Larry Williams Drive

The Government has recently announced that a Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's response to the Covid-19 pandemic will be taking place. This Royal Commission of Inquiry will be used to prepare the nation for future pandemics, and evidence will be considered from February 1st, 2023. Political editor Barry Soper has observed that this inquiry will conclude midway through 2024, and wonders if this decision is Labour betting on themselves for the upcoming election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six Australian MPs from both Labour and the opposition will visit Taiwan later this week. This will be the first visit from an Australian parliamentary delegation in years, and this visit is designed to maintain a close relationship with both Taiwan and mainland China.  Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says that this visit is unusual, as China and Australia's relationship hasn't changed and the tariffs on exports are still present. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World Rugby has officially confirmed that New Zealand is out of the running on a list of countries set to host the Sevens World Series tournaments. This announcement makes the upcoming Hamilton World Sevens Series tournament the last event of this type. World Rugby has selected seven locations to host the tournaments, and New Zealand's absence is perplexing to Weekend Sport's Jason Pine. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport is still struggling to fill major gaps in its workforce. It has 1600 job openings, ranging from roles in check-in to bag collection, through to food and beverage to security. Air New Zealand expects to carry 2.8 million passengers between December 15 and January 31, up from 1.1 million last year. Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui says they're doing all they can to make things work, but warns the staff shortage will lead to longer queues and wait times. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A leading child protection charity says the report into the death of five-year-old Malachi Subecz highlights fundamental flaws in a system that has been failing for years. Malachi was murdered by his carer in November last year, the carer was jailed with a non-parole period of 17 years in June. Following a damning review, sweeping changes were recommended to the child protection, education, welfare and health sectors. Safeguarding Children Chief Executive, Willow Duffy told Heather du Plessis-Allan Oranga Tamariki being sent an image showing bruising to Malachi's face, should've been enough to take action. She says it should've been enough for them have been professionally curious and to find out what happened. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gore's deputy mayor has stepped down to bring unity back into council. Stewart MacDonell has resigned from his role following a request signed by seven other councillors. They say the decision came after attempts to work collaboratively to provide the best governance structure for the community. Mayor Ben Bell told Heather Du Plessis-Allan he was disappointed the challenge happened so quickly. He says a bit of slack could've been given, as Stewart had only just got the role. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lady Susan Hussey, a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William's godmother, has recently stepped down following allegations of racism. Lady Susan repeatedly asked Ngozi Fulani, chief executive of a UK charity for survivors of domestic abuse where she was "really from", despite Ngozi's insistence that she was from east London.  UK correspondent Enda Brady says that this incident is a bad look for the royals, especially in light of Meghan and Harry's upcoming Netflix documentary. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid-19 restrictions have abruptly lifted in two Chinese cities, but the country is still retaining its' commitment to their 'Zero-Covid' strategy. This comes after days of rare mass protests from residents, where citizens clashed with police over Covid control orders and restrictions. So what's all this doing to our markets? Investors were understandably worried as the restrictions and ensuing protests were going on but the markets are rebounding again.   Sam Dickie, Senior Portfolio Manager says that investors were looking at the social unrest very closely, and that added to the chill that went through the markets. There are signs of things easing, but Sam Dickie observed that China is a noisy market to watch. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fieldays 2022 is currently underway. This years Fieldays has had five and a half months of extra buildup, as it was delayed to avoid the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The attendance numbers for the opening day are lower than they were in previous years, with only 17,000 people turning up as opposed to the 29,000 who were there for Fieldays 2021. Rowena Duncum, producer of The Country says that the event is still underway and not all the figures are in for today's turnout, but she's noticed the number of people there is lower than Fieldays 2021. Rowena says that the low turnout is because of the weather and the time of year. November is a busy time for farmers and when combined with the bad weather, it creates a perfect storm. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Westpac has just released their building consent numbers, and they've dropped down lower than predicted.  Dwelling consent numbers are down by 11 percent, which is larger than the 5 percent drop that Westpac had forecasted. This drop goes deeper than the normal month-to-month volatility, and tougher financial conditions play a role in these figures. Liam Dann, NZ Herald business editor says that the numbers appear to be over a peak and the downside indicators for the construction sector are a key factor in these figures. