Larry Williams Drive

Accomplished Kiwi snowboarder has won the LAAX Open Slopestyle World Cup in Switzerland earlier today. This win marks a first in this event for the 21-year-old athlete's snowboarding career, who has wanted to win the LAAX Open since she started competing.  Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's father Sean Synnott says the thrill of seeing his daughter accomplish within the sport hasn't worn off. "This is only her second run in the LAAX because of various scheduling and everything else around the World Cups and invitationals. LAAX is regarded as one of the elite premium events on the calendar and she hasn't had an opportunity to do it other than one other time where she came in with a silver." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following Jacinda Ardern's abrupt resignation, Chris Hipkins has taken over as Prime Minister in the lead-up to the 2023 election. Chris Hipkins is currently the leader of the Labour Party and will be responsible for ensuring that Labour gets a third term in Government. However, ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says that Chris Hipkins winning the election for Labour is unlikely, as he won't be able to distance himself from the unpopular polices associated with the Government. Soper suggests that Hipkins could modify or scrap divisive policies like Three Waters or the TVNZ/RNZ merger, but the damage has been done. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A boat crash that happened south of Perth has killed two people, with investigations into the cause of the crash currently ongoing. One of the victims killed in the crash has been identified as the mother of AFL West Coast Eagles defender Rhett Bazzo. The cause of this crash is still under investigation, with the injured driver of the boat in stable condition aiding the process. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this incident happened late at night, and the circumstances surrounding the crash are still being investigated. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has recently won the LAAX Open Slopestyle World Cup in Switzerland this morning. Sadowski-Synnott finished the event with a first run score of 81.30, which was held up as the top score of the day, cementing her win. Weekend Sport host Jason Pine says that Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has more in store over the weekend, as she is expected to compete in the upcoming Aspen X Games. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland mum has moved her family across the ditch to Sydney so she can access a life-saving drug. Fiona Tolich has been advocating for Pharmac to fund Spinraza since she developed spinal muscular atrophy 12 years ago. Pharmac has announced it's funding the medicine for under 19s from this year, but Tolich isn't young enough. Fiona says she couldn't take the chance on waiting for funding for her age group. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City council has agreed to buy 474 off-street car parks — to offset revenue loss from carparks taken off the street. They voted yesterday to purchase Tory Street's Century city parking building for 13 million dollars. Meanwhile, hundreds of on-street spaces have been removed in the CBD to make way for sustainable transport options such as cycleways. Councillor Dianne Calvert says it's not just about revenue. She says it's more about finding alternative solutions if Let's Get Wellington Moving removes car parks off the street. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A South Island farm has been named one of the world’s best places to stay by a highly influential travel magazine: Condé Nast. Lake Hawea Station has been recognised on the Gold List of the 25 best hotels and retreats in the world, the only spot in New Zealand to do so. The resort on a 6500-hectare property near Wanaka, is home to 10 thousand merino sheep and 200 Angus cattle Co-owner Jussie Ross says she owes the award to the resort's climate focus. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors in the US are concerned about the level of vaccine-fatigue across the country. American households are once again able to order free at-home Covid-19 tests, as the government attempts to limit the spread of the virus this winter. The test programme was paused in September, but restarted yesterday as cases start to spike again. But, US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson says there seems to be some Covid-fatigue out there. He says doctors were hoping 70 percent of the population would be vaccinated, but levels are far below that ... and only half the population has had a flu jab. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suggestions the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's tide of popularity might be turning among American royal-watchers. The second instalment of Prince Harry and Meghan's highly talked-about Netflix docu-series hit TV screens last night. Harry accuses royal aides of leaking negative briefings to the press, and blames media savagery for Meghan's miscarriage. But LA Entertainment correspondent Sean Mandell told Heather du Plessis-Allan that it may not be doing the couple any favours. He says there are questions among people about Meghan's authenticity - and the possible staged nature of some elements. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nurses across England, Ireland, and Wales have started striking today after ministers refused to discuss boosting their pay.  The nurses will still provide life-saving treatments and urgent care services, but less essential routine surgeries have been disrupted by the strikes. Thousands of operations and outpatient surgeries have been cancelled since the beginning of the strike. The nurses' union is also threatening longer strikes over 2023 if pay discussions don't open up again. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the public is likely to support these strikes in the short-term, but if the strikes go on for a substantial amount of time, positive public opinion will decrease. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2022 is nearly over, and it may give investors some lessons to take into the new year. According to a Senior Portfolio Manager at Fisher Funds, we may have to get used to aftershocks from the Covid-19 pandemic for the next few years impacting the economy. The lockdowns generated highs and lows, and investments can turn on a dime. It's also important for industries to listen to consumer demand, as can be observed from the Meta saga. Demand for products changes, and it's useful to take advantage of the markets and be adaptable. Being tone-deaf to costs can hurt companies. