Park during the final quarter of the Warriors- Broncos match. Sportstalk host Jason Pine says there's a simple answer to this- throw the book at rule-breakers. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Council and the Government are working on a plan designed to lessen the impact of extreme weather events on roads. They're working on a plan which would see roads that are commonly hit moved to safer ground. Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson says there aren't a list of roads yet. She explained that the $6 billion pledged to the idea isn't a waste. "Because it sounds a lot of money, but actually it's not a lot if it's over many, many years. We need to do this work now." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.