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle: Georgina Stylianou, Director of BRG NZ and Sam Johnson, social entrepreneur joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The Government has given police new powers to directly target fleeing drivers, as well as establishing harsher penalties for fleeing drivers. These include disqualification from driving for offenders for up to two years and permanent vehicle loss. How effective will these changes be in stopping crime? A report has been released today highlighting the critical gaps in Oranga Tamariki's monitoring, care and agency co-operation that led to Malachi Subecz's death. How has Oranga Tamariki been able to get away with ignoring all the warnings? LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to data from Kiwibank, net migration figures are expected to go up by the end of 2023. Kiwibank is forecasting a 'significant' net gain of 36,000 migrants entering the country by next year. Kiwibank Senior Economist Jeremy Couchman was surprised by this data, as it is a larger figure than he expected. Despite this, it's still not as high as New Zealand's pre-COVID migration statistics. Jeremy Couchman also says that these figures will need to stay consistent over the next few years in order to balance out our ageing population and worker shortage. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is giving police new powers to target fleeing drivers in an announcement made to the media in Hamilton. Justice Minister Kiri Allan stated that if you're thinking of being a fleeing driver, there will be tougher consequences. These include taking away an offender's vehicle for good and harsher penalties around loss of licence. Police can also impound a car for 28 days if its' owner refuses to give details about a fleeing driver. Kiri Allan says that there's been an uptick in fleeing drivers over the last year and that these measures are tackling a longstanding problem.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Accomplished Kiwi athlete and founder of the Halberg foundation, Sir Murray Halberg recently passed away at age 89. Between his accomplishments in the 1960 Olympics and the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games and his charity work supporting children with disabilities in sport, Sir Murray Halberg impacted a lot of lives. NZ Herald sports journalist Phil Gifford was one of those people, and he said that Sir Murray Halberg was a generous and lovely person. "The kindness and generosity of spirit that led to him starting that foundation for people that had physical disabilities, to help kids in particular get into sport, it was expressed as a person. He was a lovely guy." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oranga Tamariki's CEO says there's been accountability within the child protection agency after a scathing review into the murder of Malachi Subecz. The five-year-old whose mother was in jail was abused and killed by his carer last November, inspiring an investigation into the company. A review released today found five critical gaps in monitoring, care and agency co-operation. Some key recommendations for change include mandatory reporting of abuse for any person tasked with child protection.The CEO of Oranga Tamariki, Chappie Te Kani says he's owning the fact the agency didn't get it right. "We did not do right by the whanau. They did everything right, they put Malachi at the centre of their decisions. They were concerned for him, they came to Oranga Tamariki and we could have, and we should have, done our critical job for him." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson has recently been saying that he wants to put co-governance on hold for 2023. The Government has been working on plenty of co-governance based projects and policies over the last few months, including the establishment of Maori wards in local councils, the Canterbury regional council reforms and the Three Waters discussion. Recently, Willie Jackson has been leaning towards Government putting co-governance on the back burner for 2023, and stated he wasn't comfortable with some new proposals put forward. Political editor Barry Soper says that it makes sense for Labour to be backtracking on some of these proposals, given that 2023 will be a crucial electionyear for the party. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's Socceroos got a 1-0 win over Denmark in the Fifa World Cup and secured a place in the Round of 16. The Socceroos haven't made it this far in a Fifa World Cup since 2006, and the fans are elated to the point where they've taken to social media to ask for a public holiday in honour of the victory. The fans have taken their requests to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as well, and he hasn't commented either way as to whether or not this public holiday will happen. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says that this victory is a big deal for a younger generation of fans and it's a historic moment for them. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir Murray Halberg, Olympian and founder of the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation passed away aged 89 on Wednesday evening. Sir Murray Halberg was the first Kiwi to break the four-minute mile and won the 5000m gold medal in the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1958 and 1962.  Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave said that Sir Murray Halberg will leave behind a strong legacy based on his athletic prowess and charity work supporting children with disabilities in sport. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sandringham Business Association chair Jithin Chttibomma has enlisted the help of Sir Ray Avery to give trial emergency watches to Sandringham businesses to let workers in trouble alert police. These watches will send alarms directly to the police, who will apparently respond to an emergency call within three minutes. This trial was launched a week after Sandringham dairy worker Jamal Patel was fatally stabbed during a robbery. Sandringham Business Association chair, Jithin Chittibomma says pressing the panic button contacts a centre which records audio and gives the police your location if you're experiencing violence or threats. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A man who was connected to an incident in which 27 people drowned in an attempt to cross the English Channel in a dinghy has been arrested in the UK. This man is set to appear in court later this week and is accused to have been part of a gang who conspired to transport the migrants into the UK from northern France.This man has been identified and tracked down by the UK's National Crime Agency. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says this is to be expected and that organised criminal groups have been playing a key role in smuggling people over international waters. LISTEN ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.