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds says that it's clear that gravity has come back to the stock market. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand GDP figures have surpassed expectations by going up 2 percent, but it may come with consequences. This economic growth was helped by a surge in service activity, international tourism and exports following the borders opening and Covid-19 restrictions easing up. Service industries, warehousing, and transport were among the leading forces in growth. Economists had predicted a 0.9 percent increase, and the 2 percent increase is far beyond what they predicted, but NZ Herald business editor Liam Dann warns that this growth may force a higher OCR hike come February. Liam Dann says these numbers are good, but households will be in for a tough 2023 as the economy slows down and the economic downturn sets in. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farmer confidence is at its lowest on record, according to Rabobank's Rural Confidence Survey. The final survey results for 2022 showcase farmer confidence is at a twenty year low, despite the sector having pulled through a fair amount of recent challenges. Farmer confidence is now at -71 per cent, from -31 per cent previously. This lack of confidence in the industry is linked to concerns surrounding Government policies, with the proposed framework for pricing agricultural emissions causing worry amongst 68 percent of farmers. Rising interest rates and falling commodity prices are also points of concern. The Country's Jamie Mackay says that this is a strong indictment of how farmers view the Government and how they've been handling the rural sector. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle: Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff and current director at Mike Munroe Communications and Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Tim Southee is set to replace Kane Williamson as the new Black Caps test captain. What sort of perspective will he bring to the team, and will this change do the team some good? Wayne Brown's comments caused Auckland Airport trading shares to halt for 70 minutes until the airport said it didn't plan on raising capital to fund a new domestic terminal. What does this mean for public perception of Wayne Brown? Today's GDP data shows the New Zealand economy has grown two percent in the September quarter, surpassing expectations. This is good news, but how does it stack up against the negative predictions for 2023? 30 percent of Kiwis who owe child support aren't paying, and the other 70 percent have arrears of some sort. Why isn't the IRD cracking down harder on this? Restore Passenger Rail s

Spark is having discussions with TVNZ about the future of Spark Sport. Spark informed the NZX that they were talking to TVNZ about a content partnering agreement that covered Spark Sport's extensive portfolio. Neither TVNZ or Spark have officially confirmed whether Spark Sport will be sold outright or the content rights will expand to TVNZ. Gorilla Technology Chief Executive Paul Spain says Spark have been open about needing to make changes to Spark Sport and that TVNZ could benefit from having this content available to them. "There's potential for TVNZ to evolve a fair bit going forward in terms of having a paid offering for their on-demand services that would get rid of the advertising, and I think there's a consumer demand for that. This could be a good fit to bring in some premium content." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kane Williamson relinquished his Black Caps test captaincy earlier today and Tim Southee is set to be his successor. Tim Southee will start his captaincy with the two-test tour of Pakistan later this month and Black Caps coach Gary Stead said Tim was the best choice for the role based on the direction the team aims to go in the future. Tim Southee says that the timing felt right for him to step up into this role after striving for ages in his previous position. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suggestions our strong GDP figures could mean a bigger Official Cash Rate hike next February. New Zealand's GDP has grown two percent in the three months to September which is a higher growth rate than Australia, the US, the UK and the EU. Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr says it doesn't change our gloomy economic outlook, with the Treasury and Reserve Bank forecasting a recession next year. "It simply means we've got a larger economy than we thought, which is fantastic, but the outlook hasn't changed. The Reserve Bank is deliberately trying to engineer a recession in order to get inflation back down." LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport is lauding its new squad of security officers. The behavioural detection officers watch out for strange behaviour and have reportedly caught hundreds of criminals. The group manager of operations at the Aviation Security Service says the officers notice signs others might miss. Karen Urwin says everyone's met a person who seems strange, but couldn't work out why. She says experts can quantify all the little things we pick up subconsciously, which tell us something is wrong. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wayne Brown is being called out for a gaffe this morning. The Auckland Mayor suggested at a council meeting Auckland Airport would be raising capital to fund a new domestic terminal. NZX regulator, NZ RegCo, halted trading for the publicly listed company for 70 minutes until the Airport clarified it had no such plans, and planned to use debt instead. Political Commentator Grant Duncan says it's a sign of poor governance. "The mayor's office rapidly put out a statement saying that the mayor was speculating, but his comments essentially were talking down the value of an asset that the mayor himself has said he wants to sell." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government may be open to oil and gas exploration continuing in the next parliamentary term. Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods said today that the Government was deferring making decisions on the future of onshore oil and gas exploration. Megan Woods also said that she isn't committing to any further block offers and will revisit this issue in the next parliamentary term, where there will be a better evidence base for future demand. Political editor Barry Soper says it's unlikely there will be much interest at this stage, as most companies would have shut down oil and gas exploration in New Zealand a long time ago. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.