Larry Williams Drive

The Australian Government has recently announced they will be reforming their current environmental protection laws and regulations. An independent review into Australia's environmental laws concluded they needed a fundamental overhaul to reflect current concerns. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the original environmental protection laws were written 25 years ago, and experts have been trying to get updates sent into Government for years prior. The Australian Government will also set up a federal Environmental Protection Agency to help save the endangered Australian habitats, including the threatened Great Barrier Reef. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russian tennis star Anna Blinkova was announced to appear at the upcoming ASB Classic Tournament. Reports from earlier this year said that tournament sponsor ASB Bank would pull their support from the tournament if Russian and Belarussian players were set to play, but this is no longer the case anymore. Nicolas Lamperin, ASB Classic tournament director says ASB has made it clear they will keep their name attached to the tournament and that nothing has changed. "As things stand, we haven't seen any kind of repercussion on that front. We're not expecting any otherwise, we're not taking anything for granted. We're still monitoring the situation and we'll make sure everything goes smoothly."  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holiday travellers may have to expect disruptions to their upcoming plans after a bad batch of fuel forces airlines to ration. The bad batch was sent out to Z Energy, who have since apologised for not noticing the shipment was faulty until it was too late. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says that this shortage draws attention to the fact that New Zealand doesn't have a huge amount of fuel stocked up. Brad Olsen also stated that that the closure of Marsden Point paired with this upcoming busy travel season makes the markets particularly vulnerable. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Commission released its final report on the building supplies sector yesterday, giving investors time to respond accordingly.  The Commerce Commission report was focused around rebates and regulation, and stressed the importance of enforcing fairer competition in building supplies. Frances Sweetman, Portfolio Manager at Milford Asset Management observed that Fletcher Building's share prices have stayed stagnant. They may dip a little in the coming months, but it's unclear. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gravely ill baby at the centre of a high-profile legal battle will receive the blood transfusion doctors called for. A High Court judge has ruled in favour of Health New Zealand, which asked the court to take guardianship of the six-month-old. The boy's parents refused to let doctors use blood from Covid-vaccinated donors during a heart surgery he desperately needs. Herald reporter George Block says two doctors at Starship Hospital will assume responsibility of the child. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online investment company Sharesies is expanding into Kiwisaver next year, by launching its own scheme.  Sharesies has already set up a waiting list for any interested customers over 18 who wish to join up. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshreany says that this is a new system shaking up a crowded market. Jenee Tibshreany explained that this expansion will give consumers a range of funds to choose from, as they can split up their Kiwisaver amongst a wide variety of providers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's edition of The Huddle, Nick Leggett, Chief Executive of Transporting NZ and NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joined in on a discussion on the following issues of the day: Nanaia Mahuta was in favour of the Three Waters entrenchment clause despite Cabinet agreeing against it back in May. National Leader Chris Luxon is calling for her to be sacked because of this- was she out of line?  Wayne Brown has come out against the Auckland Art Gallery, comparing the lack of visitors to customers at a dairy and describing it as "the most uneconomic building in the city". Does he have a point? Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says she's concerned for her personal safety and wants to boost her personal security once she's officially put the rates up. Is this fair, or is she inviting more hate? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A High Court judge has ruled in favour of health authorities who sought court guardianship of a gravely ill baby boy after his parents refused a blood transfusion unless they got blood from unvaccinated donors. Justice Ian Gault ordered the baby to be placed under the guardianship of the court until the surgery and post-operative recovery were completed, with the guardianship lasting until January 31st 2023 at the latest. Otago University transfusion medicine specialist Jim Faed says the judge would have weighed the decision on the principle of putting the child's interests first. "Even though the parents have got very real interest in the child's future, the decision would have been made that the immediate concern is a health problem. And therefore, the judge would have decided on that basis." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National Party leader Chris Luxon is calling for Jacinda Ardern to show leadership and sack Nanaia Mahuta. Luxon says Nanaia Mahuta's gone against the Cabinet Manual by personally endorsing an anti-privatisation entrenchment clause in the Three Waters legislation and allowing it to be included in the proposed law. "She's clearly breached the Cabinet Manual, she's clearly not in support of something that she had Cabinet collective responsibility for, and clearly the Prime Minister's lost control of her and her Cabinet." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fans of The Hobbit are in with a chance to get the ultimate Airbnb experience. Airbnb is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first Hobbit film by giving away three overnight stays at the Hobbiton Movie Set for $10 dollars a night. Hobbiton land-owner, Russell Alexander, says the winners will have a unique stay. He says they'll get a total immersive experience including food, drinks and sleeping at Hobbiton for the first time ever. