Larry Williams Drive

Today on The Huddle: Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff, and current Director at Mike Munro Communications talked about the following topics- and more!  Chris Luxon has recently blamed parents for the poor school attendance rates over the last couple of years. Was this a fair comment for him to make?  Big changes to rental laws today, but is it all to hide the fact they've had to extend the Kainga Ora Healthy Homes deadline again? Property managers are surprised at the changes, despite voicing support. English captain Harry Kane and the captains of several European football teams have recently decided to backtrack on their plan to protest Qatar's homophobia by wearing OneLove arm bands. This is out of concern for their teams, as they don't want FIFA imposing sanctions on them. What do we think of this?  LISTEN ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Residential property managers are saying new regulations have taken them by surprise. Under new rules, they'll soon need to be registered, trained, and licensed. And landlords will now have another year to get their rentals up to healthy home standards. Residential Property Manager Association chairman David Pearse says he thought the changes would be announced next year, but he agrees it's necessary. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full time teachers are switching roles to make more money, which some say is adding to the workforce shortage. The Early Childhood Council says relief teacher agencies are taking advantage of the supply demand issue and increasing the fees they charge centres. Early Childhood Council Chief Executive Simon Laube says they are losing more and more full time teachers, and the increased fees will disproportionately impact parents.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last night, 22 year old Wellington musician Taylor Johnston was invited onstage to play the drums with The Killers at Auckland's Spark Arena. Lead singer Brandon Flowers had noticed Johnston's sign begging to be allowed to play on "For Reasons Unknown". Johnston has outlined why he chose that song, as he didn't want to come in during a hugely popular song like "Mr Brightside" or "When We Were Young". "It's well-known enough, people know it, they love it. But it's just such a perfect drumming song. It's got sick drums and it's got enough room for people to make their own interpretation, it's just perfect to play drums to." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist is tipping another big Official Cash Rate rise. It's expected the Reserve Bank will hike the Official Cash Rate an unprecedented 75 basis points tomorrow. Independent economist Cameron Bagrie says whether it's 50 or 75 basis points - it's still a large move. He says in the context of the past 12 months, it'll be the most aggressive increase in the Official Cash Rate ever seen. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Property managers will now need to be registered, trained and licensed. A third of New Zealand households rent, and of that, 40 percent of those houses are looked after by property managers. The Government has also confirmed an extension to Kainga Ora's Healthy Homes deadline. Housing Minister Megan Woods says that property managers will need to follow a clear code of conduct and standards, and these regulations will help enforce quality control. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is making modifications to the Three Waters legislation, and the changes are expected to be up before Parliament before the end of the week. Political editor Barry Soper explained that more constitutional changes to the legislation will be made tonight, and that Nanaia Mahuta in particular is striving to improve the contents of this bill to save Labour's public image. Barry Soper has also observed that the Three Waters constitutional changes were implemented because Jacinda Ardern stated that the original legislation was 'shabbily drafted'. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been preoccupied with getting new legislation through parliament. The Federal Anti-Corruption bill seems to be in a good position, with the current senate preparing to wave it through, concerns not withstanding. The hearings have been going on in Canberra for most of the afternoon, and although the details of these hearings are obscured, Australian correspondent Murray Olds says they seem to be in favour of passing the bill. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off earlier this week, but the most prominent point of discussion is more wrapped up in Qatar's issues. Qatar has a history of worker's rights abuse and homophobia, and all these associated controversies are still present in World Cup discussions. D'Arcy Waldegrave, Sportstalk host, says that these discussions will probably become more football-dominated as the World Cup keeps moving forward, and he expects the World Cup will stop being so politicised as more games happen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's digging into the Government over New Zealand's record numbers of gangsters. Newstalk ZB can reveal more than eight-thousand three-hundred people are on the national gang list. National Police spokesperson Mark Mitchell says that's risen more than 300 since August - and is up 56 percent on 2017. He says the current environment is soft on crime. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has just kicked off in Qatar, with England and Wales set to play later this week. However, both teams are also boycotting Qatar's anti-gay policies by reinforcing their commitment to wearing OneLove rainbow armbands during their matches.  