Larry Williams Drive

The World of Wearable Art festival is officially moving to new ownership today. Kiwi arts company STILL has bought the show, following the founders bowing out after years of difficulty under Covid-19. The globally significant festival brings more than 60,000 people to Wellington, and has a prize pool of more than $185,000 dollars. WOW Chief Executive David Tingey says the event's in safe hands and that they're really confident about the future. He says they have a new five-year production deal with Wellington and the new owners have already helped a lot. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Small Passenger Service Association is warning potential customers that independent taxi drivers are violating industry guidelines.  Warren Quirke, the Small Passenger Service Association Executive Director is concerned about the lack of oversight in the industry, and he feels that independent taxi drivers are taking advantage of that.  Warren says that these independent taxi drivers are overcharging their passengers beyond the standard amounts for the industry. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Retirement Commissioner is explaining why she wants superannuation to stay at 65. Her report on income policies advises keeping the status-quo, a change from predecessors who advocated hiking the age to 67. Jane Wrightson says  some believe an age of 65 is unaffordable and she's asking where that evidence came from. She says research shows if the age rises, women, Maori, and Pasifika will hurt the most. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns returning the police pursuit policy to how it used to be would mean more dead bodies. Police say change is in the wind as they aim for a balanced position, after a more cautious approach was adopted two years ago. In the years since, fleeing driver cases have significantly risen and the proportion of offenders identified has significantly decreased. Road Safety Campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson says he doesn't want things back to how they were before. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has recently warned the region that Iran has infiltrated Australia. Kylie Moore-Gilbert was studying in Iran before being sent to prison on a spying conviction for 800 days. She is currently warning Australian authorities that Iranian state operatives are monitoring people. According to Kylie, Iranian-Australians who have attended anti-Government protests on Australian soil have had Iran-based family members threatened due to their action. Australian correspondent Murray Olds explained what Kylie Moore-Gilbert is urging Australian authorities to do about infiltration and security.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Three Waters entrenchment amendment has inspired discussions and debate, and this may be going on within the Government itself. Political editor Barry Soper has observed that there may be some friction going on between some key members of cabinet regarding the entrenchment amendment. Barry Soper also states that Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins have both admitted to not being aware of the plan to entrench this segment of the Three Waters bill, which is likely to create further issues. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World Softball Championship is underway, and the Black Sox are barely hanging on after their last two games. They lost 7-0 to the US over the weekend and lost their lead to Argentina last night with a final score of 11-5. They have one last shot to maintain their place in the World Softball Championship later tonight, and Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave discussed their chances of bouncing back. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Australian-born GP based in Lower Hutt has decided to return to her home country, and she's blaming New Zealand's 'broken' healthcare system.  Corinne Glenn wrote an opinion piece for The Spinoff describing these issues. The piece states that healthcare funding needs to start with primary care, which has been neglected for the past decade. Corinne says that she wants to stay committed to her role as a GP, and moving back to Australia is the better option, because she can no longer do her job effectively in New Zealand due to lack of funding. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Italian island of Ischia, seven people were killed in a landslide last weekend, including two young siblings and a three-week-old baby.  People in Italy are outraged because some buildings in areas of high risk exacerbated the crisis and contributed to the debris that killed these people.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey says that Ischia has been hit by many earthquakes and landslides, and the illegally constructed buildings on the island are ill-equipped to deal with these conditions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Reserve Bank trying to engineer a recession, where does that leave our students trying to enter the workforce? The Otago University Student's Association says budgets are tightening for businesses, and students are nervous about getting work. Professor of Management at AUT, Candice Harris says that there are currently lots of opportunities for graduates in this country, but they need to manage their expectations as companies will be looking to cut costs.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has recently stated that they will take the Three Waters legislation to parliament's Business Committee to discuss entrenchment. This entrenchment provision, if implemented, will require 60 percent of MPs to overturn the provision in the future, an increase to the previous threshold of 50 percent. Fran O'Sullivan, NZME business commentator says that it's important that legal experts continue to seek clarification on this, as this is bigger than privatisation, especially if National comes into power next year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another Black Friday is over and done with for the year and the consumer spending numbers have gone down. According to data from Worldline, consumer spending on one of the busiest retail days of the year has dropped down by 7 percent from last year. Greg Harford, Retail NZ Chief Executive is disappointed with this information, as he had expected Kiwi shoppers to go out and spend more. But these numbers weren't a total surprise  "Clearly with the economic pressures that are on households at the moment, people are choosing just to spend a little bit less. And I think anecdotally people are trading down and looking for cheaper brands." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The hit Broadway production Hamilton, a rap/R&B/jazz infused musical about America's founding fathers is premiering in New Zealand next May. The show will run for two weeks at Auckland's Spark Arena, following a successful run in Australia. Fans of the musical are very excited for this debut, including Victoria University theatre lecturer James Wenley, who saw it live before and look forward to seeing it again. However, he says that running the show in Spark Arena isn't the best choice, as he believes Hamilton doesn't suit the venue. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle: Cas Carter from Cas Carter Communications and Tim Beveridge, Newstalk ZB announcer, joined in on a discussion on the following issues of the day- and more! Jacinda Ardern announced a new crime prevention package that subsidies fog cannons for all small shops and dairies who may need to install them. Was this announcement made too late down the line? Three Waters is going back to parliament's Business Committee for a discussion about entrenchment, what do we make of this? LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are doubts the Government's latest retail crime measures will make much difference. A new $4 million dollar fund has been announced to support Auckland, Hamilton and Bay of Plenty councils with crime prevention programmes. The existing $6 million dollar fund will be opened up to include aggravated robberies, and small shops and dairies can now get $4 thousand dollars each to install a fog cannon. Hamilton store, Vapeys NZ, was hit on Friday by young people armed with knives. Owner Sidhu Naresh says a worker was made to kneel down, with a knife to his neck. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government says it will go back to parliament's Business Committee to discuss entrenchment in the Three Waters legislation. This entrenchment would make it very hard for future Governments to overturn anti-privatisation measures. 60 per cent of MP's would be needed to overturn it going forward. One of the constitutional experts who signed the open letter spurring this announcement, Edward Willis, explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister is blaming insurance companies, for the lacklustre roll-out of ram-raid and burglary prevention defences. The Government has today announced a subsidy for small shops and dairies to install fog cannons. But according to figures from police, just eight businesses have been fully outfitted through the retail prevention fund, announced in May. Chris Hipkins says insurers taking too long and a blocked-up supply chain, are contributing to delays in the roll-out. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recently announced a package subsidising fog cannons to shops and dairies who may need one to combat crime. This announcement was made in the first post-cabinet press conference since the heavily publicised stabbing of a Sandringham shopkeeper. Political editor Barry Soper says it would have made more sense for this subsidy package to have been implemented several months ago, when this crime wave was just amping up, as opposed to now. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to be officially censured, according to the federal cabinet.  This decision was made following the secret ministries scandal, in which the former Prime Minister was appointing himself into multiple ministries and keeping this detail a secret from the voters. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson explained the parliamentary discussions surrounding Scott Morrison's actions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup carries on, with the latest surprising match outcome happening when Morocco beat Belgium. This has been another World Cup upset for the books, with fans expressing confusion at this outcome, and riot breaking out following the win. Weekend Sport host Jason Pine explained the fan reactions to this result further.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.