Larry Williams Drive

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has axed a series of policies in today's Cabinet meeting. The biofuels mandate and TVNZ-RNZ merger are no more and the proposed income insurance scheme will be placed on hold. Chris Hipkins said it isn't the right time to put extra financial strain on Kiwis and the policy will be revisited when the economy improves. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says it is possible the scheme will be revisited if Labour wins the next election.  Tibshraeny says the policy was criticised by those on the right, because it imposes an additional cost on employers and employees. Meanwhile, it was criticised by those on the left for creating a two tier welfare system. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four University of Technology Sydney (UTS) students have created a house rental platform aimed at young renters. Nesteek is an Airbnb-style website that allows young renters to list their properties while they travel by getting guest to cover the rent duration of their trip. Keith Schembri, Nesteek co-founder and CEO says the company has been doing better than expected, and that they plan to expand to New Zealand. Keith Schembri says that Gen Z have been excluded from travel due to rising rents and costs of living and this platform will help young people get valuable experiences. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Hipkins announced that the TVNZ-RNZ merger will stop going forward. Hipkins said that Radio New Zealand and NZ On Air will be given additional funding to support public media content. Newstalk ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Hipkins also came close to criticising Jacinda Ardern's administration. Barry Soper says Chris Hipkins' claimed the Government had been doing "too much, too fast", while axing contentious Ardern-era policies.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this edition of The Huddle, Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The minimum wage is going up by $1.50 in the biggest increase in 16 years. Can businesses afford this on top of everything else? The TVNZ/RNZ merger has been scrapped- why did it take so long? Did the Government figure out a case as to why this merger was needed? Three Waters has yet to be reformed- what do we think of this?  What is going on between Scott Robertson and NZRugby? Did Scott just accidentally announce he would be the next All Blacks coach?  The IRD has asked over 80,000 people to pay back their cost of living payments- should they have bothered? Is this a waste of time? LISTEN ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The police's latest cocaine drug bust isn't the first time drugs have been intercepted in the Pacific. Working alongside the Defence Force and Customs they were able collect 3.2 tonnes of cocaine bobbing in the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand. The drugs were believed to be destined for the Australian market. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says there have been other examples of drugs of dropped in the ocean washing up on Pacific Islands. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has raised the minimum wage by $1.50 to $22.70 per hour by April 1. Hipkins has conceded that small businesses will find the minimum wage increase "difficult". Employers and Manufacturers Association head Brett O'Riley says that this wage increase will be implemented at a tough time for businesses. "When we are so close to the beginning of the next financial year for most businesses on the first of April, this is a really bitter pill for them to swallow." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has been hinting that NZR plans to make an announcement about the All Blacks coaching role. Robertson claimed Wednesday that the rugby-based governing body will appoint a new coach "in the next few days". NZR followed up with a statement confirming that an announcement on the process of selecting an All Blacks coach is not imminent. NZ Herald rugby writer Liam Napier says that it's likely that Scott Robertson is putting the heat on NZR to confirm a new coach, as this announcement needs to happen quickly. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister can't yet put final figures on how much has been spent on policies he's now scrapping. The TVNZ-RNZ merger is gone, and the social insurance scheme is on ice. Work on hate speech laws is also being withdrawn and won't be progressed this term - and the Biofuels mandate will be stopped. Chris Hipkins says changes to Three Waters will be considered soon. He says about 23 million's been spent on the merger - but final figures are still to come. Hipkins explained the nature of a re-prioritisation is that money already spent can't be recouped. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Absolutely none of us should be surprised that criminals think they can get away with committing crime in front of people in broad daylight at the moment. I don’t need to list the examples, you know them. The people walking a supermarket trolley of groceries out of Countdown in Papakura on Sunday. The guy who took $20K from the safe of a New Plymouth café while the worker was inside and distracted. The kids with hammers robbing the jewellery store on Queen Street in the middle of the day and the kids flaunting their haul from a ram raid in TikTok videos. Obviously what’s happening is that these guys are brazen because they think they will get away with it. They think no one’s going to stop them or catch them, or if they do catch them, no one’s going to punish them. And that is because right now the authorities are soft on crime.  They are trying to find alternative ways to punish the bad guys other than charging them, sending them to court, and then sending them to the slammer. Those figures that Mark Mitche