UK correspondent Kay Oliver confirmed that both team captains are staying committed to wearing the armbands, even though they may face consequences for doing so.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob Fyfe, former Air New Zealand boss and current chair of Recorp, has announced his latest investment- a can manufacturing plant operating out of South Auckland. This plant is a $100 million dollar investment, and is set to make 500 million cans a year, as well as smelting them down on site eventually.  Rob Fyfe says that another can manufacturing plant in the country is a necessary investment, because there is a shortage of can manufacturing plants in New Zealand, and it's becoming harder to keep up with demand. "We're actually importing a couple hundred million cans a year from Australia, flew in from the Tasman, because we can't produce enough. And I've been talking to a number of drinks manufacturers out there who would love to swap out their current plastic bottle lines."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The APEC economic summit wrapped up last weekend, concluding an eventful week for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Jacinda Ardern set out to strengthen international ties and diplomatic relationships in a post-Covid economic world, and NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says she's held up to that promise. Fran O'Sullivan says that Jacinda was one of the more seasoned leaders at the event, and she used her experience to re-enforce the importance of international collaboration in light of the Russia-Ukraine war. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle: Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Kaine Thompson, former Labour press secretary talk about the follwing issues of the day- and more! Parliament is drafting legislation to potentially allow 16-year-olds to vote, provided 75 percent of MP's vote in favour of the change. Does the voting age need to be lowered?  Winston Peters recently said that NZ First is definitely planning a comeback- and that they won't work with the current Labour Government if they're in a position to do so after the last election. He also accused Labour of lying to their coalition during their previous partnership. What do we think of all this?  After many debates, the Government has proposed one change to the Human Rights Act, with this amendment only being applied to religious communities. Does this feel like a watered-down compromise, even if the Government won't rule out applying these laws to other groups? Is Twitter still worth using? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Black Ferns are set to get a heroes welcome next month, following an announcement made at Monday's post-Cabinet press conference. Wellingtonians will have the chance to celebrate the Women's World Cup success at a Parliamentary reception for the team on December 13. Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson says they want as many people to come along as possible. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About thirty small retailers in Hamilton have given up insurance cover. They're saying premiums are being hiked because of ram raids, with some excesses rising up to 900 percent. Waikato retailer Ash Parmar has been hit by raids, and he says his excesses have gone from one thousand to five. He says companies are still happy to cover other things like fires and earthquakes - but with ram raids they're having to pay a lot of claims. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi are back in the bush in the capital for the first time in 100 years. 13 North Island brown Kiwis have just been released into the wilderness in the Makara Hills to the west of Wellington. Capital Kiwi Project founder Paul Ward says he's just had a report on how they are doing. "A couple of them have gone for a wee wander, but most of them are close to the burrows that we released them in. And one of them, who clearly thinks the housing market isn't up to her standards, started digging her own burrow." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The two-week COP27 UN climate summit has wrapped up in Egypt, involving roughly 200 countries. Many people have labelled this year's event as 'disappointing' for substantial climate change policy changes, and Victoria University climate scientist Adrian Macey is among them. Adrian Macey says that the COP27 layout has created overblown expectations for what can be changed in terms of climate reform policies, and that they don't give realistic looks into where the world is heading. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claims the Government could start lowering New Zealand's voting age now. Cabinet will draft legislation in light of a Supreme Court ruling today that barring 16 and 17-year-olds from voting isn't consistent with the Bill of Rights. All the House will make a conscience vote, with 75 percent support needed to pass the law. But Make It 16's Caeden Tipler claims they want laws changed first for local elections. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following an earlier Supreme Court announcement that keeping the voting age at 18 is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights act, Jacinda Ardern says legislation to lower the voting age will be drafted. Any changes to the current voting age will require 75 percent of MPs to vote in favour of the legislation. Political editor Barry Soper knows that Jacinda Ardern would definitely have been willing to consider this, as Labour may need the support of younger voters in 2023. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.