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A good day for one of our top cops. A pair of Gottfried Lindauer portraits have been recovered through an intermediary five years after being stolen from Parnell's International Art Centre. They were jointly priced at about $1 million dollars in 2017. Detective Inspector Scott Beard has overseen prominent criminal cases like the Grace Millane homicide investigation and says this is a rare happy result. "There's always public weight behind us, but to actually get the paintings back and be able to return them to the rightful owner, it was a very proud moment for New Zealand Police." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Z  Energy is apologising to customers over a bad batch of aviation fuel it's imported. Over 25 litres of this imported fuel is unusable and airlines are now on fuel rations. The Airline Representatives Board warns it could cause travel disruption. The rations are expected to be needed until December 18. Z Chief Executive Mike Bennetts says the ship was half unloaded when they discovered the issue, but they still can't put it in the supply chain as it poses a risk to the airlines. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are calls for Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta to be fired for breaking the Cabinet Manual and supporting the Three Waters entrenchment, despite Cabinet resolving to oppose entrenchment. National leader Chris Luxon has accused her of defying Cabinet during the vote to entrench part of the Three Waters legislation. Political editor Barry Soper has observed that Nanaia Mahuta had written to all political parties to get their support for the Three Waters entrenchment proposal, despite the rest of Cabinet ruling against the entrenchment. Barry Soper states that ministers are obligated to support any decisions that Cabinet makes, regardless of their own personal views. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Democratic senator Raphael Warnock has won a full term in the US Senate against Republican Herschel Walker. The runoff was needed as neither candidate had the required 50 percent of votes in the midterm election, but Raphael Warnock's win gives the Democrats an outright Senate majority. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson says that Herschel Walker's loss represents another nail in Donald Trump's coffin, as Herschel Walker's image was tied to being a Trump endorsed politician. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National might be on to something here.  Chris Luxon, just in the last couple of hours, has called on the Prime Minster to sack Nanaia Mahuta for openly defying the Prime Minster. So what’s happened is that a document has emerged that shows that Cabinet collectively agreed back on 30 May this year not to do the Three Waters entrenchment. But then, as we know, Nanania and the Greens stitched up a little deal where they did it anyway. Just at 60 percent not 75 percent. And as we know, this caught a lot of senior Labour Cabinet Ministers by surprise. The Prime Minister didn’t know the entrenchment had passed until afterwards. Neither did Chris Hipkins who is the Leader of the House, and neither did David Parker who is the Attorney General and who advised against it. So it’s starting to look like there is a chance. Nanaia Mahuta just went ahead and did what she wanted anyway in defiance of Cabinet. Now that would be, the Nats argue, in breach of the Cabinet Manual by acting against the instructions of Cabinet. An

'Harry & Meghan' is set to drop on Netflix December 8th (NZ time), and it promises a unique look into the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The latest trailer has provoked a big reaction from the UK papers and generated discussion as to what will be covered. UK correspondent Enda Brady says a big theme in the UK coverage is 'war'. Whether this documentary is war on the media or war on certain members of the royal family is yet to be determined. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank's Covid-era money printing scheme has officially ended as of today. Banks will no longer be able to borrow newly printed money from the Reserve Bank via its Funding for Lending Programme (FLP). Former Reserve Bank Economist Michael Reddell was among the many experts criticising The Reserve Bank for keeping this program going as they aim to tackle inflation. "This was set up as a crisis management program at a time when the Bank was worried that we couldn't take the OCR negative. It should have been called to a halt a long time ago. They were under no legal obligation to make a rhetorical commitment. " LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Northern Southland shepherd ran 210 km from Waikaia to Wānaka to fund-raise for Movember. This distance is the equivalent of 5 marathons, which he completed in 31 and a half hours. The Country's Jamie Mackay says that the shepherd (Tom Anderson) ended up raising $52,000 by the end of it, which surpassed his goal of $21,000. Jamie Mackay also says that Tom Anderson put himself through the wringer but pulled through in the end in an inspiring show of strength. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) released its Summer 2022 Reading List for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. NZIER partnered with BusinessDesk to compile a list of books for the PM and her advisers to read to better equip them for the economic challenges of 2023. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says the exercise is meant to be thought-provoking and in good fun, and that the likelihood of Jacinda Ardern taking it seriously is low. Some of the books Pattrick mentioned are Kāwai: For Such a Time as This, by Monty Souter and The End of the World is Just Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization by Peter Zeihan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) agreed on a $145 million dollar settlement today. This gives firefighters a 24 percent wage increase and brings 18 months of negations to a close. NZ Firefighters union secretary Wattie Watson says that they appreciate this wage increase, considering the conditions firefighters across the country have to work under.  Wattie also says that these firefighters have been working long hours and dealing with staffing issues, so these strikes were difficult but necessary to send a message. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.