President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address to mixed reception from Congress. Biden touched on positive economic developments including lower unemployment and easing inflation and called for unity within the divided Government. The President was also heckled and booed as he addressed the Republicans proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Joe Biden knew this State of the Union was the right environment to highlight his administration's accomplishments and potentially tease plans to run in 2024. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson claims to be expecting an announcement from NZR about the appointment process for the next All Blacks coach. New Zealand Rugby followed up by stating an announcement confirming the appointment of the All Blacks head coach isn't imminent, despite Robertson's hints. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says that Scott Robertson's hints don't indicate that he's going to be confirmed for the role. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle will be departing the role on June 30, 2023. Dr Mackle has been in the role for 15 years and led DairyNZ through difficult financial times, including the 2008/09 global recession and Covid-19. He says with the company in a good position, this was the the best time to step down. "We've got a great strategy in place now to deliver more value to farmers and farmers informed it, we've got a great team on board, and they're building that and getting on with business." LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 45-year-old mortgage adviser disappeared while walking her dog. Nicola Bulley went missing on January 27th, and police have suspected she fell into a river while on a work call. Her mobile phone and the lead and harness attached to her dog were found on a bench near the River Wyre in the Lancashire countryside. UK correspondent Enda Brady says police have called in a sonar search expert to check the river and she'll be found within the next few days, assuming she fell in. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised the cash rate up by 25 basis points to 3.35 percent. This is the ninth rate hike in a row, raising Australia's OCR to the highest it's been since 2012. HSBC Chief Economist Paul Bloxham says this rate hike wasn't a surprise, as several economists had predicted this increase and suspect that this won't be the last. "To get inflation to come down, we should expect a slowdown in growth, but the RBA's trying really hard not to have to deliver a recession along the way." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farmer confidence in economic conditions has hit a record low, according to the latest survey from Federated Farmers. This comes off the back of 2022's Rabobank survey, which also showed farmer confidence was at a historic low. The Country's Jamie Mackay says farmers are primarily concerned about the emissions trading scheme, debt and bank pressure, and regulation and compliance costs. Jamie Mackay says meat and wool farmers are the most pessimistic about the current emissions trading regulations. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jarden is predicting Air New Zealand will announce a full-year dividend in August. This will be the first full dividend for Air New Zealand since pre-Covid. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says this is a departure from two years ago, where the company was relying on Government subsidies to keep them afloat. Pattrick Smellie says this proves Air New Zealand was able to bounce back quickly and maintain high profit margins due to lack of competition on several routes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle: David Farrar, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster and Jack Tame, host of ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Retail NZ's Greg Harford says there's been a rise in retail crime across the sector and this contributes to rising prices- Do we believe this? Why is there a rise in shoplifting? Chris Hipkins met with Anthony Albanese- and it doesn't really sound like Albo is going to budge on the deportees. Would you call these meetings productive? Is co-governance going to be the big election issue for 2023? Does it seem like Act and National are handling it more carefully than Willie Jackson is? Was the comment Harry Styles made after he won his Grammy out of line or innocent? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Banks are being asked to treat customers in hardship with more compassion, as complaints increase. There's been a 56 percent increase in the number of complaints to the Banking Ombudsman regarding hardship and debt collection. Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden says the reason for the complaints are wide-ranging, often due to cost of living pressures or a relationship breakdown, illness, or change of employment. "What they're doing is asking the banks for help and they're complaining that they're not getting the help they're looking for. Or alternatively, they're not getting prompt responses." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are claims retail crime is becoming more commonplace. A video has emerged of two people being stopped by employees as they tried to steal a trolley of groceries at an Auckland supermarket. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford says they're seeing a surge in burglaries across the retail sector. He says the cost of crime is estimated at about $1.2 billion a year, meaning on average every household pays several hundred dollars. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Google recently unveiled their new AI tool 'Bard' in a bid to compete with ChatGPT. 'Bard' is a chatbot designed to generate written responses to user prompts using a trove of online data.  Tech commentator Paul Spain says this AI technology has plenty of practical applications in the working world to save companies time. "I can imagine this will become something we rely on just as much as we rely on Google searches today, and this type of AI bot will become just as useful, if not more." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.